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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North Jersey Commercial Fruit Growers Meeting Program and Registration

NORTH JERSEY COMMERCIAL
FRUIT GROWERS MEETING

March 13, 2024
8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Hunterdon County Complex
314 State Route 12, Bldg. 1
Flemington, NJ
Program

Program Chair
Megan Muehlbauer, PhD
Agriculture and Resource Management Agent
Cooperative Extension of Hunterdon County

8:30 – Registration
Coffee and pastry, compliments of industry sponsors

9:00 – Welcome and Introductions

9:10 – Managing Ambrosia Beetle in Tree Fruit Orchards
Kaitlin Quinn, North Jersey Fruit IPM Program Associate, Cooperative Extension

9:40 – Updates on Control of Bitter Rot in Apple, and Bacterial Spot on Peach
Srdjan Acimovic, PhD, Tree Fruit and Specialty Crop Pathologist, Virginia Tech

10:40 – Update on Farm Service Programs
Laura LaFevre, County Executive Director, Hunterdon / Somerset Office, Farm Service Agency

11:00 – Updates on the Use of Herbicides as they relate to EPA Compliance with the Endangered Species Act
Thierry Besançon, Specialist in Weed Science, Cooperative Extension

11:30 – Jersey Fresh and Apple Promotion Council Marketing Updates
Joe Atchison, Assistant Secretary, NJ Department of Agriculture

11:50 – What is New from Industry

12:10 – LUNCHEON (pre-registration required)

1:10 – Advanced Respiratory Protection for WPS-Labeled Pesticides
Patricia Hastings, Pesticide Safety Education Program Coordinator, Cooperative Extension

2:10 – Leveraging User-Generated Content for Farm Marketing
Claudia Gil Arroyo, ANR Agent, Cooperative Extension of Cape May County

2:40 – San Jose Scale Management Updates and Future Directions
Anne Nielsen PhD, Specialist in Fruit Entomology, Cooperative Extension

3:10 – Pesticide Recertification Credits and Adjourn

NJDEP PESTICIDE RECERTIFICATION CREDITS TO BE AWARDED

6 Units Cat-10   6 Units Cat-1A   6 Units PP2   2 Units CORE

 

Click here and fill out this form to register for the meeting then fax or email to:
Fax: (908) 806-4735
E-mail: kfrey@co.hunterdon.nj.us

If you have any questions please call Kim Crommelin: (908)-788-1338

2024 South Jersey Commercial Fruit Growers Meeting

Date:                           March 12, 2024 (Tue)
Location:                    Rutgers Agricultural Research & Extension Center, 121 Northville Road, Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Pre-Registration:       Required, by March 11th.  Contact Joan Medany at (856) 224 – 8030 or  jmedany@co.gloucester.nj.us
                                    $20.00 (Checks only, made out to Rutgers University). Lunch, Coffee and Pastries Included
Pesticide Credits:      Requested for – CORE, PP2, 10, 1A [Read more…]

Deadline February 29, 2024 NJDA is offering USDA Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program Grants

The NJDA is offering USDA Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program Grants. The deadline for grant submissions is February 29th. For more information visit the NJDA grant site: Department of Agriculture | Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program Grants

Types of projects that could be funded include:
• Expanding processing capacities, including adding product types, increasing production volumes, and supporting new wholesale/retail, product lines;
• Modernizing equipment or facilities through upgrades, repairs, or retooling; (e.g., adapting product lines for institutional procurement or adding parallel processing capacity);
• Purchase and installation of specialized equipment, such as processing components, sorting equipment, packing and labeling equipment, or delivery vehicles;
• Modernizing manufacturing, tracking, storage, and information technology systems;
• Enhancing worker safety through adoption of new technologies or investment in equipment or facility improvements; Construction of a new facility;
• Increasing packaging and labeling capacities that meet compliance requirements under applicable laws (e.g. sealing, bagging, boxing, labeling, conveying, and product moving equipment);
• Increasing storage space, including cold storage;
• Develop, customize, or install climate-smart equipment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency in water use, improves air and/or water quality, and/or meets one or more of USDA’s climate action goals;
• Modernize equipment or facilities to ensure food safety, including associated Hazard, Analysis, and Critical Control Points (HACCP) consultation, plan development and employee training;
• Training on the use of all equipment purchased under the grant and associated new processes.

Contact at NJDA:

Deelip Mhaske
Grants Administrator
Division of Marketing & Development New
Jersey Department of Agriculture
PO Box 330, Trenton, NJ 08625-0330

Phone: 609-913-6628 Fax: 609-984-2508
E-mail: deelip.mhaske@ag.nj.gov

Cape May County Board of Ag Industry Night – March 4, 2024

The Cape May County Board of Agriculture will hold it’s first annual Industry Night!  March 4, 2024 from 6-8pm.

There will be vendors, free dinner, and a 45 minute talk from 6-6:45pm, with Patricia Hastings, Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program Coordinator for NJ, titled Pesticide Safety & Compliance Tools for New Jersey Growers!  Her talk has been approved for Pesticide credits: 1 unit each CORE; PP2; 1A

It is a great opportunity to network with other farmers/vintners/aquaculturists in Cape May County. Please RSVP by February 28th.

To RSVP or if you have any questions contact Jennifer Sawyer Caraballo at sawyer@njaes.rutgers.edu or at (609) 465 5115 ext. 3615.

SAVE THE DATES! North Jersey

North Jersey Commercial Vegetable Grower Meeting

February 27, 2024

&

North Jersey Commercial Fruit Grower Meeting

March 13, 2024

 

Hunterdon County Complex

314 State Route 12, Bldg. #1

Flemington, New Jersey 08822

8:30 am – 4:00 pm

Program and registration details forthcoming

2024 Grape Expectation – New Jersey Viticulture and Enology Symposium

The 2024 Grape Expectation symposium is a daylong series of lectures by professionals in viticulture (grape growing), enology (winemaking), and marketing. Lectures are designed to present new and relevant information to professionals and amateurs involved with grape growing or the wine industry. Pesticide recertification credits will be provided. Multiple tastings will be conducted during the symposium. Award-winning wines will be available for sampling in the N.J. Wine Showcase immediately following the symposium. This is the thirty-ninth year of the symposium. Come, learn, and spend time with your fellow N.J. wine professionals. Fore registration, please follow the instruction under the program detail.

[Read more…]