November 20, 2023

Stakeholder Meeting for the DUAL-USE SOLAR ENERGY PILOT PROGRAM

Wednesday, November 29th at 10:00 a.m.

The Dual-Use Solar Energy Act aims to facilitate solar projects on working farmland, while keeping the farmland in continued agricultural production. The pilot program seeks up to 200 MW generating capacity from dual-use solar in the first 3 years, with additional capacity if program is extended. The Pilot Program will serve as the basis for a permanent dual-use program in New Jersey.

The Board of Public Utilities (BPU), in conjunction with the NJ Department of Agriculture and the Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program have written a draft proposal for the rules that will implement the Dual-Use Solar Energy Act. The draft (straw proposal) is now open for public comment, with the intent of gathering stakeholder input.

For more information about the proposal and the Stakeholder Virtual Meeting, click the following link:
https://www.nj.gov/bpu/library/Dual%20Use%20Solar%20Energy%20Pilot%20Straw%20Proposal.pdf

To participate in the virtual meeting, you must register for the meeting at least 48 hours before the scheduled date. If you would like to speak during this Stakeholder Meeting, you must register via this form:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9uOqbekdSrW25I3I4FeUKw

The BPU is also accepting written or electronic comments. All public comments should be
filed under Docket No. QO23090679 In the Matter of the Dual-Use Solar Energy Pilot Program.
The deadline for comments on this matter is 5 p.m. Eastern Time on December 13, 2023.

You can learn more about Agrivoltaics at the Rutger Agrivoltaics Program Website:
https://ecocomplex.rutgers.edu/agrivoltaics-research.html

 

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , ,
November 16, 2023

EPA Requests Comment on Modernizing Pesticide Label System to Improve Safety and Accessibility

[Released by EPA 11/15/2023]. The U.S. Environmental Protection agency is requesting feedback on its plan to adopt digital pesticide labels that will make labeling information clearer, more consistent, and more accessible to users. The Agency is specifically requesting feedback on the proposed organization of digital labels and the proposed phases of developing these labels. EPA’s […]
Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
November 8, 2023

2024 New Jersey Agricultural Convention and Trade Show

NJ Vegetables Growers Association logoRutgers NJAES

The 2024 Annual New Jersey Agricultural Convention and Trade Show will be held Tuesday to Thursday, February 6-8 at Harrah’s Resort and Waterfront Conference Center 777 Harrah’s Blvd. in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The convention is hosted in cooperation with the Vegetable Growers Association of NJ, the NJ Department of Agriculture, and Rutgers Cooperative Extension. The VGANJ is working with Rutgers Cooperative Extension and others to bring new offerings to the 2024 convention. Look for new activities in the trade show area, new vendors and traditional vendors from the past, and new participation from the Garden State Wine Growers Association. VGANJ is currently accepting exhibitor booth registrations. To find out more about purchasing a booth space see https://vganj.com/exhibitors.

What is new for 2024? On Tuesday during the mid-day break, participants at the convention can pre-sign up and participate in a free “Lunch and Learn” program where exhibitors will discuss their products and services. Registration is required for the free “Lunch and Learn” program, complimentary lunch will be provided, and space is limited. Attendees are also encouraged to participate in the Tuesday evening social and charity auction to bid on some fantastic items from our supporters. The charity auction will benefit Shriners Hospital and will be held on the trade show floor. Tickets will be available for the Wednesday, February 7th NJ Agricultural Society’s luncheon and everyone at the convention is welcome to sign up and buy tickets to attend. Also, on Wednesday evening, the annual VGANJ/NJDA Awards Dinner and Banquet will be held. This year VGANJ will be presenting their 2024 Vegetable Growers of the Year award to Angelo and Leonard Grasso Farms of Mullica Hill, NJ at the Wednesday dinner banquet. In addition, the NJ Department of Agriculture will be honoring their awardees at the dinner. More to come on these awards. Tickets for scheduled meals and events can be purchased through Nancy Wood at the NJ Department of Agriculture. Email Nancy at Nancy.Wood@ag.nj.gov or see Nancy at registration.

