The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) is urging commercial specialty crop growers, pesticide applicators, and beekeepers to collaborate in protecting sensitive crops and pollinators from harmful pesticides.
Specialty crops such as fruits and vegetables, along with pollinators, can be adversely affected by pesticides.
To help protect crops, FieldWatch™, an online mapping service, provides free resources for reporting the location of commercial specialty crops, organic crops, and beehives. The NDA monitors FieldWatch registries, which contain commercial apiary sites, vineyards, orchards, fruit and vegetable grow sites, nursery and Christmas tree production sites, certified organic and transitional organic crops, and other commercial crops.
Depending on the pesticide product, applicators may need to consult FieldWatch maps for specialty crops or beehives, survey the area adjacent to the application site, use no-spray buffers, or apply another day if the wind is blowing towards commercial specialty crops.
In Nebraska, 757 growers have registered a total of 2,173 specialty crop and apiary sites in FieldWatch, covering about 124,000 acres of specialty crops across 84 of the state’s 93 counties. The registration process is voluntary and free.
Pesticide applicators can view maps, sign up for free email alerts, get the free FieldCheck™ app, or receive direct data feeds or downloads.
FieldWatch integrates corn and soybeans with various herbicide traits into the mapping system, enabling row crop producers and pesticide applicators to work together to increase pesticide stewardship.
The DriftWatch registry also helps ag applicators stay in compliance with label directions for worker safety by displaying detasseling operation locations. Last year, approximately 85,200 acres of seed corn in 825 fields were displayed on FieldWatch.
For more information on FieldWatch and its registries (FieldCheck, DriftWatch, BeeCheck, and SeedFieldCheck), visit https://nda.nebraska.gov/pesticide/fieldwatch.html or call NDA Program Specialist Craig Romary at 402-471-2351.
