Soil temperatures have been steadily warming since late March at Hort Farm No. 2 (North Brunswick). Temperatures consistently ran above 50 degree Fahrenheit in early April, and between 50 and 60 degrees from 10 to 27 April. May 1st was the fifth consecutive day of the maximum soil temperature reaching at least 65 degrees. Thus, soil temperatures […]
Archives for May 2017
Water testing requirements under the Food safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
Water testing is a major component of FSMA. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that growers begin sampling agricultural water to create a microbial water quality profile when they need to start complying with FSMA. No grower needs to start sampling until January, 2018 (growers over $500,000), small growers 2019 (growers between $250,000 and $500,000) and very small growers 2020 ($25,000 to $250,000). All growers have 2 to 4 years to complete sampling. How many samples are needed is not clear at this point. FDA is revisiting the water [Read more…]
Ag Water and Produce Safety
Veg IPM Update: Week Ending 5/03/17
Sweet Corn
The Vegetable IPM blacklight trap network is nearly complete. With limited numbers of traps having been checked, only one European corn borer (Allentown, Mercer County) and one corn earworm (Old Bridge, Middlesex County) have been recorded. As sweet corn is currently in the seedling stage, neither of these catches represent a threat. As catches become more consistent, maps of the adult populations of these two pests will be published in the weekly IPM Update.
Cole Crops
With warm, sunny days, IPM personnel have discovered a number of heavy infestations of crucifer flea beetle. These beetles can build to high populations quickly, especially where wild mustard and related cruciferous weeds are common. Extreme feeding on small transplants can cause irreversible damage if not controlled promptly. [Read more…]
Some Early Disease Activity
Sorry no pictures for this post, but thought I would share some recent observations. The recent rains and warm night on Friday/Saturday brought out two diseases on annual bluegrass earlier than we typically experience at the research farm in North Brunswick NJ (Hort Farm No. 2). Saturday morning, our graduate student found nickel- to quarter-sized spots […]
Some Early Disease Activity
Sorry no pictures for this post, but thought I would share some recent observations. The recent rains and warm night on Friday/Saturday brought out two diseases on annual bluegrass earlier than we typically experience at the research farm in North Brunswick NJ (Hort Farm No. 2). Saturday morning, our graduate student found nickel- to quarter-sized spots […]