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Seasonal updates on ornamental, nursery, and turf pests.
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September 20, 2021

Secretary Fisher Message on Vaccine Survey

A message from Secretary Douglas Fisher:

We are reaching out regarding COVID-19 vaccination support for you and your farmworkers. We are working to ensure that all farmworkers are protected against COVID-19 as we head into the fall season – to that end, if any of your workers are not yet vaccinated for COVID-19 and are interested in receiving a vaccine, please fill out this survey. We will be happy to connect you with the appropriate resources to keep your workforce healthy.

Additionally, if your entire workforce has been vaccinated, we would still appreciate if you could please fill out the survey  Any information you provide will be confidential and used solely for supporting COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Thank you for your support in keeping our farm communities safe and healthy!

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
September 16, 2021

Help Evaluate New Farm Safety “Tailgate Trainings”

Injury Prevention

Preview of the “Ground Level Slips, Trips and Falls” Tailgate Training sheet

The Northeast Ag Safety and Health Coalition is looking for farmers willing to field-test and evaluate their new set of “Tailgate Trainings” – short, simple, training sessions that a farm owner or manager can use with a small group of workers. The trainings are designed to be done with small groups, anywhere, and promote retention of material. Topics of the current “tailgate” training sheets include 1) Ground Level Slips, Trips, and Falls, 2) Cattle Handling, and 3) Tractor Side-Overturn.

If you are willing to participate, the Coalition requests that farmers or managers conduct one training session with workers using the provided “tailgate” training sheet. Once the training session is complete, you are asked to fill out a very brief (5 question) evaluation form and mail it back to the Coalition. All material and postage paid/self-addressed return envelopes will be provided (to return the evaluation form).

If you are interested, please email Kate Brown kbrown@njaes.rutgers.edu with the following information by October 1, 2021.

  • Farm Name
  • Mailing Address
  • Requested training sheet(s) [see topics 1, 2, and 3 above]

Your time and participation in this project would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
September 2, 2021

National Farm Safety and Health Week: September 19-25, 2021

Flyer for NFSHW 2021 Webinars

NFSHW webinars to be held 9/20-9/24/2021. Click here to register.

September precedes one of the busiest and most dangerous seasons of the year in agriculture – fall harvest time. For this reason, National Farm Safety and Health Week (NFSHW) is recognized annually during the third week of September. The theme this year is “Farm Safety Yields Real Results”.

AgriSafe will host two FREE webinars each day during NFSHW to highlight new technology, discuss incident prevention, and inform your decision-making and conversations. The webinars will feature discussion on each of the daily topics. Visit The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety website to register (scroll down to ‘Webinars’). Note that the webinar times are posted for Central Daylight Time.

Take an active role in keeping yourself and others safe this harvest season. Plan to join in on a webinar, encourage others to do the same, and take to social media to spread the message: “Farm Safety Yields Real Results”. Stay tuned to the Rutgers Agriculture and Natural Resources Facebook page for content to share each day during NFSHW!

 

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , ,
September 1, 2021

New Jersey Department of Agriculture Expands Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine Zone

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher announced the Department has added five counties to the spotted lanternfly quarantine zone. The counties new to the list are Morris, Monmouth, Middlesex, Essex, and Union. They join the previously announced quarantine counties of Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Salem, Somerset, and Warren.

Business entities that routinely travel in and out of the quarantine area are required to take, and pass, free training regarding the spotted lanternfly at https://bit.ly/3mDGv2d. Those businesses that interact exclusively in New Jersey’s quarantine zone must comply with the details outlined in the quarantine order. The quarantine also allows access to property for Department, USDA, or USDA contracted agents where the spotted lanternfly is suspected or confirmed so that the property can be evaluated and treated, if necessary.

The full press release from NJDA can be found at: https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/news/press/2021/approved/press210830.html

For additional information on spotted lanternfly, visit:

Rutgers NJAES Spotted Lanternfly Website https://njaes.rutgers.edu/spotted-lanternfly/

NJDA Spotted Lanternfly Business Resources Website: https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/pests-diseases/spotted-lanternfly/business-resources/

 

 

 

Filed Under: Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
August 31, 2021

Dog-Day Cicadas Are Still Singing, but Cicada Killer Wasps Aren’t Fans

Full side view of the dog-day cicada showing the black eyes & dark green body coloration plus the clear wings with green veins. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

They Get No Respect:

For at least the past 7-8 weeks, the annual “dog-day” cicadas (Neotibicen canicularis) have been heard singing throughout many NJ locations.They tend to get little respect or media attention & could be called the “weak sister” of the far more publicised periodical cicada species that were present this past spring. The annual cicadas species have less dense populations & their lifecycles are usually 2-3 years compared to the 13-17 years for the periodical cicada species. However, the dog-day cicada emergence is not synchronized, therefore some will emerge every year. Like periodical cicadas, the dog-day males also sing to females to attract a mate. However, the dog-day cicada “electric buzz-saw” screams are not synchronized & even though each individual male is loud, they are not nearly as deafening nor continuous as the noise produced by periodical cicadas. Each male sings for only about 15 seconds & when their numbers in an area are relatively sparse, there is typically many intermittent periods of silence. When populations are more dense, then there may be a continuous non-synchronized buzzing sound that emanates throughout an area.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Plant Diagnostic Lab
August 30, 2021

DEP Website Update Changes Process to Check Pesticide Recertification Credits and Course History

DEP’s pesticide control program website was updated over the past few weeks to reflect that

“Based on the current COVID 19 public health emergency, the Department has extended an interim policy allowing 100% online CEUs for remaining credits to accommodate for applicators whose 5-year recertification cycle ends October 31, 2021 and 2022. To verify you are eligible, please click HERE.”

However, there are no longer directions explaining where certified applicators can check the status of their credits and the course histories. Growers requesting this indicate it takes some searching to find it. Here are revised instructions to get you there. You might want to bookmark whichever site below gets to the information you need most directly.

To review course history:

  • go to www.pcpnj.org;
  • in the bottom section labeled ‘About US’ (NOT the ‘About DEP’ link in the bottom line!), click on “Pesticides” in the list;
  • find and click any one of the links marked ‘NJDEP’s Online Reports‘;
  • on the DEP DataMiner site, make sure the Report Category says ‘Pesticide Control Program’ (if not, select it from the menu);
  • on the list under ‘Pesticide Licensing’ select the appropriate type of license. There are two reports for each that can be searched by either name or license number:
    • Applicator Business
    • Certified Pesticide Dealers
    • Commercial Certified Pesticide Applicators
    • Commercial Pesticide Operators
    • Pesticide Dealer Information
    • Private Certified Pesticide Applicators
  • follow instructions to get your course history information. Select your pesticide license # from the menu. You’ll also need your birth date and last 4 digits of your social security #.
Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf Tagged With: