Pest Management Solutions for Specialty Crops and Specialty Uses | |
|
The following is a recap of news and updates released by
The IR-4 Project during the month of December.
| |
Our team is back in action after the holiday break. We wish you a fresh start to 2025 and a fruitful year ahead. Looking forward to collaborating with our community this year! | |
IR-4 Executive Director Jerry Baron Announces Retirement Plans | |
In his December holiday message, IR-4 Executive Director Jerry Baron shared his plans to retire in 2025. If you missed that announcement, we invite you to read it here. We'll have much more to share about this transition in the coming months. For now, please join us in congratulating Jerry and thanking him for his impactful career of service to the specialty crop community! | |
2024 IR-4 Award Recipients | |
|
IR-4 Headquarters was pleased to present four awards in 2024, honoring outstanding contributors to our mission. These individuals have shown incredible dedication to specialty crop growers and the IR-4 mission. We are grateful for each of them and the impacts of their work. This announcement includes two recipients of the Special Recognition Award and two (out of four) recipients of the SOAR Award.
Special Recognition Awards are presented by IR-4’s Project Management Committee to acknowledge leaders in the IR-4 community who have gone above and beyond in service of the IR-4 mission, and who the organization wishes to celebrate. Special Recognition Awards were presented to two recipients at the 2024 Food Use Workshop: Nancy Fitz and Dani Lightle. Read more here!
The SOAR Award honors external partners who exemplify the areas of Service, Outreach, Altruism and Research, while supporting specialty crop growers and the mission of The IR-4 Project. This year’s winners have made significant contributions not only to their individual research areas, but to the specialty crop industry as a whole. Four SOAR Award recipients were selected in 2024, two of whom have been announced (stay tuned in 2025 for the announcement of the additional two recipients): Rich Bonanno and Julie Coughlin. Read more here!
| |
Updating Job Posting: Environmental Horticulture (Ornamentals) Program Manager | |
|
IR-4 Project Headquarters at NC State University seeks an Environmental Horticulture (Ornamentals) Program Manager to join our team. This is a vital role to our organization, and we have renewed our efforts to find the best candidate with an updated job posting.
The IR-4 Project Environmental Horticulture (Ornamentals) Program Manager position will be tasked to coordinate research and pesticide (bio-based and chemical) registration activities on non-food, ornamental plant species within the IR-4 Project. Specifically, this position will direct:
- The establishment of research priorities via a biennial stakeholder priority setting workshop.
- Oversee the establishment of the annual research program including development of research protocols, working with Regional Field Coordinators to identify research cooperators.
- Interface with representatives from registrants, trade associations, and regulatory agencies.
- Critically review results of field trials, assess if there is adequate data to support regulatory actions and/or use recommendations.
This position is aligned with the IR-4 Project mission to facilitate regulatory approval of sustainable pest management technology for specialty crops including ornamental crops and other environmental horticulture uses.
Visit our Careers page to read the full job posting and apply through NC State!
| |
Registration is Open for the 2025 Industry Technology Session | |
|
Register today for the 2025 Industry Technology Session, which will be held virtually (via Zoom) on Thursday, February 20. We anticipate a schedule of 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, but the exact timing is subject to change. This annual event invites companies to present updates on products already in IR-4 research, as well as new technologies designed to meet the pest management needs of specialty crop producers.
We have shifted the Industry Technology Session (ITS) to occur earlier in the year (February rather than July) to better accommodate stakeholders' busy summer schedules and allow more time before the Project Clearance Request deadline of July 1, 2025.
The ITS is a precursor to the 2025 Food Use Workshop. Technologies discussed during the next ITS may be eligible for IR-4 research in 2026. Find the presentations from the 2024 Industry Technology Session here.
We will continue to add information and resources to the ITS event page as our team finalizes the details. We hope you'll join us in February!
| |
Save the Date: 2025 Food Use Workshop | |
|
The 2025 Food Use Workshop will take place September 9-11 in Denver, Colorado. Research priorities for residue, product performance, and integrated solutions studies for 2026 will be identified during this workshop. A virtual attendance option will be available.
We will update the Food Use Workshop web page continually as the event approaches, so we recommend bookmarking it for future reference. We'll send reminders via newsletter, too, so please encourage your colleagues to sign up for these announcements. Registration, hotel booking, and a tentative agenda will come in early 2025.
We hope to see you in Denver (or virtually) in September!
| |
Coming Soon: 2025 Environmental Horticulture Workshop Info | |
|
IR-4 looks forward to hosting the biennial Environmental Horticulture Workshop in-person October 6-8, 2025! Our team is working to finalize the location and will send out an official save the date (and updated web page) once that is set.
For those of you involved in IR-4's Environmental Horticulture research, IR-4 Executive Director Jerry Baron shared a letter in November updating stakeholders on the diligent work behind the scenes to enhance this fantastic program further. In case you missed the letter, read it here.
As we prepare for the 2025 workshop, the Grower & Extension Survey is now accepting results! Find the survey here:
| |
Join Us as a 2025 Event Sponsor | |
|
Sponsors make IR-4's events possible and help us deliver on our grower-focused mission. Are you interested in joining IR-4 as an event sponsor for 2025? We welcome your partnership! With events spanning new technology, food crops and ornamental crops, 2025 is an opportune time to join us as a sponsor and reach a variety of specialty crop stakeholders. Please reach out to ir-4_project@ncsu.edu for more information.
Special thanks to our first two sponsors to come on board for 2025: Syngenta and Gowan!
| |
|
The following tolerance success was added to the IR-4 website in October (none were added in November or December). Find other tolerance successes under Food Crop Successes & Stories.
| |
Environmental Horticulture | |
The Environmental Horticulture Program's crop vignettes highlight a variety of niche and well-known horticulture crops, noting key characteristics, pest challenges, and IR-4 work on these crops. While there are no brand-new vignettes to point to this month, we encourage you to dive into the extensive library of past posts for informative winter reading. Learn about crops like dogwood, coneflower and hibiscus to prepare for the next growing season. | |
— Stay tuned for more in January — | |
Follow us on social media! | |
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2022-79111-38469 with substantial cooperation and support from the State Agricultural Experiment Stations, USDA-ARS and USDA-FAS. In accordance with Federal Law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. | | | | |
