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.

Nematode Webinar for Soybean Producers

Nematodes in Atlantic Soybean Production Webinar

December 5 from 1:00-3:00 PM. Virtual.

This webinar will include results from Soybean Cyst Nematode seed treatment trials, Root-Knot Nematode on-farm trials, emerging management strategies, and feature a panel discussion on needs to improve nematode management in the region. The webinar is free, but registration is needed for access to the zoom link.

Registration information can be found at https://www.pcsreg.com/2022-nematodes-in-atlantic-soybean-production-webinar.

Please email Alyssa Koehler akoehler@udel.edu with any questions.

NJ Governor Murphy Authorizes 2022 Bear Hunt

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher shared today that Governor Murphy signed Executive Order 310 (attached) concerning the black bear population. EO 310 rescinds EO 34 and states that,

“…in consultation with the [DEP] Commissioner, I have determined that a regulated bear hunt that takes place on both state and private lands is necessary to protect New Jersey residents from harm and reduce the threat of tragic human-bear interactions, and I have concurred with the Council’s Statement of Imminent Peril; and

“WHEREAS, as a result of this emergency rulemaking, a Bear Hunting Season will take place pursuant to the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Plan and N.J.A.C. 7:25-5.6 from December 5 through December 10, 2022, and will be extended from December 14 through December 17 if necessary to achieve a 20 percent harvest rate;

 

Public Input on Draft Environmental Documents for Deregulation of American Chestnut Developed Using Genetic Engineering

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is inviting public comment on two draft documents involving a petition from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY) seeking deregulation of an American chestnut variety modified for tolerance to chestnut blight. The first document is a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that examines the potential environmental impacts, and the second is a draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment (DPPRA) that considers potential plants pest risks.

APHIS published SUNY’s petition on August 19, 2020, and solicited public comments for 60 days to aid the Agency in defining the scope and appropriate environmental documents. Following this, APHIS prepared an environmental impact statement to assess the potential impacts to the environment from deregulating the modified American chestnut variety. APHIS published a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS on August 6, 2021, and solicited comments for 30 days to further define the scope of the alternatives and environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts for consideration in the DEIS.

APHIS is now seeking public comments on the DEIS and DPPRA for 45 days so the public may review our preliminary evaluation of potential impacts on the environment in consideration of the SUNY petition. You can view the Federal Register notice, DEIS, DPPRA, and supporting documents on the APHIS website. Beginning November 10, 2022, members of the public can submit comments through December 27, 2022, by going to www.regulations.gov and entering “APHIS-2020-0030” into the Search field.”- November, 9. APHIS PPQ Press Release

For more information go to: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2022/american-chestnut-ge

 

USDA Grain Transportation Reports

The USDA Grain Transportation Report is a weekly publication from the Agricultural Marketing Service. The weekly highlights cover snapshots by sector for Export Sales, Truck, Rail, Barge, and Ocean movements.

Past reports provide a snapshot of production costs and grain delivery to ports, and how grains were ‘moving’ along in the system. These reports are useful for penciling out capital risk. For example: 

October 8, 2015 report: National diesel fuel price $2.49

  • page 2, feature article: The importance of China to Grain Transportation and Logistics.
  • page 4, current transportation issues: slow demand for barge services. No significant rail disruptions.
  • page 4, grain transportation cost indicators: Using a base year 2000 = 100 value (biweekly value shown)
    • truck 165
    • rail 255
    • barge 359
    • gulf 147
    • pacific 126
  • page 13, barge movements, all commodities nearly all above three year trend since July.

October 25, 2022 report: National diesel fuel price $5.34

  • page 2, feature article: Using inspection data and services metrics to analyze grain rail exports.
  • page 4, grain transportation cost indicators: using a base year 2000 = 100 value (biweekly value shown)
    • truck 358
    • rail 332
    • barge 1112
    • gulf 284
    • pacific 262
  • page 12, barge movements, all commodities nearly all below three year trend since July.

For more indepth reading on these reports and more, see the website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/transportation-analysis/gtr-datasets

 

NEW: Rutgers Private Applicator 2023 Online License Renewal Assistance Available Daily Until October 31st!

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has released an announcement “Pesticide License Renewal Info 2023” to licensed applicators via email. The announcement is posted at https://www.nj.gov/dep/enforcement/docs/Pesticide-License-Renewal-Info-2023.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.  See today’s companion post to the Plant & Pest Advisory entitled “Private Applicators: NJDEP August Mailing of 2023 Invoices & Recertification Credit Status“. All Private Applicators are now […]

NJ BPU Asking for Participation in Broadband Access Study Commission Survey

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS FROM THE NJ DEPT OF AGRICULTURE ON BEHALF OF NJ SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE DOUGLAS FISHER

The New Jersey Bureau of Public Utilities (BPU), in accordance with the New Jersey Broadband Access Study Commission – established by the state of New Jersey Legislature this past March, has engaged ECC Technologies, Inc., to complete a comprehensive broadband focused project in New Jersey. Among other things, the project addresses broadband infrastructure and service, and includes a survey to identify broadband availability.

We especially encourage state agricultural producers to participate in this project.

Read the full press release at https://bit.ly/3VlwvcU.

Find the survey at www.broadband-nj.com.