Landscape, Ornamentals, Nursery, and Turf Edition
Seasonal updates on ornamental, nursery, and turf pests.
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Rutgers Turf Blog - Articles on turfgrass diseases and cultural practices for the commercial turfgrass industry. Subscription available via RSS.
Rutgers Weather Forecasting - Meteorological Information important to commercial agriculture.
NJDA Ag Recycling Program — 1 CORE Credit Award: See Dates for Atlantic, Monmouth, & Salem Sites
Private Applicators: NJDEP August Mailing of 2024 Invoices & Recertification Credit Status
Bilingual Labeling: Parts of Pesticide Labels Will be Required to Also Be In Spanish
Farm Credit East Report on Grants & Incentives Available for Northeast Agriculture Businesses
One of the most frequent calls over the past few years has been, “I want to start a farm/business/value-added product (etc.).”
That is usually followed up with, “What grants/funding sources are available?”
After rattling off a list of a few common sources of funding for new farmers there’s an added caveat that I don’t know the current status of those programs or what restrictions they have regarding new farming ventures. There are more programs out there with available funding, but there’s no comprehensive list of all grant programs supporting agricultural businesses, until now.
Farm Credit East has just released a report “identifying federal, regional and state grants, loan guarantees, and other incentives available to assist Northeast producers of all types and sizes.”
“Grants can be a great resource to provide additional funds needed to take on larger projects,” said Chris Laughton, Farm Credit East Director of Knowledge Exchange. “Unfortunately, they’re often under-utilized because they can be time consuming and involve quite a bit of paperwork.”
The report, from Farm Credit East Knowledge Exchange, includes funding opportunities available in the eight states served by Farm Credit East. Programs are categorized by their main focus: beginning farmers; conservation, environment and forestry; energy; fisheries and aquaculture; organic; rural business development; and research, education and promotion.
The report titled Grants and Incentives for Northeast Agriculture is available at FarmCreditEast.com or by contacting Chris Laughton at (800) 562-2235 or Chris.Laughton@farmcrediteast.com for more information.
Farm Credit East also has grant writing assistance services. Information is available on their grant writing page.
Landscape Pest Notes for July 2023
Cooley Spruce Gall Adelgid (1850-1950 GDD = galls open): Colorado spruce (especially green forms), Sitka and Oriental spruce, and Douglas-fir share this pest’s two host life cycles. Mature adult females lay eggs at the tips of branches. These eggs hatch and the immatures move to new growth and start feeding. The combined feeding and salivary secretions induce the development of a bright green, oval “pineapple” gall on the terminals (as opposed to galls at the base of new growth on Norway spruce from the Eastern spruce gall adelgids). By midsummer, the gall will turn brown and crack open, as the adelgids within mature and emerge as adults. These winged adults migrate to Douglas-fir (or another spruce) and spend the remainder of the summer feeding on the needles, covered with cottony wax.
During late July or early August the adult Cooley spruce gall adelgids will emerge from the opened brown pineapple shaped galls. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)
Sometimes Douglas-fir is so heavily attacked that needles are spotted, bent, or distorted. Two or more generations can occur on Douglas-fir through the following season (Christmas tree growers will treat Douglas fir when new growth is 3-4 inches). By next fall another winged generation flies back to spruce and lays eggs for the cycle to repeat itself.
After the Cooley spruce gall adelgid winged adults emerge from the “pineapple” galls on spruce some will relocate & infest Douglas-fir needles. They will remain on this host for the remainder of the summer. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)
Control by pruning out galls when seen before they open in mid-summer. Place sticky traps out in summer (Douglas-fir or spruce) (1850-1950 GDD) to determine the timing to spray adults with insecticidal soap (+ sticker). In southern NJ some of the tip “pineapple” galls on spruce will soon open up, and the winged adults will emerged. Except to improve the aesthetic appearance of the trees, there is nothing to be gained by picking off the galls after they have opened. Future control windows will occur during the fall or early spring months, against the overwintering females located at the bases of terminal buds. Some possible treatments include horticultural oil, carbaryl (Sevin), insecticidal soap, or imidacloprid (Merit).
The Landscape Pest Notes for July 2023 contains only insect/mite pests & a couple of predators commonly seen during the month. Contained below are 16 additional pests or predators that appear in the order they are listed as follows: Pine needle scale, Fall webworm, Obscure scale, Pitch mass borer, Two banded Japanese weevil, Aphids, Cicada killer, Juniper webworm, Sapsucker, White pine weevil, Peach tree borer, White waxy lady beetle, Japanese beetle, Oriental beetle, Dogwood sawfly, & Plant leaf galls. [Read more…]
Summer Weeds
It finally feels like summer in New Jersey. Rain, humidity, and warmer temperatures, especially at night, mean that warm-season weeds are growing quickly. Of particular concern are summer annuals like crabgrass, goosegrass, and spurges. Yellow nutsedge and false-green kyllinga are warm-season perennials are also enjoying the weather. These weeds are now growing more quickly than […]
