December 2, 2024

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 November.

LATEST NEWS

Supporting a "Special" Specialty Crop: How IR-4 Helps Cranberry Growers Succeed

In November, we highlighted IR-4's work supporting cranberry growers in a new success story by Robin Siktberg. Read the story to learn more about what it takes to get cranberries on our holiday tables:

IR-4 Executive Director Jerry Baron Featured on Blueberry Podcast

In November, IR-4 Executive Director Jerry Baron was featured on the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council podcast, "The Business of Blueberries." Don't miss this excellent discussion with council president Kasey Cronquist:

IR-4 Employee Appreciation

IR-4 Headquarters celebrated our annual Employee Appreciation Day with quality time and team-building at Top Golf in November. We appreciate our team daily—including all who work with us, from our Regional teams to our collaborators across the country. What we do wouldn't be possible without you!

EVENT UPDATES

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 are 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 Gowan for being the first industry partner to come on board as a 2025 sponsor. Will your company join us and Gowan?

RESEARCH UPDATES

Food Crops

The following tolerance success was added to the IR-4 website in October (none added in November). Find other tolerance successes under Food Crop Successes & Stories.

• Saflufenacil (Federal Register date: September 9, 2024)

Environmental Horticulture

Did you know you can search the Environmental Horticulture Program's research summaries by pest management discipline? Visit the Research Summary page to learn more about efficacy and crop safety data gathered by the program.

— Stay tuned for our holiday message in December —

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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.