Cornell University
OP-9: Integrated Pest Management

IPM is carried out at Cornell by three different groups - the Grounds department, the Cornell Plantations and the Agricultural Experiment Station (CU AES)on the Ithaca campus. The 1,408 acres of open space comprise 61% of the main campus. They include managed landscapes, natural areas and the arboretum, as well as crop fields and wooded areas used for teaching and research. The Grounds Dept. follows IPM procedures in maintaining the campus landscape. By doing so, pesticide use on campus is reduced every year. To control insects, weeds and plant diseases that threaten the lawn, flower, shrub, and tree species, IPM uses a holistic approach that includes many cultural pest control techniques: • Naturalized landscape design, emphasizing a diversity of species • Careful site selection and preparation • Use of hearty, disease- and pest-resistant varieties • Proper frequencies of watering, pruning, and mowing • Mulching • Introduction of naturally occurring organisms to control pests Cornell Plantations care for about 200 acres of botanical gardens and arboretum as well as a 3000+ square foot greenhouse, a lath house and a raised bed nursery utilizing Integrated Pest Management practices. There are many facets to this system from installation to long-term garden management. Preventative care is established through proper site selection and preparation prior to plant installation. In-depth scouting and monitoring of our collections is conducted for specific pests as well as yearly general assessments throughout the collections. Mechanical practices such as pruning, fall sanitation, utilizing water pressure and even hand removal of pests are employed to limit the need for pesticides. When chemical control becomes necessary, we strive to choose pesticides with least toxic properties. We work to reduce the need for herbicide through mechanical weed control whenever possible both in the gardens and the arboretum. Finally, the program is supported with detailed records of treatment for reference and encouraging the education of our staff of gardeners. Cornell Plantations also manage the system of natural areas on campus. These areas are actively protected and managed to support the educational mission of the University. Management activities include but are not limited to monitoring, habitat establishment, natural areas restoration, naturalization, invasive species control, and deer over-population management. The CU AES farm managers follow IPM practices on the greatest majority of their land, production cropland and wherever IPM practices will complement a given research project. The forests are minimally managed, with some selective thinning. CU AES has been removing ash trees in an attempt to minimize the spread of the emerald ash borer, as well as some removal of unwanted or invasive species.

While we are reporting only within the main campus boundary, Cornell University has a much larger extended campus as well as research stations within the county and New York State. CUAES has about 2100 acres of combined crop and forestland. Forested land and non-crop land (building spaces, grass alleys, etc.) occupy about a quarter of the total managed land area (525 acres). Of the remaining 1575 acres of crop land, I would estimate that at least 1400 acres of that is managed in accordance with IPM practices. Details on our specific farms can be found at: http://www.cuaes.cornell.edu/cals/cuaes/ag-operations/index.cfm. Grounds Department IPM - http://fm.fs.cornell.edu/file/Pesticide%20pdf.pdf