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.
 
Subscriptions are available via EMAIL and RSS.

June 10, 2020

On-Farm Readiness Reviews to Resume

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted the restrictions on carrying out On-Farm Readiness Reviews (OFRR).  The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) in cooperation with Rutgers Cooperative Extension will start offering OFRR’s in the next couple of weeks.

The objectives of the On-Farm Readiness Review program are to:

  • Offer a voluntary, non-regulatory, pre-inspectional “readiness” review primarily for covered farms and discuss whether the farm is covered by Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule or whether the farm may be exempt from parts of FSMA
  • Promote coordination between farmers, regulators & educators
  • Educate regulators about on-farm practices and conditions
  • Familiarize non-qualified farms with the regulations

 

This is a confidential review of individual farm operations.  Usually there are two individuals on the team, one each from NJDA and Extension.  This is not a records review, but an overall assessment of the farm operation and how the farming practices conform to the Produce Safety Rule.  The team walks around the operation with the grower and discusses the different aspects of the farm.  Once the review is over the group sits together and reviews the findings and makes suggestions for possible changes to meet the rule.  Any notes that are taken during the review are left with the grower.

Any fruit or vegetable operation with sales over $25,000 are eligible for the review.  It is encouraged that someone on the farm has gone through the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) training prior to the review.  The PSA training meets the requirement for training under the Product Safety Rule that someone on the operation must receive training recognized by FDA.

The OFRR is a good way to help a grower understand what is required under the Rule.  How do you schedule for a review?  Contact Chris Kleinguenther, NJDA, at  Christian.Kleinguenther@ag.nj.gov.  Chris will contact the grower and schedule a date and time for the review.

Filed Under: Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
June 10, 2020

Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule Inspections to Resume

The Food and Drug Administration has announced that FSMA inspections can resume when the state is ready.  The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) will be starting inspections of fruit and vegetable operations in the next couple of weeks.  NJDA will contact individual growers to schedule the inspection.  These will be educational inspections covering operations with sales of $250,000 and above.  If the farm thinks they are qualified exempt they will need to show some type of financial records for the last three years proving they meet the qualified exemption standard.

To be eligible for a qualified exemption, the farm must meet two requirements:

  1. The farm must have food sales averaging less than $500,000 per year adjusted for inflation during the previous three years.
  2. The farm’s direct sales to qualified end-users must exceed sales to all other buyers combined during the previous three years. A qualified end-user is either (a) the consumer of the food or (b) a restaurant or retail food establishment that is located in the same state or not more than 275 miles away.

If the operation is qualified exempt the requirement other than the financial records is to label either individual containers or have a roadside stand/farmers market sign prominently and conspicuously displayed that has the name and complete business address of the farm where the produce was grown.

For additional information contact Chris Kleinguenther, at Christian.Kleinguenther@ag.nj.gov

Filed Under: Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
June 10, 2020

Insect Pest Management During Bloom

Cranberries are starting to bloom. If insects have been effectively managed prior to bloom, we recommend no sprays at this time. A reminder: when bees are present your only choices of insecticides are insect growth regulators (IGRs) such as Intrepid 2F or Bt products such as DiPel.

During bloom we recommend monitoring insect populations using pheromone traps. Pheromone traps should be used particularly to monitor activity of Sparganothis fruitworm and blackheaded fireworm, two key pests in New Jersey.

Degree-day model for Sparganothis fruitworm

Figure 1 shows life history benchmarks of interest for Sparganothis fruitworm and associated degree-day (DD) estimates from March 1(Shawn Steffan, USDA-ARS/University of Wisconsin-Madison). Flight initiation is predicted around 595 DD, at a lower temperature threshold of 50°F. Based on this model, Sparganothis has accumulated (starting April 15) 521 DD, meaning that flight should start in about 3 days in our region.

Sparganothis fruitworm degree-day model

Fig. 1. Sparganothis fruitworm degree-day model

Filed Under: Cranberry, Fruit
June 10, 2020

Fruit IPM for 6/9/20

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth: We are between generations 1 and 2, with the first insecticide applications due in southern counties in 10 days to 2 weeks. Where trap captures are below 8 moths per trap and no injury is present, then stretch insecticides to get as close to the model timing as possible. Where trap counts continue above 8 males per trap, then the population is too high to take this approach. This is the case in several orchards in northern counties. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape
June 9, 2020

USDA – Farm Service Agency – Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)

USDA is providing critical support to our nation’s farmers and ranchers through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). CFAP provides vital financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities with financial assistance that gives them the ability to absorb sales declines and increased marketing costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The attached fact sheet provides an overview of the program.

For more information about the CFAP program, visit farmers.gov/cfap or contact your local FSA office. To find your local FSA office, visit offices.usda.gov.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
June 3, 2020

Recorded Sessions Available: May 2020 “On-Farm Direct Marketing” Weekly Webinar Series

A weekly “On-Farm Direct Marketing” webinar series was hosted in May 2020, by Agricultural Sign for Covid directionsAgents Michelle Infante-Casella, Meredith Melendez, William Bamka, Stephen Komar and Wesley Kline to educate famers selling directly to the public about changes occurring to the industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Four sessions in May were presented with the last session being a farmer panel discussion about changes on farms forced due to the pandemic. Farmers included Tracy Duffield – Duffield’s Farm Market, Dave Specca – Specca You-Pick Farm, and Jess Niederer – Chickadee Creek Organic Farm. In May, 145 participants attended this online series, offered on Tuesday Evenings from 7:00-8:00 PM. All sessions were recorded and are available to view online. The topics included the following:

Session 1: Maintaining Social Distancing and Food Safety Handling: Guidance for Farm Markets. Recording found at: https://go.rutgers.edu/pqalghh7 – Wesley Kline, Ag Agent, RCE of Cumberland Co. and Meredith Melendez, Ag Agent, RCE of Mercer Co.

Session 2: Meeting Customer Demands for New Jersey Agricultural Products in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Recording found at: https://go.rutgers.edu/8u8r4qb8 – William Bamka, Ag Agent, RCE of Burlington Co. and Stephen Komar, RCE of Sussex County

Session 3: U-Pick Best Management Practices During COVID-10 and Executive Order Compliance. Recording found at: https://go.rutgers.edu/dy026twh  – Meredith Melendez, Ag Agent, RCE of Mercer Co.

Session 4: Farmer Panel – Changes Made to On-Farm Direct Marketing Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Recording Found at: https://go.rutgers.edu/zm5msjt0 – Moderators & Co-Organizers: Meredith Melendez, RCE of Mercer Co. and Michelle Infante-Casella, RCE of Gloucester Co.

For more information on COVID-19 Farm Safety and other Food Safety resources see the Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety webpage.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: