Greetings from the Veg IPM team!
Vegetable Crops Edition
Seasonal updates and alerts on insects, diseases, and weeds impacting vegetable crops. New Jersey Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations updates between annual publication issues are included.
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Quick Links:
NJ Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations
Rutgers Weather Forecasting - Meteorological Information important to commercial agriculture.
Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety: Online FSMA Two-Day Training, September 29 and 30, 2026 9:00-12:00, both days
Who Should Attend
Fruit and vegetable growers and others interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and co-management of natural resources and food safety. The PSA Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in § 112.22(c) that requires ‘At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration.
What to Expect at the PSA Grower Training Course
The trainers will spend approximately seven hours of instruction time covering seven modules:
- Introduction to Produce Safety
- Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training
- Soil Amendments
- Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use
- Agricultural Water (Part I: Production Water; Part II: Postharvest Water)
- Postharvest Handling and Sanitation
- How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan
Cost of Training is $100.00 and registration closes on September 12th.
After attending the entire two-day course, participants will be eligible to receive a certificate from the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) that verifies they have completed the training course. To receive an AFDO certificate, a participant must be present for the entire training and submit the appropriate survey to their trainer at the end of the course.
Register Online: https://rutgers.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2aivUtkSI4Rj69E
For more information contact:
Jennifer Matthews, Senior Program Coordinator, Rutgers On- Farm Food Safety Team – jmatthews@njaes.rutgers.edu
September 2, 2026 Hemant Gohil
Tree Assistance Program (TAP) Update
Farm Service Agency (FSA) has revised criteria for the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) to help with tree/vine/bush loss beyond normal mortality. Earlier, you needed to have a loss of at least 15% to be eligible for the assistance; thankfully, that criterion has been removed. Please note that this is not for crop loss but for the loss of tree/vine/bush due to natural disasters.
Below is an announcement with updated USDA info for TAP. If you believe you qualify, please note the deadline (Oct 7). Also, please don’t remove the tree/vine/bush; FSA would want to see the declining or dead tree/vines. For more details and the application, please use: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/disaster-recovery/tree-assistance-program-tap
Tree Assistance Program Update
If you’re an orchardist or nursery tree grower who experienced losses from natural disasters during calendar year 2026, you must submit a TAP application either 90 calendar days after the disaster event or the date when the loss is apparent.
TAP provides financial assistance to help you replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes and vines damaged by natural disasters.
Eligible tree types include trees, bushes or vines that produce an annual crop for commercial purposes. Nursery trees include ornamental, fruit, nut and Christmas trees that are produced for commercial sale. Trees used for pulp or timber are ineligible.
To qualify for TAP, eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers must suffer a qualifying tree, bush or vine loss from an eligible natural disaster in excess of normal mortality. The Working Families Tax Cut Act removed the 15% loss requirement, and a producer now qualifies for TAP if their loss exceeds the normal mortality for a tree, bush, or vine. For 2026 losses, producers who did not meet the 15% loss requirement but are now eligible must submit an application for payment by the later of Oct. 7, 2026, or 90 days from the date of the disaster event or when the loss is apparent.
Additionally, the reimbursement rate increased to 65% for activities like pruning and removal and the implementation period was extended to 24 months with an option to extend.
The cumulative total quantity of acres planted to trees, bushes or vines, for which you can receive TAP payments, cannot exceed 1,000 acres annually.
September 1, 2026 Claudia Gil Arroyo
October Farming Twilight Meeting – October 22, 2026
Pesticide recertification credits will be given to those attending this Twilight Meeting. See details below:
Please RSVP by October 20, 2026
Contact Jocelyn Shillingford at (609) 465 5115 ext. 3607 or capemayag@njaes.rutgers.edu
August 28, 2026 Amanda Quadrel and Maria Cramer
Vegetable IPM Update 8/28/26
Greetings from the Veg IPM team! This week’s update contains important information about Cucurbit Downy Mildew in NJ.
Cyclospora Video
Annalisa Hultberg from the University of Minnesota Extension has produced a short (under 10 minutes) informational video to provide updates on the outbreaks and recalls associated with the Cyclospora parasite. Many fruit and vegetable farmers may be getting questions from their customers about their produce and its safety. If you want to learn more about this foodborne parasite and how to talk with your customers, there are videos available on YouTube at the addresses below.
English: z.umn.edu/CyclosporaVideo_English
Hmong: z.umn.edu/CyclosporaVideo_Hmong
Spanish: z.umn.edu/CyclosporaVideo_Spanish
