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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February 1, 2021

NEW- Nursery and Ornamentals Track (2 sessions – 8 speakers) at this year’s virtual VGA

Please join us at the NEW- Nursery and Ornamentals Track at this year’s virtual VGA

When: Monday, February 22nd (Session I:  9:15 – 11:45am)(Session II:  1:15 – 3:45pm (recert. credits pending))

Click here to register by Wednesday Feb. 17th for pesticide credits!

Click here for additional pesticide credit requirements and instructions (mandatory steps for recertification credits at VGA)

Price options:

  1. One day pass – $60.00
  2. Full 1yr VGA Membership (access to all four days of sessions 2/22-2/25)- $120

Summary: The sessions are geared towards delivering information broadly applicable to ornamental AND vegetable nurseries and producers alike. The speakers assembled for these sessions are renown experts and we are extremely lucky to learn from them.

  • Session I will focus on production techniques and plant selections, including management of drip irrigation clogging, fall mum selections, producing broadleaf evergreens, and native plant selections.
  • Session I – Featured Speaker: Dr. Paul Fisher (University of Florida)
  • Dr. Fisher is an expert in irrigation system management and will be discussing how to avoid or manage clogged irrigation emitters and pipes. He will be discussing how these clogs happen through the buildup of salts, biofilms, and various other particles. He will help you diagnose the cause of problems and select the best solutions.

 

  • Session II will focus on pest and disease mitigation including key pests in micro green production (aphids), the red headed flea beetle, and boxwood blight. Additionally, updates on utilizing growing degree days and other predictive models will be discussed (applicable to all crops)
  • Session II – Featured Speaker: Dr. Chuan Hong (Virginia Tech)
  • In addition to being at the forefront of Phytophthora research, Dr. Hong is a world renown boxwood blight researcher who was recently awarded nearly 4M dollars to investigate innovative methods to safeguard one of the nation’s most economically important evergreen shrubs. He will be discussing effective strategies and tools for blight mitigation at local and national levels. Together we can save this iconic landscape plant.

(pesticide recertification credits have been requested for Session II.)

Rutgers is dedicated to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal information safe. Upon upload, your files will be encrypted and stored to Rutgers Connect. Your information will be kept strictly confidential; used solely to meet NJDEP ID verification protocol for recertification credit; and will not be used for any other purpose. Your files will be deleted within 60 days after the training event.

New Nursery and Ornamental Track at the 2021 VGA

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
January 29, 2021

2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Virtual Convention Update

By now you’ve probably heard from many venues that the educational sessions of our 2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Convention will be held virtually the last week of February. Members of the Rutgers NJAES Vegetable Working Group and our colleagues that cover other commodities have developed a comprehensive program covering a wide range of topics. The entire up-to-date program can now viewed on the Vegetable Growers Association of NJ website – VGANJ.com/schedule.

As you will see on the program, concurrent two and a half hours-long, commodity-oriented sessions and workshops are scheduled each morning and afternoon. There will be sessions offering pesticide recertification credits. To accommodate the limitations of the Zoom platform, category credits will be available in afternoon sessions only, while two lunchtime sessions (Tues and Thurs) offer CORE credits.

Morning sessions may carry over into lunchtime Q&A discussions with speakers, if demand warrants, but on Wed, Feb 24, please join VGANJ President John Banscher for a special Tribute to New Jersey Farmers. We thank you for all your essential work during the pandemic of 2020, and we thank the VGANJ for sponsoring this educational event.

As we have offered at previous conventions, we are partnering with the NJ Dept of Health to offer their required training to those farmers/market managers who participate in the WIC & Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program. However, so as not to interfere with afternoon sessions, this has been scheduled as a separate Zoom meeting from 4-6pm. More details will follow.

To obtain credits via a virtual meeting requires a couple of extra steps on your part. Please view and familiarize yourself with the steps to be followed in this guide, which will also be available if you sign up for credits after registering with VGA. If you are not looking for credits, you will be able to move from session to session, but those wanting credits will need to be signed in to the Zoom meeting within 10 minutes of the start, remain attentive and responsive to random polls, and logged into the session until it ends. There will be some allowance and support if there are technical issues, but otherwise, leaving a meeting early will disqualify you for credits.

Filed Under: Blueberry, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape
January 28, 2021

A survey for all basil growers in the US.

As a follow-up to the virtual Basil Workshop held by UMASS, Rutgers University, and the University of Florida in December 2020, UMASS has created a short survey for any US basil grower to participate in. Below is a link to the survey and additional information that basil growers might find useful.

The link to the survey is:

https://forms.gle/NyNz9MuwubFMnHnh8

The slides for the workshop presentations will be posted shortly on a new website. We will have more information in February!

Below are some useful basil links:

Maps & reports for basil downy mildew (BDM) and other basil monitoring: https://basil.agpestmonitor.org/

Note that you can submit reports to this site and help us map the annual spread of BDM.

Anyone can follow the Rutgers basil breeding program on Instagram: @rutgersbasil

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
January 26, 2021

New Jersey Department of Agriculture Moves to New Building in Trenton

The New Jersey Department of Agiculture Administration and Staff have moved from their previous office building to a new location.

In the event anyone needs to drop off samples for testing or visit the NJDA for any reason, please be advised of this change of location.

The new building address for the NJDA office is: 200 Riverview Plaza, 3rd Floor, Trenton, NJ, 08611

The mailing address remains: PO Box 330, Trenton, NJ, 08625

For more information see the NJDA website.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Organic Production, Plant Diagnostic Lab, Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
January 26, 2021

Onboarding for Seasonal Employees Training

Although this training opportunity is New York-based, it will have information that covers topics related to all employers who hire seasonal employees.

Attend a 1.5-hour, on-line program Best Practices for Onboarding Seasonal Workers. Learn the key things you should have in place to be ready to welcome a group of seasonal workers. This program will follow an onboarding guide, Onboarding Seasonal Farm Employees, that was developed by Liz Higgins, CCE Eastern NY Commercial Hort Team, Mark Wiltberger, CCE Lake Ontario Fruit Program, and Richard Stup, CCE Ag Workforce Development. The onboarding guide covers:

-required paperwork and documentation for a new hire, including seasonal, migrant workers
-required trainings (with an emphasis on fruit and vegetable farms) and guides for developing a training plan
-tips for bringing on new employees and having them productive from day 1, especially when you are up to your eyeballs in work!
-tips for creating a welcoming environment where employees feel connected to their workplace and competent on the job.

When you register chose one of four dates:  

January 26 | 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM

January 27 | 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

January 28 | 8:00 AM  to 9:30 AM

To register see information in the Morning Ag Clips at https://www.morningagclips.com/onboarding-seasonal-farm-employees/

Filed Under: Blueberry, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Fruit, Nursery, Organic Production, Tree Fruit, Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
January 19, 2021

Health and Safety Highlight: Prioritize Safety Year-Round, 5 Keys to Safe Winter Equipment Maintenance

The fields may be quiet, but the machine shops are buzzing. Yes, winter is a great time to perform repairs and maintenance on farm machinery. Keep yourself and those around you safe by following these tips: [Read more…]

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