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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November 15, 2022

NJ Governor Murphy Authorizes 2022 Bear Hunt

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher shared today that Governor Murphy signed Executive Order 310 (attached) concerning the black bear population. EO 310 rescinds EO 34 and states that,

“…in consultation with the [DEP] Commissioner, I have determined that a regulated bear hunt that takes place on both state and private lands is necessary to protect New Jersey residents from harm and reduce the threat of tragic human-bear interactions, and I have concurred with the Council’s Statement of Imminent Peril; and

“WHEREAS, as a result of this emergency rulemaking, a Bear Hunting Season will take place pursuant to the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Plan and N.J.A.C. 7:25-5.6 from December 5 through December 10, 2022, and will be extended from December 14 through December 17 if necessary to achieve a 20 percent harvest rate;

 

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , , ,
November 13, 2022

Public Input on Draft Environmental Documents for Deregulation of American Chestnut Developed Using Genetic Engineering

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is inviting public comment on two draft documents involving a petition from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY) seeking deregulation of an American chestnut variety modified for tolerance to chestnut blight. The first document is a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that examines the potential environmental impacts, and the second is a draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment (DPPRA) that considers potential plants pest risks.

APHIS published SUNY’s petition on August 19, 2020, and solicited public comments for 60 days to aid the Agency in defining the scope and appropriate environmental documents. Following this, APHIS prepared an environmental impact statement to assess the potential impacts to the environment from deregulating the modified American chestnut variety. APHIS published a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS on August 6, 2021, and solicited comments for 30 days to further define the scope of the alternatives and environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts for consideration in the DEIS.

APHIS is now seeking public comments on the DEIS and DPPRA for 45 days so the public may review our preliminary evaluation of potential impacts on the environment in consideration of the SUNY petition. You can view the Federal Register notice, DEIS, DPPRA, and supporting documents on the APHIS website. Beginning November 10, 2022, members of the public can submit comments through December 27, 2022, by going to www.regulations.gov and entering “APHIS-2020-0030” into the Search field.”- November, 9. APHIS PPQ Press Release

For more information go to: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2022/american-chestnut-ge

 

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Disease Forecasting, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf
November 4, 2022

Retraining and Upskilling Workers on Produce Safety Best Practices Webinar

November 17, 2022, 12-1 PM EST Free Webinar

Growers who attend this food safety trainings will leave with a ton of information to help teach their employees. This will help make the task more manageable with practice tips.  The webinar will be given  by Phil Tocco, Extension Educator at Michigan State University Extension.

At the end of the webinar participants will:

  • Understand how to verify training is working.
  • Discern what training is required for different employees.
  • Develop a process for training folks on your farm.

For more information on this free webinar or to sign up:  Go to: https://go.rutgers.edu/8bgart4a

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
November 1, 2022

USDA Grain Transportation Reports

The USDA Grain Transportation Report is a weekly publication from the Agricultural Marketing Service. The weekly highlights cover snapshots by sector for Export Sales, Truck, Rail, Barge, and Ocean movements.

Past reports provide a snapshot of production costs and grain delivery to ports, and how grains were ‘moving’ along in the system. These reports are useful for penciling out capital risk. For example: 

October 8, 2015 report: National diesel fuel price $2.49

  • page 2, feature article: The importance of China to Grain Transportation and Logistics.
  • page 4, current transportation issues: slow demand for barge services. No significant rail disruptions.
  • page 4, grain transportation cost indicators: Using a base year 2000 = 100 value (biweekly value shown)
    • truck 165
    • rail 255
    • barge 359
    • gulf 147
    • pacific 126
  • page 13, barge movements, all commodities nearly all above three year trend since July.

October 25, 2022 report: National diesel fuel price $5.34

  • page 2, feature article: Using inspection data and services metrics to analyze grain rail exports.
  • page 4, grain transportation cost indicators: using a base year 2000 = 100 value (biweekly value shown)
    • truck 358
    • rail 332
    • barge 1112
    • gulf 284
    • pacific 262
  • page 12, barge movements, all commodities nearly all below three year trend since July.

For more indepth reading on these reports and more, see the website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/transportation-analysis/gtr-datasets

 

Filed Under: Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops
October 21, 2022

NEW: Rutgers Private Applicator 2023 Online License Renewal Assistance Available Daily Until October 31st!

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has released an announcement “Pesticide License Renewal Info 2023” to licensed applicators via email. The announcement is posted at https://www.nj.gov/dep/enforcement/docs/Pesticide-License-Renewal-Info-2023.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.  See today’s companion post to the Plant & Pest Advisory entitled “Private Applicators: NJDEP August Mailing of 2023 Invoices & Recertification Credit Status“. All Private Applicators are now […]
Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
October 21, 2022 and

Hill-Up your Grapevines to Prevent Winter Injury

Freeze injury on grape flower buds and canes can cause crop loss and increased disease problems, but freeze damage at the graft union can kill the entire vine! The most effective technique for limiting freeze injury to the graft union is hilling up soil around the vines high enough to cover the graft union with 3 to 4 inches of soil. This practice is especially important for vines less than 5 years old. Now, before temperatures drop and the ground freezes is the time to get out there and hill up your vines. Factsheet 1264 https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1264/ details the following important aspects of hilling-up to protect the graft union from cold damage.

  • Dead grapevinesThe principle of Hilling-up – How the soil works, both as a thermal mass that holds the heat and an insulator that slows heat loss.
  • How to perform effective hilling-up using available and specialized implements.
  • Cost benefits of using the implements.
  • Challenges such as timing, preventing damage to the drip lines and trunks during hilling-up; and how to address those challenges.
  • The process of hilling down in the spring to prevent root formation above the graft union and proper weed management.
Filed Under: Fruit, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , ,