Landscape, Ornamentals, Nursery, and Turf Edition
Seasonal updates on ornamental, nursery, and turf pests.
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COVID-19: NJDEP Updates 2020 and 2021 Pesticide Certification & Licensing
Reminder: September Nursery Twilight This Thursday Night (Virtual)
There is still time to register for the September 2020 Nursery Twilight Meeting (Virtual)
Registrations will be accepted until noon Thursday. Registration is required (Free).
This Thursday, September 24th, 2020
6:00-7:00 pm
please log-in between 5:30 and 5:50pm
Click here to register for the twilight meeting
Registration password: nursery
Click here to upload your government issued photo ID and Pesticide license prior to the meeting
In cooperation with the NJNLA, NJLCA, and NJCTGA
Instructions:
- Register for event at the above link
- Include your pesticide license number and date of birth if you would like recertification credits
- After registration you will receive a confirmation email with a link to the actual twilight meeting.
- Upload a copy of your government issued photo ID at the link above
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- Upload a copy of your government issued photo ID and Pesticide License
- (This is required to receive pesticide recertification credits)
- If you click on the photo ID upload link using a smart phone/tablet you will have the option of simply taking a photo of your ID & pesticide license and uploading it directly into the system. Otherwise, you can scan a copy of your photoID & pesticide license into a computer and follow the directions at the upload link. If you are unable to upload documentation prior to the meeting we will work with you to verify your identity for NJDEP recertification credit purposes using the attendance roster to contact individuals that are seeking credits.
- Please upload files of your photo ID and pesticide license named as:
- a) “Last name_ First_ Photo ID”; and
- b) “Last name_ First_ Pesticide License”.
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- Day-of: click the link in the registration confirmation email and select “join by browser-New” around 5:30pm
- Day-of: Have your video on if you wish to obtain credits
Additional requirements for those seeking credits:
- Licensed applicators with a recertification period expiring October 31, 2020 will be given an exemption from the NJDEP online credit cap of 25% and are eligible for all credits, otherwise this exemption does not apply.
- Required to be eligible to receive pesticide applicator recertification credits for this Twilight program:
- Attend the entire meeting with live VIDEO feed on, seated in the center of the frame. Those without a webcam or phone attendees without a live video feed are not eligible to receive credits.
- Attendees must participate throughout the entire session, staying to the end. Individuals are not eligible for credits if they arrive after the start of the first training topic or leave before the end of the last topic. Polls will be randomly scheduled, and attendance will be visually monitored to verify attendance.
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.
Farm Worker Housing Simulator Shows How To Help Reduce COVID-19 Spread
Partnering with the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety (NEC), the Vessel Dynamics Laboratory at George Mason University created an online app that shows how various practices aimed to slow the spread of COVID-19 among farm workers in shared housing can work.
Room for Improvement: An Online Tool for Reducing the Spread of COVID-19 in Farmworker Housing allows you to put in information about your on-farm housing and it will show how coronavirus can spread through farmworker housing. You can change the size of the room, type of beds, number of workers housed, and a variety of preventative practices to see the impact on spread of the disease.
The simulator is available at https://vesseldynamics.com/research/farmworker-housing-simulator/. (Note that the simulator works best in Google Chrome.)
More information about farmworker safety programs from the NEC are available at https://www.necenter.org/.
Please Help: Annual Bluegrass Survey
Conditions for good annual bluegrass growth have returned. Whether you adore or despise Poa annua, consider completing a survey which will allow us to collect valuable insights regarding the turf industry and opinions about managing this pesky grass. The results of this survey will inform a national project team of turfgrass weed scientists working to […]
Tea roses imported into the state have been found expressing rose mosaic disease
Inspectors at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture recently flagged an unusually high number of tea roses expressing rose mosaic disease. These roses were shipped in from out of state. If you plan to inventory this type of rose for the upcoming season, it is highly advised that you have conversations about this with your distributer and more importantly, obtain the required virus-free certifications. Rose mosaic disease is a complex of viruses that most commonly includes Apple mosaic virus (ApMV) and Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV), and to a lesser extent Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV) and Strawberry latent ringspot virus (SLRSV). Singularly or in combination, these viruses can all trigger mosaic symptoms.
Excerpts from NJ Department of Agriculture on the rose quarantine:
- Rose plants may be shipped onto the State of New Jersey only after they have been inspected during the growing season by a state inspector in the state in which they were grown at the time appropriate for symptom expression and found to be visibly free from virus diseases, especially viruses associated with rose mosaic disease.
- All shipments of rose plants entering the State of New Jersey must be accompanied by an official certificate or statement issued by the proper state official in the state of origin, certifying that the plants were inspected during the growing season at a time when symptoms would be apparent and found visibly free of plant viruses.
Every Farmer Counts! 76th National Farm Safety & Health Week – Sept. 20-26, 2020.
Rutgers Cooperative Extension Ag and Natural Resources Dept Chair Nick Polanin has announced the good news that RCE has been able to hire Ms. Kate Brown as Program Associate II to work on commercial crop production in the RCE-Burlington County office. We welcome Kate to the job. In continuing some of the programs of retired County Agent Ray Samulis, Kate is now the Rutgers liaison to the NE Ag Safety and Health Coalition and has shared this news about next week’s celebration of National Farm Safety & Health Week (NFSHW). — Rick VanVranken [Read more…]