The IR-4 Project

Happy Juneteenth!

Happy Retirement, Marylee Ross! 🎉

Marylee Ross, Regional Field Coordinator for IR-4’s Northeast Region, retired on June 1. Marylee led a meaningful, 35-year career at the UMD-Lower Eastern Shore REC, working alongside fellow biologists to conduct research directly serving the needs of local and regional specialty crop producers. Marylee has been an incredible mentor, grower advocate, and community builder. We will miss her, but we know the Northeast Region team is well prepared to carry on her legacy of heartfelt leadership!

Read more about Marylee's inspiring path and retirement plans in our latest story:
https://www.ir4project.org/news/maryleerossretires/

Image courtesy of the University of Maryland.

The deadline to submit Project Clearance Requests (PCRs) ahead of this year's Food Use Workshop is July 1. Visit the Submit a Request page to learn more & complete your submission(s) for this year:

http://ncst.at/QJQ750ZcQvq

Thank you, Chorman Spraying, for hosting us on our specialty crop tour of Delmarva last week with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture colleagues. Our crew thoroughly enjoyed seeing all your helicopters up close, learning more about aerial applications and drone technology, and seeing how you cater to the specific needs of growers in your area. We appreciated the enlightening conversation, application demos & hospitality!

We had a fantastic time yesterday on our annual specialty crop tour with colleagues from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture. This year's route took us through the eastern shore of Maryland & Delaware.

Thanks to our attendees, hosts & organizers for the engaging discussions and meaningful learning opportunities at each stop. To top it off, we got lucky with the weather and even saw a rainbow on the bus ride back 🌈

Next week we'll share some of what we saw & learned along the way 👒🚌👩‍🌾

Growers and researchers—what pest problems are you seeing in nursery and ornamental production? IR-4's Environmental Horticulture Program is here to listen and help.

The Grower & Extension Survey is now open and welcoming responses to help shape future priority discussions for IR-4's Environmental Horticulture research. The Survey is designed for growers and producers to share their pest management challenges and needs.

The survey is open for responses throughout the year. The next priority-setting workshop for the EH program will be in the fall of 2027.

To fill out the Grower & Extension Survey (or complete a Project Request Form), visit the EH Program's Grower Needs page.

http://ncst.at/bMwp50Z7J4A

Registration is now open for the 2026 Food Use Workshop! This year’s event will be held September 15-17 in Austin, TX. Visit the event web page to register, book your hotel room & learn more about this annual priority setting workshop:
http://ncst.at/S2Tb50Z6Oaz

IR-4 extends our gratitude to Craig Kleppe at BASF Agricultural Solutions for being an outstanding liaison for many years, always engaged and helpful throughout our research process. We're glad to have Shannon Owings stepping in to take Craig's place—welcome to the IR-4 community, Shannon!

This is a busy time of year for much of the IR-4 Headquarters team, travelling to meet with our company liaisons. IR-4's industry colleagues are pivotal partners in our mission to help close the gap in pest management options for specialty crop producers.

Any gardener who has planted a mint plant in the ground has likely seen it take off running and never look back. Mint grows vigorously—usually too vigorously—in a garden bed. However, if you are a farmer growing mint for commercial production, you can often face challenging pest issues.

Diseases such as Verticillium wilt can devastate the crop and render the ground unusable in the future. Insects like mites and root or stem borers can reduce yield and quality. Weeds can contaminate mint oil, which must be pure and high-quality to flavor minty fresh products like tea, ice cream, gum and toothpaste.

This is where IR-4 makes a measurable impact—securing pest management tools to serve smaller-acreage, specialty crops like mint that desperately need pest control options for growers to succeed, and for consumers to enjoy the product. Working alongside growers, researchers, and the Mint Industry Research Council, we've helped secure access to game-changing tools for mint growers—and the work continues!

Read more in this story by Robin Siktberg:
http://ncst.at/1SJx50Z1IW1

Special thanks to Steve Salisbury from MIRC and IR-4's Commodity Liaison Committee for your assistance with this story. Photos of mint production, harvesting and processing courtesy of Mint Industry Research Council.