Archives for July 2021

July 30, 2021 Wes Kline

Vegetable Twilight Meeting and Research Tour

Thursday, August 19, 2021, 4:00 pm (meet at the shelter near the parking lot)

Rutgers Agricultural Research & Extension Center

121 Northville Rd., Bridgeton, NJ (Upper Deerfield)

4:00 – Discussion

Strawberry Soil Fertility – Bill Hlubik, Middlesex County Agricultural Agent

Silicon, Sulfur and Manganese Nutrition for Protecting Cucurbits from Powdery Mildew – Joe Heckman, PhD, Specialist in Soil Fertility

Rutgers Covid-19 Project – Rick VanVranken, Atlantic County Agricultural Agent

Sustainable Agriculture and Research and Extension (SARE) Farmer Grants a Way to Try New Things and Cover the Cost – Michelle Infante-Casella, Gloucester County Agricultural Agent

4:30 – Tour

Evaluation of Bell Pepper Varieties and Breeding Lines for Bacterial Leaf Spot and Phytophthora Blight Management – Wes Kline, PhD, Cumberland County Agricultural Agent

Cover Crops for Between Beds in Plasticulture Cucumbers – Thierry Besancon, PhD, Extension Weed Specialist for Specialty Crops

Update on Breeding for Fusarium Wilt Resistance in Basil – Kathryn Homa, IR-4 Program

Anthracnose Control in Peppers – Andy Wyenandt, PhD, Specialist in Vegetable Pathology

Phytophthora Blight Control Through the Use of Fungicides – Andy Wyenandt, PhD, Specialist in Vegetable Pathology

Control of Basil Downy Mildew with Organic Materials – Andy Wyenandt, PhD, Specialist in Vegetable Pathology

The Effects of Simulated Dicamba Drift on Cucumber and Snap Bean Yields – Maggie Wasacz, Rutgers Graduate Student

Sweet Corn Demonstrating the Differences/Effectiveness of Non-Bt, Providence Bt, and Attribute II Bt Varieties for Resistance to Corn Earn Worm and Fall Army Worm – Joe Ingerson-Mahar, PhD, Vegetable IPM Coordinator

Update on Industrial Hemp Research in South Jersey – Raul Cabrera, Specialist in Nursery Production and Management

PESTICIDE CREDITS UNITS

1A Agriculture Plant 9

10 Demonstration and Research 9

PP2 Private Applicator 9

Note: face masks and hand sanitizers will be available

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Vegetable Crops

July 29, 2021 William Errickson

Spotted Lanternfly Reporting Tool

Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) sightings are increasing on many NJ farms, especially as customers from across the tri-state area visit agritourism and pick-your-own operations, contributing to the spread of this invasive insect. Accurate reporting is important for understanding the movement of this pest and for developing a comprehensive management plan.

SLF sightings should be reported to the NJ Department of Agriculture using their online reporting tool: https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/pests-diseases/spotted-lanternfly/#reporting-tool

If the sighting was in a known quarantine county (Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Salem, Somerset, or Warren) you do not need to fill out the report.

Additional resources for managing SLF on your farm can be found at:

https://njaes.rutgers.edu/spotted-lanternfly/

https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/pests-diseases/spotted-lanternfly/business-resources/

Filed Under: Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops

July 28, 2021 Kris Holmstrom and Joe Ingerson-Mahar

Vegetable IPM Update 07/28/21

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) moth catches continue to be extremely low around the state. ECB population maps will resume if second flight catches rise to high enough numbers.

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 07/28/21 are as follows:

Crosswicks 1

Matawan 1

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops

July 28, 2021 Hemant Gohil

Chardonnay Wine Tasting and Evaluations Workshop

Wine Tasting and Evaluation of Chardonnay from New Jersey Wineries

August 18^th (Wed): 9 am – Noon

@ William Heritage Winery, 480 Mullica Hill Road Mullica Hill, NJ 08062

Participants or Winemakers will be invited to bring their own wine release. Each wine tasting will be followed by discussions on harvest parameters, fermentation methods, materials and techniques, etc. Please read the recap of the past Chardonnay workshop at https://njvines.rutgers.edu/chardonnay-tasting-workshop-recap/ to get an idea of overview of the program.

Pre-registration Required: Registration is $30 for each attendee. Space is limited to 35 participants.

RSVP to Joan Medany at jmedany@co.gloucester.nj.us or 856-224-8030. Checks can be made payable to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

If you have any question, please contact program organizer, Hemant Gohil at gohil@njaes.rutgers.edu

Program Coordinators: Hemant Gohil, Gary Pavlis, Megan Muehlbauer, and Daniel Ward.

Sponsored by the New Jersey Center for Wine Research and Education

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape

July 27, 2021 Dean Polk, Dave Schmitt, Atanas Atanassov, Carrie Denson

Fruit IPM For 7/28/21

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth: The timing for third brood control is outlined below. In general, most populations are low and not causing problems.

OFM 3^rdGeneration Timing
		Insecticide Type
County/Region	Degree Days by 7/27 base 45	Conventional 2100-2200, 2450-2500	Diamide 2025-2150, 2375-2450
Gloucester – Southern	2436	1^st – past 2^nd – 7/27-7/30	1^st – past 2^nd – 7/25-7/27
Hunterdon – Northern	2217	1^st – 7/23-26 2^nd – 8/4-8/6	1^st – 7/21-25 2^nd – 8/3-8/5

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape

July 26, 2021 Melissa Bravo

Mid-season corn crop evaulations

Silking corn received some much needed precipitation over the last forty-eight hours across much of Salem County. On a hot July day, corn in pollination mode can easily uptake .25 to .30 inches of moisture. Depending on the location, some fields only received a day’s worth of rain while other’s under the path of the northeasterly tracking storms received upwards of .80 inches this weekend.

Curled leaves of corn waiting for rainfall

Evaluating field water holding capacity. Precipitation is critical to mazimizing grain fill on soils with low water holding capacity under these conditions. Soil compaction in fields that are exhibiting classic surface sealing are exasperating corn moisture stress conditions as seen in this July 23^rd photograph. Combined with the high evapotranspiration rate of the last two weeks, these soils are unable to absorb or retain enough moisture to meet crop removal needs. Now is a good time to evaluate soil water holding capacity and tilth condition and how well the corn hybrid planted on that soil met expectations despite any pressure from silk feeding insects.

When moisture stress occurs makes all the difference. Remember, corn hybrids mature at different times based on their individual need to accumulate heat units. Just before silking is visible, corn plants are in the V12 collar stage. At this stage, one can assume at least 880 heat units since planting at this location. At V12 stage, we can assume the crop emerged 43 to 50 days ago. When fifteen collars are present, the crop is about ten days away from silking. This is when ear size, kernel size and kernel number are determined. Take a moment to look back and see what maturity corn was planted. Do you like what you see? Despite the weather stress? If counting leaves, their should be at least sixteen leaves on the plant before the tassel appears on shorter season hybrids and as many as twenty-one on longer season hybrids.

What happens at silking? Did you know that at silking, 50% of the available nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil is taken up by the crop over the next few weeks. When did you put down nitrogen? Sixty days ago as a plow down but with a delayed planting? Forty days ago at planting? Twenty days ago as a side-dress? Did you split applications?

How many days are left to physiological maturity? An ‘85 day’ corn requires about 2100 heat units since planting to mature. ‘101’ day corn varieties require more than 2400 heat units. It’s the end of July. How many heat units are left in the growing season to reach physiological maturity based on the V stage of the crop? Given the soil moisture holding capacity of the soil, could you have planted that field any earlier? Planted it later? Used a longer or shorter maturing variety? If the planting date had remained the same, would a shorter day or a longer day corn have pollinated better or faired worse given the precipitation pattern at that locale? What if the planting date had been earlier, or later? How did tillage choice impact water holding capacity of that soil?

What next? While a typical field of corn can take up to fourteen days to reach full pollination, some of the crop wil be pollinating every day. This is actually a good thing. Pollen only sheds when anthers are dry and extreme heat can even kill pollen. Corn is wind pollinated. When shed, the pollen clouds will drift from twenty to fifty feet. Last week’s low air quality rating due to the smokey haze over the region was also due in part to the amount of corn pollen in the air locally. Conversely, on overcast rainy days, tassles do not release pollen to the silks below. Too much wind during pollen shed can actually blow the pollen beyond reach.

Lastly, while the silks are being pollinated they have to compete with japanese beetles, corn beetles and a myraid of other silk clipping insects.

If you can tolerate the smell and feel of corn pollen on your eyelashes, put on a rain coat and go for a walk through your crop to see how the interior of the field is fairing this season. Remember as hay comes off and soybeans are sprayed, the bugs are seeking haven in corn.