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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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:
February 3, 2021

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Harmonized Food Safety Audit Training

We are offering a final, for this spring, online Harmonized Audit Training Course on March 2, 2021 from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM.  If you will need to obtain a USDA Harmonized Audit this year or want a refresher this is the course for you.

This three-hour virtual class will cover each question on the USDA Harmonized Audit allowing participants to hear how questions are interpreted by auditors.  New Jersey Department of Agriculture Auditors will also discuss how someone signs up for an audit and review common issues that auditors found during 2020.  Participants will have the opportunity have their questions answered to help make their audit run more smoothly.

The deadline to register for the class is Friday February 26. The registration form is on the Eventbrite page at rutgersonfarmfoodsafety.eventbrite.com

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
February 3, 2021

2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Virtual Convention Update 2

My apologies for some of the confusion from my initial update regarding the educational sessions of our 2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Convention will be held virtually the last week of February. While the entire up-to-date program was, and is, available to view on the Vegetable Growers Association of NJ website – VGANJ.com/schedule, I forgot one critical point in that last post. The link for signing up for pesticide re-certification credits was not ready to go at that time.

It is ready now.

(One other clarification – when you join the VGANJ and pay your membership dues at either the full or daily rate, you are also registered for these educational sessions.)

Registration for Pesticide License Re-certification Credits

If you want to receive pesticide re-certification credits for attending any of the sessions offering them, you must supply identification information that will allow us to confirm your participation and to let DEP know which sessions you attend. You do not have to sign up for individual sessions, but you must supply these required pre-registration details or you will not receive credit. If supplied, you will receive credits for any session you attend in its entirety as described in our guide.

If you are attending for credits, you will need to be signed in to the Zoom meeting within 10 minutes of the start, remain attentive and responsive to random polls, and logged into the session until it ends. You will not get credit if you leave to join another Zoom session. There will be some allowance and support if there are technical issues, but otherwise, leaving a meeting early will disqualify you for credits.

Before you start to register for credits, please have the following ready before you start:

  • A photo, scan or screen-shot (your ID and license may be submitted as one photo or two) of:
    • your Government-issued ID, and
    • NJ Pesticide applicator status
      • copy of your current license, OR
      • status page from the NJ DEP <https://go.rutgers.edu/t0hiphuz>- search for your name in either the “Commercial Certified Pesticide Applicators by Name” or “Private Certified Pesticide Applicators by Name” menu selections on the page.)

NOTE:  If you are NOT looking for credits, DO NOT enter your license and ID information. You will be able to move from Zoom session to Zoom session.

 

 

Filed Under: Blueberry, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape
February 3, 2021

Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) – Produce Safety Alliance Training Course

The Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in § 112.22(c) that requires ‘At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under the standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration’.  This is the only training recognized by the FDA at this time!

The course is being offered virtually over two days on March 9 and 10 from 10:45 am to 3:30 pm.  All participants must preregister by February 23 at rutgersonfarmfoodsafety.eventbrite.com.  Once registered a training manual will be sent to each person and the registrant must have the manual to show at the training.

Fruit and vegetables growers and others interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management of natural resources and food safety should also attend this training.

The course is divided into seven modules that cover:

  • Introduction to Produce Safety
  • Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training
  • Soil Amendments
  • Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use
  • Agricultural Water (Part I: Production Water; Part II: Postharvest Water)
  • Postharvest Handling and Sanitation
  • How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan

In addition to learning about produce safety best practices, parts of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements are outlined within each module and are included in the grower manual provided.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
February 1, 2021

NEW- Nursery and Ornamentals Track (2 sessions – 8 speakers) at this year’s virtual VGA

Please join us at the NEW- Nursery and Ornamentals Track at this year’s virtual VGA

When: Monday, February 22nd (Session I:  9:15 – 11:45am)(Session II:  1:15 – 3:45pm (recert. credits pending))

Click here to register by Wednesday Feb. 17th for pesticide credits!

Click here for additional pesticide credit requirements and instructions (mandatory steps for recertification credits at VGA)

Price options:

  1. One day pass – $60.00
  2. Full 1yr VGA Membership (access to all four days of sessions 2/22-2/25)- $120

Summary: The sessions are geared towards delivering information broadly applicable to ornamental AND vegetable nurseries and producers alike. The speakers assembled for these sessions are renown experts and we are extremely lucky to learn from them.

  • Session I will focus on production techniques and plant selections, including management of drip irrigation clogging, fall mum selections, producing broadleaf evergreens, and native plant selections.
  • Session I – Featured Speaker: Dr. Paul Fisher (University of Florida)
  • Dr. Fisher is an expert in irrigation system management and will be discussing how to avoid or manage clogged irrigation emitters and pipes. He will be discussing how these clogs happen through the buildup of salts, biofilms, and various other particles. He will help you diagnose the cause of problems and select the best solutions.

 

  • Session II will focus on pest and disease mitigation including key pests in micro green production (aphids), the red headed flea beetle, and boxwood blight. Additionally, updates on utilizing growing degree days and other predictive models will be discussed (applicable to all crops)
  • Session II – Featured Speaker: Dr. Chuan Hong (Virginia Tech)
  • In addition to being at the forefront of Phytophthora research, Dr. Hong is a world renown boxwood blight researcher who was recently awarded nearly 4M dollars to investigate innovative methods to safeguard one of the nation’s most economically important evergreen shrubs. He will be discussing effective strategies and tools for blight mitigation at local and national levels. Together we can save this iconic landscape plant.

(pesticide recertification credits have been requested for Session II.)

Rutgers is dedicated to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal information safe. Upon upload, your files will be encrypted and stored to Rutgers Connect. Your information will be kept strictly confidential; used solely to meet NJDEP ID verification protocol for recertification credit; and will not be used for any other purpose. Your files will be deleted within 60 days after the training event.

New Nursery and Ornamental Track at the 2021 VGA

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops