January 18, 2018

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship highlights the success of the revamped Iowa Sensitive Crops Registry and is encouraging eligible farmers and apiarists to register or re-save their data for the 2018 growing season.
“We are encouraged to see such a strong response to the updated directory and the positive feedback to the improved mapping features, streamlined data entry and increased accuracy. We hope both farmers and applicators will continue to take advantage of the directory to promote better communication around sensitive sites,” says Mike Naig, Iowa deputy secretary of agriculture.
The department launched the updated directory in January 2017 in partnership with the nonprofit FieldWatch Inc. Since then, over 1,500 producers of pesticide-sensitive crops have registered 740 Iowa fields covering almost 33,000 acres. Apiarists in Iowa have registered over 1,700 apiaries containing over 11,000 beehives.
Iowa ranks high in FieldWatch program
Of the 14 states that participated in the FieldWatch program in 2017, Iowa ranked No. 1 in listed beehives, second in apiaries, third in the number of registered producers and fourth in the number of registered fields. Pesticide applicators have also embraced the registry — at 513 registered applicators, Iowa ranked first among participating states in this category in 2017.
“These stats really bring home the fact that Iowa’s apiarists and sensitive-crop producers, as well as the pesticide applicators working in the state, have embraced this new registry. In just a 12-month period, Iowa’s standings are comparable to those of states that have been in the program for several years,” Naig says.
The online database provided stakeholders improved means of communication, including satellite-image mapping tools, allowing apiarists and producers to visually mark the location of hives and to trace outlines of production fields of pesticide-sensitive crops.
Along with these visuals, commercial pesticide applicators can download field and apiary locations as GPS data points. Pop-up boxes allow producers to leave messages for applicators and provide contact information for ongoing communication.
This new system removes the uncertainty
“Once I registered, adding hive locations and tracing out our production fields on the FieldWatch maps was pretty easy,” says Bob Shephard, a farmer, beekeeper, farmers market manager and vendor at Washington in southeast Iowa. “For me, because it’s visual, this new system removed the uncertainty I had before. I was uncertain if I was providing correct information to pesticide applicators. That’s gone now.”
The registry was made possible by a monetary award given to IDALS by the Agribusiness Association of Iowa Foundation in 2016. Donors included Iowa Agriculture Aviation Association, Syngenta Crop Protection, Dow AgroScience, Growmark Foundation, Monsanto, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Iowa Wine Growers Association, Crop Production Services Inc., Helena Chemical and Meridian Ag.
Pleased to see this new registry become reality
Dave Tierney, past chairman of the AAI Foundation, says the collaboration and monetary award was a win-win. “We are really pleased we could partner with IDALS and FieldWatch to see this new registry become a reality. Iowa beekeepers and sensitive-crop growers have embraced this system. And there’s no question the data presented is more accurate, as well as more accessible, to the applicators,” he says.
Stephanie Regagnon, CEO of FieldWatch, says there was great anticipation for Iowa to collaborate with FieldWatch. “Iowa is a key ag state, and the staff and board at FieldWatch were excited when the Iowa Department of Ag inquired about partnering with us,” she says. “As an added bonus, essentially all of the states around Iowa were participating members of FieldWatch, so when Iowa signed on, it closed the hole, so to speak, in the Midwest. Applicators who work throughout the Midwest are now able to use FieldWatch programs over the entire region.”
Staff at IDALS promoted the rebooted registry throughout the winter of 2016-17, promoting its features at annual workshops and conferences, writing press releases, and collaborating with others including staff at ISU’s Pesticide Safety Education Program that work closely with pesticide applicators.
Iowa farmers need to register
The state ag department encourages producers and apiarists to register or re-save data they entered into the registry in 2017. Along with apiary sites, half-acre or larger commercial vineyards, orchards, fruit and vegetable grow sites, nursery and Christmas tree production sites, and certified organic crops are included in the registry.
Once registered, producers can log in any time and edit contact and site information at the Iowa Sensitive Crops Registry.
Questions can be directed to IDALS state horticulturist Paul Ovrom at [email protected] or 515-242-6239.
Source: Iowa Department of Agriculture
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