Rutgers Cooperative Extension
At the end of September, USDA released the Small Grains 2021 Summary Report. This report provides useful year over year yield information for barley, oats, rye and wheat (spring and winter planted; and by type) and comments on the crop progression from planting to harvest.
National prices paid for commodities (cotton, corn, soybeans, small grains) and prices received for eggs, poultry, cattle, hog, and dairy can be found at https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Agricultural_Prices/
USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service has a resourceful video on ‘Protecting Cereal Grains from Stem Rust’ available on their website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/maps/plant-health/barberry-cereal-gains
An image gallery of stem rust pictures is available at https://www.ars.usda.gov/midwest-area/stpaul/cereal-disease-lab/docs/cereal-rusts/cereal-rust-image-gallery/
Picture provided by USDA Image Gallery
“Stem rust (also known as black rust) was once the most feared disease of cereal crops worldwide. In the U.S., it has not been as damaging since the 1950’s due to the development of resistant cultivars with earlier maturity; however, outbreaks may occur when new pathogen races appear.” – USDA
Additional videos available on the USDA interactive plant protection pest maps include:
As posted throughout the season, grasshopper broods were prolific in South-Central NJ cropfields this year. Populations were also reported above normal in adjoining states. If you saw defoliating damage or grain damage from grasshoppers this year, it is highly likely more than one brood; and more than one species of grasshoppers (differential, two-striped red-legged) laid eggs on your farm this fall.
As grasshopper outbreaks are cyclic and highly localized, it is important to consider if this was the first, second or third year of pressure on your farm. Please take a moment to read this instructional 1937 publication by George Gilbertson and H. C. Severin “Destroy Grasshopper Eggs’ on how to locate and destroy grasshopper eggs. It is quite informative.
In addition to sampling no-tilled crops followed by another no-tilled crop, sample along hedge rows, adjacent hay fields, and focus on patches of weeds that rarely get tilled. Access bare spots where alfalfa has done poorly and sample both for nematodes (which prey on grasshopper eggs) and grasshopper eggs below the alfalfa crowns. Some species also lay eggs in no-tilled grain stubble roots and associated weeds.
If you sprayed for grasshoppers this year, saw 10%, 20%, 30% crop defoliation, had significant seed damage from grasshopper feeding, or find exeptionally high egg mass counts, please send observations to melissa.bravo@njaes.rutgers.edu. Document what fields, what crop and cropping practices so that brood hatch can be anticipated and monitored next year.
A message from Secretary Douglas Fisher:
We are reaching out regarding COVID-19 vaccination support for you and your farmworkers. We are working to ensure that all farmworkers are protected against COVID-19 as we head into the fall season – to that end, if any of your workers are not yet vaccinated for COVID-19 and are interested in receiving a vaccine, please fill out this survey. We will be happy to connect you with the appropriate resources to keep your workforce healthy.
Additionally, if your entire workforce has been vaccinated, we would still appreciate if you could please fill out the survey Any information you provide will be confidential and used solely for supporting COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
Thank you for your support in keeping our farm communities safe and healthy!
At the request of the NJAES Board of Managers, RCE authored a guidance directory of practicing NJ veterinarians that provide care for food and fiber animals. The series was recently published as a bulletin and two accompanying fact sheets on the NJAES website at https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/.
The list of large animal and poultry veterinarian practices can be found in the bulletin ‘What kind of Veterinarian do I need? How do I find one?. The accompanying state and federal resource fact sheets are excellent resource documents for producer business plan development.
nd Poultry Veterinary Care Services Series, Part II: Federal ResourcesCurrent and Future NJ Livestock & Poultry Producers. Please note, there is currently a shortage of practicing livestock and poultry veterinarians in NJ that has only been exasperated by the Pandemic. With an estimated state inventory (Eklund, 2017) of 25,000 head of cattle and calves; 17,791 sheep and lambs, 7,500 swine, 1.6 million laying hens, 25,000 broilers, 15,000 turkeys, 16,000 chukars, 29,000 Hungarian partridge, 105,00 pheasants, and 18,000 quail there is a great need to recruit veterinarians.
– Data from National Agriculture Statistical Service. NJ. Census of Agriculture, New Jersey, 2017
– Author’s note: “Many thanks to the veterinarians in private, state and federal practice who provided input for this resource publication”. – Melissa Bravo, Salem County ANR Agent, September 18th, 2021.
Preview of the “Ground Level Slips, Trips and Falls” Tailgate Training sheet
The Northeast Ag Safety and Health Coalition is looking for farmers willing to field-test and evaluate their new set of “Tailgate Trainings” – short, simple, training sessions that a farm owner or manager can use with a small group of workers. The trainings are designed to be done with small groups, anywhere, and promote retention of material. Topics of the current “tailgate” training sheets include 1) Ground Level Slips, Trips, and Falls, 2) Cattle Handling, and 3) Tractor Side-Overturn.
If you are willing to participate, the Coalition requests that farmers or managers conduct one training session with workers using the provided “tailgate” training sheet. Once the training session is complete, you are asked to fill out a very brief (5 question) evaluation form and mail it back to the Coalition. All material and postage paid/self-addressed return envelopes will be provided (to return the evaluation form).
If you are interested, please email Kate Brown kbrown@njaes.rutgers.edu with the following information by October 1, 2021.
Your time and participation in this project would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
