Organic Farm Advisory

The Plant & Pest Advisory serves NJ growers by reporting on important pests and recommending responses that are grounded in reproducible trials.

Articles in this section contain information helpful to the NJ commercial organic grower.

Sharing organic practice trial results between land-grant universities is a cost effective way to create a common knowledge base built on the strengths of individual programs. In the sidebar, find institutions with programs in organic agriculture which augment knowledge developed at the Rutgers New Jersey Ag Experiment Station.

Rutgers Cooperative Extension Field Guides: These concise guides help with decision making from pre-planting to harvest. For each crop listed, learn what pests to proactively look for as the season progresses, how to look for them, and when to take action.

Field Guide List

2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Virtual Convention Update 2

My apologies for some of the confusion from my initial update regarding the educational sessions of our 2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Convention will be held virtually the last week of February. While the entire up-to-date program was, and is, available to view on the Vegetable Growers Association of NJ website – VGANJ.com/schedule, I forgot one critical point in that last post. The link for signing up for pesticide re-certification credits was not ready to go at that time.

It is ready now.

(One other clarification – when you join the VGANJ and pay your membership dues at either the full or daily rate, you are also registered for these educational sessions.)

Registration for Pesticide License Re-certification Credits

If you want to receive pesticide re-certification credits for attending any of the sessions offering them, you must supply identification information that will allow us to confirm your participation and to let DEP know which sessions you attend. You do not have to sign up for individual sessions, but you must supply these required pre-registration details or you will not receive credit. If supplied, you will receive credits for any session you attend in its entirety as described in our guide.

If you are attending for credits, you will need to be signed in to the Zoom meeting within 10 minutes of the start, remain attentive and responsive to random polls, and logged into the session until it ends. You will not get credit if you leave to join another Zoom session. There will be some allowance and support if there are technical issues, but otherwise, leaving a meeting early will disqualify you for credits.

Before you start to register for credits, please have the following ready before you start:

  • A photo, scan or screen-shot (your ID and license may be submitted as one photo or two) of:
    • your Government-issued ID, and
    • NJ Pesticide applicator status
      • copy of your current license, OR
      • status page from the NJ DEP <https://go.rutgers.edu/t0hiphuz>- search for your name in either the “Commercial Certified Pesticide Applicators by Name” or “Private Certified Pesticide Applicators by Name” menu selections on the page.)

NOTE:  If you are NOT looking for credits, DO NOT enter your license and ID information. You will be able to move from Zoom session to Zoom session.

 

 

Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) – Produce Safety Alliance Training Course

The Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirement outlined in § 112.22(c) that requires ‘At least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under the standardized curriculum recognized as adequate by the Food and Drug Administration’.  This is the only training recognized by the FDA at this time!

The course is being offered virtually over two days on March 9 and 10 from 10:45 am to 3:30 pm.  All participants must preregister by February 23 at rutgersonfarmfoodsafety.eventbrite.com.  Once registered a training manual will be sent to each person and the registrant must have the manual to show at the training.

Fruit and vegetables growers and others interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management of natural resources and food safety should also attend this training.

The course is divided into seven modules that cover:

  • Introduction to Produce Safety
  • Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training
  • Soil Amendments
  • Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use
  • Agricultural Water (Part I: Production Water; Part II: Postharvest Water)
  • Postharvest Handling and Sanitation
  • How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan

In addition to learning about produce safety best practices, parts of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements are outlined within each module and are included in the grower manual provided.

2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Virtual Convention Update

By now you’ve probably heard from many venues that the educational sessions of our 2021 NJ Ag/VGANJ Convention will be held virtually the last week of February. Members of the Rutgers NJAES Vegetable Working Group and our colleagues that cover other commodities have developed a comprehensive program covering a wide range of topics. The entire up-to-date program can now viewed on the Vegetable Growers Association of NJ website – VGANJ.com/schedule.

As you will see on the program, concurrent two and a half hours-long, commodity-oriented sessions and workshops are scheduled each morning and afternoon. There will be sessions offering pesticide recertification credits. To accommodate the limitations of the Zoom platform, category credits will be available in afternoon sessions only, while two lunchtime sessions (Tues and Thurs) offer CORE credits.

Morning sessions may carry over into lunchtime Q&A discussions with speakers, if demand warrants, but on Wed, Feb 24, please join VGANJ President John Banscher for a special Tribute to New Jersey Farmers. We thank you for all your essential work during the pandemic of 2020, and we thank the VGANJ for sponsoring this educational event.

As we have offered at previous conventions, we are partnering with the NJ Dept of Health to offer their required training to those farmers/market managers who participate in the WIC & Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program. However, so as not to interfere with afternoon sessions, this has been scheduled as a separate Zoom meeting from 4-6pm. More details will follow.

To obtain credits via a virtual meeting requires a couple of extra steps on your part. Please view and familiarize yourself with the steps to be followed in this guide, which will also be available if you sign up for credits after registering with VGA. If you are not looking for credits, you will be able to move from session to session, but those wanting credits will need to be signed in to the Zoom meeting within 10 minutes of the start, remain attentive and responsive to random polls, and logged into the session until it ends. There will be some allowance and support if there are technical issues, but otherwise, leaving a meeting early will disqualify you for credits.

New Jersey Department of Agriculture Moves to New Building in Trenton

The New Jersey Department of Agiculture Administration and Staff have moved from their previous office building to a new location.

In the event anyone needs to drop off samples for testing or visit the NJDA for any reason, please be advised of this change of location.

The new building address for the NJDA office is: 200 Riverview Plaza, 3rd Floor, Trenton, NJ, 08611

The mailing address remains: PO Box 330, Trenton, NJ, 08625

For more information see the NJDA website.

Onboarding for Seasonal Employees Training

Although this training opportunity is New York-based, it will have information that covers topics related to all employers who hire seasonal employees.

Attend a 1.5-hour, on-line program Best Practices for Onboarding Seasonal Workers. Learn the key things you should have in place to be ready to welcome a group of seasonal workers. This program will follow an onboarding guide, Onboarding Seasonal Farm Employees, that was developed by Liz Higgins, CCE Eastern NY Commercial Hort Team, Mark Wiltberger, CCE Lake Ontario Fruit Program, and Richard Stup, CCE Ag Workforce Development. The onboarding guide covers:

-required paperwork and documentation for a new hire, including seasonal, migrant workers
-required trainings (with an emphasis on fruit and vegetable farms) and guides for developing a training plan
-tips for bringing on new employees and having them productive from day 1, especially when you are up to your eyeballs in work!
-tips for creating a welcoming environment where employees feel connected to their workplace and competent on the job.

When you register chose one of four dates:  

January 26 | 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM

January 27 | 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

January 28 | 8:00 AM  to 9:30 AM

To register see information in the Morning Ag Clips at https://www.morningagclips.com/onboarding-seasonal-farm-employees/

Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention REGISTRATION IS OPEN!!!

Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention will be held February 8-11, 2021 ONLINE!

This year’s Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Conference is 100% online.  There will be an excellent lineup of speakers from all over the country presenting on topics ranging from soil health to digital marketing.

New Jersey Pesticide Credits will be awarded (CORE, PP2, 1A, and 10).

Please note: TO ENSURE GROWERS RECEIVE PESTICIDE CREDITS THEY MUST

  1. Register as a New Jersey State Horticultural Society Member
  2. They must attend the ENTIRE credit bearing session.
  3. They MUST look for and follow the instructions on the follow-up E-mail, which will be sent to from Hunterdon County Agricultural Extension Secretary Kim Crommelin kfrey@co.hunterdon.nj.us following the meeting.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the meeting or pesticide credits please reach out to Kim Crommeliln kfrey@co.hunterdon.nj.us

Register at the Link Below

https://amr.swoogo.com/mafvc2021/785984