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Seasonal updates on ornamental, nursery, and turf pests.
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December 26, 2024

Ever Consider Rutgers Master Gardener Program?

Rutgers Master Gardener 2025 RegistrationThe Rutgers Master Gardener Program offers an intensive horticulture training to people interested in improving their gardening skills and giving back by helping to teach others. RMG ‘volunteers’ attend a series of classes in basic to intermediate horticulture, soils, fertility, pest and plant diagnosis, and management skills. In turn, they help their local County Rutgers Cooperative Extension office extend their outreach to the community by answering gardening questions on call-in/walk-in helplines or at community events; teach classes; and develop and implement demonstration gardens.

The 2025 class is open now and actively recruiting to begin classes in a couple of weeks. There is still room available if you or you know someone (garden center/farm market employees and/or customers, nursery/landscape business employees) who might be interested. Feel free to post this in your stores or pass it on to anyone you think might like to give it a try. More information is available via the QR code or go to https://go.rutgers.edu/RMG2025.

RMG25 Registration QR Code

https://go.rutgers.edu/RMG2025

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf Tagged With: , , , , ,
December 18, 2024

Register Before December 31 for Bonuses at the 2025 NJ Ag Convention

Have you signed up for the 2025 New Jersey Agricultural Convention and Trade Show yet?
Visit the VGANJ Convention Website and register today!

It’s incredibly simple! Here’s a pro tip: Become a member of the Vegetable Growers Association to enjoy all the benefits, even if you don’t grow vegetables, and save on convention registration fees by becoming a member. Everyone must register to enter the trade show and participate in educational sessions and other events sponsored by the VGANJ. 

Make sure to register by December 31st to receive two complimentary drink tickets (per registered individual) for use at the trade show bars after 2 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday. Plus, you’ll be entered to win a $100 gift card for meals during your time in Atlantic City!

Don’t forget to check the VGANJ website for the exciting new educational sessions for 2025.

Also, on Tuesday there will be a special free “Lunch and Learn” program to engage with vendors and participate in a Q&A session with the new Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Wengryn.
*FREE lunch tickets only for the first 100 farmers Tuesday who sign up for the “Lunch and Learn” at the registration desk on Tuesday morning. Lunch starts at 12:00.

On Wednesday, February 5th the VGANJ will be honoring the NJ Vegetable Grower of the Year. For 2025 the honoree is Brian Porch from Salem County, NJ. Come help us celebrate our awardee and the NJDA awardees at the banquet. Tickets are now available online through VGANJ. See the VGANJ Convention Website to sign up for the banquet and other special events.

Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape, work shop Tagged With:
December 18, 2024

Hurry – Apply for the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) Program– Applications Due January 8, 2025 – Contact Your Local FSA Office Now

The MASC program, administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) using Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds, provides eligible specialty crop producers with marketing assistance payments to help them engage in activities that aid in expanding domestic specialty crop markets or in developing new markets for their specialty crops in 2025.

SPECIALTY CROPS ELIGIBLE – Fruits (fresh, dried) Nursery crops, Christmas trees, and floriculture, Vegetables (including dry edible beans and peas, mushrooms, and vegetable seed) Culinary and medicinal herbs and spices, Tree nuts, Honey, hops, maple sap, tea, turfgrass, and grass seed. Payments are capped at $125,000 per producer, and if demand exceeds the allocated $2 billion, payments may be prorated. Final payment factors will be determined after the application period closes.

To be eligible for payments, persons or legal entities must:
• Be in the business of producing a specialty crop at the time of application and be entitled to an ownership share and share in the risk of producing a specialty crop that will be sold in calendar year 2025;
• Be a U.S. citizen, resident alien, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other organizational structure organized under State law, Indian Tribe or Tribal Organization, or a foreign person or foreign entity who meets certain eligibility requirements;
• Comply with the provisions of the “Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation” regulations, often called the conservation compliance provisions;
• Not have a controlled substance violation;
• Submit a complete MASC application form (FSA-1140) and provide all required documentation as specified in the documents section below.
To be eligible for payments, a person or legal entity must have an average adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $900,000 for tax years 2021, 2022, and 2023, unless the person or legal entity’s average adjusted gross farm income is at least 75 percent of their average AGI.

Eligible producers can apply by completing the FSA-1140, Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) Application, and submitting it to any FSA county office by January 8, 2025.

FSA-1141, Marketing Assistance For Specialty Crops (MASC) New Producer Expected Sales Worksheet (New producers only)
New producers must complete and sign the new producer expected sales worksheet and provide along with their FSA-1140 to any Farm Service Agency county office nationwide.

