Rutgers Cooperative Extension
7pm tonight, Thurs, April 11, 2024
Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic County office
6260 Old Harding Hwy
Mays Landing, NJ 08330
To Agriculture and Agribusiness Representatives:
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is issuing this notice concerning open burning due to colder spring overnight temperatures presently forecasted for areas of New Jersey from Tuesday, March 19, through Tuesday, March 26, 2024, which could adversely affect fruit, vegetable, and floriculture crops in bloom or near bloom around the state. The DEP intends to exercise its authority and discretion under the Air Pollution Control Code, N.J.A.C. 7:27, et seq., and other applicable authorities to permit the following procedure for open burning or the use of smudge pots to assist farmers to protect their crops in low temperatures. These cold events could adversely affect some of the fruit, vegetable, and floriculture crops. [Read more…]
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection coordinated workshops in the past two weeks to assist farmers with Agricultural Water Certifications/Registrations who needed 5-year renewals. Those farmers with certifications expiring in 2023 were invited by NJDEP to attend the scheduled workshops. NJDEP Staff visited the 4 counties: Gloucester, Salem, Burlington, and Cumberland to complete renewals for 2023. These workshops are an efficient way to make sure forms are accurate, complete, and acceptable to NJDEP – avoiding the need to mail back paperwork to correct any information. If a farmer receives an invitation in the future to attend these NJDEP coordinated workshops, it is really important to attend and update your forms.
If a farmer was unable to attend workshops, or their county did not have a workshop, they must complete the 5-year renewal form mailed by DEP and make an appointment with the County Agricultural Agent in their county to finalize the forms in order to keep their status current. County Agricultural Agents do not have access to obtaining the renewal packets and farmers must bring them completed to the appointment or contact NJDEP for another copy, if they cannot locate their copy.
As per the NJDEP’s instruction, Agricultural Agents are to complete an “agent irrigation calculations sheet” and sign off on the form prior the forms are submitted to DEP. The forms can also be reviewed during an appointment with the Agricultural Agent. All other portions of the form are the responsibility of the farmer to complete. Also, it is important to read all instructions – that includes having a written daily log of the last month water was used in the past year to submit with the 5-year renewal application.
If a farmer does not have an Agricultural Water Use Certification or Registration, they can contact the NJDEP using the information below to obtain the forms.
If a farmer has any questions, NJDEP asks they contact staff at:
NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Supply and Geoscience, Bureau of Water Allocation and Well Permitting, Mail Code 401-04Q, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420, 609-984-6831. Also see the website at http://www.nj.gov/dep/watersupply/
Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education has announced an in-person session of the Private Applicator exam, exclusively for our farmers and growers, to be hosted on Wednesday, April 6 at the Burlington County office of Rutgers Cooperative Extension at 2 Academy Drive, Westampton, NJ 08060.
Each session (10:00 am and 12:30 pm) can accommodate up to 30 people, so if the demand is there, 2 sessions will be held that day. Only private applicator exams will be offered for this in-person testing event.
All examinees must be preregistered by the end of the day Monday, April 4 (details below), no walk-ins are allowed and no refunds will be given. If you register for April 6 and do not come to take the exam you will have to re-register and pay again.
All examinees must be registered ahead of time in PACER. Growers should register for an online exam, pay the $50 fee online, and then contact Jill Sullivan by phone at 848-932-7443 or by email by the end of the day on Monday, April 4 to say they want to take the exam in-person. Jill will provide registered growers with the time of the exam and location. This will also allow Jill time to create the exam answer sheets for Wednesday, April 6 and create a registration list.
For those who need help registering in PACER, there will be a second date announced for later in April, again at the Burlington County RCE office. Jill has created a registration document that you can print out, complete, and fax to Jill at 732-932-1187 or complete the information requested in the MSWord document and then email the completed form to Jill at pacer@njaes.rutgers.edu and she will register the grower and then call for the sensitive information (SSN and credit card information). The registration form is currently available through your local RCE office.
Thanks to Melissa Bravo, RCE of Salem County, for inquiring for an in-person test opportunity for our growers, to OCPE for accommodating this request and offering this opportunity for our growers, and to Burlington County RCE for hosting these exams.
To streamline NJ’s pesticide exam process, Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education has announced that the new online Pesticide Applicator Certification Exam Registration (PACER) system is available for your use immediately.
How the new system benefits YOU:
Examination Fees are $115 per each Category exam and the Core exam; $50 for the Private licensing exam:
Please note that all exams are CLOSED book and the NJDEP no longer offers any pesticide certification exams.
The PACER website also has step-by-step instructions to create an account before registering for the exam, and user and hardware requirements to successfully complete the exam (Google Chrome internet browser, webcam, wired / Ethernet connection, ample bandwidth for Proctorio download and use, etc.). Also, make sure you choose a quiet and comfortable location to take your exams, as earphones or headphones are not permitted during the exam.
Please Visit the NJDEP website for information regarding pesticide licensing, policies, procedures, credits, and for payment and status of your license. For frequently asked questions regarding pesticide licensing please click here.
Visit PACER today!
Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agents have been receiving questions from farmers on what to do with the renewal applications they recently received from NJDEP Pesticide Control Program. The invoice may be somewhat confusing. So here are a few tips to help.
1. The $0.00 Amount Due is correct on the invoice. Farmers with a “Private” applicator licenses do not pay for licenses and renewals. So you do not need to send any payment and in the box where it says “enter the amount of your payment” enter $0.00.
2. The best way to complete this renewal is not to mail in the form, but instead renew online. CLICK HERE to renew your license online. YOU WILL NEED YOUR PAPERWORK WITH YOUR “INVOICE NUMBER”. Do not use the NJEMS Bill ID number, instead find the invoice number above.
It would be a good idea to print the screen with the confirmation that you renewed online, since the system does not send you an email confirmation. The screen also states, “License generation may take a few weeks”. So, please be patient and if you need to use your license number, continue to use the same number on your expired license for recertification credits, as your license number will not change. It also says to not send the paper forms once you did your online submission. See photo to the below for an example of the confirmation screen you will see when renewing online.
3. If you must mail the renewal, here are some TIPS:
a. You will need to provide your own envelope and a stamp when mailing back the forms.
b. Also, the form may be confusing since the bottom tab to return says to mail to Treasurer-State of New Jersey, while the “Reminder” section says to mail forms/letters to NJDEP Licensing and Registrations.
c. Do not mail the bottom tab and other information for renewal of your Private Pesticide license to NJDEP. It is to be mailed to the NJ Department of Treasury – as stated on the return portion at the bottom of the first page.
d. Fill out page 2 and check to see if all your information is correct on page 2. Do not forget to sign and date the bottom of page 2 before mailing with your “payment” tab from page 1.
e. It may be best to send these forms in using USPS “Certified Mail” or UPS or FEDEX to track that it was received. Your pesticide license is very important for your business and you would want to verify it was received.
If you need more assistance with pesticide licenses, contact the NJDEP. Contact information in the photo below.
Best wishes and we hope this information is helpful in renewing your NJDEP Private Pesticide Applicators License.
