Experience:

1990 – 1993 & 1995 Field Technician, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station,

TX

1998 – 2004 Extension Agent –IPM Texas Cooperative Extension Service, Jones, Mitchell, Nolan and Scurry Counties

2004 – Present Extension Agent-IPM Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Calhoun, Victoria and Refugio Counties

IPM Unit Description:           

Farmers in Calhoun, Victoria and Refugio counties – located in the Texas Coastal Bend region – plant over 67,000 acres of cotton, 54,000 acres of corn, 18,000 acres of soybeans and 57,000 acres of grain sorghum each year (10-year averages). These crops have an average annual value of $20 million, $14.4 million, $3 million and $10 million, respectively (NASS 2011). The annual gross revenue of these major field crops in the 3-county IPM unit is $47.4 million.

Meetings and Publications:

Hundreds of county, state and local presentations

7 Extension Publications

~11 Newsletters per year

1 Trade Journal Article

Collaborative Work:

Master Gardeners, 4-H, Victoria Farmer’s Market Association, public schools, Texas Soybean Association, South Texas Cotton and Grain, Texas Corn Producers, Texas Sorghum Producers, Texas Pest Management Association, Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation.

Scholarly Presentations:

13 Entomology Science Conference presentations

1 Texas Plant Protection Conference presentation

1 Entomology Society of America presentation

10 Regional or National Commodity Group presentations

Selected Scholarly Presentations:

Biles, S. 2005. Sugarcane Borers in Corn of South Texas. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2005.

Biles, S. 2005. Evaluation of Economic Thresholds of Stink Bugs in Soybeans. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2005.

Biles, S. 2005. Evaluation of Seed Treatments in Cotton. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2005.

Biles, S. 2005. Evaluation of Various Bt Genes for Bollworm in Cotton. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2005.

Biles, S. 2006. Comparison of Stink Bug Scouting Techniques. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2006.

Biles, S. and R. Parker. 2006. Effect of Baythroid Insecticide Applied for Corn Earworm. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2007.

Biles, S. and R. Parker. 2006. Evaluation of Experimental Corn Hybrids. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2007.

Biles, S. 2007. Management of Cotton Fleahoppers with Insecticides. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2007.

Biles, S. 2007. Management of Thrips in Cotton With Insecticides. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2007.

Biles, S. 2007 Sugarcane Borer Effects on Fumonisin Levels in Corn. Entomology Science Conf. College Station, TX. Nov. 2007.

 

Biles, S. 2009. Are Thrips a Pest in Soybeans? Entomology Science Conf. Nov. 2, 2009. College Station, TX.

Biles, S. 2009. What are Creontiades signatus Doing in Grain Sorghum? Entomology Science Conf. Nov. 2, 2009. College Station, TX.

Biles, S. 2009. Pest Status of Thrips in Soybeans. Texas Plant Protection Conference. Dec. 3, 2009. College Station, TX.

Biles, S. 2010. Bean Thrips: A Pest in Soybeans. Texas Soybean Conference. Feb. 4, 2010. Bay City, TX.

Biles, S. 2010. Treatment Timing Targeting Cotton Fleahoppers. Entomology Science Conference. Nov. 3, 2010. College Station, TX.

Biles, S. 2010. Cotton and Soybean Insect Management. Southern Cotton, Corn and Soybean Pest Management Seminar. October 12, 2012. Savanah, GA.

Biles, S. 2010. IPM Concepts and Applied Research. South Texas Farm and Ranch Show. October 27, 2010. Victoria, TX.

Biles, S. 2010. Sucking Insect Control on the Texas Gulf Coast. Cotton Incorporated Texas State Support Committee. Lubbock, TX. Dec. 2, 2010.

Recent IPM Emphasis and Accomplishments:

The focus of Mr. Biles IPM program efforts has been to provide educational information which enables cotton, corn, grain sorghum and soybean growers to farm more profitably, with lower environmental impact and lower risk to human health. He has had focus areas which have included stalk borers on corn and grain sorghum, Bt transgenic cotton, weed management, management of early season cotton pests, best management practices for drip irrigated cotton, use of plant growth regulators and defoliants on cotton.

