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

Climate Adaptation Fellowship Program Seeks Farmer and Advisor Applicants

 

Climate change is bringing challenges for vegetable and small fruit growers. For farmers to reduce their risk, they need to adapt. To address this increasing need, the Climate Adaptation Fellowship was created. The 1-year program provides a peer-to-peer curriculum for farmers and advisors. Its framework is designed to integrate climate science with a land manager’s knowledge that builds climate resilience within specific commodity areas.

The first full Climate Adaptation Fellowship program with northeast vegetable / small fruit growers and agricultural advisors will be offered in 2021-2022 and is now accepting applications through October 1. [Read more…]

Vegetable IPM Update 9/16/20

Sweet Corn

Fall armyworm (FAW) larval infestations remain at low levels in the few remaining sweet corn plantings not yet silking.  At this point in the season, FAW shouldn’t become a widespread economic problem.  However, growers should be alert to the possibility of infestations on the last of their late plantings.   Injury from newly hatched larvae shows up as “window panes” or areas where leaf tissue has been eaten down the the lower epidermis. This injury leads down into the whorl.  As larvae gain size, they begin to consume leaf tissue in its’ entirety, creating ragged holes and lots of droppings.  FAW can be tough to manage because it is resistant to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (IRAC 3A) and because larvae are often covered by their own droppings, making contact with the insecticide more difficult.  Treat when 12% or more plants exhibit FAW injury alone, or in combination with ECB injury.

 

Corn earworm (CEW) moth captures continued a gradual decline over this past week due to several nights with low temperatures.  The decline is less noticeable in the northern counties, where CEW blacklight catches had been quite high prior to the onset of cooler weather.  Therefore the weekly averages there are higher.  Overall, these catches are representative of lower adult activity, and growers should consider this pest to still be at moderately high population levels in the state.     The current population poses a significant risk to silking corn.  The reduction in CEW catch was not enough to substantially change this weeks map from last week (see map at left).  Green areas on this map representing a 3-day spray schedule.  For further information on CEW activity, see pheromone trap information below.

 

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 9/16/20 are as follows:

Hackettstown   19 Morristown   8 Port Colden   6
Long Valley   16 Allamuchy   7 Princeton   6
Denville   13 Sereantsville   7 Blairstown   5
Chester   9 Downer   6 Hillsborough   5

[Read more…]

Ask the Agent Fall Series

“Ask the Ag Agent” was created in spring 2020, when COVID-19 forced a new normal in communications nationwide. Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agents working with “Ask the Ag Agent” education and outreach are committed to the agriculture industry and all interested in growing plants, raising livestock and essential resources related to agriculture. The program will now continue beginning on Wednesday, September 16th and run every-other Wednesday in September and October.

Farmers and others are welcome to join this bi-weekly teleconference each Wednesday night from 7:00pm-8:00pm. Weekly events are hosted by Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agents working with the farming industry.

This call-in/WebEx event features updates on farm management, crop conditions, farm industry observations, agricultural agency programs and other topics discussed by farmers, agricultural agents and other agricultural service providers.

Hosted by Agricultural Agents Bill Bamka, Stephen Komar, Michelle Infante-Casella and Meredith Melendez, this bi-weekly communication provides a forum for discussion for farmers and all involved in NJ agriculture, including agricultural agency personnel, non-profit organizations and others.

This event and other events hosted by Rutgers Cooperative Extension can be found on the Rutgers NJAES Events website.

To join the “Ask the Ag Agent” forum each week on a computer/tablet/smartphone via the WebEx Videoconference use the link:

“Ask the Ag Agent” was created in spring 2020, when COVID-19 forced a new normal in communications nationwide. Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agents working with “Ask the Ag Agent” education and outreach are committed to the agriculture industry and all interested in growing plants, raising livestock and essential resources related to agriculture. The program will now continue beginning on Wednesday, September 16th and run every-other Wednesday in September and October.

Farmers and others are welcome to join this bi-weekly teleconference each Wednesday night from 7:00pm-8:00pm. Weekly events are hosted by Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agents working with the farming industry.

This call-in/WebEx event features updates on farm management, crop conditions, farm industry observations, agricultural agency programs and other topics discussed by farmers, agricultural agents and other agricultural service providers.

Hosted by Agricultural Agents Bill Bamka, Stephen Komar, Michelle Infante-Casella and Meredith Melendez, this bi-weekly communication provides a forum for discussion for farmers and all involved in NJ agriculture, including agricultural agency personnel, non-profit organizations and others.

This event and other events hosted by Rutgers Cooperative Extension can be found on the Rutgers NJAES Events website.

To join the “Ask the Ag Agent” forum each week on a computer/tablet/smartphone via the WebEx Videoconference click here

Join by phone
+1-650-429-3300 passcode 1202639477##

Vegetable IPM Update 9/09/20

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) adults continue to be very low, and no map will appear in this edition.

Fall armyworm (FAW) larval infestations are at fairly low levels.  Infestations generally are in the single digits to below 20%, and with few plantings in the whorl stage at this point in the season, FAW shouldn’t become a widespread economic problem.  However, growers should be alert to the possibility of infestations on the last of their late plantings.   Injury from newly hatched larvae shows up as “window panes” or areas where leaf tissue has been eaten down the the lower epidermis. This injury leads down into the whorl.  As larvae gain size, they begin to consume leaf tissue in its’ entirety, creating ragged holes and lots of droppings.  FAW can be tough to manage because it is resistant to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (IRAC 3A) and because larvae are often covered by their own droppings, making contact with the insecticide more difficult.  Treat when 12% or more plants exhibit FAW injury alone, or in combination with ECB injury.

 

Corn earworm (CEW) moth captures have decreased slightly over the past week.  This is likely due to several nights with temperatures dropping into the low 60s and even 50s F.  The decline is representative of lower adult activity, and growers should consider this pest to still be at moderately high population levels in the state.     The current population poses a significant risk to silking corn.  The reduction in CEW catch was not enough to substantially change this weeks map from last week (see map at left).  Green areas on this map representing a 3-day spray schedule.  For further information on CEW activity, see pheromone trap information below.

 

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 9/09/20 are as follows:

Downer   7 Bellemeade   4 Chester   3
Denville   6 Green Creek   4 Crosswicks   3
Georgetown   5 Morristown   4 Farmingdale   3
New Egypt   5 Sergeantsville   4 Long Valley   3

[Read more…]

Vegetable IPM Update 9/02/20

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) adults continue to be very low, and no map will appear in this edition.

Fall armyworm (FAW) larval infestations have declined to fairly low levels.  Infestations generally are in the single digits to below 20%, but  FAW could increase dramatically with the arrival of  storms, resulting in significant injury to whorl and even seedling stage corn.  Injury from newly hatched larvae shows up as “window panes” or areas where leaf tissue has been eaten down the the lower epidermis. This injury leads down into the whorl.  As larvae gain size, they begin to consume leaf tissue in its’ entirety, creating ragged holes and lots of droppings.  FAW can be tough to manage because it is resistant to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (IRAC 3A) and because larvae are often covered by their own droppings, making contact with the insecticide more difficult.  Treat when 12% or more plants exhibit FAW injury alone, or in combination with ECB injury.

 

Corn earworm (CEW) moth captures increased through late last week, and then declined in the past 4 nights due to cooler temperatures.  This decline may be temporary, as we get into warmer weather late this week and into the weekend.  The current population poses a significant risk to silking corn.  Catches remain somewhat variable (see map at left), with green areas on this map representing a 3-day spray schedule.  For further information on CEW activity, see pheromone trap information below.

 

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 9/02/20 are as follows:

Downer   14 Farmingdale   6 Medford   4
Elm   9 Haackettstown   6 New Egypt   4
Green Creek   9 Georgetown   5 Princeton   4
Bellemeade   7 Sergeantsville   5 Tabernacle   4

[Read more…]

Reminder: Considerations for Agritourism Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic, last Webinar Tonight

Please join us for the 2nd webinar to discuss our resource, “Considerations for Agritourism Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Time: Sep 1, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

To Join on Zoom:

https://go.rutgers.edu/sfk96jlp

Meeting ID: 912 2343 8378
Password: 636141

Join By Phone
+1-646-558-8656
Meeting ID: 912 2343 8378

If you have any questions, please email the host group:

Michelle Infante-Casella’s email: minfante@njaes.rutgers.edu

Bill Bamka’s email: bamka@njaes.rutgers.edu

Steve Komar’s email: komar@njaes.rutgers.edu

Meredith Melendez’s email: melendez@njaes.rutgers.edu

Rick VanVranken’s email: vanvranken@njaes.rutgers.edu