Specialists from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will lead a blueberry-centric integrated pest management (IPM) field day on Wednesday, Feb. 21 in Alma, Georgia.

The event, which is open to the public, will feature a blueberry pest management discussion by Assistant Professor Ash Sial, UGA IPM coordinator, as well as a sprayer calibration demonstration by Professor Glen Rains, both of the college’s Department of Entomology.

“The field day is a great opportunity to put growers in touch with specialists to learn hands-on identification and sprayer calibration,” said Renee Allen, commercial blueberry area agent for UGA Cooperative Extension in Bacon County. “This collaboration benefits everyone. The growers can get the answers they need and the specialists can hear what information is highest in demand.”

Sial and his team will be on site to answer all blueberry IPM-related questions for personnel and growers. He is looking forward to sharing his knowledge with the public.

“Some of the topics to be discussed include gall midge, thrips and spotted wing drosophila in blueberry crops,” Sial said. “These are the most common blueberry IPM issues, and we would like growers to have as much information as possible. It is also the perfect opportunity for growers to get information specific to their farms.”

The field day will begin at 9:45 a.m. at UGA’s Blueberry Research and Demonstration Farm. The half-day event will end at noon and will be followed by lunch. Those planning to attend must reserve their space with the Bacon County Extension office by emailing uge4005@uga.edu or by calling (912) 632-5601.

This field day is sponsored by DowDuPont Inc., AirScout and Bennett’s Tractor Service LLC.

For more information about the field day, please visit the UGA Blueberry Blog at blog.caes.uga.edu/blueberry/.