Kevin L. Steffey

Biographical Sketch

Kevin Steffey is an Extension Specialist and Professor of Agricultural Entomology in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. He received his B.S. in entomology from Purdue University (1972), his M.S. in entomology from the University of Missouri (1975), and his Ph.D. in entomology from Iowa State University (1979). Kevin began his career in Illinois in 1979 and has focused his educational and applied research programs on insect management in corn, alfalfa, and other field crops. His research efforts have included numerous studies of corn rootworm management and control, studies of nonchemical methods of managing European corn borers (including transgenic Bt-corn), alfalfa insect management, and insect surveys of agricultural systems. He is the author or co-author of 22 peer-reviewed publications, 20 invited publications (including 6 book chapters), and more than 175 extension publications.

Kevin also is an active member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA). He has served on several committees, was the Chair of Subsection Ea (1992-93), and was elected as the North Central Branch representative to the Governing Board (1990-93). Currently he is a contributing editor for American Entomologist (Postmarked: Extension, USA), coordinating editor for the ESA Handbook of Corn Insects, Section E representative on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Economic Entomology, and President-Elect of the North Central Branch. At the annual meeting of the ESA in 1996, he was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award for Extension Entomology.

Extension Activities

All of my extension education programs are focused on management of insects in field and forage crops. My primary responsibility is to develop educational programs and materials and disseminate information that will enable growers in Illinois to manage insects economically and in an environmentally sound manner. Following is a list of extension programs for which I am responsible.

Coordinator, Illinois Agricultural Pest Control Handbook. This publication is a 400- to 500-page manual that includes considerable input from specialists in the departments of Agricultural Engineering, Crop Sciences, and Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. It includes suggestions for management of insects, weeds, and plant diseases in field and forage crops, vegetables, stored grain, and livestock, as well as ample information about pesticides. The handbook is revised extensively each year.

Chair, Illinois Agricultural Pesticides Conference. This program has been conducted annually since 1949. I assumed the chair responsibilities in 1984. The conference is presented for anyone in agriculture who uses or recommends the use of pesticides in a crop pest management program. The program encourages the proper, timely, and wise use of pesticides within an integrated crop management system. Annual attendance is approximately 900 people.

The Proceedings of the Illinois Agricultural Pesticides Conference is a 200-page manual that contains the summaries of the presentations at the annual conference.

Executive Editor, Pest Management & Crop Development Bulletin. This newsletter is sent to approximately 3,000 subscribers each week during the growing season to inform agricultural professionals, including growers, about current pest problems and issues and provide timely and objective information about pest management tactics and crop development. The Bulletin is a compilation of articles submitted by specialists in the Department of Crop Science.

Research Activities

I conduct applied field research to support my extension programs, and all of my research has been conducted within a team format with colleagues and graduate students in the Department of Crop Sciences and the Illinois Natural History Survey. My primary research activities have been in the area of corn insect pest management, with focus upon corn rootworms and, more recently, European corn borers, Illinois' two key insect pests of corn. Past and current research efforts have focused upon the following:

• efficacy of biological and chemical insecticides against corn rootworm larvae in different crop rotation and tillage systems (annually)
• enhanced microbial degradation of soil insecticides (mid-1980s)
• interaction of soil insecticides with herbicides (late 1980s)
• efficacy of less-than-labeled rates of soil insecticides (early 1990s)
• response of different corn hybrids to rootworm larval injury (initiated in 1993)
• the phenomenon of western corn rootworm injury in corn planted after soybeans in east-central Illinois (initiated in 1996)
• areawide management of corn rootworms (beginning in 1997)
• the use of transgenic Bt-corn to manage European corn borers, including efficacy trials, feeding studies, and the effects of Bt-corn on beneficial insects, other pests (including weeds and plant diseases), and crop parameters (beginning in 1994)

Teaching Activities

I have no formal teaching appointment on campus at the University of Illinois. However, I have team-taught an extramural course, Management of Field Crop Insects, several times at different locations in the state.

Selected Publications

Alfalfa Insects

• Steffey, K. L., E. J. Armbrust, and D. W. Onstad. 1994. Management of insects in alfalfa, pp. 469-506. Chapter 11 in R. L. Metcalf and W. H. Luckmann [eds.], Introduction to Insect Pest Management, 3rd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Bt-Corn and European Corn Borers

• Steffey, K. L. 1995. Agronomic benefits of corn genetically modified to resist European corn borer and other lepidopteran pests. Submitted to USDA as part of Petition [of CFR 340.6] for Determination of Nonregulated Status: Insect Protected Corn (Zea mays L.) with the cryIA(b) Gene from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki, by the Agricultural Group of Monsanto Company, Chesterfield, Missouri. 33 pp.
• Steffey, K. L. 1995. Crops, genetic technology, and insect management: let's talk. American Entomologist 41: 205-206.
• Steffey, K., M. Gray, J. Shaw, and J. Finger. 1997. Bt-corn and European corn borers: have we solved the problem?, pp. 121-125. In Proceedings of the 1997 Illinois Agricultural Pesticides Conference. University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, Urbana-Champaign.

Corn Rootworm Management

• Buhler, W., C. R. Edwards, L. Bledsoe, K. Steffey, and M. Gray. 1997. Areawide management of corn rootworms: what's around the corner?, pp. 108-111. In Proceedings of the 1997 Illinois Agricultural Pesticides Conference. University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, Urbana-Champaign.
• Gray, M. E., K. L. Steffey, and H. Oloumi-Sadeghi. 1993. Participatory on-farm research in Illinois cornfields: an evaluation of established soil insecticide rates and prevalence of corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) injury. Journal of Economic Entomology 86: 1473-1482.
• Steffey, K. L., M. E. Gray, and D. E. Kuhlman. 1992. Extent of corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) larval damage in corn after soybeans: search for the expression of the prolonged diapause trait in Illinois. Journal of Economic Entomology 85: 268-275.

Insect Management and IPM

• Gray, M., and K. Steffey. 1997. Insect pest management for field and forage crops, pp. 1-36. Chapter 1 in 1997 Illinois Agricultural Pest Management Handbook. University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, Urbana-Champaign.
• Steffey, K. L. 1995. IPM today: are we fulfilling expectations? Journal of Agricultural Entomology 12: 183-190.
• Steffey, K. L., and M. E. Gray. 1997-1998. Management of field crop insect pests, pp. 206-223. Chapter 17 in Illinois Agronomy Handbook, Circular 1334. University of Illinois, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Champaign-Urbana.
• Steffey, K. L., M. E. Gray, and R. A. Weinzierl. 1992. Insect management, pp. 67-74. Chapter 13 in Conservation Tillage Systems and Management. MidWest Plan Service, Iowa State University, Ames.