January 14, 2026

2026 Central Jersey Turf and Ornamental Institute

Rutgers Cooperative Extension presents

2026 Central Jersey TURF & ORNAMENTAL Institute

Friday, February 27

9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Monmouth County Ag Building

4000 Kozloski Road, Freehold, NJ

 

Registration: $75 per person (includes Continental Breakfast & Lunch)

Registration Brochure: CJTOI Brochure 2026

 732-431-7260 or email Catherine.VanBenschoten@co.monmouth.nj.us

Registration by cash, check, or purchase order only.

 

Agenda:

  • CORE Pesticide Safety for Ornamental IPM – Tim Waller, Ph.D.
  • Boxwood BMPs and Alternative Shrubs – Bill Errickson, Ph.D.
  • Managing Scale in the Landscape – Steve Rettke
  • Integrated Pest Management for Invasive Plant Species in Woodlands, Fields, and Parks – R.J.Curcio and Maggie Coakley
  • Mosquito & Tick Management for Green Industry Professionals – Emily Fontaine
  • Things to Consider Before Applying Fungicides to Control Turfgrass Diseases – Ming-Yi Chou, Ph.D.
  • Integrated Weed Management for Turfgrass – Matthew Elmore Ph.D.
  • Turfgrass Fertility Management for Sports Fields and Grounds – Brad Park

Recertification Credits:

  • Core = 2 credits
  • PP2 = 4 credits
  • 1A = 2 credits
  • 2 = 2 credits
  • 3A = 4 credits
  • 3B = 3 credits
  • 6B = 4 credits
  • 8A = 1 credit
  • 8C = 7 credits
  • 9 = 2 credits
  • 10 = 6 credits
  • 13 = 1 credit
  • ProFACT = 1 credit

 

 

Filed Under: Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Turf Tagged With: , , , ,
January 8, 2026

NEED PESTCIDE RECERTIFICATION CREDITS? REGISTER TODAY

4 CORE Credits – Pesticide Safety Workshop

A Tuesday, January 20, 2026 Workshop for Pesticide Applicators to gain CORE Credits towards their license will be held at the NE Agriculture Expo at Harrah’s in Atlantic City to start of this year’s event. This workshop will take place from 10:00AM to 12:00PM. Licensed applicators must accumulate 8 CORE Credits over a 5-year period to maintain their NJDEP Pesticide Applicators License. This workshop will offer 4 CORE Credits. Pre-registration is requested and can be found on the VGANJ website at https://vganj.com“>https://vganj.com. Registration cost is $25 per person and non-refundable. Registration for this workshop is separate from the convention registration and attendees must also register for the expo at https://vganj.com/convention-tickets. The topics include: Pesticide Safety – Personal Protection Equipment for the Pesticide Applicator; Update on US EPA Worker Protection Standards; Storage, Tank Mixing, Tank Cleaning, and Disposal; Pesticide Record Keeping and Notification. For more information contact Bill Bamka (bamka@njaes.rutgers.edu) or Michelle Infante-Casella (minfante@njaes.rutgers.edu).

For the full program (January 20-22nd) of Rutgers Educational Workshops and Sessions that offer more credits and diverse topics, see https://go.rutgers.edu/2026rutgerseduprog

Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Disease Forecasting, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Plant Diagnostic Lab, Strawberry, training, Tree Fruit, Turf, Uncategorized, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape, work shop Tagged With: , ,
October 27, 2025

South Jersey Farmers – Stop the Bleed Training – February 2, 2026

STOP THE BLEED TRAINING
FOR FARMERS AND THE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY
REGISTRATION REQUIRED – NO COST

REGISTER USING THIS LINK OR QR CODE:
https://go.rutgers.edu/stopthebleed


DATE: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2026 TIME: 9:00AM
LOCATION: GLOUCESTER COUNTY OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES
1200 N. DELSEA DR., CLAYTON, NJ

Rutgers Cooperative Extension’ Farm Health and Safety Team has partnered with the Gloucester County Emergency Services to provide “Stop the Bleed” training for the farming community.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn the life-saving skills of pressure application, wound packing, and use of tourniquets. The first 25 registrants will also receive a complementary bleeding control kit.

