A field crops entomologist is encouraging farmers to incorporate beneficial insect habitats into their management plans.
Chris DiFonzo with Michigan State University tells Brownfield the best pest control comes from a thriving ecosystem.
“If we start to lose those free things out of the system, either growers have to pay more or the production becomes more limited,” she says. “Every time you spray a pesticide, it costs—it costs money and it also wipes out that free biological control.”
She says removing tree lines and ditch banks around fields decreases insect populations.
