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NPARL Addresses National Research Issues
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 National Research Issues

Photograph of Hoary Cress seedlings.As a federal research facility the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL) in Sidney, MT is charged with addressing issues of not only regional importance, but those that also have national impact. At NPARL that means landmark research into ecological and integrated pest management techniques for stemming the stranglehold of exotic invasive weeds on the American landscape and pocketbook.

 

Invasive Weeds:   It is estimated that invasive species cost American taxpayers at least $137 billion per year, or approximately $500 for every individual in the country. These costs are predicted to rise over the next 10 years as more invasive species enter the country.  Agricultural, urban/suburban, and natural areas (e.g. National Parks) are all impacted. At NPARL, the emphasis on biological control of weeds, insects and pathogens offers an ecologically sound and cost-effective long term management strategy for many of these invasive species. NPARL researchers are in the forefront of biological control research for leafy spurge, knapweeds, saltcedar and hoary cress.

 

Grasshoppers:   But invasive weeds are not the only nationwide pests plaguing producers, land managers and many of our fragile, unique ecological treasures. Grasshoppers, too, pose an ongoing threat to crops and pastures across the nation, and indeed around the world, impacting food supplies for livestock and wildlife, as well as humans. NPARL, again, is at the forefront of research in this area, hosting the largest contingent of grasshopper researchers in the nation, all charged with developing ecologically sound methods for managing the ancient pests.

 

Unlike past control efforts, which have relied on reactive, large-scale, pesticide spraying programs (now infeasible for economic, as well as, environmental reasons), NPARL researchers are studying ways to stem outbreaks BEFORE they occur. Current research focuses on development of sustainable grasshopper management systems that use management practices and ecological processes in place of exclusive reliance on pesticides. Habitat management, biological control and ecological studies are all part of the NPARL grasshopper research effort, which has shown that twice-over rotational grazing can reduce grasshopper populations by 70% compared to season long grazing. Researchers are also testing promising pathogens for their potential as biocontrol agents for grasshoppers, as well as examining the insect's dietary preferences during different life stages which could ultimately lead to new cultural methods for curbing population growth.

 

Other NPARL researchers are studying Mormon Crickets, a close relative of grasshoppers, that band together and migrate in the millions. 

 

Click here for a PDF article published in Nature magazine titled "Radio tracks crickets."  (Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view this pdf; 292 KB).

 

Photograph showing an airplane spraying a sugar beet field for Cercospora leaf spot disease.Sugar Beets:   Other research at NPARL targets crops threatened by particular diseases and/or pests. At the Sidney lab, the nation's sugar beet producers are getting research assistance for two such nationwide threats. The first, Cercospora leaf spot, is one of the most important diseases of sugar beets in the world. Severe disease incidence results not only in lost yields and reduced sugar content, but also the expensive application of pesticides. Current research efforts are looking at biological control agents to stem the disease without relying on pesticides, as well as developing new molecular methods for rapidly detecting and identifying the disease in neighboring plants which, while carriers, do not exhibit disease symptoms themselves. The second threat being addressed is the sugar beet root maggot, considered the most important insect pest of sugar beets in the U.S., affecting production on more than 1,250,000 acres. Yield losses of 20-40% are common where highly toxic insecticides are not used. NPARL researchers are currently investigating the use of several disease-causing fungi as microbial insecticides for controlling the pest and eliminating or reducing the need for chemical insecticide control.

 

Other areas of national import being investigated by NPARL scientists include:  Biological Control of Wheat Stem Sawfly, Diverse Irrigated and Dryland Cropping Systems, Precision Agriculture, Soil Quality