Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

COVID significantly affected extension programming and outreach. Despite this, many members of NEERA sussessfully adapted to still provide good and timely content to stakeholders. Some Coordinators sugested that the switch to virtual content delivery has shifted the audience that they had reached prior to COVID. Anecdotes, specific outreach numbers, and stratgeiges for shifting to online education were discussed at the meeting. Specific numbers can be found in the individual state reports. 

Weather stations and use of weather data analysis platforms continue to increase. 

Several new extension personnel were hired or are in the process of being hired, including plant pest diagnostic labs in Delaware and New Hampshire. This is especially important as new pests continue to expand their range in the Northeast, including but not limited to spotted lanternfly, emerald ash borer, and beech leaf disease.

Crop surveys and pest monitoring activities were highlighted by many Coordinators. Pesticide efficacy was evaluated by various states on invasive pests for which several 2ee reccomendations and 24C SLN labels were supported. 

Petrovic K., Skaltsas D., Castlebury L., Kontz B., Allen T., Chilvers M., Gregory N., Kelly H.,
Koehler A., Kleczewski N., Mueller D., Paul P., Price T., Smith D., and Mathew F. 2020. Three
novel species of Diaporthe from soybean (Glycine max L.) cause Phomopsis seed decay in the
United States. Accepted to Plant Disease.
Mueller D.S., Wise K.A., Sisson A.J., Allen T.W., Bergstrom G.C., Bissonnette K.M., Bosley
D.B., Bradley C.A., Byamukama E., Chilvers M.I., Collins A.A., Esker P.D., Faske T.R.,
Friskop A.J., Hagan A.K., Heiniger R.W., Hollier C.A., Isakeit T., Jackson-Ziems T.A., Jardine
D.J., Kelly H.M., Kleczewski N.M., Koehler A.M., Koenning S.R., Malvick D.K., Mehl H.L.,
Meyer R.F., Paul P.A., Peltier, A.J., Price, T., Robertson, A.E., Roth, G.W., Sikora, E.J., Smith,
D.L., Tande, C.A., Telenko, D., Tenuta A.U., Thiessen L.D., and Wiebold W.J. 2020. Corn yield
loss estimates due to diseases in the United States and Ontario, Canada from 2016 to 2019. Plant
Health Progress. 21:238-247.
Kessler A.C. and Koehler A.M. 2020. First report of Rhizoctonia solani AG 4 causing root and
stem rot of stevia in Delaware and Maryland. Plant Disease. 104:3076.
Bickel J.T. and Koehler A.M. 2020. Evaluation of foliar fungicides for management of gray leaf
spot of corn in Delaware, 2019. Plant Disease Management Reports. In Press. 14:V132.
Rogers L.W. and Koehler A.M. 2020. Evaluation of foliar fungicides for management of
Septoria leaf spot on stevia in Delaware, 2019. Plant Disease Management Reports. 14:V169.
Koehler A.M. 2020. Evaluation of foliar fungicides and application timings for management of
wheat diseases in Delaware, 2019. Plant Disease Management Reports. 14:CF006.
Koehler A.M. 2020. Foliar fungicides and application timings for control of wheat diseases in
Georgetown, Delaware, 2019. Plant Disease Management Reports. 14:CF005.
G. P. Dively, T. P. Kuhar, S. Taylor, H. B. Doughty, K. Holmstrom, D. Gilrein, B. A. Nault, J.
Ingerson-Mahar, J. Whalen, D. Reisig, D. L. Frank, S. J. Fleischer, D. Owens, C. Welty, F. P. F.
Reay-Jones, P. Porter, J. L. Smith, J. Saguez, S. Murray, A. Wallingford, H. Byker, B. Jensen, E.
Burkness, W. D. Hutchison, and K. A. Hamby. 2020. Sweet Corn Sentinel Monitoring For
Lepidopteran Field-Evolved Resistance to Bt Toxins. J Econ Ent doi 10.1093/jee/toaa264.
Owens, D., J. Deidesheimer, and C. Stubbs. 2019. Insecticide efficacy against corn earworm in
sweet corn, 2019. A.M.T. 45:1, tsaa099.
Owens, D., J. Deidesheimer, and C. Stubbs. 2020. Insecticide efficacy against sugarcane aphid in
sorghum, 2019. A. M. T. doi: 10.1093/amt/tsaa092.
Musser, F. R., A. L. Catchot, Jr., S. P. Conley, J. A. Davis, C. DiFonzo, J. K. Greene, G. M.
Lorenz, D. Owens, D. D. Reisig, P. Roberts, T. Royer, N. J. Seiter, R. Smith, S. D. Stewart, S.
Taylor, K. Tilmon, R. T. Villanueva, and M. O. Way. 2020. 2019 soybean insect losses in the
United States. Midsouth Entomol. 13: 1-23.

López-Uribe MM, Underwood RM. (2020). How to Keep Bees During COVID-
19. Pennsylvania State Extension (Newsletter Article) https://extension.psu.edu/orchardpollination-
strategies-for-maintaining-pollination-services-in-tree-fruit. Also available in
Spanish.
López-Uribe MM, Biddinger D (2020). Orchard Pollination: Strategies for Maintaining
Pollination Services in Tree Fruit.Pennsylvania State Extension (Newsletter
Article) https://extension.psu.edu/orchard-pollination-strategies-for-maintaining-pollinationservices-
in-tree-fruit
Grozinger C., López-Uribe MM, Underwood RM. (2020). Viruses in Honey Bees. Penn State
Extension. (Fact sheet). https://extension.psu.edu/viruses-in-honey-bees

Hazelrigg, A. Winter/Spring Vol 46 Issue 4. https://vnlavt.org/2021/03/07/2020-
21-winter-newsletter/
 Hazelrigg, A. Fall Vol 46 Issue 3. https://vnlavt.org/2020/11/11/2020-fallnewsletter/
 Hazelrigg, A. Summer Vol 46 Issue 2.
https://greenworksvermont.org/2020/07/09/2020-summer-issue/
 Hazelrigg, A. Spring 2020, Vol 46 Issue 1. https://vnlavt.org/2020/03/01/2020-
spring-issue/
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o New England Vegetable Management Guide annual updates https://nevegetable.org/
o New England Small Fruit Management Guide annual updates
https://ag.umass.edu/fruit/publications/new-england-small-fruit-management-guide