February 12, 2021

Rutgers Online Pesticide Applicator Exam Portal is Open

To streamline NJ’s pesticide exam process, Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education has announced that the new online Pesticide Applicator Certification Exam Registration (PACER) system is available for your use immediately.

pacer.rutgers.edu

How the new system benefits YOU:

  • Online Access: Web-based PACER application is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • No More Snail Mail: Upload your support documents online and eliminate the time and expense required to mail them.
  • Quick Review Turnaround: Your application will be reviewed within 48 business hours and you will be notified of any problems or concerns with your documentation promptly via email.
  • Immediate Exam Scheduling: Online exams are available 24/7. Once in-person exams resume, YOU choose your exam date and location when you register; no more waiting to hear which of your exam date and time choices were available.
  • Fast Exam Results: See your exam grades within 7 business days of exam completion.
  • More Exam Times and Locations: Due to COVID-19, all exams are currently being offered online. When restrictions are lifted, online exams will continue and in-person exams will resume. New facilities will be added around the state to give you more options for added convenience. In-person exams will be administered weekdays, evenings and on Saturdays to better accommodate your schedule.
  • Manage Others’ Exams: Are you responsible for your organization’s employees? Now you can easily track and manage exam applications and scheduling for multiple people in PACER! Set up an account in PACER then provide us with the information listed below so we can upgrade your account to Business Manager. Send information to: pacer@njaes.rutgers.edu. (A commercial pesticide applicator business license number is required to establish a Business Manager account; a business license number begins with “9”).
    • Business Manager Name; Business Manager Email Address
    • Company Name; Company Address; Company Business License #
  • Support: Responsive, courteous help desk support is available Monday through Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm. Phone: 848‐932‐9271, Option 7; Fax: 732‐932‐1187; E‐mail: pacer@njaes.rutgers.edu

Examination Fees are $115 per each Category exam and the Core exam; $50 for the Private licensing exam:

  • Pay online via credit card or e-check, with no extra surcharge
  • Purchase Orders will also be accepted via upload
  • Exam payments are not refundable and online exams have minimum computer requirements detailed on the website

Please note that all exams are CLOSED book and the NJDEP no longer offers any pesticide certification exams.

The PACER website also has step-by-step instructions to create an account before registering for the exam, and user and hardware requirements to successfully complete the exam (Google Chrome internet browser, webcam, wired / Ethernet connection, ample bandwidth for Proctorio download and use, etc.). Also, make sure you choose a quiet and comfortable location to take your exams, as earphones or headphones are not permitted during the exam.

Please Visit the NJDEP website for information regarding pesticide licensing, policies, procedures, credits, and for payment and status of your license. For frequently asked questions regarding pesticide licensing please click here.

Visit PACER today!

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
February 8, 2021

USDA to Measure Financial Well-Being of Farmers and Ranchers

Agricultural Resource Management Survey Survey       Image result for usda ag counts

Initiated back in late December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will be spending these next several months gathering information about farm economics and production practices from farmers and ranchers across the United States, as the agency conducts the third and final phase of the 2020 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS).

“ARMS is the only survey that measures the current financial well-being of producers and their households as a whole,” said King Whetstone, director of the NASS Northeastern Region. “The results of this survey will help inform decisions on local and federal policies and programs that affect farms and farm families.”

In an effort to obtain the most accurate data, NASS will reach out to more than 30,000 producers nationwide, between January and April in 2021. The survey asks producers to provide in-depth information about their operating revenues, production costs, and household characteristics.

The 2020 ARMS survey includes a version of the questionnaire focused on hog and pig production costs and returns. This year the survey also includes questions to help measure any impacts of COVID-19 on farms, farm and household finances, and off-farm employment. “In February, our interviewers will begin reaching out to those farmers who have not yet responded,” said Whetstone. “We appreciate their time and are here to help them with the questionnaire so that their information will continue supporting sound agricultural decision making.”

In addition to producing accurate information, NASS has strong safeguards in place to protect the confidentiality of all farmers who respond to its surveys. The agency will only publish data in an aggregate form, ensuring the confidentiality of all responses and that no individual respondent or operation can be identified.

Growers can complete the survey online, saving you time by allowing you to skip over questions that do not apply to you, by calculating totals automatically, and by providing drop-down menus for common answers. It also saves taxpayer dollars that would otherwise be spent on return postage and data entry.

To complete your survey online, you will need your unique Survey Code from the address label on the paper questionnaire or letter you received in the mail. You can save a partially completed survey by clicking “Save and Return Later.” Do not click the “Submit” button until you are sure you are finished with your survey.

The expense data gathered in ARMS will be published in the annual Farm Production Expenditures report in July 2021. That report and others are available by clicking here. More reports based on ARMS data and more information about ARMS are available online here. For more information, please call the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office at (800) 498-1518.

NASS is the federal statistical agency responsible for producing official data about U.S. agriculture and is committed to providing timely, accurate and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
February 7, 2021

USDA APHIS Ends Emerald Ash Borer Domestic Quarantine Regulations

Effective January 14, 2021, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has removed the domestic quarantine regulations for the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis, Fairmare). According to the Federal Register posting, “this action will discontinue the domestic regulatory component of the emerald ash borer program as a means to more effectively direct available resources toward management and containment of the pest. Funding previously allocated to the implementation and enforcement of these domestic quarantine regulations will instead be directed to nonregulatory options to mitigate and control the pest.”

APHIS’ final rule was posted December 15, 2020, based on the original Federal Register posting from September of 2018, which received over 140 comments. A federal quarantine for EAB has been in place since 2003.

Under this rule, establishments operating under EAB compliance agreements will no longer incur costs of complying with Federal EAB quarantine regulations, although States could still impose restrictions.

EAB has now been found in 35 States and the District of Columbia and it is likely that there are infestations that have not yet been detected. Newly identified infestations are estimated to be 4 to 5 years or more in age. Known infestations cover more than 27 percent of the native ash range within the conterminous United States.

APHIS further summarized, “The domestic quarantine regulations for EAB have not substantially reduced the likelihood of introduction and establishment of the pest in quarantine-adjacent areas. Interstate movement of EAB host articles is unrestricted within areas of contiguous quarantine, and irrespective of human-assisted spread, a mated EAB is capable of flying up to 100 miles in her lifetime, resulting in a high potential for natural spread.”

Public outreach activities outside the EAB regulatory program will continue, and APHIS will continue to work with State counterparts to encourage the public to buy firewood where they burn it and to refrain from moving firewood. The primary national communications tool to warn the public about the plant pest risk associated with the movement of firewood is the Don’t Move Firewood campaign, which is administered by The Nature Conservancy with support from APHIS and other Federal agencies.

EAB and New Jersey

Emerald Ash Borer was discovered in New Jersey in May 2014 in Somerset County. All ash trees in NJ should be considered at high risk for EAB: even if Emerald Ash Borer has not yet been detected, all ash trees are considered to be at high risk of EAB infestation within the next few years.

Through December of 2019, EAB has been found in New Jersey in Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties.

The NJ Department of Agriculture hosts an EAB website where industry, communities, woodland owners, and homeowners can access an EAB Action Kit and Management Options Resource Guide.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery Tagged With:
January 14, 2021

Free Webinar: Strategies to Help Ag Producers Plan During the COVID-19 Crisis

Eastern farmers and agricultural producers have experienced unprecedented challenges in handling the vulnerability of our food systems. As we move forward to plan for a new season and a new year during the COVID pandemic, there is an urgent need to seek and identify best strategies to support farmers and agricultural producers in adjusting goals and achieving prosperity. This Open Forum – January 20, 2021 at 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. – will provide practitioners, extension agents, farmers, and agricultural producers an opportunity to identify gaps, brainstorm ideas, and share examples to support each other. Presenters leading the discussions will share 1-2 best practices to assist farmers and agricultural producers, including value-added production, agritourism, and other operations types.

This event is free and open to anyone, but registration is required to get the Zoom link. Registration is available by clicking here.

eXtension is embedded in the U.S. Cooperative Extension System and serves on the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP). eXtension provides an array of opportunities for Extension professionals that foster innovation creation, the adoption of innovations at member institutions, and increased impact of Extension programs.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , ,
January 7, 2021

Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program Now Available for Eligible Producers Affected by 2018, 2019 Natural Disasters

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced that signup for the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program began Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. Funded by the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, this new program provides assistance to producers who suffered eligible crop quality losses due to natural disasters occurring in 2018 and 2019. The deadline to apply for QLA is Friday, March 5, 2021. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Organic Production, Tree Fruit, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
January 4, 2021

USDA to Conduct 2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct the 2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey, beginning in January 2021.  First conducted in 2015, this Census of Agriculture special study will look at local and regional food systems and provide new data on how locally grown and sold foods in the United States are marketed. The results will be available in November 2021. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,