February 6, 2025

CMC Board of Agriculture’s 2nd Annual Industry Night

If you are in Atlantic, Cumberland or Cape May County, you are invited to the 2nd Annual Industry Night:

Janine Spies, State IPM Program Coordinator for New Jersey will provide an overview of Integrated Pest Management and Pesticide Safety for New Jersey Agriculture. Spies’ talk has been approved for Pesticide Credits for CORE (2) and PP2 (2).

From 6 to 8 p.m. visit the Lockwood 4-H Youth Center for networking, food, and vendors. The Center is located on the Cape May County 4-H Fairgrounds, 355 Court House – South Dennis Road, CMCH, NJ 08210.

Additionally, a complimentary dinner, catered by Matt’s Family, Taste the Love!, is being provided by the Cape May County Board of Agriculture.

Industry Night is free, however, those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by February 26 to 609-465-5115 ext. 3607 or to capemayag@njaes.rutgers.edu.

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
January 31, 2025

CMC Board of Agriculture’s 2nd Annual Industry Night

The Cape May County Board of Agriculture, with the support of Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County, is hosting the Second Annual Industry Night for Cape May County Farmers. The event, organized to bring local farmers together and provide access to resources, will take place on Monday, March 3, 2025. Industry Night starts at 5:30 p.m. with a special pesticide presentation at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) Building.

Janine Spies, State IPM Program Coordinator for New Jersey will provide an overview of Integrated Pest Management and Pesticide Safety for New Jersey Agriculture. Spies’ talk has been approved for Pesticide Credits for CORE (2) and PP2 (2).

From 6 to 8 p.m. visit the Lockwood 4-H Youth Center for networking, food, and vendors. The Center is located on the Cape May County 4-H Fairgrounds, 355 Court House – South Dennis Road, CMCH, NJ 08210.

Additionally, a complimentary dinner, catered by Matt’s Family, Taste the Love!, is being provided by the Cape May County Board of Agriculture.

Industry Night is free, however, those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by February 26 to 609-465-5115 ext. 3607 or to capemayag@njaes.rutgers.edu.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,
January 14, 2025 and

REGISTER TODAY – NJ Ag Convention Coming Soon

We are only days away from the start of the 2025 NJ Agricultural Convention and Trade Show at Harrah’s in Atlantic City starting on February 3rd to February 6th. The convention has evolved over the years to include much more than vegetable topics. See the graphic below or the VGANJ website convention program for a list of expanded topics.

Nursery growers – we have a full day for you. Do you raise livestock? We have a new session for you. Want to learn about agricultural policies? Come to the session on Tuesday morning hosted by Rutgers Cooperative Extension Director, Brian Schilling and colleagues from the State Agricultural Development Committee. Need to learn about Food Safety Regulations, we have both a session and a workshop for you. USDA will be hosting sessions on Tuesday to promote programs for farmers. There are too many more topics to put into text so please check out the program on the VGANJ website. 

Need pesticide recertification credits? This year the workshops and sessions will help you fulfill the obligation to obtain those credits. Monday afternoon hosts a 6-CORE credit workshop that requires a separate special registration. Check out the program and how to register on the VGANJ website.

Have you registered for your hotel rooms yet? If not please use the room block and register online at https://book.passkey.com/GO/SHVEG5 or call to make Room Reservations on the phone at 1-888-516-2215 (8:00am-2:00am EST, 7 days a week), Group Name: New Jersey Vegetable Growers. Group Code: SHVEG5. There are plenty of rooms left in the room block, but the pre-registration ends soon, so reserve your rooms today. Please reserve your rooms through the group block to help us meet our obligations for the convention contract. 

Don’t miss the great Tuesday events. There is a FREE “Lunch and Learn” on Tuesday (sign up for tickets at registration on Tuesday, limited to 100 participants) in the back area of the trade show hall with time to meet with vendors and also discussion with the new NJ Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Wengryn. Tuesday night hosts a charity auction and if you attended last year, you know how great this event is with food, drink, and time to catch up with old friends and make new friends in farming. Thanks to VGANJ Secretary, Darcy Perehinys the Tuesday events will once again have amazing food! Lots of prizes from our sponsors will be available for bid at the Charity Auction. If you haven’t attended this event in the past, don’t miss it this year as it is much improved from years past. Tuesday is a big day and with the Lunch and Learn and Charity Auction Happy Hour – if you attend both these events you can eat for free!!!!

One more event you won’t want to miss is the annual awards banquet on Wednesday night. Tickets can now be purchased online on the VGANJ website. This year’s NJ Vegetable Grower of the Year award goes to Brian Porch, of Porch Farms in Salem County, NJ. The award will be presented by VGANJ President, Jim Abma. Come help us celebrate Brian and all the other award winners who will be honored by the NJ Department of Agriculture. 




Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape, work shop Tagged With: ,
November 27, 2024

Get Ready for the 2025 NJ Ag Convention – February 3-6

It is that time of year again to sign up for the annual NJ Agricultural Convention, co-sponsored by the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Visit the VGANJ website at https://vganj.com/convention-tickets to register.

For 2025 there are new and exciting opportunities to learn about all aspects of the agricultural industry at the educational sessions and from vendors at the trade show. If you came last year, you also saw many new improvements to the convention – more vendors, more educational sessions, a complimentary lunch (limited free tickets) on Tuesday highlighting “what’s new from industry”, a complimentary hot buffet at the Tuesday happy hour/charity auction, youth programs for FFA, and co-convention events with the NJ Department of Agriculture. These offerings and more are coming for 2025. New events like Monday afternoon workshops, a livestock session, an agricultural policy session, an environmental session, and others are confirmed for this coming year. Licensed pesticide applicators will see an increase in recertification credits on the program for 2025. 

