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.
 
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May 19, 2014

Strawberry Producers Twilight Meeting

Growers and produce industry members are invited to Specca Farms on Wed. May 28th at 6:00 PM.

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Join us for food and taste testing the latest Rutgers NJAES strawberry cultivar evaluations. Share a field tour and discussion of new strawberry cultivars. Includes growing systems and marketing tips to renew profitable strawberries with varieties bred for flavor and localized production adaptation.

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.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates
May 16, 2014

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.

 

Filed Under: Blueberry, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Tree Fruit, Turf, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape
May 8, 2014

Small Farm Post-Harvest Practices Workshop

Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2 PM to 4:30 PM
Location: Webinar presentation @ Rutgers Cooperative Extension Office of Mercer County, 930 Spruce Street, Trenton, NJ
Followed by on-farm portion @ Z Food Farm, 3501 Princeton Pike, Lawrence, NJ

Improving post-harvest practices can help minimize produce damage and maximize the amount of quality produce that can be sold at market. Evaluating current post-harvest practices and identifying low-cost improvements is an important part of farm planning, and should be done as early in the season as possible.

Z FOODRutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County and NOFA-NJ welcome Lee Stivers from Penn State Extension as she joins us remotely giving a presentation on post-harvest handling procedures for high-quality, marketable produce via webinar.

The webinar workshop portion will be followed by a farm tour of Z Food Farm’s post-harvest handling set-up. Z Food Farm is a small certified organic farm located in Lawrenceville, NJ.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Organic Production
May 2, 2014

Free, Updated Agronomic Crops Weed Control Guides

Available from the UD-REC website are weed management guides for assistance in weed control in corn, soybeans, or forages.
http://extension.udel.edu/ag/weed-science/weed-management-guides/

There is a separate guide for each commodity. The first half of the corn and soybean guides deal with soil-applied herbicides and the second half is for postemergence herbicides. These guides have pre-mixes and what is in the pre-mix, expanded weed control tables, information on application timing, comments for each of the herbicides, and much more. The forage guides cover alfalfa as well as grass forages.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates
May 2, 2014

Herbicide Classification Chart Available

Working with the Delaware Soybean Board and the United Soybean Board, a herbicide classification chart is available at:
http://extension.udel.edu/ag/weed-science/weed-management-guides/

This chart groups herbicides by mode of action and site group numbers that are printed on containers and labels. The chart is designed to help diversify herbicide use by rotating effective herbicides with different sites of action to delay the development of herbicide resistance. The chart provides the number of resistant weed species in the US to each site of action, which highlight those herbicides for which we already have wide-spread resistance.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates
May 2, 2014

No-Till Soybean Burndown Considerations

Due to the weather, a number of no-till soybean fields have not received a burndown treatment yet. As a result, many are asking about options for control. First a number of considerations:

2,4-D ester: Rate of 2,4-D may need to be adjusted. Most 2,4-D brands require a 4 week delay between application of 1 qt and planting soybeans. Rates less than 1 qt/A does not provide the same level of horseweed control. The interval between application differs with 2,4-D rates and brands. Be sure to read the label of the brand you intend to use.

Kixor products: These products have good activity on glyphosate and ALS resistant horseweed, but they have a number of restrictions due to crop safety: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates