September 2, 2022

Rabbit Owners. Protect Wild Rabbits from Emerging Rabbit Disease

Pennsylvania has detected a case of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) case in domestic rabbits in Western Pa. This follows on the heels of a New Jersey detection in March of 2022. RHDV has been evolving and spreading in pet rabbits since cases were first detected in North America in 2000.

Because this is an emerging disease, it is possible we can limit widespread infection in domestic and wild rabbits by practicing biosecurity measures at home and not releasing or disposing of domestic rabbits into the wild.

Example Timeline of RHDV1 Strain Detections in North America | and evolution into RHDV2 Strain

  • 2000 (Iowa)
  • 2001 (Utah, Illinois, New York)
  • 2005 (Indiana)
  • 2008 (Maryland)
  • 2010 (Minnesota)
  • 2016 (Quebec, Canada) detection of the more contagious RHDV2 strain*
  • 2018 (Ohio) detection of the more contagious RHDV2 strain*
  • 2018 (Pennsylvania)
  • 2019 (Vancouver, Canada) detection of a different strain of the contagious RHDV2 strain*
  • 2019 (Washington) detection of the more contagious RHDV2 strain*
  • USDA APHIS notice on 2019 outbreak link is here
  • In recent Canadian outbreaks of RHDV2, the death rate was close to 90%.
  • 2020 Outbreak of (RHDV2) associated disease occurred in the southwestern United States following its first detection in New Mexico in March
  • 2020 (New York City, 13 cases linked to a veterinary hospital) RHDV2 strains*
  • 2022 (New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Oregon)
  • 2022 (New Jersey)

* This new strain is able to infect a wider variety of rabbit species including wild rabbits.

If you notice these symptoms in rabbits, isolate them and contact your veterinarian and your state’s Division of Animal Health. If you see dead wild rabbits that lack explanation, contact your state Game and Wildlife Division:

  • Rabbits die suddenly without symptoms
  • Rabbits have a fever
  • Rabbits are uncoordinated, excessively excited, have convulsions, paddling, or paralysis
  • Rabbits have difficulty breathing just before death
  • Rabbits have bloody discharge from nose or stools
  • Rabbits have eye hemorraghes

To protect the wild rabbit population, do not release domestic rabbits into the wild and do not dispose of dead rabbits in the wild.

For more information about measures in New Jersey see the state press release: https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/news/press/2022/approved/press220513.html

If you are traveling between or through states, be aware of the interstate-intrastate quarantine regarding domestic rabbit movements in Pennsylvania. The PA “Interstate and International Order of Quarantine is applicable to all States, Commonwealths and territories of the United States of America and any foreign country in which the dangerous transmissible disease RHD exists or there is a reasonable suspicion it exists.”

New Jersey residence who suspect RHDV2, should alert the NJDA, Division of Animal Health at 609-671-6400. The 24-hour number to report a foreign animal disease to USDA APHIS VS Area Veterinarian in Charge is 866-536-7593.

Biosecurity measures rabbit owners can take regarding Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease can be found at:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/fs-rhdv2.pdf

USDA APHIS Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Resources 

USDA (RHDV) Cleaning Guidance July 2020 

National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials (NASAHO) – RHDV Biosecurity Guidance 

NASAHO – RHDV Shows and Exhibitions Guidance 

 

 

Filed Under: Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops
September 1, 2022

Accelerated Irrigation Funding Now Available for New Jersey Producers

SOMERSET, N.J., Sept. 1, 2022 – The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in New Jersey is now accepting applications for accelerated Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) ACT NOW funding for irrigation.

Through this unique opportunity, producers and landowners can convert their existing overhead systems to low flow, high-efficiency systems such as drip or pivot which will efficiently and uniformly apply irrigation water, maintain soil moisture for plant growth, prevent contamination of ground and surface water, and improve poor plant productivity and health. Irrigation may also be combined with soil health practices to improve soil quality.

While NRCS accepts applications year-round, NRCS-NJ has established an evaluation period cut-off date for ACT NOW Irrigation funding of October 1, 2022. Applications submitted prior to the cut-off will be assessed and ranked as soon as the applicant has made treatment decisions through a conservation plan. Land offered for enrollment in EQIP must have been irrigated for at least two out of the last five years to qualify for irrigation-related conservation practices.

Based on fund availability, application assessments with a ranking score of 70 points or greater will be preapproved immediately, allowing the applicant to ACT NOW and achieve contract approval to begin practice installation without being evaluated against other submitted assessments. Application assessment ranking scores less than 70 points will be batched and funded in ranking order as funding allows.

For more details on EQIP, please contract your local USDA Service Center or visit https://www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
September 1, 2022

REMINDER: Register for Upcoming Research Field Tour in Burlington County

Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Burlington County will host a research and demonstration plot field tour at the Burlington County Agricultural Center on Wednesday, September 14, 2022. Pesticide recertification credits in CORE (2) plus categories 1A (3), 10 (3), and PP2 (3) have been approved by NJDEP.

Space is limited and REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Please contact Sandra Trossbach at 609-265-5051 or strossbach@co.burlington.nj.us to register by Wednesday, September 7.

soybean field

Soybeans in research plot at Burlington County Agricultural Center.

PROGRAM AGENDA

5:15 p.m. Meal and Registration (in the red market barn)

6:00 p.m. Walk to demonstration plots

6:15 p.m. How low can you go? Impact of soybean planting population on yield efficiency and crop management.

  • Bill Bamka, Agricultural Agent, RCE-Burlington County

6:45 p.m. Off-target herbicide movement and response of economically important vegetable crops to sub-lethal rates of dicamba

  • Thierry Besançon, Extension Specialist in Weed Science – Specialty Crops, Rutgers NJAES

7:15 p.m. Walk back to market barn

7:30 p.m. Beyond the active ingredient: Additives to the pesticide spray tank

  • Kate Brown, Program Associate, RCE-Burlington County

8:00 p.m. Pesticide Recertification Credits and Adjourn

The flyer for this event is available at https://events.rutgers.edu/pdfs/Flyer_Research-Tour-at-Ag-Center-2022.pdf.

Filed Under: Field, Forage & Livestock, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
August 29, 2022

Back-yard Poultry Producer Alert: HiPath Avian Influenza deaths in wild birds

On August 8th, 2022, The United States 2022 Detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Wild Birds reported multiple confirmations of dead black vultures in Sussex County, NJ. Today, August 29, 2022, the media has released information that a hundred dead vultures were found in the vicinity of the Sussex Branch Trail in Lafayette, NJ.

Back-yard producers in Sussex County should review their biosecurity measures to prevent avian influenza from wild birds coming in contact with their flocks.

For more information and who to contact in the NJ Department of Agriculture if you have a death in your poultry flock, see the following post https://plant-pest-advisory.rutgers.edu/poultry-alert-review-implement-biosecurity-measures/

For more information on who to contact in the NJDEP if If multiple birds are found dead in a small area over a short period of time, please contact either 1-877-WARNDEP or Dr. Nicole Lewis (nicole.lewis@dep.nj.gov) for assistance. https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/news/2022/04-19_avian_influenza.htm

Upcoming webinars and in person meetings for NJ producers (August 31 and September 26) https://plant-pest-advisory.rutgers.edu/upcoming-sessions-for-backyard-poultry-owners/

Information regarding driving into a quarantine zone in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania currently has a 10 km zone along the PA/NJ border related to this detection. https://plant-pest-advisory.rutgers.edu/driving-into-high-path-avian-influenza-quarantine-zones-in-pa-know-the-rules/

Filed Under: Disease Forecasting, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
August 26, 2022

Your Input on Changes to the Next Farm Bill

House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Review

“An integral part of the oversight and review process of the 2018 Farm Bill and further preparation for the 2023 Farm Bill is getting direct input from producers, stakeholders, and consumers on how various farm bill programs are working for them” – Click here to add your comments into the form posted on the House Agriculture Committee website with the option to answer the following questions:

  1. Which programs included in the 2018 Farm Bill do you think are performing well?
  2. Are there any new programs or ideas that you or the organization that you represent would like to see considered for the 2023 Farm Bill?
  3. Which programs included in the 2018 Farm Bill do you think could be improved upon or should be reconsidered?

Guidance on Farm Bill Sections.

“The farm bill refers to an authorization of mandatory and discretionary spending bills appropriated to provide assistance related to food and farms. It is a multi-year law that is primarily executed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and it governs a wide variety of agricultural and food programs” – Farm Bureau.org. Click here for a short summary and video on the history of the farm bill.

Title I, Commodity Programs. Under this authorization, USDA is reauthorized to provide and improve commodity and marketing loans, sugar, dairy and disaster programs. In addition to the links below for the farm bill overview, see the ERS link at https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-commodity-policy/title-i-crop-commodity-program-provisions-after-enactment-of-the-agriculture-improvement-act-of-2018/

Title II, Conservation. To read more about this title go to https://www.thefarmbill.com/title-2-other-conservation

or read more in https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/IF11199.pdf

Title III, Trade. To read more about this title go to https://www.thefarmbill.com/title-3-trade-programs

Title IV, Nutrition. To read more about this title go to https://www.thefarmbill.com/title-4-snap

Use the same website to scroll through each of the remaining titles:
Title V, Credit
Title VI, Rural Development
Title VII, Research, Extension, and Related Matters
Title VIII, Forestry
Title IX, Energy
Title X, Horticulture
Title XI, Crop Insurance. To read more about this title you can also go to https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-commodity-policy/crop-insurance-program-provisions-title-xi/
Title XII, Miscellaneous

Filed Under: Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops
August 26, 2022

Upcoming Sessions for Backyard Poultry Owners

August 31st. In person. Salem County Cooperative Extension Office. 51 Cheney Road. Woodstown, NJ. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm.

The South Jersey Poultry Association invites small flock producers in South Jersey to their monthly meeting. Topics of discussion will be the ongoing HiPath Avian Influenza detections in wild birds in NJ and in wild birds and domestic flocks in neighboring states. Updating animal waste management plans and biosecurity plans to mitigate avian diseases, review of market costs and margins, price and availiability of pullets and related importation regulations will also be reviewed. To register, contact Melissa Bravo at melissa.bravo@njaes.rutgers.edu; or by phone at 856-340-6582. Past newsletters focusing on HiPath Avian Influenza will be available at the meeting.

 

September 26th webinar. 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm. Penn State University

Penn State Poultry Group. “Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has recently been detected in a small poultry flock in Pennsylvania and California and wild birds in several states continue to test positive for HPAI. The Penn State Extension Poultry Team would like to invite you to attend the Why Small Poultry Flock Owners Need to Stay Vigilant with HPAI to Protect Their Flock. We will discuss HPAI, the current outbreak situation, signs of the disease, where to get help if you suspect sick birds, and biosecurity measures you can take to protect your flock”. To register go to: https://web.cvent.com/event/8578bdc3-89d1-472a-9286-bc5f3b50db9d/summary

Filed Under: Field, Forage & Livestock, Uncategorized