In response to the global pandemic COVID-19, and in line with the Mexican government’s call to increase social distancing, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and all U.S. consulates in Mexico will suspend routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa services starting March 18, 2020, and until further notice. For farmers this means, H-2A workers and others from Mexico may be prevented from entering the U.S. until further notice. NJ Farm Bureau is researching the subject for more clarification. For now to see more information go to the U.S. Embassy’s website at: 
https://mx.usembassy.gov/status-of-u-s-consular-operations-in-mexico-in-light-of-covid-19/
Fruit Crops Edition - Cranberry Section
Seasonal updates on diseases, insects, weeds impacting small fruit (blueberry, cranberry, and wine grape). Fruit Pest Alerts are also available via this category feed.
Subscription is through the general Fruit feed available via EMAIL and RSS.
March 17, 2020 Michelle Infante-Casella
Status of U.S. Consular Operations in Mexico in Light of COVID-19
February 22, 2020 Cesar Rodriguez-Saona
WEBINAR: Organic Management of Spotted-Wing Drosophila
Dear Organic Fruit Growers, Pest Management Professionals and other stakeholders:
Spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) has emerged as a devastating pest of small and stone fruits worldwide. We have organized a webinar to provide you with the most updated information on everything you need to know for organic management of SWD.
Please register at: https://eorganic.org/node/33992 to attend this webinar.
Date: March 4, 2020 (Wednesday) 2:00-3:30pm Eastern
Presented by: Ash Sial (UGA), Mary Rogers (UMN), Kelly Hamby (UMD), Kent Daane (UC Berkeley), Rufus Isaacs (MSU), Vaughn Walton (OSU), Oscar Liburd (UF), Craig Roubos (UGA), Elena Rhodes (UF) and other members of the SWD OREI project team.
Sponsored by: Award No. 2018-51300-28434 Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
February 10, 2020 Hemant Gohil
2020 South Jersey Commercial Tree Fruit Grower Meeting
Date: March 5, 2020
Time: 8:00 am – 3:00 pm
Location: RAREC – 121 Northville Road, Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Pre-Registration: Required, Contact: Karen Holton (holton@njaes.rutgers.edu) or (856) 455-3100 x 4104
Cost / person: $15.00 (Checks preferred, made out to Rutgers University) Lunch: Included
Pesticide Credits: Requested for – Core, PP2, 10, 1A, 3A and 3B
Program
8:00 am Registration Coffee and pastries
8:25 am Welcome and Opening Remarks
Daniel Ward, Director, Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Hemant Gohil, Agriculture Agent, Rutgers Co-op. Extension, Gloucester County
8:30 am Peach Bacterial Spot Management: Comparison of Copper Compounds and Rates
Norm Lalancette, Extension Specialist in Tree Fruit Pathology, Rutgers NJAES
9:15 am Pollinator Stewardship in Orchards
Julianna Wilson, Academic Specialist, Tree Fruit Integrator, Michigan State University
10:00 am Break – Coffee and pastries
10:15 am Integrating Management for Key Orchard Pests
Anne Nielsen, Extension Specialist in Tree Fruit Entomology, Rutgers NJAES
10:45 am Recommendation Updates for Tree Fruit Insect Management w/ Special Attention to Bee Safety.
Dean Polk, Statewide Fruit IPM Agent, Rutgers NJAES
11:15 am Pesticide Regulatory and Safety Update for 2020
George Hamilton, Extension Specialist in Pest Management, Rutgers NJAES
11:45 am Industry Updates and NJ Peach Promotion Council Updates
12 Noon Lunch
1:00 pm Updates on tree fruit soil fertility management in New Jersey
Megan Muehlbauer, Agriculture Agent, Rutgers Co-op. Extension, Hunterdon Co.
1:30 pm Soil Health – A Panel Discussion
Daniel Ward, Extension Specialist, Pomology; Joseph Heckman, Extension Specialist, Soil Health; Thierry Besancon, Extension Specialist, Weed Science; Lewis DeEugenio, Fruit Grower, Summit City Farms; Robert Muth, Fruit and Vegetable Grower, Muth Family Farms; Megan Muehlbauer, Agriculture Agent.
2:30 pm Updates on Peach and Nectarine Breeding Program
Joseph Goffreda, Tree Fruit Breeding, Rutgers University
3:00 pm Open Session – Grower Questions and Discussion
Pesticide re-certification credits
Please contact Hemant Gohil (Program Organizer) at gohil@njaes.rutgers.edu or 856-224-8029 if you have any questions.