All information for the NJ Agricultural Convention and Trade Show can be found on the VGANJ website at https://vganj.com. To register for attending the educational sessions and trade show, to make hotel reservations, and view the Rutgers educational program, scroll to the bottom of the VGANJ webpage or click the “convention” tab at the top of the page. To help VGANJ meet their room reservations commitment please use the hotel room block for the convention on the VGANJ website through this link https://book.passkey.com/go/SH02VG4 or call the hotel at 888-516-2215 and use group code SH02VG4. Attendees can register for all 3 days by purchasing a VGANJ membership or they can purchase one-day passes on the VGANJ website or when arriving at the convention. Everyone is encouraged to pre-register for the event.

The Rutgers Educational Program at the convention this year has the theme of “Pathways to Grow Farm Viability” and covers a wide range of topics including soil health, hemp production, basic wine grape production, tree fruit establishment, vegetable topics, high tunnel production, nursery and ornamentals, strawberry production, transition to organics, blueberry production, food safety, retail marketing, new agricultural technology, pest problems among many other topics. On Thursday, February 8 a half-day session on Worker Protection Safety Respiratory Protection Training with Fit Testing for Respirators will be hosted and licensed applicators can receive 8 core credits. Additionally, there is an all-day Farm Food Safety workshop on Thursday for a fee that can be paid online. Pre-Registration is required for both Thursday workshops and both have limited seating – so register early. See the Thursday Workshop section of the program for workshop registration links and more information. Or use this link for the Food Safety Workshop registration https://go.rutgers.edu/mhqc3m5u or register for the Respirator Training Workshop at https://go.rutgers.edu/pesticideworkshop.

In addition to the Rutgers educational sessions the NJ State Board of Agriculture will be hosting their annual delegates convention. For more information regarding the NJ State Board of Agriculture Delegates Convention see https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/conventions/. Everyone is welcome to attend the NJ State Board of Agriculture delegates sessions to learn more about agricultural issues. The delegates and NJ SBOA meet on Wednesday and Thursday of the convention. Each county board of agriculture, commodity organizations and other groups send delegates to this convention to vote on resolutions important to the agricultural industry. This event is hosted and organized by the NJ Department of Agriculture.

 

Filed Under: Blueberry, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , ,
November 8, 2023

USDA Increases Minimum Annual Payment for Conservation Stewardship Program

Conservation programs with USDA have received unprecedented increases in funding and farmers should investigate programs to make improvements on their farm. One program in particular, is increasing the minimum annual payments to producers for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) from $1,500 to $4,000 in fiscal year 2024. The increase addresses challenges faced by small farms making participation more financially beneficial for smaller operations. The new minimum payment is available for new and renewed CSP contracts.

CSP offers technical and financial assistance to help agricultural and forest producers take their conservation efforts to the next level. The program is designed to compensate agricultural and forest producers who agree to increase their level of conservation by adopting additional conservation activities and maintaining their baseline level of conservation.

Examples of CSP enhancements that are suitable for being adopted by smaller scale and urban producers include:

  • Planting multi-species cover crops
  • Mulching with natural materials
  • Establishing pollinator habitats
  • Soil health crop rotation

Currently, an unprecedented amount of funding is available for CSP through the Inflation Reduction Act and Farm Bill. The Inflation Reduction Act provided $19.5 billion in additional funding for NRCS oversubscribed programs like CSP for five years. Inflation Reduction Act funds are available to help producers adopt climate-smart practices.

NRCS recently announced it increased the number of Climate-Smart Agricultural and Forestry Mitigation Activities eligible for Inflation Reduction Act funding for fiscal year 2024 through CSP, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). To learn more, download the list of practices and a fact sheet.

