Date: June 10, 2014 5:30-8:45pm
Location: Donaldson Farms, 358 Allen Road, Hackettstown, NJ 07840.Third Annual North Jersey Twilight Fruit Meeting Featuring Strawberries and Tree Fruit.
Meeting will be held rain or shine.
Please RSVP to Diana Boesch at (908) 788-1339.
Registration Donation: $10.00 – Payable at the Meeting.
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.
North Jersey Twilight Meeting: Strawberries & Tree Fruit
Potato Disease Forecasting Report 6-6-14
Potato Disease Forecasting Report 6-6-14 – Click to Download
We will be tracking DSVs for Late blight development and calculating P-days for initiating the first early blight fungicide application.
The first late blight fungicide application is recommended once 18 DSVs accumulate from green row. Green row typically occurs around the first week in May in southern New Jersey. An early season application of a protectant fungicide such as mancozeb (Dithane, Manzate, Penncozeb) or Bravo (chlorothalonil) as soon the field is accessible is suggested. Please be vigilant and keep a look out for suspect late blight infections on young plants. No late blight has been reported in our region to date.
Remember the threshold for P-days is 300! Once 300 P-days is reached for your location early blight fungicide applications should be initiated. Growers who are interested in using this model should chose the location above that is closest in proximity to their farming operation and should regularly check the Cornell NEWA website (http://newa.cornell.edu/) where this information is compiled from. Click on Pests Forecasts from the menu, select your weather station, and click on tomato diseases, set accumulation start date and a table of daily and total DSVs will be generated.
Scout Corn for Black Cutworm Damage
I was out late last week scouting some corn fields and checking some black cutworm moth monitoring traps. Fortunately, the number of black cutworm moths in the traps have been rather low. I did notice some very minimal black cutworm damage in one field. This does not mean growers should let their guard down. Pennsylvania and other northern states have been reporting large flights of black cutworm moths. It is recommended that growers continue to scout corn fields for damage. Remember many Bt hybrids are not that strong against black cutworm. This leaves scouting and rescue treatments as the most viable option for managing black cutworm.
Controlling Emerged Palmer Amaranth in No-Till Burndown
I have observed a lot of emerged Palmer amaranth seedlings.
Early planted corn should be scouted at 4 weeks after planting to determine if a POST herbicide application is needed. A lot of no-till soybean fields need a burndown herbicide, and if Palmer amaranth is present in those fields, it makes things challenging. If the field was burned down earlier, and weeds have emerged since application, consider using Gramoxone (paraquat) to control emerged Palmer amaranth plants. Residual herbicides containing metribuzin or chlorimuron (unless the field has had history of poor control with ALS herbicides [Group 2]) will provide the greatest amount of help for burndown control of emerged Palmer amaranth in no-till soybean fields.
Strawberry Producers Twilight Meeting
Growers and produce industry members are invited to Specca Farms on Wed. May 28th at 6:00 PM.
Specca Farms is located 870 Jacksonville-Mt. Holly Road, (Burlington Co. Route 628), Springfield Twp. NJ 08505. For information call (732) 398-5262 or email Bill Hlubik hlubik@aesop.rutgers.edu or Peter Nitzsche nitzsche@aesop.rutgers.edu. Sponsored by Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension and partially supported by cooperating farmers, the Walmart Foundation, Univ. of Arkansas and NJ Small Fruits Council.
Pesticide Worker Protection Inspection Warning
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Pesticide Control Program (NJDEP) has announced that federal agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) compliance farm inspections will be conducted mid-May through July. Be a prepared agricultural employer. Take the necessary actions this week to make sure your farm is in compliance to avoid citations.
Two outstanding farm employer resources on agricultural WPS compliance are:
1. EPA Ag Employer Quick Reference Guide (2005)
2. EPA website How to Comply with the Worker Protection Standard for Agricultural Pesticides: What Employers Need to Know
These are inspections by the US EPA, although NJDEP inspectors may accompany them. Approximately 20 to 30 inspections are slated to be conducted any time from May through July.