January 6, 2020 Cesar Rodriguez-Saona
American Cranberry Growers Association Winter Meeting
Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020
Location: Rutgers EcoComplex, Bordentown, NJ
Agenda
8:00-8:30 Registration and Coffee
8:30-8:50 Welcoming remarks– Shawn Cutts, President, ACGA
Treasurer’s report – Shawn Cutts
8:50-9:10 Cranberry statistics
Bruce Eklund, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Trenton, NJ
9:10-9:35 Traits we have found in cranberry
Nicholi Vorsa, Professor, Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University; Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ; and James Polashock, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS
9:35-10:00 Progress towards managing fruit quality in 2020
Peter Oudemans, Professor, P.E. Marucci Center for Blueberry & Cranberry Research & Extension, Rutgers University, Chatsworth, NJ
10:00-10:25 How weeds impact cranberry yield and fruit quality
Thierry Besancon, Weed Science Extension Specialist, Rutgers University, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
10:25-10:40 Break
10:40-10:50 VacciniumCAP: Leveraging genetic and genomic resources to enable development of blueberry and cranberry cultivars with improved fruit quality attributes
James Polashock, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ; Nicholi Vorsa, Professor, Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University; Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
10:50-11:15 Can we exploit cranberry’s own defenses to fight against phytoplasma infection?
Cesar Rodriguez-Saona, Professor, Department of Entomology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; James Polashock, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS; and Vera Kyryczenko-Roth, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
11:15-11:40 Machine learning assists cranberry fruit rot resistance breeding
Joe Kawash, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ; James Polashock, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ; Nicholi Vorsa, Professor, Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University; Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
11:40-12:05 Important farm health and safety concerns related to machinery operation and pesticides application
Bill Bamka, Agriculture & Natural Resources County Agent II, County Extension Dept. Head, RCE of Burlington County, Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
12:05-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:20 Cranberry institute – An update
John Wilson, Cranberry Institute, Carver, MA
1:20-1:50 Managing moss in cranberries
Katherine Ghantous, Research Associate, Cranberry IPM, Cranberry Station, East Wareham, MA
1:50 Adjournment- ACGA Board of Directors Meeting
July 31, 2019 Cesar Rodriguez-Saona
American Cranberry Growers Association: 2019 Summer Field Day
Date: Thursday August 15, 2019
Location: Rutgers University, P.E. Marucci Center for Blueberry & Cranberry Research & Extension, Chatsworth, NJ
AGENDA
CRANBERRY BOGS
8:00–8:30 Refreshments
8:30–8:45 Opening Remarks
Shawn Cutts, President, American Cranberry Growers Association
8:45–9:10 Weed Control in Newly Planted Cranberry Beds (Lower Bogs)
Thierry Besancon and Baylee L. Carr, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
9:10–9:25 Cranberry Germplasm Collection: Fuel for Breeding Future Varieties (Bog 1)
Nicholi Vorsa, Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, and Susan Vancho, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
9:25–9:40 Liming to Mitigate pH Lowering Properties of Liquid Fertilizer Applications (Bog 5)
Nicholi Vorsa and Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
9:40–10:05 Managing Fruit Quality (Bog 6)
Peter Oudemans, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
10:05–10:20 Effects of Reduced Winter Flooding (Bog 9)
Nicholi Vorsa and Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
10:20–10:35 2018 Haines Planting: Buggy Sanding to Aid Establishment (Bog 19)
Nicholi Vorsa and Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
10:35–11:00 On-going Research on Sucking Insect Pests (Bog 19)
Cesar Rodriguez-Saona, Vera Kyryczenko-Roth, and Robert Holdcraft, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ
CONFERENCE ROOM
11:20–11:30 Cranberry Statistics
Bruce A Eklund, State Statistician, U.S. Department of Agriculture | National Agricultural Statistics Service
11:30–11:55 Markers for Disease Resistance
James Polashock, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS
12:00–1:00 LUNCH
July 14, 2019 Cesar Rodriguez-Saona
Managing Cranberry Toad Bug
Toad bugs, Phylloscelis atra, are an occasional pest of cranberries in New Jersey that can cause economic injury. This insect feeds only on
Fig. 1. Seasonal number of toad bug nymphs and adults per sweep net sample
cranberries and has a single generation per year. It overwinters as eggs. The nymphs appear by the end of June through early September, and the adults from end of July through October (harvest) (see Figure 1). Eggs are laid from end of August through October.
Damage. Feeding damage can be noticed in two stages. First stage feeding damage on vines causes closing in (towards the branch) of the leaves on the new growth. Second stage feeding causes changed in color (reddish to brown) of new growth. The damage can be seen from July until harvest. This damage will cause dying of the branch and the berries to shrivel up. Heavy infestation will result in dwarfed berries.
Management. To determine infestation, lightly sweep problematic beds (bugs should be easy to catch in sweep nets as they are very active). Because this is a new pest there is no threshold established yet. Thus, insecticide applications should be based on the relative number of bugs per sweep compared with other sites and previous history of infestation. Currently, growers can use the following control options: Sevin 4F (broad-spectrum carbamate), Diazinon (broad-spectrum organophosphate), or Actara or Assail 30SG (neonicotinoid insecticides, effective against piercing-sucking insects) (see Figure 2). If infestation is high, treatments should be applied when the nymphs are present (i.e., mid- to late-July; see Figure 1).
Fig. 2. Chemical control options for toad bugs
For more information, please see “The Cranberry Toad-Bug” by F.A. Sirrine and B.B. Fulton. 1914. New York Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin No. 377. Department of Agriculture, Geneva, NY.
