2023-2024 NYSIPM Informing and Interpreting Policy
2023-2024 New York State Integrated Pest Management Annual Report
Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on NY Farm Operations
In an ongoing effort to prepare New York farmers for the impact of a changing climate, NYSIPM Director Alejandro Calixto served as a co-author of the agriculture chapter of the New York State Climate Impacts Assessment.
A “threat multiplier” for the state’s farmers
The report issued February 2, 2024 by Gov. Kathy Hochul, called climate change a “threat multiplier” for the state’s farmers, noting that ever-increasing average temperatures compound issues like changing market prices, labor shortages and tight profit margins that growers already face.
The added pressure placed on farmers due to changing weather patterns, was one of four key findings in the agricultural chapter. The report also identifies that the most severe impacts of climate change to the agriculture sector are related to extreme precipitation, short-term drought, heat stress, warmer winters, late freezes, increased pest pressures, and higher production costs (including those from invasive species); agricultural shareholders show an acknowledgment and awareness of climate change and its impacts on farming; farmers are adapting to climate change and implementing new practices to make their business more climate resistant; and, enhanced funding, technical support and research are necessary to help farms implement new strategies for adaptive measures.
The Assessment was developed in conjunction with the state’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Communities Protection Act and explores all sectors of the state economy.
Assessment Contributors
The efforts were led by Deborah Aller, extension associate in the Soil Health Program, School of Integrative Plant Science Soil and Crop Sciences Section, Allison M. Chatrchyan, research associate in the School of Integrative Plant Science and adjunct professor of environmental law at Cornell Law School. Calixto joined College of Agriculture and Life Sciences colleagues Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, associate professor, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and Gregory Peck, associate professor, School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section, and Junior Schouten, Big Apple Edibles, Ben Weikert, associate professor of animal science, State University of New York Cobleskill, and Elizabeth Wolters, deputy commissioner for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, in authoring the agriculture chapter.
PSEP’s Wixted Named Co-Chair of National Committee Tackling Issues with Translating Pesticide Training Materials, Exams
The American Association of Pesticide Safety Educators has tapped PSEP Extension Support Specialist Dan Wixted to co-chair its ad-hoc committee on non-English training materials and exams.
A large portion of the agricultural and commercial pest management workforce consists of people who primarily speak and read in languages other than English, leading to calls for providing pesticide applicator certification training manuals and exams in other languages. However, pesticide labels are primarily printed in English, and the purpose of certifying pesticide applicators is to ensure that when used according to label directions, pesticides will not cause unreasonable adverse effects to human health and the environment.
To address this issue, the committee is looking to provide guidance on whether and how states can offer translated manuals and/or exams without compromising their legal mandate of protecting people and the environment from pesticide misuse. The committee has 25 members from across the country and has identified—and is working to provide ways to overcome—more than three dozen obstacles facing states who want to successfully meet this challenge. Many of the obstacles center around fairness, such as a lack of bilingual exam proctors and how to ensure translated exams are equivalent to English versions with respect to readability and difficulty.
About the 2023-2024 Annual Report
Published by New York State Integrated Pest Management August 2024.
Design/Layout: Jody Benedict
Content/Editing: Carrie Carmenatty