Reminder – South Jersey Vegetable Integrated Crop Management Twilight Meeting

Tuesday, April 30, 2024
6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
East Vineland Fire Hall
4931 Landis Ave. across from the Savoy Restaurant
(please park behind the building and enter conference room door in rear)

Pesticide Credits Approved

  • CORE (Basic Safety & Handling)              1
  • PP2 (Private Applicator)                             2
  • 1A (Agriculture Plant)                                 2
  • 10 (Demonstration & Research)                2

USDA’s SARE Program – Resources and Farmer Grants

  • Michelle Infante-Casella, RCE Gloucester

Pesticide Safety and Compliance Tools for Growers and Applicators

  • Pat Hastings, RCE Pesticide Education Program Coordinator

Management Options for Allium Leaf Miner, Diamondback Moth, & Corn Earworm

  • Kris Holmstrom, RCE Vegetable IPM Program Associate

Implications of EPA’s Herbicide Strategic Plan to Comply with the Endangered Species Act &

Weed Management Strategies for Spring and Summer Vegetable Crops

  • Dr. Thierry Besancon, RCE Specialty Crop Weed Specialist

Unlocking the Power of Social Media Marketing Trends

  • Claudia Gil-Arroyo, RCE Cape May

Disease Control Options for Spring Vegetable Crops

  • Dr. Andy Wyenandt, RCE Vegetable Plant Pathologist

Changes to the New FSMA Water Rule Now in Place, and to the Harmonized Audit

  • Dr. Wes Kline, RCE Cumberland

Pesticide Recertification Credits have been requested for this meeting. We hope you’ll be able to join us.

South Jersey Vegetable Integrated Crop Management Twilight Meeting

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

East Vineland Fire Hall

4931 Landis Ave. across from the Savoy Restaurant

(please park behind the building and enter conference room door in rear)

 

USDA’s SARE Program – Resources and Farmer Grants

  • Michelle Infante-Casella, RCE Gloucester

Pesticide Safety and Compliance Tools for Growers and Applicators

  • Pat Hastings, RCE Pesticide Education Program Coordinator

Management Options for Allium Leaf Miner, Diamondback Moth, & Corn Earworm

  • Kris Holmstrom, RCE Vegetable IPM Program Associate

Implications of EPA’s Herbicide Strategic Plan to Comply with the Endangered Species Act &

Weed Management Strategies for Spring and Summer Vegetable Crops

  • Dr. Thierry Besancon, RCE Specialty Crop Weed Specialist

Unlocking the Power of Social Media Marketing Trends

  • Claudia Gil-Arroyo, RCE Cape May

Disease Control Options for Spring Vegetable Crops

  • Dr. Andy Wyenandt, RCE Vegetable Plant Pathologist

Changes to the New FSMA Water Rule Now in Place, and to the Harmonized Audit

  • Dr. Wes Kline, RCE Cumberland

Pesticide Recertification Credits have been requested for this meeting. We hope you’ll be able to join us.

The 2022 Census of Agriculture – There’s Still Time To Be Counted!

New Jersey farmers still have time to be counted in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Although the deadline for submitting the ag census has just passed, NASS will continue to accept completed census questionnaires through the spring to ensure all farmers and ranchers take advantage of the opportunity to be represented in the widely used data.

“My sincere appreciation goes to producers who have already completed the census. We want to partner with New Jersey producers to show the importance of New Jersey agriculture,” said NASS New Jersey State Statistician Bruce Eklund. “There is strength in numbers. The time to do your part is now. There is still time for farmers to respond.”

NASS will continue to follow up with producers throughout the spring with mailings, phone calls, and personal visits. Farmers and ranchers are encouraged to complete their ag census either online at agcounts.usda.gov or by mail as soon as possible.

Federal law under Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113 mandates that everyone who received the 2022 Census of Agriculture questionnaire complete and return it, even if they are not currently farming. The same law requires NASS to keep all submissions confidential, use the information for statistical purposes only, and publish aggregate data to prevent disclosing the identity of any individual producer or farm operation.

If you need a survey code or questionnaire, please contact the USDA, NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office, 4050 Crums Mill Rd., Suite 203, Harrisburg, PA 17112; Phone – 717-787-3904; eFax – 1-855-270-2719; or Email – nassrfoner@usda.gov.

