Testing irrigation water for generic E. coli is something that every farm should do. Timing and frequency of this testing varies depending on your water source. Here is a cheat sheet: [Read more…]
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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July 2, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Audit Ready:
Who Can Accompany You During A Third Party Audit?
Recently, a number of growers have asked:
“Who can accompany me during a third party food safety audit?”
Perhaps you had someone write your farm food safety plan for you or, you have a food safety consultant and you would like them to participate in or attend the audit.
The USDA weighed in on this question and stated:
” There are no written requirements restricting the number of individuals on an audit. We allow the auditor to make that decision as far as how many people they wish to accompany them. A consultant can accompany the auditor and act as an observer but may not act as a participant in the audit.”
If you would like someone to accompany with you during the audit be sure to ask the inspector where they stand on who may attend the audit with you.
June 30, 2014 Cesar Rodriguez-Saona
Beating the Bugs in the Bogs – Gypsy Moth
Gypsy moth is an occasional pest of cranberries. Gypsy moth caterpillars will readily eat the plants in outbreak years, when they are abundant in the NJ Pinelands, like in 2007. They prefer to feed on oaks, but when they encounter cranberry plants, their presence can have a devastating effect. Fortunately, since 2007, the caterpillars have rarely been seen in the NJ Pinelands. However, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prepared for their eventual return. Also, studying cranberry resistance against gypsy moth will teach us about the resistance of the plants against other important pests as well.
Gypsy Moth Larva
[Read more…]
June 18, 2014 Cesar Rodriguez-Saona
Cranberry Insect IPM During Bloom
We are in the middle of 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 the Insect Growth Regulators –IGR- (e.g. Confirm and Intrepid) or Bt products (e.g. DiPel). [Read more…]
June 13, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
Audit Ready:
On-Farm Food Safety Lessons Learned Series
If you have written your food safety plan and are preparing for a third party audit, the Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety Team offers farm “walk-throughs” to help evaluate your written plan and compliance activities. Over many years of performing walk-throughs, we’ve found some common situations that can foil the goal of making it through the audit process on the first go-round. Take a moment to make sure you’ve handled these areas that have tripped-up fellow NJ growers.
Know the Contents of Your Food Safety Manual
If a grower hires someone to write his or her food safety manual, the grower must know what is in the manual and adhere to the contents! There have been instances when the auditors came to do the audit, that it was obvious the grower did not know what was in their own farm food safety manual.
Know Your Manual
- Sit down with the person developing the manual to make sure there is agreement about what to put in the manual.
- Once the manual has been developed, review each section to clarify and make necessary changes for the final version.
Remember, auditors use the grower’s food safety manual as the basis for the audit. If the grower does not know and understand the contents of their manual, they won’t be able to answer the auditors’ questions.
Have an On-Farm Food Safety question concerning your commercial NJ farm? Email us.
June 13, 2014 Dean Polk, Dave Schmitt, and Atanas Atanassov
Fruit IPM Report June 11, 2014
This week in Fruit IPMOriental Beetle Adult
- Peach
- Apple
- Pear
- Wine Grapes
- Scouting Calendar
- Tree Fruit Trap Counts
- Blueberry
- Blueberry Trap Counts
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