The United States Department of Agriculture just announced that anyone wanting a GAP or Harmonized Audit will see the base and hourly rate increase on October 1, 2017 from $92.00 per hour to $108.00 per hour. There also will be a base fee of $432.00 for either audit. This means if you have two or three audits a year each one will be charged $432.00 then the hourly rate will be added. Growers should try and combined as many crops as possible into one audit. Also, if a grower has been getting their audit in October or November, try to schedule them before October 1 to reduce your cost for this year.
For anyone calling for a quality or grade inspection the cost will increase to $191.00 per hour.
Archives for May 2017
USDA Audits and Inspections Rates to Increase
Vegetable Disease Update – 5/20/17
- Sunscald injury is being reported on newly transplanted crops with the excess heat this past week.
- Downy mildew has been reported as far north as Northern Florida on multiple cucurbit crops.
- Dickeya dianthicola has been confirmed in Dark Red Norland potato seed in New Jersey. This is the first report of Dickeya in NJ this growing season. Dickeya diathicola has also been reported in potato in VA and FL this year.
- Pectobacterium wasabiae (soft rot or Blackleg) has been confirmed in ‘Red Pontiac’, ‘Kennebec’, and ‘Adirondack Blue’ potato seed in New Jersey this spring.
2017 Wine Grape Twilight (North and South Jersey)
North Jersey: May 23, 5:30 PM @ Terhune Orchard Winery, 330 Cold Soil Rd, Princeton, NJ 08540
South Jersey: May 24, 5:30 PM @ White Horse Winery, 106 Hall St, Hammonton, NJ 08037 [Read more…]
Potato | Tomato Disease Forecast 5-19-17
Click to View | Download Report 5-19-17
We will be tracking DSVs for Late blight development and calculating P-days for initiating the first early blight fungicide application.
The first late blight fungicide application is recommended once 18 DSVs accumulate from green row. Green row typically occurs around the first week in May in southern NJ. An early season application of a protectant fungicide such as mancozeb (Dithane, Manzate, Penncozeb) or Bravo (chlorothalonil) as soon as the field is accessible is suggested. Please be vigilant and keep a lookout for suspect late blight infections on young plants. No late blight has been reported in our region to date.
Remember the threshold for P-days is 300! Once 300 P-days is reached for your location, early blight fungicide applications should be initiated. Growers who are interested in using this model should choose the location above that is closest in proximity to their farming operation and should regularly check the Cornell NEWA website (http://newa.cornell.edu) where this information is compiled from. Click on Pests Forecasts from the menu, select your weather station, and click on tomato diseases, set accumulation start date, and a table of daily and total DSVs will be generated.
Disease severity values (DSVs) for early blight, septoria leaf spot, and tomato anthracnose development are determined daily based on leaf wetness (due to rainfall, dew) and air temperature.
On a daily basis DSV values can range from 0 to 4 where 0 = no chance for disease development to 4 = high chance for disease development. DSVs are accumulated during the production season.
Fungicide applications are based on an individually determined DSV threshold. The first fungicide application for the control of these three diseases is not warranted until 35 DSVs have accumulated from your transplanting date. After that, growers can base fungicide applications on different DSV thresholds.
Reports generated by Ryan Tirrell
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey