Rutgers University | New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station | Pesticide User Responsibility

Archives for February 2013

February 13, 2013

Snow Molds?

The great blizzard of 2013, with all the snow and ice (and hype), has brought concerns about snow mold diseases in turfgrass. First thing first, I am glad I don’t live in Connecticut….40 inches! At any rate, snow cover provides an excellent environment for many fungi including some species of Pythium. In New Jersey we have the fungi Typhula incarnata, which causes the disease gray snow mold, and Microdochium nivale, which is the cause of pink snow mold (AKA: Fusarium patch).

Pink Snow Mold

Pink Snow Mold. Photo: Todd Clift, Country Club of Ithaca

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Filed Under: Plant Diagnostic Lab, Turf Tagged With: , ,
February 12, 2013

Soybean Mtg -Feb 13- Register Now

A statewide soybean producers meeting sponsored by the NJ Soybean Board will be held Wednesday from 9-3 at the Rutgers EcoComplex off Exit 52B of I-295. Breakfast and lunch will be served. Various pesticide credits are available. Please register by noon Tuesday by calling 609-585-6871.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates
February 11, 2013

Tall Fescue Varieties for Sports Turf

By Jim Murphy

The Rutgers Wear Simulator being operated
on the 2006 National Tall Fescue Trial.

Hope your winter is going well.

We recently published on the web a fact sheet update on Tall Fescue Varieties for New Jersey Sports Fields.

This fact sheet discusses the characteristics of traffic tolerance, turfgrass quality, and susceptibility to brown patch disease (caused by Rhizoctonia solani). Traffic tolerant varieties are more persistent under the combined stresses of wear and compaction, which are very common on sports turfs. The variety recommendations in this fact sheet are based on research conducted at Rutgers University on the 2006 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) Tall Fescue Test. Data from other locations was also used for these recommendations.

Filed Under: Turf
February 5, 2013

Pepper Weevil Damage Monitoring and Control in New Jersey

Pepper weevil does not overwinter in New Jersey. Once established during the season, pepper weevil spreads quickly and is destructive to pepper crops in fields or greenhouses. Why do we care about pepper weevil? Pepper weevil are the most important pest of pepper in sub-tropical regions like Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. They are transported to NJ, spread to farms causing extensive damage, and are carried as far north as Canadian greenhouse pepper crops.

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Filed Under: Vegetable Crops
February 1, 2013

FDA’s Proposed Produce Safety Rules Webinar

Webinar Date: February 7, 2013 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

While the USDA has no formal role in the development or implementation of the proposed rules for the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the agency’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Fruit and Vegetable Program is hosting the webinar as a service to the produce industry.

Dr. Jim Gorny, Senior Advisor, Produce Safety, for FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition will deliver a presentation on two groundbreaking FDA proposed rules under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA, with an emphasis on the proposed Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption. The proposed rules published in the Federal Register on Jan. 16, 2013 provide for a 120 day comment period. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Food Safety