- Read the solicitation completely (this is completely different from earlier program so need to reapply)
- Important to get the most up-to-date information from USDA’s acquisition staff.
- Two key submissions
- Adobe pdf
- Excel spreadsheet (don’t modify the template!)
- Submit questions to FFFBQuestions@usda.gov
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.
Subscriptions are available via EMAIL and RSS.
Quick Links:
NJ Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations
Rutgers Weather Forecasting - Meteorological Information important to commercial agriculture.
USDA Farmers To Families Food Box Program – New Round Solicitation
Unsolicited Seeds From Foreign Sources
Several states are now reporting and you may have read or heard news reports of packets of seeds arriving in the mail from foreign shipping addresses that were not ordered. If you receive such a packet, DO NOT open or discard them. Rather, follow these directions from the NJ Dept of Agriculture:
UPDATED NJDA ALERT (https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/news/hottopics/topics200727.html)
We have been receiving reports of people receiving seeds in the mail from China that they did not order. Sometimes the seeds are sent in packages stating that the contents are jewelry. Unsolicited seeds could be invasive, introduce diseases to local plants, or be harmful to livestock.
Here’s what to do if you receive unsolicited seeds from another country:
This is known as agricultural smuggling. Report it to the USDA!
- DO NOT plant them and if they are in sealed packaging don’t open the sealed package.
- Take a photo of the package and seeds and send the photos to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture Joseph.zoltowski@ag.nj.gov and USDA SITC at SITC.Mail@aphis.usda.gov
- Maintain the seeds and packaging and send to the USDA Office located at 1500 Lower Rd, Linden NJ 07036 for evidence.
If individuals are aware of the potential smuggling of prohibited exotic fruits, vegetables, or meat products into or through the USA, they can help APHIS by contacting the confidential Anti-smuggling Hotline number at 800-877-3835 or by sending an Email to SITC.Mail@aphis.usda.gov. USDA will make every attempt to protect the confidentiality of any information sources during an investigation within the extent of the law.
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NYCAMH/NEC Farmworker Needs Assessment Survey
The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine & Health/Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing based in Cooperstown, NY is conducting a farm worker health needs assessment to help them better address worker health and safety needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Read more…]
Vegetable IPM Update 7/22/20
Sweet Corn
European corn borer (ECB) adults continue to be very low, and no map will appear in this edition.
The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 7/22/20 are as follows:
Allamuchy 1 | Crosswicks 1 |
Denville 1 | |
Cinnaminson 1 | Downer 1 |
Fall armyworm (FAW) larval infestations are light and widely scattered. This is the time of the summer when FAW can show up, resulting in significant injury to whorl and even seedling stage corn. Injury from newly hatched larvae shows up as “window panes” or areas where leaf tissue has been eaten down the the lower epidermis (see photo at left). This injury leads down into the whorl. As larvae gain size, they begin to consume leaf tissue in its’ entirety, creating ragged holes and lots of droppings (see photo at right). FAW can be tough to manage because it is resistant to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (IRAC 3A) and because larvae are often covered by their own droppings, making contact with the insecticide more difficult. Treat when 12% or more plants exhibit FAW injury alone, or in combination with ECB injury.
Corn earworm (CEW) moth captures increased in blacklight traps this past week. Although the increased numbers do not represent a large influx, they do pose an elevated risk to silking corn. Blacklight catches were highest overall along the Delaware Bay (see map at left), with blue areas on this map representing a 4-5 day spray schedule.
The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 7/22/20 are as follows:
Centerton 2 | Cinnaminson 1 | New Egypt 1 |
Allamuchy 1 | East Vineland 1 | Old Bridge 1 |
Bellemeade 1 | Elm 1 | Pedricktown 1 |
Cedarville 1 | Jones Island 1 | Springdale 1 |
Don’t Let Your Guard Down With Farm Worker Health
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical, indeed essential, role of farm labor in getting food from farm to plate. However, health concerns should not stop with a negative COVID test, especially if an employee or family member is exhibiting any of the ‘flu-like’ symptoms that are associated with corona virus.
A recent farm call was a reminder that working outside, especially during this July heat wave, exposes workers to a number of potential health risks that may present very similar symptoms and can be equally health, and even life, threatening. Recently published studies from the Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences suggest growing numbers of people worldwide are at risk of heat stress and related complications, including farmers and ag laborers working in high heat and humid conditions.
Harvesting and other activities along field edges, including going into the woods instead of using a portable bathroom facilities, also lead to a high risk of tick bites, which can also carry a number of diseases, many as or more debilitating than Lyme disease that most are now aware of. A recent story at Today.com suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic might lead to more tick-borne disease this year, quoting Rutgers entomologist and assistant professor Alvaro Toledo at the Center for Vector Biology with suggestions how to prevent tick bites.
It is critical for your employees’ health and well-being to get proper diagnosis and treatment for all of these ailments. This table illustrates how many tick-born diseases, as well as heat stress, all have potential symptoms very similar to those of COVID-19. Each is linked to additional resources at the CDC. In many cases, it may be the ‘other symptoms’ that may be unique to each disease and assist a medical practitioner with correct identification and lead to better verification with further testing.
Disease > Symptoms v |
COVID-19 | Heat Stress | Lyme Disease | Ehrlichiosis | Babe- biosis | Powas-san | Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever |
Vector* | Human | Black-legged Tick (a.k.a. Deer Tick) (I. scapularis) | Lone Star Tick (A. americanum) & Black-legged | Black-legged Tick | Ground hog(I. cookei), Squirrel (I. marxi) & Black-legged Ticks | American Dog Tick (D. variabilis) | |
Fever or chills | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Cough | X | X | |||||
Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing | X | ||||||
Fatigue | X | X | X | X | |||
Muscle/body aches | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
Headache | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
New loss of taste or smell | X | ||||||
Sore throat | X | ||||||
Congestion or runny nose | X | ||||||
Nausea/vomiting | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Diarrhea | X | X | |||||
Rash | X | X | X | ||||
Other symptoms | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
Potentially Deadly/Disabling |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
*NOTE – main vector listed, but many tick born diseases may be vectored by other species of ticks, or different species causing same disease may be carried by different tick species.
Destroying cucurbit plantings after harvesting is a must to help mitigate downy mildew
It’s a little early in the season but now is a good time to start thinking about ways to help mitigate cucurbit downy mildew pressure later on. All cucurbit fields, especially cucumber and other summer squash fields should be destroyed immediately after the last harvest to help limit potential inoculum sources for cucurbit downy mildew. For a review of CDM control please click here. To track the progress of CDM on your phone or PC please visit the CDM forecasting website.