Archives for August 2023

August 14, 2023

Canadian Government Sets New Rules For Importing Romaine Lettuce From US This Fall

As reported in The Produce Reporter by Blue Book Services on August 1, 2023, the Canadian government has released new temporary licensing rules for importers of US romaine lettuce beginning September 28 and running through December 20, 2023.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CA FIA) summarized these new requirements in their statement outlining the rules:

“To decrease the risk associated with E. coli O157:H7 in romaine lettuce, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is implementing temporary Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) license conditions for the importation of romaine lettuce originating from the U.S. Between September 28 and December 20, 2023, importers of romaine lettuce and/or salad mixes containing romaine lettuce from the U.S. must:

    • declare that the product does not originate from counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey in the Salinas Valley, California, U.S., or
    • submit an attestation form and Certificates of Analysis for each shipment to demonstrate that the romaine lettuce does not contain detectable levels of E. coli O157:H7

Shippers sending romaine lettuce from other production regions to Canada during this time should expect to “provide a Proof of Origin indicating the state and county where the romaine lettuce was harvested”. Lack of proof of origin will require significant sampling and testing to assure lack of contamination before it will be allowed to be imported. Full details of this new rule are available on the CA FIA website at https://inspection.canada.ca/importing-food-plants-or-animals/food-imports/food-specific-requirements/romaine-lettuce-from-the-united-states/eng/1601488215302/1601488215678.

 

 

Filed Under: Food Safety, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , ,
August 14, 2023

Produce Safety Planning Workshops for Beginning Farmers

This fall the Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety Team is rolling out two brand new classes as part of our From the Ground Up initiative to support new farmers and all small-medium size farms. Our goal in creating these two complementary programs is to give farmers the power to achieve success in food safety and business.

On Wednesday September 27, 2023, we will be debuting the new class called “From the Ground Up: Produce Safety Planning for Beginning Farmers” held at the Rutgers Specialty Crop Research and Extension Center in Cream Ridge, NJ from 10:00am to 2:00pm. We designed this class to allow farmers to set themselves up for success in on-farm produce safety from the beginning, instead of having to go back later to correct infrastructure, systems, or training. A farm that has a well-established food safety culture is better able to meet market demands and consider production changes when planning for the future. Plan for your worker training needs, learn how to identify and reduce risk, and make a portable handwashing station to take home with you. Registration is $30.00 and includes lunch. Everyone who registers will get a voucher to attend our online “Food Safety Plan Writing Workshop” in October 2023 for free.

On Wednesday October 18th 2023, we will be holding our first Online Food Safety Plan Workshop from 6:00pm – 8:00pm Eastern Time via Zoom. The two-hour writing workshop will guide farmers through the step-by-step process of writing the plan best suited for their operation. All attendees will receive a customizable template to work with. A food safety plan can be used to standardize and streamline the training of new employees. This saves time in training and guarantees all members of a farm’s team take the same actions under the same circumstances. Having an on-farm food safety plan can guide farmers’ actions around food safety, forecast risk, serve as a worker training tool, and aid with overall organization.
Registration is $15.00 and free for everyone who attended our September 2023 program in Cream Ridge, NJ.

Follow these links to register and learn more about each class:
“From the Ground Up: Produce Safety Planning for Beginning Farmers”, Wednesday September 27, 2023, Cream Ridge, NJ, 10:00am – 2:00pm Eastern Time
“Online Food Safety Plan Workshop”, via Zoom, Wednesday October 18th 2023, 6:00pm – 8:00pm Eastern Time

Filed Under: Food Safety
August 14, 2023 and

Tree Fruit IPM Report for August 14, 2023

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth: A biofix point for OFM was set on 4/10 in both northern and southern counties.  All timings for OFM have past. Additional treatments are only necessary if trap captures exceed 6 adults/trap:

Brown Rot: Brown rot is now appearing in ripening fruit in all regions. Most rotting fruit is the result of fruit that is damaged due to cracking from excessive rain or split pits. Highly effective rot materials such as DMI’s (FRAC group 3) and Strobilurins (FRAC group 11) should be applied beginning 3 – 4 weeks prior to harvest. See the NJ Commercial Tree Fruit Production Guide for more information.

Scale Insects: Second generation crawler emergence is just past peak for San Jose Scale and White Peach Scale. White Peach scale has a third generation in September and San Jose scale may have a third generation in October. Esteem and Centaur are both good scale materials. Esteem and Centaur should be applied at the start of crawler emergence. These materials should only need one application. Other options include: Assail, Belay, Actara (Group 4A): Closer (Group 4C); Sivanto (Group 4D) and the bioinsecticide Venerate. These products may need more than one application, typically 2 applications bracketing peak crawler emergence which should occur between the first and third week of August. Only Venerate has a 0 day PHI, making it useful for blocks near or at harvest. Diazinon is also still labelled for peach and apple: for San Jose Scale, it is labeled at a rate of 1#/100 with a 21 day PHI for both peach and apple; for White Peach Scale it is labeled at a rate of 1.5-2#/100 for post-harvest application only. The label requires 14 days between applications.

Apples and Pears:

Diseases: Primary diseases now are the summer diseases such as bitter rot, and sooty blotch and fly speck. Bitter rot control has been difficult at best in recent years even where management programs have been rigorous. Research has suggested products such as Merivon, Luna Sensation and Inspire Super may be effective, and longtime reliable broad spectrum fungicides such as captan and ziram should provide control. Experience has suggested that the addition of phosphorous acid products such as Prophyt or Rampart to captan sprays may improve control. Observations are that these products improve control of other summer diseases such as sooty blotch and flyspeck, and may help suppress scab infections where present. Bitter Rot symptoms continue to appear in all growing regions.

Codling Moth (CM): The first generation codling moth timings have ended. Additional applications should be made if trap captures exceed 5 moths/trap. Trap captures continue and increased slightly in most southern county orchards this week. A biofix was set for CM on April 17th in both northern and southern counties. Codling moth trap captures continue. Most are below threshold, with only a few above 5 moths/trap.

Scale Insects: See peach section above.

Tree Fruit Trap Captures – Southern Counties

STLM TABM-A CM BMSB OFM-A DWB OFM-P TABM-P LPTB PTB
4/15/2023 433 20 1
4/23/2023 423 1 13 8 4
4/30/2023 417 7 15 4 1 0
5/06/2023 9 2 3 1 0 0
5/13/2023 18 2 7 2 3 0 6 6
5/20/2023 5 18 6 0 51 0 13 67
5/27/2023 1 11 4 0 17 0 11 49
6/03/23 3 8 2 1 24 0 13 65
6/10/2023 21 14 5 0 55 0 6 54 0
6/17/2023 10 11 5 0 57 0 8 46 4
6/24/2023 15 5 2 0 57 0 6 47 2
7/1/2023 342 3 0 0 69 0 3 37 6
7/8/2023 463 0 0 0 26 0 0 35 6
7/15/2023 456 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 37 5
7/22/2023 25 0 1 0 0 57 0 0 38 3
7/29/2023 136 0 1 0 0 48 0 0 22 3
8/6/2023 321 0 2 0 0 54 0 0 20 5
8/13/2023 387 1 3 0 0 54 0 0 22 10

Tree Fruit Trap Captures – Northern Counties

STLM TABM-A CM BMSB OFM-A DWB OFM-P TABM-P LPTB PTB
4/8/2023 10
4/15/2023 20 3
4/30/2023 28 11 6
5/06/2023 22 2 19 9
5/13/2023 34 1 3 2 5 0
5/20/2023 31 6 7 1 6 0
5/27/23 16 18 4 1 17 3 11
6/03/23 12 26 2 0 17 2 12
6/10/2023 21 14 5 0 55 0 54
6/17/2023 63 53 2 1 15 1 6
6/24/2023 134 52 3 1 0 11 3 8
7/1/2023 87 33 1 1 0 12 4 1 3
7/8/2023 296 37 1 1 0 30 0 0 1
7/15/2023 189 9 1 1 0 28 4 4 8
7/22/2023 177 6 1 0 0 46 1 3 6
7/29/2023 145 1 2 1 0 24 1 2 2
Filed Under: Tree Fruit
August 13, 2023

Private Applicators: NJDEP August Mailing of 2024 Invoices & Recertification Credit Status

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has mailed out pesticide license credit status to applicator, operator, and dealer mailing addresses of record. If you have not received your notice please review “NJDEP Pesticide Licensing & Registrations – 2024 Pesticide License Renewal Information“. If you are a Private Pesticide Applicator with a license expiration of […]
Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
August 11, 2023 and

Agri-Technology and Vegetable Research Twilight Meeting

Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center (RAREC)

121 Northville Road, Room 146. Bridgeton, NJ 08302

Wednesday August 16, 2023

5 PM until dark

This meeting is free with no registration required. Refreshments and ice cream will be served.

This year’s twilight meeting at RAREC will showcase new agricultural technologies including the newly installed agrivoltaics system established at RAREC. Discussions will include:

  • New technologies for autonomous seeding and weeding.
  • Drone technologies for improving crop production and decision making.
  • Living mulches
  • Production potential of fiber hemp
  • Copper resistance and disease control in bell peppers.
  • Controlling Phytophthora blight.

Note:  The following pesticide credits have been approved: 

 CORE – Basic Safety & Handling – (1 credit),

PP2 – Private applicator – (5 credits),

1A – Agricultural Plant – (5 credits),

11 – Aerial – (1 credit)

10 – Demonstration & Research -(4 credits).

         

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, pesticide credits, Vegetable Crops
August 10, 2023

Corn Earworm Alert 8/11/23

Corn earworm (CEW) activity has increased significantly as of this Tuesday (8/9/23).  While some trap numbers (blacklight and pheromone) in the northern counties are not excessively high, there have been much higher counts almost everywhere, with a number of very high trap catches.  The number of pheromone traps reporting since the beginning of the week is low, but what we have indicates that silk spray schedules should tighten at this time.  Blacklight catches in parts of Middlesex, Mercer and northern Burlington counties are all indicating 3 day silk spray schedules at this time.  Areas south of this should adjust to that interval as well.  Northern areas, with the exception of some parts of Hunterdon and Somerset counties are somewhat lower.  Morris, Warren and Sussex counties should manage with 4 day schedules for now.  All is subject to change and will be updated when we have further trap catch information.

 

The highest nightly pheromone trap catches of CEW for the period ending 8/10/23 are as follows:

Tabernacle   275 Georgetown   16
Elm   71 Dayton   11
South Branch   44
Snyder Farm (Hunterdon)   32

Silking Spray Schedules*:
South – 3 days

Central – 3  days

North – 4 days

*These recommendations are based on regional catches.  Adhere to tighter spray schedules if indicated by local trap catches.  Synthetic pyrethroids alone should NOT be used for corn earworm (CEW) protection on silking corn, or for fall armyworm (FAW) management at any stage.  Control with these materials is very inconsistent.

 

 

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops