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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Important Update on Registration of Low-Volatility Dicamba Herbicides

On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling that vacates current U.S. registrations of of three dicamba herbicides, XtendiMax (Bayer), Engenia (BASF) and FeXapan (Corteva). The Court ruled in favor of a petition challenging the EPA’s 2018 registration decision. The ruling comes after a group of environmental organizations filed a petition with the Court challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s . Other dicamba-containing products are not concerned by this ruling.

The subsequent action by the EPA provides, among other things, that “growers and commercial applicators may use existing stocks that were in their possession on June 3, 2020, the effective date of the Court decision. Such use must be consistent with the product’s previously-approved label, and may not continue after July 31, 2020.”

Click here for the EPA’s full order – see page 11 for key details.

The EPA’s order addresses the use, sale, and distribution of existing stocks of  low-volatility dicamba products impacted by the Court’s ruling.

 

 

USDA – Farm Service Agency – Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)

USDA is providing critical support to our nation’s farmers and ranchers through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). CFAP provides vital financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities with financial assistance that gives them the ability to absorb sales declines and increased marketing costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The attached fact sheet provides an overview of the program.

For more information about the CFAP program, visit farmers.gov/cfap or contact your local FSA office. To find your local FSA office, visit offices.usda.gov.

NJ Motor Vehicle Commission Announces Plans to Reopen in Stages Starting June 29th to Limited In-Person Transactions

The State of New Jersey announced on Friday 6/5/20, plans for a phased reopening of MVC facilities to the publicTruck hauling sod following closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reopening will proceed in a way that safeguards public health and safety, bringing many changes and improved efficiencies to Commission operations.

MVC workspaces have been extensively overhauled during the COVID-19 closure to add Plexiglas barriers and other social distancing measures. MVC employees are returning to the agencies prior to the public openings, for health & safety briefings, hardware and software reboots, and training on new protocols.

Going forward, everyone who enters the MVC agency will be required to wear a face covering. That includes customers as well as employees. If a customer cannot wear a face covering, MVC will make other arrangements for their transaction.

In order to limit crowds and speed services during the phased reopening, some agencies have been designated as Licensing Centers and some as Vehicle Centers. Lists of Licensing Centers and Vehicle Centers, as well as information on transactions, will be posted soon at NJMVC.gov.

Drop-off and pick-up transactions will be processed starting June 15, but only the following:
• At designated Licensing Centers, MVC will be processing and validating permits from driving schools and high schools on a drop-off basis.
• At designated Vehicle Centers, MVC will be processing registration and title work from dealers. License plates can also be surrendered by drop-off at these agencies in a designated area.

MVC will also be processing registration/title transfers for private sales by a new combination online and mail-in procedure. Customers will be able to sign up for this option at NJMVC.gov. More detail will be provided in the next few days.

These activities will clear a three-month backlog from our March 15 closure:

  • Road tests and the issuing of new licenses and permits are tentatively expected to start on June 29 (subject to change), with some additional transactions like out-of-state transfers and private sales registrations, but still on a limited basis to prevent crowding.
  • The Commission has tripled road-testing capacity, adding 11 courses and reassigning over 100 Safety Specialists to serve as road test examiners for 30 to 60 days. This takes MVC from an average of 5,800 road tests per week to about 16,300. MVC expects the backlog to be cleared by the end of the 60 days.
    Those whose road tests were canceled during the shut-down will be contacted by MVC and provided a secure link to get the first appointments.
  • At designated Licensing Centers starting June 29 (tentative), MVC will be processing new licenses and permits, out-of-state transfers, and REAL ID for those whose appointments were canceled.

At designated Vehicle Centers starting June 29 (tentative), MVC will be adding individual registration and title transactions.

Transactions with NJMVC that can be done online will not be available in person at this time.

NOTE EXTENSIONS ARE STILL APPLICABLE: All driver licenses, non-driver IDs, vehicle registrations, inspection stickers, and temporary tags expiring before May 31 have been extended to July 31. Documents expiring in June or July are extended by two months. Most renewals, replacements, changes of address, and other transactions can be processed online at NJMVC.gov.

To obtain a farm vehicle certificate, contact your local Rutgers Cooperative Extension office in your home county. Most RCE county offices do not allow public access currently for face-to-face interaction. However, they may have other means of providing you a certificate. For more information on farm vehicle regulations with NJMVC and farm vehicle certificates see the NJFB New Jersey Motor Vehicle Regulations for Farm Vehicles and Equipment.

Recorded Sessions Available: May 2020 “On-Farm Direct Marketing” Weekly Webinar Series

A weekly “On-Farm Direct Marketing” webinar series was hosted in May 2020, by Agricultural Sign for Covid directionsAgents Michelle Infante-Casella, Meredith Melendez, William Bamka, Stephen Komar and Wesley Kline to educate famers selling directly to the public about changes occurring to the industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Four sessions in May were presented with the last session being a farmer panel discussion about changes on farms forced due to the pandemic. Farmers included Tracy Duffield – Duffield’s Farm Market, Dave Specca – Specca You-Pick Farm, and Jess Niederer – Chickadee Creek Organic Farm. In May, 145 participants attended this online series, offered on Tuesday Evenings from 7:00-8:00 PM. All sessions were recorded and are available to view online. The topics included the following:

Session 1: Maintaining Social Distancing and Food Safety Handling: Guidance for Farm Markets. Recording found at: https://go.rutgers.edu/pqalghh7 – Wesley Kline, Ag Agent, RCE of Cumberland Co. and Meredith Melendez, Ag Agent, RCE of Mercer Co.

Session 2: Meeting Customer Demands for New Jersey Agricultural Products in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Recording found at: https://go.rutgers.edu/8u8r4qb8 – William Bamka, Ag Agent, RCE of Burlington Co. and Stephen Komar, RCE of Sussex County

Session 3: U-Pick Best Management Practices During COVID-10 and Executive Order Compliance. Recording found at: https://go.rutgers.edu/dy026twh  – Meredith Melendez, Ag Agent, RCE of Mercer Co.

Session 4: Farmer Panel – Changes Made to On-Farm Direct Marketing Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Recording Found at: https://go.rutgers.edu/zm5msjt0 – Moderators & Co-Organizers: Meredith Melendez, RCE of Mercer Co. and Michelle Infante-Casella, RCE of Gloucester Co.

For more information on COVID-19 Farm Safety and other Food Safety resources see the Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety webpage.

Are Disinfectant Wipes Working for You?

Disinfectant wipes can seem like an easy Disinfecting wipesoption to disinfect surfaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. Label instructions for disinfectant wipes include a “allow to remain wet” statement for efficacy. In many cases, the surface needs to stay wet for at least 4 minutes in order to be effective. Check your product label to verify the time for your specific wipes.

How wet your wipe is to start, how large of a surface you use the wipe on, the surface type and environmental conditions will all impact how long the surface stays wet. In a simple test to evaluate the ability to maintain the required wet time, three disinfectant wipe products were tested on fours surfaces. In an indoor setting at 70 degrees and 60% relative humidity without much air movement these wipes were used on a finished wood surface, a solid countertop, a plastic folding table, and a plastic table cloth. In all cases one wipe on a 4 [Read more…]

Signage for Farm Worker COVID-19 Education Available

 NJ Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher has requested the following message be shared with the farm community.

To assist farm operators in the provision of COVID-19 education, the NJ Department of Health has created a set of prevention messages that can be used as signage to be hung in common areas on farms. [Read more…]