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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IMPORTANT: EPA Announces Voluntary Cancellation for the Pesticide Dacthal- NO USE OF EXISTING STOCKS (Ed Notes on AMVAC buyback)
Produce Safety Classes this Fall
Hands-on Produce Safety Workshop: Wednesday, October 2nd from 10 am-2 pm EST. This hands-on produce safety class in Cream Ridge, NJ is for farm owners, farm employees, farm managers, and those thinking about starting a farm. The class is focused on the various actions that can be part of a strong produce safety plan whether you have one or are just getting started. These activities include building a DIY hand-washing station, assessing wildlife risks in the field and developing an action plan, interactive cleaning and sanitizing demonstrations, and more.
Online Food Safety Plan Writing Workshop: Wednesday, October 16 from 6-8pm EDT. Work through the components of a food safety plan with our help from your home office! By the end of this class you will have a draft plan and a more robust food safety program for your farm. This is an interactive class so please be prepared to have your cameras on and microphones for discussions.
Who is this program for?
- New and Beginning Growers
- Growers who want to improve produce safety practices on their farms
- Growers who want to work to develop a food safety culture on their farm
- Growers who want to develop more robust food safety practices and worker training programs
- Next-generation growers taking over a family farm
- Anyone thinking about starting a farm
- Anyone who may be getting an audit and does not have a food safety plan
For more details or to register for the classes go to https://onfarmfoodsafety.rutgers.edu/trainings/ or email Jenn Matthews at jmatthews@njaes.rutgers.edu.
EPA Publishes New Resources on Bilingual Pesticide Labeling (with editorial note)
Private Applicators: NJDEP August Mailing of 2025 Invoices & Recertification Credit Status
2025 USDA Sustainable Agriculture Farmer Grant Project Information
Farmers in the Northeast can apply for up to $30,000 in funding for sustainable agriculture projects starting in 2025. These projects can range from experiments to on-farm events and demonstrations or other educational activities.
The Call for 2025 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Farmer Grants is now available. Approximately $850,000 has been allocated to fund projects. Awards of up to $30,000 are available. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on November 12,2024.
Q&A Sessions are taking place alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays in October. Register once to attend any of the sessions.
Sessions will take place on: Oct 8, 16, 22, 30. from 12 to 1 EST
To register see https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlcO-qrjguGtSNrOemAOP7pZWbUCcl5GqN#/registration
To see the call for proposals https://www.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/Northeast-SARE-Farmer-Grant-Call-for-Proposals.pdf
To learn more about the SARE Farmer Grants https://northeast.sare.org/grants/get-a-grant/farmer-grant-program
For More Information contact USDA NESARE or your State Coordinator: Stephen Komar at komar@njaes.rutgers.edu
Tree Fruit IPM Report August 20, 2024
Peach:
Tarnished Plant Bugs; and Other Catfacing Insects: BMSB and native catfacing insects remain very active. Some recent fruit feeding has been observed.
Scale Insects: Second generation san jose scale and white peach scale crawlers began emergence in late July and will continue through August. Late season treatments include Actara (14 day PHI); Esteem (14 day PHI), Centaur (14 day PHI), Diazinon (postharvest as per label), and Venerate (2 applications 0 day PHI).
Apples and Pears:
Diseases: Summer diseases such as fruit rots (esp. Bitter rot), and sooty blotch and fly speck are the key pests at this point. Bitter rot control has been difficult at best in recent years even where management programs have been rigorous. Summer and late season fungicides for summer diseases include: Merivon, Luna Sensation, Inspire Super, Topsin-M, captan and ziram. Experience has suggested that the addition of phosphorous acid products such as Prophyt or Rampart to captan sprays may improve control. Observations are that these phosphite products improve control of other summer diseases such as sooty blotch and flyspeck, and may help suppress scab infections where present. Bitter rot symptoms have been appearing for several weeks in southern counties. Symptoms continue to increase in sensitive varieties.
Scale Insects: San jose scale crawlers continue emergence. Actara (suppression) has a 35 Day PHI at rates effective for scale on pome fruit. Belay (suppression) has a 7 day PHI. Esteem has a 45 day PHI on Pome fruit. Centaur has a 14 day PHI. Diazinon (suppression) has a 21 day PHI with a 96 hour reentry.
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug: BMSB nymphs have been seen feeding in some apple and pear blocks. Trap captures have increased in some orchards. Effective materials include Brigade, Belay, Leverage, Mustang Max and Venerate at 2 qts.
Codling Moth (CM): The first generation codling moth timings have ended. Trap captures continue at low levels in southern county orchards. Growers with trap captures above 5 moths/trap should still use effective materials within label restrictions.
Phenology Table: Based on annual observations made in Gloucester County.
| Pest Event or Growth Stage | Approximate Date | 2024 Observed Date |
| Bud Swell (Redhaven/PF-17) | March 23 +/- 15 Days | March 13 |
| 1/4″ Green Tip Red Delicious | March 31 +/- 13 Days | March 18 |
| Pink Peach (Redhaven/PF-17) | April 4 +/- 15 Days | March 18 |
| Tight Cluster Red Delicious | April 9 +/- 13 Days | March 30 |
| Full Bloom Peach (Redhaven/PF-17) | April 9 +/- 14 Days | April 5 |
| Pink Apple (Red Delicious) | April 14 +/- 12 Days | April 9 |
| Full Bloom Apple (Red Delicious) | April 22 +/- 11 Days | April 20 |
| Petal Fall (Redhaven) | April 22 +/- 10 Days | April 15 |
| Petal Fall (Red Delicious) | April 27 +/- 13 Days | May 3 |
| Shuck Split (Redhaven) | April 30 +/- 11 Days | April 22 |
| Pit Hardening | June 15 +/- 9 Days | June 10 |
Tree Fruit Trap Captures – Southern Counties
| STLM | TABM-A | CM | BMSB | OFM-A | DWB | OFM-P | TABM-P | LPTB | PTB | |
| 3/23/2024 | 70 | 0 | ||||||||
| 3/30/2024 | 29 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 4/6/2024 | 421 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 4/13/2024 | 415 | 7 | 1 | |||||||
| 4/20/2024 | 900 | 7 | 0 | |||||||
| 4/27/2024 | 312 | 2 | 22 | 1 | ||||||
| 5/4/2024 | 137 | 2 | 8 | 27 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| 5/11/2024 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 42 | |||
| 5/18/2024 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 41 | ||
| 5/25/2014 | 33 | 29 | 7 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 44 | 37 | ||
| 6/1/2024 | 719 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 57 | ||
| 6/8/2024 | 163 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 35 | 52 | 3 | |
| 6/15/2024 | 252 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 54 | 4 |
| 6/22/2024 | 252 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 54 | 4 |
| 6/29/2024 | 500 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 10 | 35 | 4 |
| 7/6/2024 | 245 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| 7/13/2024 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 1 |
| 7/20/2024 | 152 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 0 |
| 7/27/2024 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 5 |
| 8/03/2024 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 0 |
| 8/10/2024 | 514 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 1 |
| 8/17/2024 | 141 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
Tree Fruit Trap Captures – Northern Counties
| STLM | TABM-A | CM | BMSB | OFM-A | DWB | OFM-P | TABM-P | LPTB | PTB | AMBROSIA BEETLE | |
| 3/23/2024 | |||||||||||
| 3/30/2024 | |||||||||||
| 4/6/2024 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 4/13/2024 | 3.25 | 37.6 | |||||||||
| 4/20/2024 | 11.75 | 93 | |||||||||
| 4/27/2024 | 0 | 19 | 50 | ||||||||
| 5/4/2024 | 1 | 16 | 19 | 124 | |||||||
| 5/11/2024 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 112 | |||||||
| 5/18/2024 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 83 | ||||
| 5/25/2024 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 8 | 23 | 55 | ||||
| 6/1/2024 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 37 | ||||
| 6/8/2024 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 12 | |||
| 6/15/2024 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 21 | 27 | 1 | 12 | |||
| 6/22/2024 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 6/29/2024 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 13 | 17 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 7/06/2024 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 9 | 19 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 7/13/2024 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 18 | 18 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 7/20/2024 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 7/27/2024 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 0 | ||
