Commercial Ag Updates + Farm Food Safety

Rutgers Cooperative Extension Ag Agents provide updates on what they see in the field, upcoming events, and other important news that affects your operation, such as developments in on-farm Food Safety. Subscribe if you wish to be notified about workshops, meetings, and upcoming commercial ag events.
 
Subscriptions are available via EMAIL and RSS.

February 26, 2018

US Food & Drug Administration Announces Microbiological Surveillance Sampling for Fresh Herbs (Cilantro, Basil & Parsley) to Continue Through 2018

The US FDA has announced an ongoing surveillance program started in October 2017 will continue through 2018 until they collect at least 1600 samples each of fresh cilantro, parsley and basil. FDA inspectors will be visiting farm packinghouses, wholesale packers, domestic and import warehouses and shippers, as well as retail purveyors, From their press release,

From 1996 to 2015, the FDA reported nine [food born illness] outbreaks linked to basil, parsley, and cilantro, which resulted in 2,699 illnesses and 84 hospitalizations. Four of the outbreaks were linked to basil, three to cilantro, and two to parsley.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
February 26, 2018

NJ DEP Annual Ag Water Use Reports Due 2/28

If you downloaded the RCE irrigation pump log sheet posted here last fall, and you haven’t sent in your water use report yet, you have until Wed to calculate your monthly water use and submit it to NJ DEP. Keeping a hard copy of the log sheet by each well makes a simple way to record actual water use, but tallying the monthly and annual totals will take one more step. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
February 23, 2018

New Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety Website!

Visit the new Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety website for information on Good Agricultural Practices, the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule, and USDA Third Party Audits.  Information can also be found on upcoming on-farm food safety workshops, publications and resources to help you understand and implement on-farm food safety practices.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety
February 22, 2018

Still Time to Register for North Jersey Commercial Vegetable and/or Tree Fruit Meetings

Morris County Agent Peter Nitzsche and Hunterdon County Agent Megan Muehlbauer indicate there is still limited time to register for two upcoming educational events they are hosting at the Hunterdon County Complex in Flemington:

What:  North Jersey Commercial Vegetable Grower Meeting
When:  February 27, 2018
Where:  Hunterdon County Complex, Flemington, NJ
For Program & Registration Details go to https://events.rutgers.edu/pdfs/North_Jersey_Commercial_Vegetable_Growers_Meeting_2018.pdf

What:  North Jersey Commercial Tree Fruit Meeting
When:  March 6, 2018
Where:  Hunterdon County Complex, Flemington, NJ
For Program & Registration Details go to https://events.rutgers.edu/pdfs/NorthJerseyFruitMeeting_Program_2018.pdf

NJ & PA PESTICIDE RECERTIFICATION CREDITS HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED FOR THESE PROGRAMS

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
February 13, 2018

Robots in the Field – Online Videos Illustrate Automation from Seedling Production through Harvesting

When asked for the links to some of the videos I shared in this presentation at the 2018 NJ Agricultural Convention, I found that I had only included about half of the videos that illustrated my talk in the Proceedings book which will be available on the NJ Veg Crops Online Resources site shortly. What follows is the amended version of that abstract with all of the (complete) video links and/or company websites that I mentioned. It’s ‘complete’ now because I had used only small portions of many of these videos that are online, so you’ll have much more content to view than what you would have seen in my talk. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
January 30, 2018

Be Counted – 2017 Ag Census Includes Questions On Value-Added Sales & Agritourism

Bruce Eklund, NJ State Statistician for the U.S.D.A’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, shared this reminder to please complete the Census of Agriculture by Feb 5, and

for winery operators, direct marketers and other value-added and agritourism operations, be sure to pay attention to a few special questions:

  • Include wine and other value-added product sales under (Section 24) Practices (Item 2);
  • Other Income From Farm-Related Sources (Section 32) includes Agri-tourism (Item 4); and
  • Production Expenses (Section 30) are important as it shows this contribution from agriculture to the general economy.

With the once every five year census started, your participation is important to accurately represent the New Jersey’s specialty crop industries. USDA/NASS mailed 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture questionnaires to known farmers in December.

If you have any questions regarding the survey, or if you may have been overlooked, please call 1-888-424-78288 or 717-787-3904, or visit https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/, where you you can complete the survey online. Growers who have already completed the survey online format found that it saved time!

Remember that individual responses to the Census of Agriculture are required to be kept confidential by law, and only aggregate data are used for publication. Census results are important in showing the economic impact and significance of agriculture for your County, your Congressional District, and New Jersey. Agricultural advocates will use your combined information to inform decision makers and the public about the importance of agriculture.

More information on the Ag Census is available at:

http://www.nj.gov/agriculture/news/press/2017/approved/press171206.html

and… https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Partners/index.php.

Please help by reminding your neighbors and thank you for taking the time to be counted.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape