Beneficial insect conservation in agriculture is often studied in the context of integrated pest management (IPM). For instance, vegetative field edges provide habitat and changing the timing of insecticidal sprays decreases risk for pollinators and natural enemies of insect pests. However, the attitudes and confidence of U.S. growers towards IPM implementation in traditional row crops remain understudied. We developed an online survey using a convenience sample and surveyed Kentucky soybean growers to understand their current pest and general management practices, beliefs about sources of insect pests/weeds, and attitudes towards pollinators. We also asked about their willingness to implement two management tactics—maintaining tree-lined field edges and changing the timing of their combination insecticide/fungicide sprays to avoid flowering. Our data indicate that many Kentucky soybean growers already use crop rotation, no-till soil management, and limit insecticide application based on high pest abundance. When asked about their management of field edges, the most common responses included removal of trees/shrubs, mowing, or herbicide application. Growers also believed that nationally, farmers can influence pollinator populations and that a portion of the soybean yield is due to pollinator activity within crop fields. However, they were less willing to maintain tree lines as a habitat for natural enemies and pollinators out of concern for the increased spread of weeds and insect pests. Given these findings, we need to evaluate the perceived and actual trade-offs of weed and insect pest management in future on-farm conservation efforts for beneficial insects such as pollinators using integrated pest and pollinator management.

中文翻译：

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肯塔基大豆农民对两种害虫和传粉媒介综合管理策略的支持

农业中的有益昆虫保护通常在虫害综合管理 (IPM) 的背景下进行研究。例如，植物田边提供栖息地，改变杀虫喷雾的时间可以降低传粉媒介和害虫天敌的风险。然而，美国种植者对传统行作物 IPM 实施的态度和信心仍未得到充分研究。我们使用便利样本开展了一项在线调查，并对肯塔基大豆种植者进行了调查，以了解他们当前的害虫和一般管理做法、对害虫/杂草来源的看法以及对传粉媒介的态度。我们还询问了他们是否愿意实施两种管理策略——维护绿树成荫的田地边缘，并改变杀虫剂/杀菌剂组合喷洒的时间以避免开花。我们的数据表明，许多肯塔基州的大豆种植者已经使用轮作、免耕土壤管理，并根据高害虫数量限制杀虫剂的使用。当被问及他们对田边的管理时，最常见的回答包括清除树木/灌木、割草或施用除草剂。种植者还认为，在全国范围内，农民可以影响传粉媒介的数量，并且大豆产量的一部分是由于农田内的传粉媒介活动。然而，出于对杂草和害虫传播增加的担忧，他们不太愿意维持树线作为天敌和传粉者的栖息地。鉴于这些发现，