Free Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Planning Tool introduces new benchmarking feature
The latest update to a free Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Tool created by ADAS, NFU, SRUC, and the Voluntary Initiative allows users to see nationwide crop risks and compare their pest, disease, and weed control practices with other farms.
In a year marked by abnormally early crop disease pressures, over 880 British farmers, agronomists, and advisors have made use of the free IPM Tool to create over 1200 bespoke IPM cropping plans online. As part of a new update released this week, new benchmarking functionality allows users to view current invertebrate pest, disease, and weed risks on a national level, and compare their IPM actions and practices with other growers.
This new benchmarking function will enable growers and their advisors to understand important trends for risks affecting their particular crop type at any given time and can help inform IPM planning decisions for the upcoming season. The benchmarking data is dynamically updated as IPM cropping plans are completed so users will always have access to the latest available data.
Ability to see effective IPM approaches used on other farms
John Gadsby, Agricultural Consultant at ADAS who led on the development of the IPM Planning Tool said:
“A primary goal for creating this tool in the first place was IPM knowledge sharing. The ability to see how other farmers are approaching IPM interventions will give users a chance to learn from all those who have completed an IPM plan, and ultimately provide a means for peer-to-peer learning with an ever-expanding pool of farmers”.
Philip Walker, Senior Consultant at ADAS and Project Coordinator, agreed:
“The IPM Planning Tool is proving to be a useful and popular support for farmers and agronomist, and the latest update shows that we have considered that a real time functionality is a useful addition and allows users to make up to date decisions for practicing IPM”.
Thomas Clayton, a mixed arable, outdoor root crops, and livestock farmer based in West Suffolk, said:
‘The IPM Tool has been really useful for us managing crops across such a diverse rotation. It allows us to see if we are on the right track for IPM this current season and also gives us the opportunity to plan and adapt our IPM approaches for future seasons’.
How to access the tool online
The IPM Planning Tool is freely available at www.ipmtool.net or via the VI website https://voluntaryinitiative.org.uk/schemes/integrated-pest-management. BASIS crop protection and environmental advisor points are available for completing the tool.
About the IPM Tool
The IPM Planning Tool was developed by ADAS, NFU, SRUC and Voluntary Initiative in September 2023 to help farmers create crop specific IPM management plans. It can be used as an option to fulfill the requirement of Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) paid action ‘IPM 1 Assess integrated pest management and produce a plan’
Built to complement VI’s existing IPM Plan, the tool covers all the main arable and outdoor horticultural crops and offers easy access to information about methods available for controlling relevant pests, weeds, and diseases. Development of the tool was funded by Defra and prior to launch, extensive testing was conducted with over a hundred farmers and agronomists as part of a Defra Test and Trial led by the NFU.