Fruit Crops Edition - Blueberry Section

Seasonal updates on diseases, insects, weeds impacting small fruit (blueberry, cranberry, and wine grape). Fruit Pest Alerts are also available via this category feed.
 
Subscription is through the general Fruit feed available via EMAIL and RSS.

January 14, 2025 and

REGISTER TODAY – NJ Ag Convention Coming Soon

We are only days away from the start of the 2025 NJ Agricultural Convention and Trade Show at Harrah’s in Atlantic City starting on February 3rd to February 6th. The convention has evolved over the years to include much more than vegetable topics. See the graphic below or the VGANJ website convention program for a list of expanded topics.

Nursery growers – we have a full day for you. Do you raise livestock? We have a new session for you. Want to learn about agricultural policies? Come to the session on Tuesday morning hosted by Rutgers Cooperative Extension Director, Brian Schilling and colleagues from the State Agricultural Development Committee. Need to learn about Food Safety Regulations, we have both a session and a workshop for you. USDA will be hosting sessions on Tuesday to promote programs for farmers. There are too many more topics to put into text so please check out the program on the VGANJ website. 

Need pesticide recertification credits? This year the workshops and sessions will help you fulfill the obligation to obtain those credits. Monday afternoon hosts a 6-CORE credit workshop that requires a separate special registration. Check out the program and how to register on the VGANJ website.

Have you registered for your hotel rooms yet? If not please use the room block and register online at https://book.passkey.com/GO/SHVEG5 or call to make Room Reservations on the phone at 1-888-516-2215 (8:00am-2:00am EST, 7 days a week), Group Name: New Jersey Vegetable Growers. Group Code: SHVEG5. There are plenty of rooms left in the room block, but the pre-registration ends soon, so reserve your rooms today. Please reserve your rooms through the group block to help us meet our obligations for the convention contract. 

Don’t miss the great Tuesday events. There is a FREE “Lunch and Learn” on Tuesday (sign up for tickets at registration on Tuesday, limited to 100 participants) in the back area of the trade show hall with time to meet with vendors and also discussion with the new NJ Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Wengryn. Tuesday night hosts a charity auction and if you attended last year, you know how great this event is with food, drink, and time to catch up with old friends and make new friends in farming. Thanks to VGANJ Secretary, Darcy Perehinys the Tuesday events will once again have amazing food! Lots of prizes from our sponsors will be available for bid at the Charity Auction. If you haven’t attended this event in the past, don’t miss it this year as it is much improved from years past. Tuesday is a big day and with the Lunch and Learn and Charity Auction Happy Hour – if you attend both these events you can eat for free!!!!

One more event you won’t want to miss is the annual awards banquet on Wednesday night. Tickets can now be purchased online on the VGANJ website. This year’s NJ Vegetable Grower of the Year award goes to Brian Porch, of Porch Farms in Salem County, NJ. The award will be presented by VGANJ President, Jim Abma. Come help us celebrate Brian and all the other award winners who will be honored by the NJ Department of Agriculture. 




Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape, work shop Tagged With: ,
January 8, 2025

National Spotted-Wing Drosophila Impact Survey

Have you had fruit infested by spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) on your farm? Your assistance is needed! A national team of entomologists are gathering information to understand the current impact of SWD on farms and how these impacts have changed over the last 10 years.

If you are willing to share insights from your farm, farms you manage, or growers you work with, please complete this short survey, which will take about 15 minutes or less: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeW6rCcyM9vf_sjLJDj0J_6G03jlVbBLZt5rlX7kmzSj0Ypog/viewform

How will this information be used? This information will be used to develop new research goals as part of a USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative proposal under development. It will also be compared to information collected in similar surveys in 2013 and 2014 to help us understand where challenges still exist for SWD management and what improvements have been made over the last 10 years and shared in extension and research publications.

Who should I contact for more information? For more information about this survey, contact Hannah Levenson, hklevens@ncsu.edu, 919.434.7882. For more information about SWD management, contact members of the project team or your local extension expert.

Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape
December 18, 2024

Register Before December 31 for Bonuses at the 2025 NJ Ag Convention

Have you signed up for the 2025 New Jersey Agricultural Convention and Trade Show yet?
Visit the VGANJ Convention Website and register today!

It’s incredibly simple! Here’s a pro tip: Become a member of the Vegetable Growers Association to enjoy all the benefits, even if you don’t grow vegetables, and save on convention registration fees by becoming a member. Everyone must register to enter the trade show and participate in educational sessions and other events sponsored by the VGANJ. 

Make sure to register by December 31st to receive two complimentary drink tickets (per registered individual) for use at the trade show bars after 2 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday. Plus, you’ll be entered to win a $100 gift card for meals during your time in Atlantic City!

Don’t forget to check the VGANJ website for the exciting new educational sessions for 2025.

Also, on Tuesday there will be a special free “Lunch and Learn” program to engage with vendors and participate in a Q&A session with the new Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Wengryn.
*FREE lunch tickets only for the first 100 farmers Tuesday who sign up for the “Lunch and Learn” at the registration desk on Tuesday morning. Lunch starts at 12:00.

