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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NJ Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations

Rutgers Weather Forecasting - Meteorological Information important to commercial agriculture.

June 26, 2021

NEWA Disease and Insect Forecasting System

The NEWA (Network for Environment and Weather Applications) website managed by the New York state Integrated Pest Management  (IPM) program can be found at http://newa.cornell.edu/. The website is easy to use and offers weather data as well as insect and disease forecasting (e.g., P-days for Early blight and BlightCast for Late Blight in potato, and Tom-Cast DSV’s for Early blight, Septoria leaf spot and Anthracnose fruit rot in tomatoes. Just click on the map and scroll down to New Jersey and chose a weather station within the closest proximity to your operation. Once you choose a location a new webpage will appear with the different forecasting options to choose from. Clicking on the potato early blight will automatically generate daily and accumulative P-day values for you for that location. Remember once 300 P-days are accumulated, spray programs for early blight control should be initiated. Clicking on either tomato or potato Late blight will bring up a table which will provide daily rainfall, average temperature, hours above 90% RH and daily and accumulative DSV values for that location. One important thing to remember for the disease forecasting is to track the accumulation of DSV or P-day values based on when you transplanted tomatoes or when potatoes emerged on your farm.

To track the progress of Late blight in the US you may also visit http://usablight.org/

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
June 25, 2021

Additional Vaccination Opportunities Across the State This Weekend

Last Friday, Governor Murphy announced that the State has reached the goal of having 70% adults fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, many areas across New Jersey still see vaccination rate below 70%. In addition to the Atlantic City rodeo event announced yesterday, the NJ Dept of Health shared these additional vaccination events/sites that will occur throughout the state this weekend:

  • The Mobile Command Center (vaccination van) will be in Irvington on Saturday 6/26, at Irvington Park, Lyons Avenue and Grove Street, from 10:30AM to 1:30PM
  • In Trenton on Saturday 6/26 there will be COVID-19 vaccines, music, giveaways, and a lot of fun at 416 Bellevue Avenue, Trenton, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
  • Vaccine clinic at Rodeo in Atlantic City on Sunday 6/27 at Surf Stadium, 545 North Albany Avenue, Atlantic City, 3PM to 7PM.

Additionally, this weekend and early next week, there will be pop-up vaccination sites in Trenton, Camden, Ewing, Woodbridge, Long Branch, Lakewood, Hackensack, and Paterson.

Saturday 6/26, Grateful for the Shot pop-up clinics –

  • Ewing Township, 10am to 1pm – Faith Deliverance Cathedral Church, 15 Keswick Ave, Ewing Township, NJ 08638
  • Woodbridge Township, 1pm-4pm – Muslim Community of New Jersey, 15 South Second Street Fords, NJ 08863
  • Long Branch City, 10am-12pm – St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, 800 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, NJ 07740
  • Lakewood, 9am-5pm – Lakewood Town Square, Clifton Avenue & Third Street, Lakewood, NJ 08701

Sunday 6/27, Grateful for the Shot pop-up clinics –

  • Trenton, 9am to 11am – Parish of Our Lady of the Angels, 540 Chestnut Ave Trenton, NJ 08611
  • Hackensack, 2pm to 5pm – Redeemed Christian Church of God The King’s Court, 81 Trinity Pl, Hackensack, NJ 07601
  • Orange Township, 11am to 3 pm – First Shiloh Baptist Church, 424 Main St, City of Orange, NJ 07050

Monday 6/28, Grateful for the Shot pop-up clinics –

  • Paterson City, 4pm to 7pm – Templo Shalom, 586 Main St, Paterson, NJ 07503

Tuesday 6/29, Grateful for the Shot pop-up clinics –

  • Paterson City, 3pm to 6pm – Calvary Baptist Church, 575 E 18th St, Paterson, NJ 07514
Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , ,
June 24, 2021

Free Vaccinations at Atlantic City Rodeo Event – Sunday, June 27

On Sunday, June 27, there will be a free COVID-19 vaccination event during a rodeo being held at the Surf Stadium (545 North Albany Ave, Atlantic City). No appointments are needed and walk-ups are welcome. Both Pfizer for those ages 12 and older (1st and 2nd doses) and J&J for those 18 and older will be available. No ID documentation is required and there will be no impact on immigration status. More details are available in the attached flyers (in English and Spanish) that can be printed, posted and/or handed out for you, your family and farm employees.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and free. Get vaccinated!

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , ,
June 24, 2021

New Jersey Farmland Preservation Seeking New Applications for State Acquisition Program

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher recently announced that the New Jersey Farmland Preservation Program is accepting new applications for farm owners wishing to permanently preserve their land. The State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), the agency that administers the program, is accepting new applications through its State Acquisition Program in which landowners coordinate directly with the SADC office to preserve their farms.

If you are interested in exploring preservation, the SADC acquisition regional coordinators are ready to help.

  • Stefanie Miller (covers Hunterdon county) stefanie.miller@ag.nj.gov
  • Amy Mandelbaum (covers Atlantic, Cape May, Burlington, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Camden, Gloucester counties) amy.mandelbaum@ag.nj.gov
  • Katie Mazzella (covers Salem, Cumberland counties) katie.mazzella@ag.nj.gov
  • Rachel DeFlumeri (covers Bergen, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Warren counties) rachel.deflumeri@ag.nj.gov.

You may also call the SADC’s main number at 609-984-2504 or visit the SADC’s website at www.nj.gov/agriculture/sadc/farmpreserve/.

 

Click to access 2021.6.21SADCAnnouncesSeekingDirectEasementApplicationsFINAL.pdf

 

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
June 23, 2021

Vegetable IPM Update 6/23/21

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) moth catches remain very low, and concentrated primarily in Gloucester County (see map below at right).  Most active infestations now are in pre-tassel stage corn, with whorl corn largely free of feeding as egg laying has declined.  Feeding in scouted pre-tassel stage sweet corn ranges to above 30% in Hunterdon County.

Look for the characteristic “shot-hole” type of feeding (photo  below at right) and consider treating when infested plants exceed 12% in a 50 plant sample.  As plantings proceed to the pre-tassel stage, ECB larvae may be found in emerging tassels (see photo at left).  It is a good idea to treat individual plantings as they move into the full tassel/first silk stage one time.  This eliminates any ECB larvae that have emerged with the tassels as they begin to move down the stalk to re-enter near developing ears.

 

Useful insecticides for this particular application include synthetic pyrethroids (IRAC Grp 3), spinosyns (including OMRI approved Entrust) IRAC Grp 5), and diamides such as Coragen or Vantacor (IRAC Grp 28) or materials such as Besiege which include the active ingredient in Coragen.  Synthetic pyrethroids alone should NOT be used for corn earworm (CEW) protection on silking corn.  Control with these materials is very inconsistent.

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 6/23/21 are as follows:

Downer   2 New Egypt   1
Cinnaminson   1 Old Bridge   1
Medford   1 South Branch   1

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
June 23, 2021

COVID Delta Variant and NJ Agriculture

As the farming season progresses so does concern for the increased prevalence of the COVID Delta variant in the region.  We asked Don Schaffner, Extension Specialist, about the Delta variant and if we should be concerned about it.  If you or your farm workers are in need of a vaccine please email njfarmvax@njaes.rutgers.edu and an Extension team member will assist you with finding local vaccination locations and/or determine if an on-farm vaccine clinic is possible for your workers.  If you have questions about the vaccine visit the Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety Vaccine Education for Growers website for information in multiple languages.

Meredith Melendez: Are we seeing an increase in cases of the COVID Delta variant in New Jersey or the region?

Don Schaffner: Yes. According to CDC, Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) had only 3.1% of all infections due to the Delta variant for the week ending 5/22/21. This percentage had jumped to 17.7% week for the week ending 6/5/21. There are not further updates at this time.

Also according to the CDC in NJ 3.4% all infections were due to the Delta variant for the week ending 5/22/21. No further New Jersey specific updates are available at this time.

MM: How is the Delta variant different than the COVID cases we saw over the past year?

DS: There are a number of reasons why there is increased concern over the Delta variant. Epidemiological data shows that the variant has increased transmissibility (i.e. it is more easily spread from person to person) than the original strain. Estimates indicate that it is about 60% more transmissible. This means that for every one person infected by the original virus, on average for the same conditions the Delta variant would spread to about 1.6 people.

One of the ways of combating the virus once someone is infected is with monoclonal antibody treatments. There is evidence that the Delta variant is more resistant to this important treatment.

There is also evidence that the Delta virus is not as readily neutralized by post-vaccination sera. Sera contain the antibodies in people that are vaccinated.

MM: Are the Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J vaccines as effective against the Delta variant?

DS: Yes.  The Johnson & Johnson vaccine appears to be about 60% effective against the delta variant. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 88% effective after the second dose (vs. over 90% for other variants). So while the vaccines are less effective against the Delta variant, it is still much better to be vaccinated than not.

MM: Why should someone get vaccinated now if they haven’t already?

DS: Unvaccinated individuals are vulnerable to all variants of the virus. These variants arise through the natural evolution when the virus replicates inside a sick person. Since the vaccines can stop some people from getting infected, the more people that are vaccinated the better control we will have over these variants and stop new variants from evolving.

 

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Plant Diagnostic Lab, Vegetable Crops