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February 19, 2021

2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Convention Virtual Educational Sessions – Mon

We’re ready to go! Are you?

Access for all sessions begins at 9am Mon Feb 22 here:  https://go.rutgers.edu/bs9ohbuk

Once you’ve logged in you will be directed to ‘breakout rooms’ for each of the morning sessions, but while you’re waiting hear a few welcoming remarks from our Interim Executive Dean Dr. Laura Lawson, Director of Rutgers Cooperative Extension Brian Schilling, NJDA Secretary Douglas Fisher, and Vegetable Growers Association president John Banscher. The program sessions will begin at 9:15am.

Don’t worry if you miss where to go because you’ll be able to find every link to every session at vganj.com/schedule. Click on the black ‘schedule’ button, then on the session you’d like to join, and it will take you to the page with the Zoom link for that session. NOTE that the morning sessions are all through the same link, so if you don’t see the link next to the session, scroll to the top of the page to find it for that morning. Afternoon sessions will each have a unique Zoom link that will be seen directly next to the agenda for that session.

If you’re new to Zoom meetings, or haven’t been on one for a few months, you might need to download the newest version or update the app on your mobile device. You will be prompted to do so if you try to enter one of the rooms without it, and it should be a simple click or two to complete the update. Easy enough if you wait until you first try to get in, but we strongly recommend that you click on the link above to see if it works now rather than waiting to find out at the last minute Monday morning.

Also, if you’re new to Zoom, our IT support team at Rutgers Continuing Education Center at Atrium recommends checking out one or more of these online tutorials so you can get familiar with using it.

On behalf of the NJAES Extension Vegetable Working Group and colleagues coordinating these sessions, and the VGANJ officers and directors, we hope you will enjoy this virtual conference and look forward to ‘seeing’ you online this coming week. Actually, maybe not ‘seeing’ as video will be turned off for all except speakers/moderators, but that also reminds me — be sure to know how to use the ‘chat’ feature as that will be the primary mode to get questions to speakers.
Here we go!
Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
February 15, 2021

Reminder: Register for the VGA-Nursery/Ornamental sessions by this Wednesday (2/17) for pesticide credits!

Reminder: register here by Wednesday Feb. 17th for pesticide credits!

Please join us at the NEW- Nursery and Ornamentals Track at this year’s virtual VGA

Nursery/Ornamental track is on Monday, February 22nd 

  • Session I:  9:15 – 11:45am
  • Session II:  1:15 – 3:45pm (pesticide recertification credits acquired: 3 Cat 1A; 4 Cat 3A; 4 Cat 8C; 4 Cat 10; 4 PP2)

Click here for additional pesticide credit requirements and instructions (mandatory steps for recertification credits at VGA)

Price options:

  1. One day pass – $60.00
  2. Full 1yr VGA Membership (access to all four days of sessions 2/22-2/25)- $120

Rutgers is dedicated to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal information safe. Upon upload, your files will be encrypted and stored to Rutgers Connect. Your information will be kept strictly confidential; used solely to meet NJDEP ID verification protocol for recertification credit; and will not be used for any other purpose. Your files will be deleted within 60 days after the training event.

New Nursery and Ornamental Track at the 2021 VGA

Filed Under: Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Turf
February 15, 2021

Pest Notes: Witches’ Brooms, Pitch Mass Borers and Ants

WITCHES’ BROOMS: The development of witches’ brooms on woody plants and the resulting formation of abnormal growth can cause curiosity and concern to your clients. Typically, the new growth is distorted, and a proliferation of leaves or fruit/cones closely clumped together appears when apical dominance is lost. Witches’ Brooms are created on plants when the transfer of growth hormones is disrupted (perhaps caused from the introduction of a foreign substance). Insects (e.g., aphids), fungi, bacteria, viruses, phytoplasmas, and herbicides have all been implicated in causing the formation of witches’ brooms in many plant species.

Witches' Broom

Witches’ Brooms are plants having stunted foliage & short stem internodes. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Plant Diagnostic Lab
February 12, 2021

Rutgers Online Pesticide Applicator Exam Portal is Open

To streamline NJ’s pesticide exam process, Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education has announced that the new online Pesticide Applicator Certification Exam Registration (PACER) system is available for your use immediately.

pacer.rutgers.edu

How the new system benefits YOU:

  • Online Access: Web-based PACER application is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • No More Snail Mail: Upload your support documents online and eliminate the time and expense required to mail them.
  • Quick Review Turnaround: Your application will be reviewed within 48 business hours and you will be notified of any problems or concerns with your documentation promptly via email.
  • Immediate Exam Scheduling: Online exams are available 24/7. Once in-person exams resume, YOU choose your exam date and location when you register; no more waiting to hear which of your exam date and time choices were available.
  • Fast Exam Results: See your exam grades within 7 business days of exam completion.
  • More Exam Times and Locations: Due to COVID-19, all exams are currently being offered online. When restrictions are lifted, online exams will continue and in-person exams will resume. New facilities will be added around the state to give you more options for added convenience. In-person exams will be administered weekdays, evenings and on Saturdays to better accommodate your schedule.
  • Manage Others’ Exams: Are you responsible for your organization’s employees? Now you can easily track and manage exam applications and scheduling for multiple people in PACER! Set up an account in PACER then provide us with the information listed below so we can upgrade your account to Business Manager. Send information to: pacer@njaes.rutgers.edu. (A commercial pesticide applicator business license number is required to establish a Business Manager account; a business license number begins with “9”).
    • Business Manager Name; Business Manager Email Address
    • Company Name; Company Address; Company Business License #
  • Support: Responsive, courteous help desk support is available Monday through Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm. Phone: 848‐932‐9271, Option 7; Fax: 732‐932‐1187; E‐mail: pacer@njaes.rutgers.edu

Examination Fees are $115 per each Category exam and the Core exam; $50 for the Private licensing exam:

  • Pay online via credit card or e-check, with no extra surcharge
  • Purchase Orders will also be accepted via upload
  • Exam payments are not refundable and online exams have minimum computer requirements detailed on the website

Please note that all exams are CLOSED book and the NJDEP no longer offers any pesticide certification exams.

The PACER website also has step-by-step instructions to create an account before registering for the exam, and user and hardware requirements to successfully complete the exam (Google Chrome internet browser, webcam, wired / Ethernet connection, ample bandwidth for Proctorio download and use, etc.). Also, make sure you choose a quiet and comfortable location to take your exams, as earphones or headphones are not permitted during the exam.

Please Visit the NJDEP website for information regarding pesticide licensing, policies, procedures, credits, and for payment and status of your license. For frequently asked questions regarding pesticide licensing please click here.

Visit PACER today!

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
February 8, 2021

USDA to Measure Financial Well-Being of Farmers and Ranchers

Agricultural Resource Management Survey Survey       Image result for usda ag counts

Initiated back in late December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will be spending these next several months gathering information about farm economics and production practices from farmers and ranchers across the United States, as the agency conducts the third and final phase of the 2020 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS).

“ARMS is the only survey that measures the current financial well-being of producers and their households as a whole,” said King Whetstone, director of the NASS Northeastern Region. “The results of this survey will help inform decisions on local and federal policies and programs that affect farms and farm families.”

In an effort to obtain the most accurate data, NASS will reach out to more than 30,000 producers nationwide, between January and April in 2021. The survey asks producers to provide in-depth information about their operating revenues, production costs, and household characteristics.

The 2020 ARMS survey includes a version of the questionnaire focused on hog and pig production costs and returns. This year the survey also includes questions to help measure any impacts of COVID-19 on farms, farm and household finances, and off-farm employment. “In February, our interviewers will begin reaching out to those farmers who have not yet responded,” said Whetstone. “We appreciate their time and are here to help them with the questionnaire so that their information will continue supporting sound agricultural decision making.”

In addition to producing accurate information, NASS has strong safeguards in place to protect the confidentiality of all farmers who respond to its surveys. The agency will only publish data in an aggregate form, ensuring the confidentiality of all responses and that no individual respondent or operation can be identified.

Growers can complete the survey online, saving you time by allowing you to skip over questions that do not apply to you, by calculating totals automatically, and by providing drop-down menus for common answers. It also saves taxpayer dollars that would otherwise be spent on return postage and data entry.

To complete your survey online, you will need your unique Survey Code from the address label on the paper questionnaire or letter you received in the mail. You can save a partially completed survey by clicking “Save and Return Later.” Do not click the “Submit” button until you are sure you are finished with your survey.

The expense data gathered in ARMS will be published in the annual Farm Production Expenditures report in July 2021. That report and others are available by clicking here. More reports based on ARMS data and more information about ARMS are available online here. For more information, please call the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office at (800) 498-1518.

NASS is the federal statistical agency responsible for producing official data about U.S. agriculture and is committed to providing timely, accurate and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
February 7, 2021

USDA APHIS Ends Emerald Ash Borer Domestic Quarantine Regulations

Effective January 14, 2021, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has removed the domestic quarantine regulations for the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis, Fairmare). According to the Federal Register posting, “this action will discontinue the domestic regulatory component of the emerald ash borer program as a means to more effectively direct available resources toward management and containment of the pest. Funding previously allocated to the implementation and enforcement of these domestic quarantine regulations will instead be directed to nonregulatory options to mitigate and control the pest.”

APHIS’ final rule was posted December 15, 2020, based on the original Federal Register posting from September of 2018, which received over 140 comments. A federal quarantine for EAB has been in place since 2003.

Under this rule, establishments operating under EAB compliance agreements will no longer incur costs of complying with Federal EAB quarantine regulations, although States could still impose restrictions.

EAB has now been found in 35 States and the District of Columbia and it is likely that there are infestations that have not yet been detected. Newly identified infestations are estimated to be 4 to 5 years or more in age. Known infestations cover more than 27 percent of the native ash range within the conterminous United States.

APHIS further summarized, “The domestic quarantine regulations for EAB have not substantially reduced the likelihood of introduction and establishment of the pest in quarantine-adjacent areas. Interstate movement of EAB host articles is unrestricted within areas of contiguous quarantine, and irrespective of human-assisted spread, a mated EAB is capable of flying up to 100 miles in her lifetime, resulting in a high potential for natural spread.”

Public outreach activities outside the EAB regulatory program will continue, and APHIS will continue to work with State counterparts to encourage the public to buy firewood where they burn it and to refrain from moving firewood. The primary national communications tool to warn the public about the plant pest risk associated with the movement of firewood is the Don’t Move Firewood campaign, which is administered by The Nature Conservancy with support from APHIS and other Federal agencies.

EAB and New Jersey

Emerald Ash Borer was discovered in New Jersey in May 2014 in Somerset County. All ash trees in NJ should be considered at high risk for EAB: even if Emerald Ash Borer has not yet been detected, all ash trees are considered to be at high risk of EAB infestation within the next few years.

Through December of 2019, EAB has been found in New Jersey in Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties.

The NJ Department of Agriculture hosts an EAB website where industry, communities, woodland owners, and homeowners can access an EAB Action Kit and Management Options Resource Guide.

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