Mr. Biles conducted a survey of agricultural producers in 2010. The consensus of survey respondents was that the IPM Program has a value of $10 per acre on their farms. If their estimate accurately reflects the value of the IPM program to all farmers in the 3-county IPM unit, growers realize a $2 million in benefit each year from the program.

Scholarly Publications:

Biles, S.P. and J.T. Cothren. 1996. Optimized timing of Cyclone applications for cotton dessication. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  P. Dugger and D. Richter (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  pp. 1216-1218.

Biles, S.P. and J.T. Cothren. 1997. Fruiting and development of cotton treated with combinations of mepiquat chloride and PGR-IV. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  P. Dugger and D. Richter (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  pp. 1380.

Biles, S., T. Cothren, J. Landivar and G. Teetes. 1999.  Flowering responses to mepiquat chloride and PGR-IV. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  P. Dugger and D.A. Richter (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  p. 547.

Cothren, J.T., P.H. Jost and S.P. Biles. 1999. Cotton dessication and defoliation by paraquat influenced by time of day. Crop Science 36:859-862.

Biles, S.P., and J.T. Cothren. 2001. Flowering and yield response of cotton to application of mepiquat chloride and PGR-IV. Crop Science 41:1834-1837.

Sansone, C.G., D.A. Mott, S.P. Biles and R.R. Minzenmayer. 2002. Evaluation of new insecticides for control of cotton fleahoppers in two production regions of Texas. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  J. McRae and D. Richter (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.

Biles, S., C. Sansone and B. Warrick. 2003. Determining the optimum timing for the final drip irrigation on cotton based on crop monitoring: West Texas.  In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  P. Dugger and D. Richter (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  pp. 1735-1739.

Multer, W., J. Gulley, S. Biles and C. Sansone. 2004. Determining the optimum timing for the final drip irrigation on cotton based on crop monitoring: West Texas. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf. D. Richter (ed).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  pp. 885-887.

Livingston, S.D., R.D. Parker, J.D. Janek and S.P. Biles. 2006. The use of transgenic cotton weed control systems to control Texas smellmelon (Cucumis melo Dudaim) and other problem weeds on the Texas Gulf Coast. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  M. Huffman and D. Richter (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  pp. 2247.

Mott, D.A., R. Parker, S. Biles, D. Fromme, M. Jungman, R. Lemon, C. Sansone, M. Muegge. 2006. Evaluation of Gaucho Grande and other insecticides for management of early season insects pests in cotton across eastern Texas. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  M. Huffman and D. Richter (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  pp. 1556-1559.

Lemon, R.G., D.J. Pigg, D.D. Fromme, S.P. Biles, D. Rankin, P. McGuill, J. Mask, M. Hiller and V. Saladino. 2007. Roundup Ready Flex Bollgard II Uniform Cotton Variety Trials in South and Central Texas. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  S. Boyd, M. Huffman, D. Richter and B. Robertson  (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  pp. 195.

Huang, F., R. Leonard, S. Moore, B. Yue, R. Parker, T. Reagan, M. Stout, D. Cook, W. Akbar, Cl Chilcutt, W. White, D. Lee and S. Biles. 2008. Geographical susceptibility of Louisiana and Texas populations of the sugarcane borer Diatraea saccharalis (F.) (Lepidoptera: Cramibidae) to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry 1 Ab protein. Crop Protection 27: 799-806.

Mott, D.A., G.D. Morgan, D.D. Fromme, S. Biles, C. Crossland, J. Janak, M. Hiller, B. Batchelor, P. McGuill and C. Crumley. 2011. On-farm agronomic and economic evaluation of stackled-gene  cotton cultivars in the Upper Caoastal Bend region of Texas.  In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf.  S. Boyd, M. Huffman and B. Robertson  (eds).  National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN.  pp. 84-88.

Awards:

2002          Texas Pest Management Association – Excellence in IPM Programming Award 0-6 Years

      2004          Texas AgriLife Extension Specialists Association – Distinguished Achievement, CEA-IPM

      2008          Texas Pest Management Association – Excellence in IPM Programming Award 7+ Years

2008          Southern Region Friends of Southern IPM – Outstanding State IPM Program Award

2010          Texas Pest Management Association – Outstanding IPM Agent Award