Stakeholder Vision of Future Direction and Strategies for Southeastern U.S. Nursery Pest Research and Extension Programming

Extension and research professionals worked with a focus group of 10 nursery owners and managers across a five-state region (Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee) in the southeastern United States to prioritize diverse nursery pests and production issues that are related to container and field production. A second focus group meeting, focused on technology, was followed by a survey that asked nursery growers to prioritize potential inputs and uses of information technology and the features they most valued, for example, that might be included within a nursery-specific mobile device application. The resulting prioritization highlights common challenges faced by growers across the southeastern United States in managing major plant diseases, arthropod pests, and weeds; as well as documenting emerging critical issues of nonpest related production issues, regulatory constraints, and technological needs. The focus group and survey format effectively identified grower needs that will help inform nursery producers and guide university Extension and research professionals, university administrators, industry associations, and state and federal government officials toward efficient resource allocation. These prioritizations explain the current state-of-need across a diverse agricultural industry segment and will help further refine future strategic action plans for nursery integrated pest management (IPM) and emerging critical nursery crop pest issues.