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Kenneth R. Ostlie
Professor/ Extension Entomologist
Corn/soybean IPM
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Education:
B.S. Luther College (Decorah, Iowa), 1976, Biology and Mathematics
M.S. Utah State University, 1979, Ecology
Ph.D. Iowa State University, 1984, Entomology
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Background: As a farm boy from WC Minnesota, I grew up exploring nature. My path to entomology wasn’t straightforward. With a biological bias was towards plants; it wasn’t until I was studying ecology that the interaction between insects and plants began to dominate my interests. Agricultural entomology provided the opportunity to merge my newfound interest in plant-insect interactions and my farm background. |
Extension / Teaching Activities:
Conduct educational program on corn and soybean insects and their management. My educational philosophy is to engage farmers, and their advisory ag professionals, in exploring the contemporary management challenges posed by changing insect risks, evolving technologies and dynamic production needs. These challenges provide an excellent opportunity to teach insect biology, ecology and management at its interface with crop production. I relish the constantly changing educational situation; every year brings different insect problems.
Major foci of my extension activities have changed drastically over the last 10 years: European corn borer has faded from its status as a key pest only to be replaced by corn rootworms as their resistance to crop rotation intensifies. The invasive soybean aphid arrived in 2001 and changed the face of soybean production. Changing weather patterns has brought to the forefront other insect problems: bean leaf beetle, two-spotted spider mites and western bean cutworm. The introduction and rapid adoption of biotechnology has revolutionized corn rootworm and corn borer management. The necessity for insect resistance management vies with economic and logistical realities that farmers face in deciding their production practices. The current “insurance approach” towards use of crop inputs, such as Bt-corn, seed treatments and foliar insecticides now pose the greatest single hurdle to extension education programs.
Activities in my extension program include:
- preparing educational materials (publications, newsletters, web pages and presentations)
- teaching farmers and ag professions (county / cluster winter meetings, short courses, field days, field schools, clinics, and workshops)
- conducting applied research with extension staff and other ag professionals, and
- in-service training of extension educators.
Guest lecturer for departmental and college courses (integrated pest management, insect pathology, sampling, issues in natural resources)
Graduate Advising:
Major Professor for 5 M.S. students (S.E. Ross, S. Chaddha, L.J. Luedeman, A.M. Journey, and P.J. Price) and 1 Ph.D. (A.M. Journey).
Committee member for 10 PhD and 9 M.S. students. |
Research Interests:
- Biology, population dynamics and yield/quality impacts of bean leaf beetle under different management regimes
- Remote sensing of corn rootworm stress to corn and its implications for landscape assessment of changing corn rootworm risk and management
- Comparative performance of transgenic events for controlling corn rootworm and various Lepidopteran insects
- Impacts of weedy grasses and volunteer corn on corn rootworms and their implications for IRM
- Scouting techniques, strategies and their implications for insect management
- Sub-economic insecticide applications on soybean insects and their natural enemies, and its consequences for pest dynamics
- Insecticides, adjuvants and innovative application technologies: performance and use in managing corn and soybean insects (corn rootworm, white grubs, soybean aphid, two-spotted spidermites
Grants Funded (last 3 years):
Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council. 2007. Unlocking the mysteries of northern corn rootworms. $94K
MN Legislative Rapid Agricultural Response Fund. 2007. Corn rootworms: Adaptation, risk & transgenic corn $191K
Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council-Research. 2005-2007. Misc. research and technology transfer projects on soybean aphid and bean leaf beetle. 2005 - $89K, 2006 - $50K, 2007 - $??K.
USDA-ARS 2006. Contributions to a framework for managing insect implications of resistance to transgenic crops. 2006-2007. $30K.
Pioneer HiBred Int’l. Misc. research on rootworm-resistant transgenic events. 2005-7. $15.4K
Syngenta. Misc. research on Corn Rootworm Control with MIR604. 2006-2007. $17.4K.
Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. 2006. Strategies for Managing Corn Rootworm Problems in Rotated Corn. 2006-2012. $12.3K/yr. |
| Research Publications (last 3 years):
Hurley, T., I. Langrock and K. Ostlie. 2006. Estimating the Benefits of Bt Corn and Cost of Insect Resistance Management Ex Ante. Journal of Agriculture and Resource Economics 31(2):355-375.
Presentations (last 3 years):
Ostlie, K. 2007. Bt corn and the refuge dilemma. Paper presented at NC Branch – Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting, Winnipeg, MB.
Barnes, J. and K. Ostlie. 2007. Strategic evaluation of rootworm-resistant Bt corn, seed treatments and soil insecticides. Poster presented at NC Branch – Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting. Winnipeg, MB.
Ostlie, K. 2006. Managing corn rootworms in a less stable environment. Midwest Food Processors Conference. Appleton, WI.
Ostlie, K. 2006. Soybean Aphid: Economics and Management. Soybean Breeders Workshop. St. Louis, MO.
Ostlie, K. and E. Newberg. 2006. Soybean aphid: Comparative efficacy of conventional and electrostatic application. TriState Aerial Applicators Conference. Sioux Falls, SD.
Ostlie, K. 2005. Soybean aphid: A comparison of spray technologies. Presented as part of workshop on Electrostatic Sprayers – A Progress Report organized by Dave Eby, AgriFlite Services. National Agricultural Aircraft Association annual meeting. Phoenix, AZ. Nov. 29, 2005.
Ostlie, K., D. Hume. 2005. Inoculants and Seed Treatments – Cheap Insurance. Southwest Ontario Ag Conference. Ontario, Canada. January 5-6.
Ostlie, K., T. Baute. 2005. Soybean Aphids and Other Pests. Southwest Ontario Ag Conference. Ontario, Canada. January 5-6.
Awards and Honors (last 3 years):
Board Certified Entomologist of Mid-America - 2005 Entomology Educational Project Awards
- Consensus Recommendation for Soybean Aphid Control.
- Soybean Aphid Management Workshop
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