To check out the educational programming and NJDEP recertification credits for pesticide applicators see https://go.rutgers.edu/ConvProgram2025 – this is a draft program. Also, note that some events need special sign-up so read the program carefully to see what events need pre-registration.

NJ State Board of Agriculture information for the convention is coming soon. Check out their website at Department of Agriculture | Conventions.

If you have any questions about the VGANJ registration, go to https://vganj.com/#contact. If you need more information about the educational programs please contact the Rutgers Co-Chairs for the convention – bamka@njaes.rutgers.edu Bill Bamka, Agricultural Agent in Burlington County, or minfante@njaes.rutgers.edu Michelle Infante-Casella, Agricultural Agent in Gloucester County.

Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Disease Forecasting, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Uncategorized, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape, work shop Tagged With: ,
October 8, 2024

**Twilight Meeting – October 17**

Cape May County Agriculture and Natural Resources will host an October Twilight Meeting for South Jersey Farmers on Thursday, October 17 from 7:00PM – 9:00 PM at Cape May Winery, 711 Townbank Road, Cape May, NJ 08204.

The program will include presentations on Soil Health is Always a Good Investment, IPM for specialty crops in New Jersey including tree fruit crops, small fruits, and vegetables, Pesticide safety, non-hazardous pest control methods, label literacy and how to avoid the 3 most common violations, and the Labor availability and Labor regulations that impact agriculture. Also, pesticide recertification credits will be awarded: CORE (1), 1A (1), 10 (1), and PP2 (1).

Please RSVP by Oct 15 to Jocelyn at 609-465-5115 ext. 3607 or email capemayag@njaes.rutgers.edu.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, pesticide credits, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
October 3, 2024

Virtual and In-Person Credit Meetings this October – Rutgers Horticulture Plant Health Educational Series

We invite ALL horticulture professionals (nursery, greenhouse, Christmas tree, vegetable, row crops, fruit, turf management, arborist, landscape professionals, etc.) to attend the following educational sessions surrounding overall plant health topics, pest management principals, and pesticide use and safety considerations. The events on Thursday October 10th and Tuesday October 15th will be virtual (& free), and Tuesday October 22nd will be in-person ($30 fee) at the Cumberland County RCE building (see below).

The virtual courses will count as in-person credits so long as you follow these instructions. 

  • MUST have a live video feed (and are visible the entire time), upload a government issued photo ID —AND— NJ Pesticide license prior to the meeting (1 time for both 10/10 and 10/15) via a secure Rutgers Connect folder (follow directions below, only the agents will have access to information for verification), and participate in all poll questions.
  • MUST – UPLOAD Gov ID —AND— Pesticide License HERE – PRIOR TO MEETING (1 time for the whole series)
    • “Last name_ First_ Photo ID” AND “Last name_ First_ Pesticide License”
    • If you click on the photo ID upload link using a smart phone/tablet you will have the option of simply taking a photo of your IDs and uploading them directly into the system. Otherwise, you can scan a copy of your photo ID into a computer and follow the directions at the upload link. Please contact twaller@njaes.rutgers.edu if you are having trouble with this and we will assist you.

Rutgers is dedicated to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal information safe.  Upon upload, your files will be encrypted and stored to Rutgers Connect. Your information will be kept strictly confidential; used solely to meet NJDEP ID verification protocol for recertification credit; and will not be used for any other purpose. Your files will be deleted within 60 days after the training series. 

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October 10th (TH) – virtual:

5:30-6:00pm: Login and ID verification: 5:30 – 6:00pm, (Poll #1 at 6:00pm)

6:00 – 7:00PM: Beech Leaf Disease & Experimental Treatment Options – Jean Epiphan RCE

  • Credits obtained: 2 each PP2, 2, 3A, 6B, 8C, 9, 10

7:15-8:15PM: How Chemicals Work and Which to Use – Tim Waller RCE

  • Credits obtained: 2 each – CORE, 1A, 3A, 3B, 6B, 8C, 10, PP2

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October 15th (TU) – virtual:

5:30-6:00pm: Login and ID verification: 5:30 – 6:00pm, (Poll #1 at 6:00pm)

6:00 – 7:00PM: Root Disease Management in Plants – Tim Waller RCE

  • Credits obtained: 2 each – PP2, 1A, 2, 3A, 3B, 3C, 6B, 8C, 10

7:15-8:15PM: Designing a Pesticide Regime – Tim Waller RCE

  • Credits obtained: 2 each – PP2, 1A, 3A, 3B, 3C, 6B, 8C, 10

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October 22nd (TU) – IN-PERSON (Cumberland County RCE – 291 Morton Ave. Millville, NJ 08332)

5:30-6:00pm: Arrival and sign in.

6:00 – 8:15PM: Horticultural Plant Health – CORE 101– Tim Waller RCE

Credits obtained: 4 each – CORE, 1A, 3A, 3B, 3C, 6B, 8C, PP2

  • Note for this in-person event (10/22/24) there is a $30.00 fee per participant. Only checks or cash will be accepted at the start of the event. Please make checks payable to “Rutgers the State Univ. of NJ”. Pre-registration is encouraged.
  • Registration: By phone – Cumberland County RCE Office: 856-451-2800, EXT 1, or walk-in (but be early, session will begin on-time).
Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, pesticide credits Tagged With: , ,