NASS will release the results of the ag census in early 2024. To learn more about the Census of Agriculture, visit nass.usda.gov/AgCensus. On the website, producers and other data users can access frequently asked questions, past ag census data, special study information, and more. For highlights of these and the latest information, follow USDA NASS on Twitter at @usda_nass.

NASS is the federal statistical agency responsible for producing official data about U.S. agriculture and is committed to providing timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

USDA to Begin Loan Payments to Socially Disadvantaged Borrowers under American Rescue Plan Act

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) today published the first notice of funding availability (NOFA) (PDF, 242 KB) announcing loan payments for eligible borrowers with qualifying direct farm loans under the American Rescue Plan Act Section 1005. The official NOFA will be published in the Federal Register early next week and USDA expects payments to begin in early June and continue on a rolling basis. A subsequent notice addressing guaranteed loan balances and direct loans that no longer have collateral and have been previously referred to the Department of Treasury for debt collection for offset, will be published within 120 days.

“The American Rescue Plan has made it possible for USDA to deliver historic debt relief to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers beginning in June,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “USDA is recommitting itself to gaining the trust and confidence of America’s farmers and ranchers using a new set of tools provided in the American Rescue Plan to increase opportunity, advance equity and address systemic discrimination in USDA programs.”

Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provides funding and authorization for USDA FSA to pay up to 120 percent of direct and guaranteed loan outstanding balances as of January 1, 2021, for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers as defined in Section 2501(a) of the Food, Agriculture Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a)). Section 2501(a) defines a socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher as a farmer or rancher who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group, which is further defined as a group whose members have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities. Qualifying loans as part of today’s announcement are certain direct loans under the Farm Loan Programs (FLP) and Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL).

For much of the history of the USDA, socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have faced discrimination—sometimes overt and sometimes through deeply embedded rules and policies—that have prevented them from achieving as much as their counterparts who do not face these documented acts of discrimination. Over the past 30 years, several major civil rights lawsuits have compensated farmers for specific acts of discrimination—including Pigford I and Pigford II, Keepseagle, and the Garcia cases. However, those settlements and other related actions did not address the systemic and cumulative impacts of discrimination over a number of decades that the American Rescue Plan now begins to address.

Sections 1005 and 1006 of ARPA provide USDA with new tools to address longstanding inequities for socially disadvantaged borrowers. Section 1006 of ARPA provides additional funding to begin long-term racial equity work within USDA, including to address heirs property claims and to stand up an Equity Commission to identify barriers to access USDA programming.

To learn more about the loan payments to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, visit www.farmers.gov/americanrescueplan.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.


USDA Press Release No. 0109.21

Contact Email: press@usda.gov

USDA Expands Disaster Assistance to Include Fish Raised for Food

In response to catastrophic aquaculture losses due to major winter storms that hit states along the U.S. Gulf Coast in February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced a policy change that makes food fish and other aquatic species eligible for the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP). Previously, only farm-raised game and bait fish were eligible for death loss ELAP benefits. Beginning June 1, eligible aquaculture producers can request ELAP assistance for 2021 losses. This policy change is for the 2021 and subsequent program years.

ELAP provides financial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions, including blizzards and wildfires, as determined by the Secretary.

To be eligible, losses must have occurred on or after Jan. 1, 2021. For farm-raised fish and other aquatic species death losses only that occurred prior to June 1, 2021, FSA is waiving the requirement to file a notice of loss within 30 calendar days of when the loss is apparent. An aquaculture producer will still need to be able to provide contemporaneous records upon request to document the eligible loss event and demonstrate the beginning and ending inventory. The deadline to file an application for payment for the 2021 program year is Jan. 31, 2022.

USDA offers a comprehensive portfolio of disaster assistance programs. On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool can help producers and landowners determine all program or loan options available for disaster recovery assistance. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent. For FSA and NRCS programs, please contact your local USDA Service Center.

Value-Added Producer Grants in New Jersey

Grant.gov applications are due by April 29, 2021 and
paper applications must be postmarked by May 4, 2021

The Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program administered by the USDA’s Rural Development Agency (RD), helps agricultural producers enter into value-added activities related to the processing and marketing of new products. The goals of this program are to generate new products, create and expand marketing opportunities, and increase producer income. [Read more…]