Space is limited, register today.

If you have questions contact Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County 856-224-8040 ext. 1 or email minfante@njaes.rutgers.edu

Rutgers Farm Health and Safety Team:
Agricultural Agents: Kate Brown, Michelle Infante-Casella, William Bamka, and Stephen Komar

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, training, Turf, vegetable, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , ,
October 8, 2025

Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education – Farmer Grant Applications Available – Due December 9, 2025

The Call for 2026 Northeast SARE Farmer Grant applications is now available. Awards of up to $30,000 are available, depending on the complexity of a project. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on December 9, 2025. The NJ SARE Coordinator is Stephen Komar, Agricultural Agent in Sussex County and Michelle Infante-Casella is the Assistant Coordinator for SARE in NJ. If you have questions you can send an email to Steve or Michelle, or contact your local county Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agents who can assist and also provide technical assistance.


Northeast SARE Farmer Grants provide the resources farmers need to explore new concepts agriculture conducted through experiments, surveys, prototypes, on-farm demonstrations or other research and education techniques. Projects address issues that affect farming with long-term practical impacts in mind.
Farmer Grants are designed to be a strong starting point for farmers interested in pursuing grant funding of projects. Before starting their proposals, potential candidates identify a Technical Advisor who can provide non-farming expertise in areas such as research design, troubleshooting, and promotion. The Technical Advisor acts as a go-to support person throughout the grant project, making it easier on first time grantees and forging new relationships in agricultural communities across the Northeast.


Northeast SARE funds projects in a wide variety of topics, including marketing and business, crop production, raising livestock, aquaculture, hydroponics, silvopasture, and more.


Northeast SARE covers the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.


The Farmer Grant program is specifically for farmers. Northeast SARE will be releasing calls for proposals for other grant programs in the coming months.

For applications, tutorials on farmer grants, and other important information about this grant program see the NESARE Farmer Grants Webpage.

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Nursery, Organic Production, Turf, vegetable, Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
September 29, 2025

In-person CEU session – 10/20/25 – Cumberland Co. RCE

‘Core Pesticide Topics in Agriculture’ 
NJDEP Approved Credits [4 units each – CORE] [3 units each – PP2, 1A, 3A, 10] [1 unit each – 3B, 6B, 8C]

Register by calling (only): 856-451-2800 ext. 1

Date: 10/20/2025 (Monday)
Location: Rutgers Cooperative Extension – Cumberland County
Address: 291 Morton Ave. Millville, NJ 08332
Time: 5:30pm sign-in, 6:00-8:15pm lectures (please arrive prior to 6:00pm)
Cost: $30 fee per participant – only cash or checks will be accepted at the start of the event. Please make checks payable to “Rutgers The State Univ. of NJ”. Receipts will be available.
Seminars: (6-7pm) Back to Basics – Pesticide USE & (7:15-8:15pm) How Chemicals Work and Which to Use – Speaker: Tim Waller, PhD. 

 

Note: October 7th – Ornamental Twilight meeting has been postponed until Spring 2026

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, pesticide credits, Turf Tagged With: , , , ,
September 19, 2025

Save the Dates – Sept. 23 (Final IPM webinar), Oct 7 (POSTPONED), Oct 22 (Core Credit, In-person)

Join us for the Final Ornamental IPM webinar Tuesday 9/23/25 

Still time to Sign up (click here) for the final remaining 2025 session

Topics to be covered:

  1. Beneficial insect: Preying mantids​
  2. Mums   ​
  3. White pine aphid​
  4. Eastern spruce gall adelgid​
  5. Cooley spruce gall adelgid​
  6. Hemlock woolly adelgid​
  7. Spruce spider mite​
  8. Southern red spider mite​
  9. Hemlock rust mite​
  10. Fall practices for sanitation
  11. Importance of fall irrigation in field ​settings​
  12. Using horticultural dormant oil​
  13. Questions to consider regarding​ your nursery IPM monitoring ​program

Please visit our new –Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program Website (click here)

 

More details and registration links to follow in the coming days – once CEUs and collaborators are finalized. NOTE: CEUs have been applied for but those listed below are not guaranteed. Both events are in-person in Cumberland County, NJ.   

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, pesticide credits, Turf Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,