March 6, 2024

Take a quick survey to help with Field Equipment Sanitation Research!

In a Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grant designed to guide future solution and resources centered around field equipment sanitation, collaborative team comprising pathologists, weed scientists, agronomists, and experts in agricultural equipment sanitation has crafted a questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to gather growers’ input on their current practices and determine the necessity for implementing new ones.

The research will develop a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with field equipment sanitation and work toward developing solutions that are effective, implementable and sustainable.

To introduce the survey and forthcoming research effort, Dr. Matt Grieshop, lead PI on this project indicates that “We are a group of agricultural research and extension professionals from across the United States that are curious about grower and agricultural professional perceptions about the importance of field equipment sanitation to mitigate the spread of organisms that pose human health, weed, plant pathogen or other risks.

Agricultural field equipment includes tillage implements, tractors, harvesters, cultivation equipment, trucks, trailers, sprayers, mowers, or any other piece of equipment that is shared across fields.

This information will be solely used to help frame future research questions and outreach activities.  It will not be published or distributed in any form. Answering should take 5 minutes or less and is completely voluntary and anonymous.

Your participation is invaluable to future developments in the industry regarding food safety and equipment sanitation. We need more inputs from New Jersey specialty crops growers so that they have a say on the direction that field equipment sanitation research will take in the future!

To contribute, visit here or scan the QR code below.


If you have questions, comments or concerns contact Dr. Matt Grieshop at mgriesho@calpoly.edu or Dr. Thierry Besancon at thierry.besancon@rutgers.edu.

Filed Under: Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , ,
February 21, 2024

Update on Xtend-specific dicamba products registration

On February 6, 2024, the U.S. District Court of Arizona vacated the registrations of three dicamba products (Engenia 5L, Xtendimax 2.9L and Tavium 3.39CS) labeled for over-the-top use in Xtend and XtendFlex soybean systems. After several days of uncertainty, we now have guidance from the EPA about use of these products in the 2024 growing season. Based on the Court’s decision, the EPA considers these products to be no longer registered but allows for use of existing stocks under limited conditions:

  • Use of products: The EPA’s “existing stocks order” allows private and commercial applicators to use existing stocks that were acquired by May 31, 2024. Applications of these products are permitted until June 30, 2024, in Xtend brand soybean fields.
  • Distribution and sale: The EPA order limits further distribution and sales of these products to only existing stocks that were in possession of dealers prior to February 6, 2024, to facilitate use of the product by the June 30 deadline. In other words, the major manufacturers/registrants of these products are not allowed to sell them anymore, but any dealers with an existing inventory may sell these products until May 31, 2024, and applicators may spray them, according to their label, until June 30, 2024.
  • Dicamba training: To use any of these Xtend-specific dicamba products, special dicamba training must be done annually to purchase and apply them. Training is reciprocal across brands, meaning an applicator only needs to take one dicamba-specific training each year; no matter what product is used, and which organization does the training. For more information about online dicamba training options and other specifics see:

Keep in mind, other dicamba-containing products such as Clarity, Diflexx, Status, and the many generics cannot be legally sprayed over-the-top of Xtend brand soybeans. However, the use of glyphosate and glufosinate (Liberty, etc.) products can still be used depending on the variety.

Enlist E3 soybean varieties have not been affected by this lawsuit and thus registered 2,4-D choline products (Enlist One and Duo) can be used in that system. These and other 2,4-D products cannot be applied over-the-top in Xtend/XtendFlex soybean systems, otherwise major crop damage will occur.

We will continue to provide updates if more details emerge. The EPA order and summary can be found here: Existing Stocks Order for Dicamba Products Previously Registered for Over-the-Top Use on Dicamba-Tolerant Cotton and Soybean (PDF).

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock Tagged With: , , ,
February 21, 2024

The 2024 Mid-Atlantic Weed Control Guide for Agronomic Crops is now available!

The 2024 Mid-Atlantic Weed Control Guide: Essentials for Agronomic Crops is now available for purchase from Penn State Extension in print ($10) or as a digital download ($8). A bundle that includes both versions can be purchased for $18. More information about this guide is available at https://extension.psu.edu/weed-guide.

Penn State Extension (Dwight Lingenfelter and Dr. John Wallace) produces this publication in cooperation with the University of Delaware (Dr. Mark VanGessel), the University of Maryland (Dr. Kurt Vollmer), Rutgers University (Dr. Thierry Besancon), Virginia Tech (Drs. Michael Flessner and Vijay Singh) and West Virginia University (Dr. Rakesh Chandran).

The guide contains essential tables about herbicide recommendations and general use guidelines for corn, sorghum, soybean, small grains, forages and farmstead.

It also offers herbicide effectiveness ratings on problem weeds such as henbit, horsenettle, horseweed/marestail, palmer amaranth and waterhemp, common pokeweed, common ragweed, giant ragweed, annual ryegrass, broadleaf and curly dock, johnsongrass and shattercane, lambsquarters, milkweed and hemp dogbane, Canada thistle, and other species.

Featuring updated herbicide tables from the 2023-24 edition of the Penn State Agronomy Guide, this condensed, quick-reference manual highlights basic information about herbicide-use recommendations and herbicide effectiveness on common weed species in the region.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock Tagged With: , ,
January 17, 2024

Have A Say in Field Equipment Sanitation Research!

In an initiative to guide future solution and resources, the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) has designed the Sanitation of Agricultural Field Equipment Questionnaire to begin the research process centered around field equipment sanitation.

The research will develop a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with field equipment sanitation and work toward developing solutions that are effective, implementable and sustainable.

To introduce the survey and forthcoming research effort, Dr. Matt Grieshop Director at The Grimm Family Center for Organic Production and Research College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo says,

“We are a group of agricultural research and extension professionals from across the United States that are curious about grower and agricultural professional perceptions about the importance of field equipment sanitation to mitigate the spread of organisms that pose human health, weed, plant pathogen or other risks.

Agricultural field equipment includes tillage implements, tractors, harvesters, cultivation equipment, trucks, trailers, sprayers, mowers, or any other piece of equipment that is shared across fields.

This information will be solely used to help frame future research questions and outreach activities.  It will not be published or distributed in any form. Answering should take 5 minutes or less and is completely voluntary and anonymous.

If you have questions, comments or concerns contact Dr. Matt Grieshop at mgriesho@calpoly.edu

Thank you for sharing your experience. We truly appreciate the gift of your time and knowledge.”

Your participation is invaluable to future developments in the industry regarding food safety and equipment sanitation.

To contribute, visit here.

For any questions regarding this project, contact Thierry Besancon at thierry.besancon@rutgers.edu.

——

Thierry E. Besançon, PhD

Associate Professor / Extension Weed Science Specialist

 

Filed Under: Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Turf, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , ,
October 12, 2023

Rutgers Seminar on Novel Weed Control Technology – Oct. 16 at 3 pm

Department of Plant Biology – Fall 2023 Special Seminar 

Description of a seminar

Please, contact Dr. Thierry Besançon if you plan to attend it in-person at the Rutgers P.E. Marucci Center (space limited) or if you want to receive the zoom link for attending the seminar online.

 

 

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: , ,
April 6, 2023

Alion herbicide received 24(c) Special Local Need label for use on Highbush Blueberry

Thanks to field research conduct by the Rutgers Specialty crops Weed Science lab and funded by Rutgers NJAES, Bayer CropScience, and the NJ Blueberry and Cranberry Research Council, Alion® herbicide received a FIFRA 24(c) Special Local Need label from the EPA and the NJDEP for use ONLY on dormant highbush blueberry in sandy soils containing greater than 1% organic matter. The new  24(c) Special Local Need label can be found on the Agrian website here.

Alion® (indaziflam) is a Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) group 29 cellulose biosynthesis inhibitor in the alkylazine family. The FIFRA Section 3 label of Alion® allows its use on blueberries that have been established for at least one year but prevents its use on soil with ≥ 20% gravel content or on sandy soil, regardless of soil organic matter content. Thus, prior to receiving the new  24(c) Special Local Need label, Alion® could not legally be applied on New Jersey blueberries that are primarily planted on sandy soils.

The new 24(c) Special Local Need label allows directed application to the soil beneath blueberry bushes planted on sandy soils with some important restrictions:

  • Only apply Alion Herbicide to soil as a dormant application in late fall through early spring before bud swell.
  • Do not use Alion® in highbush blueberry crops grown in sand containing <1 % organic matter content.
  • Do not use on soils with 20% or more gravel content.
  • Do not apply more than a total of 10 fl oz product/A (0.13 lb ai/A) per year on sand containing ≥1 % organic matter content in a 12-month period when used in any highbush blueberry.
  • Do not allow spray to contact green stems, foliage, flowers, or berries or unacceptable injury may occur.
  • When making more than one application per year, allow a minimum of 90 days between applications.

Alion® provides excellent and season-long residual control of annual grasses and broadleaf species due to its long soil persistence with half-life greater than 150 days and low water solubility under acidic soil conditions. Results of a 3-years study conducted on three different blueberry cultivars (Duke, Bluecrop, and Elliott) at the Rutgers P.E. Marucci Center  demonstrated that repeated fall or early spring applications of indaziflam at the 5 fl oz/a labeled rate did not cause injury or reduce commercial yield of blueberry grown on sandy acidic soil. Data generated through this research also showed that fall application of indaziflam consistently provided better weed control than spring applications for species such as horseweed, large crabgrass or narrowleaf goldentop. This suggests that Alion®  applications in New Jersey should be restricted to dormant bushes during the fall season in order to maximize weed control effectiveness while maintaining the highest level of crop safety as compared to spring application. Alion® has no activity on sedge species or perennial weeds. Therefore, it is important to consider rotating to different herbicide modes of action after 1 or 2 years of Alion® application to avoid selecting for weeds that are not controlled by Alion® and prevent potential development of herbicide resistance to indaziflam.

Filed Under: Blueberry Tagged With: , ,