Comments on the revisions made to the produce safety rule are due on December 15th. Regular posts will be made to the Plant and Pest Advisory focusing on the changes that have been made. Please consider commenting on the produce rule! The way that the FDA defines “farm” is important in determining what types of […]
Continue reading...October 29, 2014 Dave Schmitt
Fall Urea Sprays for Apple Scab Control
It’s time to consider sanitation practices that can help reduce over wintering scab inoculum. These practices should be considered an essential part of apple IPM programs. In 2014 scab was once again a problem in most orchards we scouted. Even if you didn’t see scab on the fruit at harvest there still could be infected […]
Continue reading...October 22, 2014 Wes Kline and Meredith Melendez
FSMA: Calculating Farm Sales for Compliance
Comments on the revisions made to the produce safety rule are due on December 15th. Regular posts will be made to the Plant and Pest Advisory focusing on the changes that have been made. Please consider commenting on the produce rule! Changes to Calculating Farm Sales for FSMA Compliance The previous version of the produce […]
Continue reading...October 13, 2014 Andy Wyenandt
Late Blight Still Active on Tomato
Late blight was confirmed in a homeowner garden today near Clementon, NJ (Camden County) and here at the Rutgers research station near Bridgeton, NJ (Cumberland County). This is a good reminder that as long as weather conditions are conducive, the threat of late blight in the state and region will continue until the first killing […]
Continue reading...October 13, 2014 Andy Wyenandt
Internal Fruit Rot in Tomato
A fresh market tomato from a home owner garden was dropped off the other day with some strange internal rot. The internal rot (photo 1) was most likely caused by water accumulating in areas immediately around the stem and as the fruit developed growth cracks (photo 2). This allowed for opportunistic fungi and bacteria into […]
Continue reading...October 9, 2014 Meredith Melendez
New Jersey Soils and Copper Fungicide Use
During my field visits to Mercer County organic farms, growers often express concerns about negative soil health impacts from copper based fungicides. In an effort to evaluate soil copper use and the resulting soil copper levels, soil was sampled at fifteen farms throughout the state. Both conventional and organic farms participated in this study which was […]
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