On Wednesday, February 5th the VGANJ will be honoring the NJ Vegetable Grower of the Year. For 2025 the honoree is Brian Porch from Salem County, NJ. Come help us celebrate our awardee and the NJDA awardees at the banquet. Tickets are now available online through VGANJ. See the VGANJ Convention Website to sign up for the banquet and other special events.

Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape, work shop Tagged With:
December 18, 2024

Hurry – Apply for the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) Program– Applications Due January 8, 2025 – Contact Your Local FSA Office Now

The MASC program, administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) using Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds, provides eligible specialty crop producers with marketing assistance payments to help them engage in activities that aid in expanding domestic specialty crop markets or in developing new markets for their specialty crops in 2025.

SPECIALTY CROPS ELIGIBLE – Fruits (fresh, dried) Nursery crops, Christmas trees, and floriculture, Vegetables (including dry edible beans and peas, mushrooms, and vegetable seed) Culinary and medicinal herbs and spices, Tree nuts, Honey, hops, maple sap, tea, turfgrass, and grass seed. Payments are capped at $125,000 per producer, and if demand exceeds the allocated $2 billion, payments may be prorated. Final payment factors will be determined after the application period closes.

To be eligible for payments, persons or legal entities must:
• Be in the business of producing a specialty crop at the time of application and be entitled to an ownership share and share in the risk of producing a specialty crop that will be sold in calendar year 2025;
• Be a U.S. citizen, resident alien, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other organizational structure organized under State law, Indian Tribe or Tribal Organization, or a foreign person or foreign entity who meets certain eligibility requirements;
• Comply with the provisions of the “Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation” regulations, often called the conservation compliance provisions;
• Not have a controlled substance violation;
• Submit a complete MASC application form (FSA-1140) and provide all required documentation as specified in the documents section below.
To be eligible for payments, a person or legal entity must have an average adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $900,000 for tax years 2021, 2022, and 2023, unless the person or legal entity’s average adjusted gross farm income is at least 75 percent of their average AGI.

Eligible producers can apply by completing the FSA-1140, Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) Application, and submitting it to any FSA county office by January 8, 2025.

FSA-1141, Marketing Assistance For Specialty Crops (MASC) New Producer Expected Sales Worksheet (New producers only)
New producers must complete and sign the new producer expected sales worksheet and provide along with their FSA-1140 to any Farm Service Agency county office nationwide.

See link for more information: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/tools/informational/fact-sheets/marketing-assistance-specialty-crops-program 

Filed Under: Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Turf, Uncategorized, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: ,
November 27, 2024

Get Ready for the 2025 NJ Ag Convention – February 3-6

It is that time of year again to sign up for the annual NJ Agricultural Convention, co-sponsored by the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Visit the VGANJ website at https://vganj.com/convention-tickets to register.

For 2025 there are new and exciting opportunities to learn about all aspects of the agricultural industry at the educational sessions and from vendors at the trade show. If you came last year, you also saw many new improvements to the convention – more vendors, more educational sessions, a complimentary lunch (limited free tickets) on Tuesday highlighting “what’s new from industry”, a complimentary hot buffet at the Tuesday happy hour/charity auction, youth programs for FFA, and co-convention events with the NJ Department of Agriculture. These offerings and more are coming for 2025. New events like Monday afternoon workshops, a livestock session, an agricultural policy session, an environmental session, and others are confirmed for this coming year. Licensed pesticide applicators will see an increase in recertification credits on the program for 2025. 

To check out the educational programming and NJDEP recertification credits for pesticide applicators see https://go.rutgers.edu/ConvProgram2025 – this is a draft program. Also, note that some events need special sign-up so read the program carefully to see what events need pre-registration.

NJ State Board of Agriculture information for the convention is coming soon. Check out their website at Department of Agriculture | Conventions.

If you have any questions about the VGANJ registration, go to https://vganj.com/#contact. If you need more information about the educational programs please contact the Rutgers Co-Chairs for the convention – bamka@njaes.rutgers.edu Bill Bamka, Agricultural Agent in Burlington County, or minfante@njaes.rutgers.edu Michelle Infante-Casella, Agricultural Agent in Gloucester County.

Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Disease Forecasting, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Uncategorized, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape, work shop Tagged With: ,
November 25, 2024

Ag Irrigation Water Log Template Simplifies Annual Water Use Reporting To NJ DEP

 

https://go.rutgers.edu/IrrigationLog

 

As 2024 winds down and irrigation pumps are finally being shut off after a very long, dry season, thinking about calculating how much water was used to be able to fill out that NJ DEP report form in a couple of months is likely the furthest thing on your mind. However, the RCE Ag Water Use Log Excel Template <https://go.rutgers.edu/IrrigationLog> can make that process much easier, whether you have used it all season, or just need an easier way rather than tabulating all those hours of pumping by hand. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , ,