Fruit Crops Edition
Seasonal updates on diseases, insects, weeds impacting tree fruit and small fruit (blueberry, cranberry, and wine grape). Fruit Pest Alerts are also available via this category feed.
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EPA Releases Guidance on Pesticide Safety Training Requirements During COVID-19
Fruit IPM for 7/15/20
Stink Bugs Apples and Peaches: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) activity is starting to increase in spotty locations. [Read more…]
Cranberry Toad Bug Monitoring and Management
Cranberry toad bugs (Figure 1) should be the last insect pest of concern this season. Growers should start monitoring for this insect from now until the end of July.
Figure 1. Toad bug nymph. Photo by Elvira de Lange
Life cycle. Toad bugs, Phylloscelis rubra (Hemiptera, Dictyopharidae), feed only on cranberries. This insect has a single generation per year. It overwinters as eggs. The nymphs appear by the end of June through early September; nymphal abundance peaks between last week in July and 1st week in August (Figure 2). The adults emerge from end of July through October (harvest) and eggs are laid from end of August through October (Figure 2). Figure 3 shows seasonal abundance of toad bug nymphs and adults in New Jersey cranberries based on sweep net samples.
Figure 2. Toad bug life cycle
Injury. Feeding injury can be noticed in two stages. First stage feeding injury on vines causes closing in (towards the branch) of the leaves on the new growth. Second stage feeding causes changed in color (reddish to brown) of new growth (Figure 4). The injury can be seen from July until harvest. This injury will cause dying of the branch and the berries to shrivel up (Figure 4). Heavy infestation will result in dwarfed berries.
Figure 3. Seasonal abundance of toad bugs in cranberry bogs
Figure 4. Toad bug injury to cranberries
Management. To determine infestation levels, lightly sweep problematic beds (bugs should be easy to catch in sweep nets as they are very active). There is currently no threshold established. Thus, insecticide applications should be based on the relative number of bugs per sweep compared with other sites and previous history of infestation. Currently, growers can use the following control options: Sevin 4F (carbamate), Diazinon, Imidan 70W (organophosphates), Actara or Assail 30SG (neonicotinoids). If infestation is high, treatments should be applied before the 1st week of August.
Revised New Jersey Pesticide Regulations — NOW POSTED ONLINE!
Gov. Murphy to Sign Order Requiring Outdoor Face Coverings
As reported at njbiz.com Wednesday morning, NJ Governor Phil Murphy has indicated he will be signing “an executive order mandating that masks or other face coverings be worn outdoors, as the COVID-19 virus surges across the country and the transmission rate creeps up in New Jersey.”
The state currently requires the use of face coverings indoors and at many outdoor businesses, and strongly encourages their use when in crowded public spaces, such as at the beach. The new order will require that masks will have to be worn outdoors when social distancing is not possible.
There are many outdoor operations around the farm. Be sure to plan accordingly with supplies of masks/face coverings for all agricultural workers and harvesters, in addition to planning all field work with adequate space for individuals to keep socially distanced.
For more information on keeping you, your workers and your family safe, be sure to read and implement the recommendations in NJ’s “INTERIM CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) GUIDANCE FOR MIGRANT AND SEASONAL FARMWORKERS, THEIR EMPLOYERS, AND HOUSING PROVIDERS.”
