We review the status of insect pests and beneficials in northern NSW, the role of Integrated Pest Management, the potential impacts of climate change on these interactions, and the ability of farmers to adapt and prepare to manage insect pests and beneficials in grain crops and adjacent areas. This outreach and extension project was undertaken between 2009 and 2012. The primary considerations that need to be made about pest insects and reducing reliance on prophylactic chemical sprays are in understanding the role that adjacent remnant vegetation plays in harbouring beneficial insects and having an understanding of both pest and beneficial insect biology. Here, we also assess the current support for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in northern NSW and identify the barriers farmers face in implementing and using IPM. We then evaluate methods used to integrate an Information-Based Service to growers and agronomists using extension activities, workshops, website, blog and insect identification service. Finally, we identify capacity to facilitate practice change in pest management using the IPM workshops, extension activities and integrating research into this knowledge transfer.

This study was carried out on three soybean farms located in the Liverpool Plains Shire in New South Wales, Australia. The soybean farms were different in terms of pesticide type used. One of the soy crops was sprayed with broad spectrum synthetic pesticides (synthetic pyrethroids), one site of soy crop was sprayed with natural pyrethrum - an organically certified pesticide, and one of the soy crops was not treated with any pesticides. Arthropod samples were collected on three occasions at every site except in the third site of soy crops which was not treated with any pesticides. Samplings were done using sweep nets and beat sheets. There were no significant differences of community structure change between farms treated with different pesticide regimes (F2,5= 4.2599, P(perm)= 0.188), and no significant differences in arthropod species richness. The abundance of arthropods was significantly different for site treated with biopesticide and site treated with synthetic pyrethroids (G6 = 284.36, P <0.0001), non-sprayed site and site treated with synthetic pyrethroids (G6 = 2110, P < 0.0001), and non-sprayed site to site treated with biopesticide (G6 = 2027, P < 0.0001). The use of synthetic pesticides in agriculture has been found to suppress pests and beneficial arthropods, while the use of biopesticides or without pesticide, to some extent, may let beneficials thrive in the system and also may suppress pest arthropods.