Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development will be offering two Ag Supervisory Leadership courses for all agricultural operations starting in June for farms in the Northeastern Region including: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Registration is currently open and closes on June 25. There are separate registration fees for New York residents and out of state residents. See below.
The courses available are:
ASL101-SP: Transición a Supervisor (in Spanish)
Transition to Supervisor helps to develop leaders and focuses on skills to improve communication and manage conflict. Learn how to recognize our inherent biases and how to build better working relationships. Gain insight into your leadership style and learn how to effectively lead diverse and multicultural teams.
Course topics include:
How to make the mental transition to supervisor
How to develop effective working relationships
Essential communication skills
How to be the leader of a multicultural group
How to build better working relationships
Course begins: Friday, June 20, 2025
Live Zoom discussions: Thursdays, June 26 – July 31, 4:00–5:00 PM ET
Register for ASL101-SP Transición a Supervisor
ASL106: Ethics and Employment Regulations (in English)
In ASL106: Ethics and Employment Regulations, you’ll explore how to implement fair and ethical labor practices in agriculture and why they matter. You’ll learn to recognize and prevent sexual harassment, understand wage and hour laws, and apply Equal Employment Opportunity regulations to foster a respectful, inclusive workplace. The course also covers best practices for handling employee discipline and termination.
Course topics include:
Ethics and sustainability
Equal Employment Opportunity, laws and implications
Hiring regulations and practices
Safety issues in agriculture
Farm employee housing
Compensation regulations
Being an ethical supervisor
Course begins: Friday, June 20, 2025
Live Zoom discussions: Thursdays, June 26 – July 31, 3:00–4:00 PM ET
Register for ASL106: Ethics and Employment Regulations
Course costs:
$275 for NYS residents/$325 for out-of-state residents
Scholarship Opportunity for Dairy Producers:
Thanks to the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NEDBIC), eligible dairy producers can apply for a $100 scholarship to help cover registration fees. Scholarships are available to participants from qualifying states in the Northeast, including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Questions? Email cu-agworkforce@cornell.edu
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cornellagworkforcedevelopment
Registration Open for 2 Agricultural Supervisor Training Courses: In English and Spanish
Ornamental, including Christmas Tree – IPM Updates (Week of 5/1)
Some important actual and anticipated pest emergences as of 5/1/25
- Boxwood leaf miner emergence in southern NJ – monitor locations now.
- Crapemyrtle aphid appearance in southern NJ
- Bronze Birch Borer (BBB) approaching adult emergence
- Red-headed flea beetle (RHFB) egg hatch – adult treatment with systemic applications
- Clearwing Borer adult flight – time to monitor
- Conifer scale crawler emergence anticipated
- (click the ‘Read More’ below for complete dates in S-C-Northern NJ per pest)
Ornamental IPM 4/22 Recording Upload – Next session Tuesday 5/13
Sign up here for the NEW 2025 – Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program
Ornamental IPM – next session is Tuesday 5/13/25
Click here for a PDF of April 22, 2025 webinar that can be printed and used as a field guide or similar
Click here for a VIDEO recording of April 22, 2025 webinar
5/13/25 sessions topics:
Conifer Issues:
- Pine needle scale
- Cryptomeria scale
- Elongate hemlock scale
- Oystershell scale
- Needle cast diseases
- Red headed pine sawfly
- Hemlock woolly adelgid
- Phytophthora in conifers
Ornamental nursery:
- Boxwood mites
- Boxwood psyllid
- Horned and gouty oak galls
- Hawthorn lace bug
- Pythium in nurseries
IPM monitoring:
- Scale monitoring with double sided tape
2025 Registration includes:
The focus of this program is to provide timely updates on pest, disease, and weeds impacting commercial ornamental producers. The webinars will focus on the most important pests for a 2 week interval, will be recorded, and will be shared shortly thereafter with Spanish overdub (spoken word). The trap packages are in an effort to find grower led solutions for monitoring economically important pests throughout the multiple regions of New Jersey. Please consider joining this program for its inaugural year.
- Site visit to your ornamental nursery/farm from Rutgers agents
- Delivered printed IPM resources (Guides, factsheets, bulletins)
- Free pheromone & sticky trap kit + guidance on setup/monitoring
- Access to live bi-weekly webinars (Zoom)
- Every Second and Fourth, Tuesday, April through September
- Webinars will be recorded – posted later with Spanish overdub
This program is free, however registration is required.
(Next webinar Tu 4/22 at 12PM)
Ornamental IPM 4/8 Recording Upload – Next session Tuesday 4/22
Ornamental IPM – next session is Tuesday 4/22/25
Sign up here for the NEW 2025 – Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program.
Click here for a PDF of April 08, 2025 webinar that can be printed and used as a field guide or similar
Click here for a VIDEO recording of April 08, 2025 webinar
Next sessions topic:
- Updates (GDD, Miticides, Ambrosia Beetle, Boxwood blight alerts)
- Boxwood leafminer
- Holly leaf miner
- Eastern tent caterpillars
- Spongy moth
- Evergreen lacebugs
- Clearwing Borers (and trapping)
- Red-headed flea beetle (adult pre-treatment)
- Diseases: Fire Blight and Rusts
2025 Registration includes:
The focus of this program is to provide timely updates on pest, disease, and weeds impacting commercial ornamental producers. The webinars will focus on the most important pests for a 2 week interval, will be recorded, and will be shared shortly thereafter with Spanish overdub (spoken word). The trap packages are in an effort to find grower led solutions for monitoring economically important pests throughout the multiple regions of New Jersey. Please consider joining this program for its inaugural year.
- Site visit to your ornamental nursery/farm from Rutgers agents
- Delivered printed IPM resources (Guides, factsheets, bulletins)
- Free pheromone & sticky trap kit + guidance on setup/monitoring
- Access to live bi-weekly webinars (Zoom)
- Every Second and Fourth, Tuesday, April through September
- Webinars will be recorded – posted later with Spanish overdub
This program is free, however registration is required.
(Next webinar Tu 4/22 at 12PM)
Register for the NEW – 2025 Ornamental IPM Program PLUS Boxwood Blight, Pest emergence, Updates
Please consider signing up for the NEW 2025 – Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program.
The focus of this program is to provide timely updates on pest, disease, and weeds impacting commercial ornamental producers. The webinars will focus on the most important pests for a 2 week interval, will be recorded, and will be shared shortly thereafter with Spanish overdub (spoken word). The trap packages are in an effort to find grower led solutions for monitoring economically important pests throughout the multiple regions of New Jersey. Please consider joining this program for its inaugural year.
Registration includes:
- Site visit to your ornamental nursery/farm from Rutgers agents
- Delivered printed IPM resources (Guides, factsheets, bulletins)
- Free pheromone & sticky trap kit + guidance on setup/monitoring
- Access to live bi-weekly webinars (Zoom)
- (First session NEXT TUESDAY 4/8 @ 12PM)
- Every Second and Fourth, Tuesday, April through September
- Webinars will be recorded – posted later with Spanish overdub
This program is free, however registration is required.
| Boxwood Blight Risk Assessment as of 3/4/2025 | |||||||||
| Region | Location | CODE | 31-March | 1-April | 2-April | 3-April | 4-April | 5-April | |
| Southern | Upper Deerfield | NJ50 | Very Low | Very Low | Very Low | Low | Minor Risk | Very Low | |
| Central | Howell / Freehold | NJ10 | Minor Risk | Very Low | Very Low | Low | Minor Risk | Very Low | |
| Northern | Wantage | NJ79 | Low | Very Low | Very Low | Low | Risk | Very Low | |
| M | T | W | TH | F | S | ||||
| Please check YOUR LOCAL risk (click here) | |||||||||
Please download and print the Rutgers Nursery and Landscape Pest Scouting Guide or Conifer and Christmas Tree Pest Scouting Guide and refer to this post “Obtaining your local growing degree-days (GDD)” for additional information. (See pest scouting guides for complete list of references)
Please SHARE what you SEE!! If you see a pest, disease, otherwise interesting or troublesome issue please report it to the Working Group by following the QR Code on the front of the Pest Scouting Guides or by filling out this reporting form.
Keep reading for more resources!
Approaching 2025 Boxwood Blight Season
March weather is always unpredictable, however, if we have sustained periods of increased temperatures and spring rains, boxwood blight (BWB) will become an issue quickly.
New – [pictorial tri-fold] Common Boxwood Pests and Diseases (click-here). This includes Box Tree Moth images. Print the PDF out double-sided, then fold. We are working to have a better resolution print of this material very soon.
If you suspect Boxwood Blight and would like to have this verified – please contact the Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Laboratory (click here) for sample submission instructions
| Boxwood Blight Risk Assessment as of 3/4/2025 | |||||||||
| Region | Location | CODE | 3-March | 4-March | 5-March | 6-March | 7-March | 8-March | |
| Southern | Upper Deerfield | NJ50 | Very Low | Very Low | Low | Minor Risk | Very Low | Very Low | |
| Central | Howell / Freehold | NJ10 | Very Low | Very Low | Low | Minor Risk | Very Low | Very Low | |
| Northern | High Point | NJ59 | Very Low | Very Low | Very Low | Minor Risk | Very Low | Very Low | |
| M | T | W | TH | F | S | ||||
| Please check YOUR LOCAL risk (click here) | |||||||||
There is a minor potential for boxwood blight infections this Wednesday & Thursday, throughout ALL of NJ. Incoming rains, coupled with warmer temperatures may initiate boxwood blight infections this week.
-
It is time to begin protective fungicide applications in boxwoods throughout the state if you have not already done so.
- If BWB is important to your business – Use the USPEST – PUSH Alerts – (click here) – to setup weekly email alerts. Create an account, watch the tutorial, and then set up your subscriptions. You select which locations (as many as you like), days you want to receive emails, and what you would like to receive alerts about (BWB and a variety of other pests and diseases). Rutgers is not directly affiliated, however this is an incredible tool.