See link for more information: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/tools/informational/fact-sheets/marketing-assistance-specialty-crops-program 

Filed Under: Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Turf, Uncategorized, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: ,
December 9, 2024

UPDATE: APHIS Establishes Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) Quarantines in Delaware and Pennsylvania

FROM APHIS EMAIL:

Subject:           APHIS Establishes Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) Quarantines in Delaware and Pennsylvania

To:                   State, Tribal, and Territory Agricultural Regulatory Officials

Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the Delaware Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA), is adding the entire State of Delaware and Erie County, Pennsylvania to the box tree moth (BTM; Cydalima perspectalis) quarantined area.

APHIS is taking this action in response to the confirmed detections of BTM in a residence in Little Creek, Delaware, on July 11 and in Lakeside Cemetery in Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania, on August 29. PDA has established an intrastate quarantine area for BTM that parallels the Federal quarantine. This Federal Order supersedes Federal Order DA-2024-17.

To prevent the spread of BTM, APHIS considers it necessary to regulate the interstate movement of regulated articles of boxwood from quarantined areas. Boxwood plants may only be moved interstate from a quarantined area from an establishment operating under a compliance agreement, and only if accompanied by a certificate issued by a state agricultural authority certifying that the requirements of this Federal Order and the compliance agreement have been met. These requirements will prevent producers and distributors of boxwood from moving infested plants interstate. State agricultural authorities may prescribe additional safeguards and protocols.

APHIS prohibits movement of all other regulated articles of boxwood, including plant parts, pieces, cuttings, clippings, debris, and any portion of the plant, alive or dead, except for decorative purposes.

The attached Federal Order (click here) and additional information about BTM are located on the APHIS box tree moth webpage. For additional information, you may contact:

Matthew Travis
National Policy Manager
580-240-5394
matthew.a.travis@usda.gov

Box Tree Moth poses a serious threat to boxwood production, maintenance, and export.

If you see, or think you see this pest, or its damages in New Jersey please contact:

  • RCE -Cumberland Co. Nursery Agent: Tim Waller – twaller@njaes.rutgers.edu
  • Nursery Inspection Program Manager: Sarah Katzenbach –  sarah.katzenbach@ag.nj.gov  (609) 406-6939

Please educate yourself about this in-bound pest here – Resources:

Filed Under: Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Turf Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
December 4, 2024 , , and

Draft Rules For Dual-Use Solar Energy Pilot Program & Public Information Session

On December 2, 2024, the NJ Board of Public Utilities posted draft rules for the Dual-Use Solar Energy (agrivoltaics) Pilot Program that was enacted by the NJ State Legislature. The purpose of the posting is to elicit public input by the January 31, 2025 deadline. The draft rules in the NJ Register are available to review here:  https://go.rutgers.edu/Dual-Use-Solar-Rules
There will be a public information session (presentation and Q&A) about the draft rules on the morning of December 17. More details about this session are available here: https://www.nj.gov/bpu/newsroom/public/
Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , , ,
December 4, 2024

Farmworker Housing and Firefighters: Free Webinar, Dec. 6

Something to share with your colleagues at local fire companies, from www.morningagclips.com –

Many first responders are unaware of the various mandates surrounding farmworker housing

ONLINE — Farmworker housing poses unique challenges to rural fire departments in terms of both fire code inspections and emergency response. Furthermore, many first responders are unaware of the various mandates surrounding farmworker housing.

A free webinar, noon-1 p.m. (Central Time) on Dec. 6, will introduce firefighters, other first responders, and health and safety professionals to incident prevention and emergency response considerations, and increase understanding about farmworkers and relevant housing standards so that the agricultural community can better engage in risk mitigation and emergency pre-planning activities.

The webinar is being co-hosted by the Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH) team at the National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Marshfield, Wis.; and the National Center for Farmworker Health. The webinar is free but registration is required. To register, and for more information, visit Farmworker Housing and Firefighters Webinar – RF-DASH

Speakers include:

  • Casper Bendixsen, director, National Farm Medicine Center
  • Bethany Alcauter, director, Research and Public Health Programs, National Center for Farmworker Health
  • Aaron Andre, fire prevention coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
  • Kathryn Mueller, chief, Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Program and Planning Section, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
  • Dennis Dederich, chief, Vesper Volunteer Fire Department
  • Jerry Minor, chief, Pittsville Fire Company

There are approximately 2.9 million agricultural workers in the United States, including seasonal and migrant farmworkers. It is estimated that nearly a third of farmworkers live in crowded housing conditions and as many as 15 percent live in employer-provided housing.

–National Farm Medicine Center

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