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 17, 2017

Planning for Pepper Weevil

We have been fortunate in having almost no infested pepper fields since 2014 in southern New Jersey.  However, pepper weevil remains a potential threat to our pepper crop.  Despite new chemistries, insecticidal control of the weevil is not possible once an infestation is established.

Vegetable processing plants and repackers that bring in southern produce seem to be the primary source of pepper weevils arriving in the state.  To help reduce the incidence of pepper weevil infestations, farmers should plant peppers in fields at least 1 ½ miles from a processing facility.  If at all possible, no solanaceous crop should be planted within that 1 ½ mile radius since weevils can feed on and spread from tomatoes and eggplant. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops
February 16, 2017

SADC Cost-Sharing for Deer Fence on Permanently Preserved Farms

Whitetail deer. Photo courtesy USDA NRCS.

The NJ State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) recently dedicated $500,000 of funding for 50% cost-share grants to farmers for installing high tensile woven-wire fencing on permanently preserved farms.  The cost share applies to fencing materials and installation.  An applicant can apply for a cost-share of up to $200/acre, with a total award amount capped at $20,000.  As a ballpark estimate: accounting for the farmer’s 50% contribution, the maximum level of funding would support fence installation around roughly 20+ acres.

To be eligible for the program: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , ,
February 16, 2017

Specialty Peppers Ultra-Niche Crop Session to be Held

A colorful display and array of specialty peppers.

Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension is continuing its Ultra-Niche Crop Series with the upcoming workshop “Specialty Peppers”. This workshop, the fourth class for farmers seeking new crop opportunities, will be held on March 7, 2017 from 5:30 to 8 PM, simultaneously in Cape May Court House, Bordentown and Bridgewater, New Jersey.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
January 25, 2017

Farmer Energy & Water Efficiency Training Feb. 22

Learn from Industry and Academia Experts about Innovations in Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation, that Positively Impact our Environment and Can Increase the Profitability at Your Farm

Click here for Agenda

The Rutgers EcoComplex and the Rutgers Food Innovation Center have partnered together to provide this critically-needed and unique seminar for farmers, that will help companies to reduce their energy and water use, create or enhance their sustainability program, and save money in their operations. The trainers in this course are industry experts who have first-hand experience in the field.

More details here.

Date: February 22, 2017
Time: 8 am registration, Program from 8:30am – 4:30 pm
Location: 140 Locust Grove Rd, Pittstown, NJ 08867
Cost: $20 per person

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
January 18, 2017

Corn Earworm Developing Resistance to Bt Toxins in Sweet Corn

Corn earworm caterpillar feeding on sweet corn tassel

New research from the University of Maryland indicates that corn earworm, also known as tomato fruitworm, has developed resistance to the Cry1 Bt toxins present in some sweet corn hybrids.  Based upon Galen Dively’s twenty-one years of research comparing non-Bt sweet corn varieties with Bt varieties in plot studies, the proportion of damaged ears in Bt varieties has dramatically increased over that time.

Syngenta sweet corn hybrids with Attribute® technology expressing Cry1 Ab toxins in 1996 showed less than 10% ear damage.  Those hybrids with Attribute® in 2016 averaged 84% ear damage.  Similarly, the amount of damaged area per ear had tripled.

Seminis produced sweet corn hybrids with Performance SeriesTM containing Cry1 A.105 and Cry2 ab for worm control.  When some of these hybrids were first evaluated in 2010 they provided 100% control of fall armyworm and 95% control of corn earworm.  In 2016, six plantings at research farm sites of these hybrids averaged 67% damaged ears.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
November 9, 2016

Sources of Dickeya dianthicola in potato in 2016

Using PCR test results and North American Certified Seed Potato Health Certificates to track Lot no., Dickeya dianthicola has been reported in 16 states (DE, FL, MD, MA, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, VA, WV, OH, IN, MO, MI, and TX) on at least nine potato varieties to date in 2016. These varieties include: ‘Reba’, ‘Superior’, ‘Vivaldi’, ‘Norwis’, ‘Snowden’, ‘Yukon Gold’, ‘Beacon Chipper’, ‘Kennebec’, and ‘Atlantic’.  Known sources of infested seed found in potato fields on the East Coast have originated from at least two suppliers in Canada and a number of seed suppliers in Maine this past growing season. To better understand the scope and breadth of the pathogen affecting potato production on the East Coast, information on known varieties and lot numbers that tested positive for Dickeya this past summer have been collected. This information is now available. It’s important for potato growers using this information to know that this list is a working document and not all Dickeya dianthicola test results are known or have been made public or available by the Maine Potato Board or the Maine Department of Agriculture (or Canada). Dickeya testing is being done in Maine by the Maine Potato Board/Maine Department of Agriculture and independently by the University of Maine and other Universities and laboratories. Potato growers with any questions or concerns about Dickeya-infested varieties and seed lots in 2016 and sources of seed for 2017 should contact the Maine Department of Agriculture; or Potatoes New Brunswick, if purchasing seed from these regions.

Dickeya dianthicola has been detected in the US in the past, and because of this, APHIS  has designated the pathogen as a non-reportable/non-actionable pathogen despite its potential to cause 100% crop loss. A link to best management practices for managing Dickeya dianthicola in the Northeast (and mid-Atlantic region) can be found here. Importantly, there is no current policy in place designed specifically for regulating and/or controlling Dickeya dianthicola in seed potato coming into the US from Canada. The Maine Potato Board’s Executive Seed Council adopted their own Blackleg-tolerance policy last winter which is followed by the Maine Department of Agriculture. For more information on this policy please contact the Maine Potato Board or the Maine Department of Agriculture.

The best method for keeping your potato operation Dickeya-free is to adopt your own 0% Dickeya-tolerance policy.

 

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: