The Rutgers On-Farm Food Safety Team will be presenting three free webinars in March from 12:00 pm to 1:00pm. These will cover issues related to audits and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) – Produce Safety Rule. On March 12 we will have an “Introduction to FSMA and Audits” discussing the difference between them, if a grower needs to comply with either and what is involved. March 19 “Backflow Prevention in the Field and Packinghouse”, types of different devices, how to maintain them and where to place them. March 26 “On-Farm Record Keeping” for FSMA and audits including the type of records required, what needs to be on the records and now long to maintain them. To sign up for these free webinars go to RutgersOnFarmFoodSafety.Eventbrite.com.
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.
NJ WIC Senior/Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program
The NJ Dept of Health’s Women, Infants and Children program administers the Senior/Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program that provides vouchers to purchase fresh produce only through authorized on-farm and community farmers’ markets. They now serve over 80,000 NJ residents and are recruiting new Farmers and Market Managers to help them reach even more eligible customers.
If you are interested in finding out more about the program and becoming a participating market able to accept and redeem S/FMNP vouchers for yourself or on behalf of your smaller farm market vendors, please contact Jose Quann asap at the NJ Dept of Health. He can be reached at <jose.quann@doh.nj.gov>.
Please note – In order to become an Authorized Farmer or Market Manager, you will be required to attend a mandatory training program. There are only four scheduled virtual sessions between now and early March 15. If you miss the the mandatory training, there is an appeal and hearing process, but otherwise, you will not be able to participate this season.
Time is of the essence!
2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Convention Virtual Educational Sessions – Thursday
Day 4 is here already. Thank you for participating this week. We hope this has been a useful program for you.
Please use the following links for Thursday’s sessions.
Access for all morning sessions begins at 9am Thursday Feb 25 here: https://go.rutgers.edu/a6s5d8nq with presentations beginning at 9:15am.
All morning sessions will be in ‘breakout rooms’ accessible from the main Zoom session. Afternoon sessions will each have a unique link to allow us to track attendance better for those seeking pesticide credits.
As always, all links are also available for all sessions at vganj.com/schedule or go directly to the agenda page here https://go.rutgers.edu/yw2aminv.
NOTE that if you missed Wednesday’s wonderful Tribute to New Jersey Farmers, it is posted front and center at vganj.com/convention.
The program and links for Thursday’s sessions are:
2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Virtual Convention – Educational Sessions Agenda
Thurs Feb 24, 2021 – 9:15am-11:45am
Access ALL MORNING sessions HERE
https://go.rutgers.edu/a6s5d8nq
Grapes I
9:15-9:30am-Welcome & Intro
9:30-10:00am-Frost Protection in the Vineyard
10:00-10:30am-Panel Discussion – New Jersey Grape Growers’ Response to Frost Events
10:30-10:45am-Preventing Herbicide Drift & Injury to Grapevines
10:45-11:15am- Wine Grape Varieties for North New Jersey
11:15-11:45am- Alternative Wine Grape Varieties to Consider
Through the Looking Glass – Future Technologies for NJ Farms
9:00-9:15am-Welcome & Intro
9:15-9:45am-Applications of Cold Plasma in Hydroponics
9:45-10:15am-Farm-IT – Cost Effective & Open-Source Management Solutions for Small Farm Operations
10:15-10:45am-Agriculture & Solar – History and Status of the Massachusetts Solar PV Dual-Use Program
10:45-11:15am- Controlled Environment Agriculture – A Tool to Understand Flavor Profiles and Consumer Demand for Baby Leafy Greens
11:15-11:45am-From the Horizon to the Far Out – Production Enhancing Ag Technologies
General Vegetables & Herbs I
9:15-9:30am-Welcome & Intro
9:30-10:00am-Bacterial Leaf Spot Populations & Copper Resistance Development in Vegetable & Tree Fruit Crops in NJ
10:00-10:30am-Understanding Bacterial Leaf Spot Populations on Tomato & Pepper
10:30-10:45am-What’s New from Industry/Break
10:45-11:15am-Update on X10R Bell Pepper Varieties in NJ
11:15-11:45am-Grafting Tomato & Peppers for Controlling Bacterial Wilt & Root Knot Nematode
Thurs Feb 25, 2021 – 12:00pm-1:00pm
Access AFTERNOON sessions individually
Pesticide credit sessions require logging in within 10 minutes of start and remaining through the entire session to be eligible for credits.
Respiratory Protection Requirements of WPS-Labeled Pesticides
https://go.rutgers.edu/idc7d8nj
(1 hour for 2 CORE credits)
Pat Hastings
Session will highlight the requirements of the federal WPS and New Jersey Worker Protection regulations covering use of respirators for pesticide applications.
Thurs Feb 25, 2021 – 1:00pm-3:45pm
Grapes II
https://go.rutgers.edu/9ryhlfx9
1:15-1:30pm-Welcome & Intro
1:30-2:00pm-Understanding Risk and Evaluating Growing Practices in the Face of Emerging Invasive Pathogens
2:00-2:30pm-Application of CRISPR-Gene Editing to Improve Grape Disease Resistance
2:30-2:45pm-What’s New from Industry/Break
2:45-3:15pm-Spotted Lantern Fly Update
3:15-3:45pm-Pesticide Safety and Regulation Update for 2021
Integrated Pest Management
https://go.rutgers.edu/jci205ae
1:15-1:30pm-Welcome & Intro
1:30-2:00pm-Refining Your Disease Management Program for Pumpkin and Winter Squash
2:00-2:30pm-Battling Corn Earworm in Sweet Corn
2:30-2:45pm-What’s New from Industry/Break
2:45-3:15pm-Invasive Jumping Worms – Are There Any Risks to Agriculture?
3:15-3:45pm-The Plague of Peppers – An Unexpected Tale of the Pepper Weevil in Ohio
General Vegetables & Herbs II
https://go.rutgers.edu/1ag4acby
1:15-1:30pm-Welcome & Intro
1:30-2:00pm-Understanding & Controlling Cucurbit Downy Mildew in 2021
2:00-2:30pm-Managing White Flies & Thrips in Field Vegetables
2:30-2:45pm-What’s New from Industry/Break
2:45-3:15pm-Alternaria Diseases of Brassicas-an Emerging Problem in the Mid-Atlantic
3:15-3:45pm-Pepper Anthracnose-Appetite for Destruction
Second notice: Pepper Weevil Management and Research Priorities
Pepper Weevil Management and Research Priorities
March 3, 2021, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Online Zoom Meeting
Pepper growers/agribusiness professionals/extension personnel are invited to attend a virtual meeting to discuss current pepper weevil management tactics and to set research priorities.
Since 2006, at least one farm each growing season has been infested with pepper weevil. So far, timely spraying after detection has occasionally been successful in eliminating weevils. Otherwise, insecticide applications have only suppressed weevil populations. Pheromone traps are useful in detecting weevils, but often fields are infested before the weevils are trapped. What else can be done? What are the priorities in attempting to manage weevils?
Please join the discussion to help develop tactics to reduce the impact of pepper weevil.
To register please go to https://go.rutgers.edu/3bm2r3xl
The registration deadline is March 1, 2021, and you must pre-register to get the zoom link.
Harmonized Audit Training
With a new Harmonized Audit taking affect May 1 this is your last chance to hear about the changes. The training from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm will cover each question in the Audit and discuss the changes. Closing date for the March 2nd training is Friday, February 26th. Go the RutgersOnFarmFoodSafety.Eventbrite.com to register. After the closing date each participant will receive login information.