NRCS accepts producer applications for its conservation programs year-round, but producers interested in this cycle of Inflation Reduction Act funding should apply as soon as possible. Producers interested in EQIP should apply by DATE or CSP should apply by DATE for consideration this year. Funding is provided through a competitive process and will include an opportunity to address the unmet demand from producers who have previously sought funding for climate-smart conservation activities.

For more information about assistance available, contact NRCS at your local USDA Service Center.

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , ,
November 6, 2023

Finish the Fight Against Scrapie: Brains Needed!

For more information, please call: 609-241-2236

The United States is nearing the goal line after a 70 year battle against Scrapie, a fatal disease that affects the brain of sheep and goats. Sheep and goat producers can help the USDA achieve this goal. The current program has been very successful to drastically reduce the amount of scrapie in the US. One of the most difficult aspects of an eradication program is making sure that the last few cases of the disease are found.

The most recent two cases of scrapie found in the US were sampled at slaughter but could not be traced back to a farm origin. One of these cases was a sheep in Wisconsin in 2021 and another was a goat tested in Indiana in 2019. Because these animals did not have adequate records and identification to find where they came from, it is likely there are still farms with cases of scrapie. For a country to be declared free of scrapie, international standards require a certain level of testing among all sheep and goat populations within a country. No samples can test positive for classical scrapie. The samples we need to test are brain and a lymph node.

Each year every state is given a minimum number of samples to be collected based on the breeding sheep and goat populations. This assures sampling represents the different populations. In fiscal year 2024, NJ needs to sample 32 mature (>18 months) sheep and 22 mature goats. We continue to ask for help from our New Jersey small ruminant industry to obtain these samples. If a producer has an adult sheep or goat that dies, that must be euthanized, or is being culled please contact USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services at 609-241-2236. There is no charge for the collection or testing of the samples. Producers may be eligible for official plastic tags as long as our supplies last.

Scrapie is in the same family of diseases as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) and chronic wasting disease of deer and elk.

USDA, APHIS Veterinary Services (VS)

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety
October 11, 2023

Acute Bovine Pulmonary Emphysema (Fog Fever)

A metabolic syndrome that sometimes affects ruminants, particularly cows on lush fall pastures is Acute Bovine Pulmonary Emphysema (ABPE), sometimes referred to as “Fog Fever”.  ABPE can occur in ruminants, especially cattle, transitioning from dry summer pastures or poor quality forage in the fall, to pastures that may be lush and fresh.  Cows may develop signs of lung disease within a few days to two weeks after the pasture change.   Death may occur within several days after the appearance of clinical signs.  It is nearly always fatal.

This change can result in an undesirable toxin produced by rumen fermentation.  Tryptophan is an amino acid found in protein.  It is converted to indoleacetic acid and then to 3-methylindole (3MI) in the rumen.  3MI is absorbed into the blood, transferred to the lungs and in the lungs can cause damage to lung cells.  It can occur in a variety of forage types, especially when the rumen is not properly adapted to the new forage.  There is no effective treatment, producers should focus on prevention.

Disease entering a cow through food stream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acute Bovine Pulmonary Edema and Emphysema in Beef Cattle: Causes and Prevention.  (Beef Cattle Handbook; D.C. Honeyfield and J.R. James R. Carlson).

It occurs in lush regrowth forage, and is usually seen in the fall.  Preventative measures:

1. Feed cattle  good quality dry hay for a few days and then slowly introduce them to the lush pastures by increasing grazing time over a 10-14 day period.

2. Delay grazing of lush pastures until after a hard frost.

3. Cut lush fall pastures for hay prior to grazing.

4. Graze prior to lush fall regrowth.

5. Consider feeding an ionophore such as Rumensin® or Bovatec® before turning the cattle onto the lush pastures. These compounds change the rumen fermentation of tryptophan and may decrease the chances for ABPE or “Fog Fever”.  Consult your veterinarian for advice if you anticipate using either of these compounds to prevent ABPE.

For more information:

Beef Cattle Handbook

UC Davis Cooperative Extension

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock