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

Vegetable IPM Update 8/26/20

Sweet Corn

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

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 8/26/20 are as follows:

Cinnaminson   1
Downer   1
Medford   1


Fall armyworm (FAW)
larval infestations have stabilized at low to moderate levels.  Infestations generally are in the teens to low 20% range, 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 (see photo at far left).  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 (see photo at near left).  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 increased in central and southern New Jersey blacklight traps over the past week.  Trap catches, both blacklight and pheromone, are showing signs of a possible large increase within a week.  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.  Note that there continues to be disagreement between blacklight and pheromone trap maps with regard to the southwestern counties.  See pheromone trap information below.

 

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 8/26/20 are as follows:

Georgetown   13 New Egypt   5 Matawan   4
Green Creek   11 Princeton   5 Morristown   4
Farmingdale   8 Crosswicks   4 Allamuchy   3
Allentown   5 Denville   4 Hillsborough   3

[Read more…]

COVID-19 Safety Tips for Agritourism Operations

Kids riding in back of a tractor

Continued community transmission of COVID-19 presents challenges to many businesses, including on-farm agritourism operations. The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agritourism Working Group developed farm assessment resources titled, Considerations for Agritourism Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic, to assist producers with agritourism activities as part of their on-farm marketing strategies. Considerations listed are designed to help operators evaluate business and management strategies that align with State executive orders and federal/state/local safety guidelines enacted to reduce possible transmission of COVID-19.

Key considerations include:

  • Remain apprised of/and compliant with executive orders issued by the Governor to reduce COVID-19 transmission, including those establishing limits on public indoor and outdoor gatherings, as well as requirements for face coverings and social distancing;
  • Monitor guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State/local authorities to reduce community transmission of COVID-19;
  • Clearly communicate farm rules and visitor expectations—prior to arrival and during farm visits—through website and social media posts, promotional materials, staff instruction, and farm signage;
  • Ensure that all farm staff undertake a daily screening for symptoms of COVID-19 and avoid coming to work if they are symptomatic, have tested positive for the virus, or have been in close contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19;
  • Train employees on all personal and farm safety protocols developed to minimize risks of COVID-19 transmission;
  • Organize agritourism activities and manage visitor flows to maintain adequate social distancing on the farm. This includes carefully evaluating farm/attraction capacity limits, identifying areas of anticipated high visitor volume (e.g., parking areas, restrooms, sales areas, foodservice, attraction entrances and exiting areas, etc.), and taking measures to reduce pedestrian “bottlenecks,” large congregations, and cross-flow contact when guests are entering/leaving areas;
  • Instruct employees and visitors to wear appropriate face coverings;
  • Provide adequate and appropriately stocked/maintained hand washing and hand sanitizer stations in key areas (e.g., sales areas, outside restroom facilities, foodservice areas, key thoroughfares, entrances/exists, etc.);
  • Establish regular cleaning and disinfection procedures for frequently touched surfaces or objects;
  • Construct physical barriers, if needed, to reduce potential contacts between staff and visitors (e.g., Plexiglass partitions in sales areas);
  • Explore options for pre-registration to control visitor volumes and pre-payment or touchless payment options to reduce contact between staff and visitors; and
  • Discourage unnecessary customer handling of farm products prior to purchase.

This resource and other tools to help agritourism operators evaluate and strengthen the management of their operations, identify safety concerns and manage liability are available at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station’s agritourism resource site: http://agritourism.rutgers.edu/training/

Webinars: Considerations for Agritourism Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Monday, August 31, 2020 07:00 PM
And
Tuesday, September 1, 2020 07:00 PM

For more information see: https://agritourism.rutgers.edu/training/

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agritourism Working Group developed considerations to assist NJ farmers with agritourism operations on their farms during the COVID-19 pandemic. This document is designed to help operators manage strategies for compliance with State executive orders and federal/state/local safety guidelines. The team will host 2 webinars on 8/31 and 9/1 at 7:00PM to discuss the considerations and provide an opportunity for farmers with agritourism operations to network

To Participate:
Click the link below. We suggest visiting at least 10 minutes before the session start time to confirm system requirements
https://go.rutgers.edu/sfk96jlp

Or participants can join in by phone:
1-646-558-8656
Meeting ID: 912 2343 8378

For more events hosted by Rutgers see: https://events.rutgers.edu/njaes/

Vegetable IPM Update 8/19/20

Sweet Corn

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

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 8/19/20 are as follows:

Downer   1
Matawan   1


Fall armyworm (FAW)
larval infestations continue at a fairly steady rate, except for coastal Monmouth County, where infestations exceeding 60% were found in whorl and seedling stage sweet corn.  This infestation was likely associated with the tropical storm of two weeks ago.   FAW could increase dramatically with the arrival of these 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 (see photo at far left).  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 (see photo at near left).  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 increased significantly in central and northern New Jersey blacklight traps over the past week.  This moderate mid-Summer 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.  Note that there continues to be disagreement between blacklight and pheromone trap maps with regard to the southwestern counties.  See pheromone trap information below.

 

 

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 8/19/20 are as follows:

Bellemeade   5 Lawrenceville   3 Matawan   2
Morristown   3 Georgetown   2 New Egypt   2
Princeton   3 Hackettstown   2 Pennington   2
Allamuchy   3 Hillsborough   2 South Branch   2

[Read more…]

Vegetable IPM Update 8/12/20

Note:  Cucurbit downy mildew has now been identified on cucumber in southern and northern NJ.  See the pumpkin and winter squash section below for more information.

 

Sweet Corn

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

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 8/12/20 are as follows:

Califon   1 Farmingdale   1
Cinnaminson   1 Medford   1
Downer   1 Tabernacle   1


Fall armyworm (FAW)
larval infestations continue, although at low to moderate levels around the state, with infestations as high as 26% in Cape May County.   FAW could increase dramatically in the late summer, 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 (see photo at far left).  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 (see photo at near left).  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 are increasing gradually in blacklight traps.  This moderate mid-Summer population poses a significant risk to silking corn.  Catches remain somewhat variable (see map at left), with blue areas on this map representing a 4-5 day spray schedule.  Note that there is disagreement between blacklight and pheromone trap maps with regard to the southwestern counties.  See pheromone trap information below.

 

 

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 8/12/20 are as follows:

Morristown   3 Green Creek   2 Farmingdale   1
Allamuchy   2 Bellemeade   1 New Egypt   1
Califon   2 Downer   1 Old Bridge   1
Georgetown   2 Elm   1 Princeton   1

[Read more…]

The Show Must Go On(line) – 2020 Ag Progress Days Virtual Experience

Continuing a 50-year tradition, Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, brought to you by their College of Agricultural Sciences, is a one-stop shop this week, August 9-12, 2020, for the latest research, management practices, and regulations in agriculture.

This year, Penn State Extension educators and faculty have come together to provide a FREE virtual learning program filled with the latest in Ag research and best practices. This event is being offered at no charge to participants, but registration is required to receive the link to access a webinar. Even if you missed a day or a session, all registrants will receive access to the webinar recordings.

Online registrants can choose from more than 46 live webinars and get questions answered by the experts. Just check out the the live webinar schedule and register online. [Read more…]