My favorite day of the week became Tuesday because I got to go out to do fieldwork and spend some time outdoors and away from the computer. This year, I began monitoring two of my family's fields. I love that insect monitoring allowed me to get hands-on experience. Everything I learned via computer got transferred to the field, whether evaluating growth stages, identifying pests, or looking at damage. It was cool to see another side of agriculture that I normally wouldn’t see. Before, I wouldn’t have known to compare a pest with the growth stage of the crop and weather conditions. I now know the importance of scouting fields during critical time periods. I’ve come to appreciate the difficulty of farming on a whole new level because there are numerous components to take into account when deciding on the necessity and type of pest management strategy.
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| Figure 1. Collecting a sweep-net sample in our canola field on August 11, 2020 near Valhalla Centre, AB. Photo: A. Harpe 2020 |
Before this job, I honestly thought that, if there was a lot of insect damage, growers would just spray the field with insecticide. After becoming more educated on economic thresholds, I realized that this is not what happens at all. I would have never thought about insecticide resistance being a problem or the long-term effects of chemical management. I found insecticide use particularly interesting, especially neonicotinoids and how their use is tightly regulated in Canada.
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| Figure 2. Field work: Bertha Armyworm pheromone trap set-up in along the edge of a blooming canola field near Valhalla Centre, AB in 2020. Photo: A. Harpe 2020 |
Field work allowed me to gain a new appreciation for insects. Never the biggest fan of insects, I avoided them as much as I could before - a funny thought in hindsight. After this year, I am starting to understand and appreciate some of the important services and how they benefit us. They are so small yet make such a big difference in our lives and their impact is not recognized most of the time.
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| Figure 3. A beautiful blister beetle (Lytta nuttalli) found on a mint leaf on June 14, 2020, near Valhalla Centre, AB. Photo: A. Harpe 2020 |
The skills I gained during our paper discussions will also stick with me as I move forward. I’ve found the paper discussions with the IPM team to be very helpful in a number of ways. Normally, I am never one to ask questions in a lecture because I am too scared. The expectation to read research papers and prepare questions for a discussion, has pushed me out of my box. I changed my thinking style to “I am here to learn and become better.” I also realized that I need to push past my shyness to take advantage of opportunities and the expertise of individuals working in the field. I also appreciated all of the papers we read; they required critical thinking and questioning like, “What did the authors do that was great?” or “What might be done differently?” and so on. This allowed me to develop a greater understanding of the science and methods used when carrying out experiments. I came to appreciate the people that work in this field because agricultural studies often involve tedious work. Agriculture is also a challenging field as a lot of factors cannot be controlled and things can even work against you.
I can take these new skills with me to school, leadership opportunities, and more. Even though I am taking psychology in school, I feel as though this job will apply very well with research.
Although this summer didn’t start as planned, it turned out pretty great. Everyone in the IPM program is amazing and so helpful. Even though I grew up on a farm and have experienced how hard it is, I have so much more respect for all the farmers who do this job every day.
- Aarika Harpe
Thanks to Maiya Sears, Shelby Dufton and J. Otani for reviewing this Post.
Read more about the Students working in the IPM Program from May-August 2020.