Think you'd like to try direct marketing?

You can identify every
market in the Garden
State by clicking on
this map.

There are 97 community farmers' markets in New Jersey according to the USDA's Ag Marketing Service National Farmers' Market Directory. Most are looking for new farmers each season. If you've been considering selling directly to consumers but don't know if you're cut out for it, farmers' markets offer low cost opportunities to give it a try.

Rick VanVranken

Late Blight Found in Wisconsin Grown Seed Potatoes

Dr. Amanda Gevens, Plant Pathologist at University Wisconsin, confirmed the late blight pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, in seed potatoes grown in Wisconsin on April 12, 2011.
Late Blight Alert - April 16, 2011

Growers who get seed from Wisconsin should be watchful this season inspecting crops on a regular basis and adhering to spray schedules when risk of disease infection and/or spread is high.


Mel Henninger
Andy Wyenandt

Late Blight Found on Tomato and Potato Transplants in CT

Late blight has been found on tomato and potato transplants in a commercial greenhouse operation in CT. 
The tomato plants were grown from seed collected on the farm last year and the potatoes were purchased from an organic seed source from out-of-state. None of the transplants in question were shipped and have been destroyed. 
This is the first report of Late blight this season in the Northeast. We will be watching the situation closely and keep growers up to date.

Andy Wyenandt
Extension Specialist in Vegetable Pathology

National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement

The Agricultural Marketing Service will post the USDA proposal to create the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement on their website at 4:15 pm EDT today April 26.  The rulemaking notice will be published in the Federal Register on April 29.  There will be a 90 day comment period for the public to voice their opinion.  USDA will take an additional 90 before making a final ruling.  Go to http://www.ams.usda.gov/ to obtain a copy of the proposed agreement. 

North Carolina Cucumbers Recalled Due to Salmonella

Alternative Insect Pest Management Strategies for the Arsenal

While insecticides remain important useful and economical tools in the arsenal for controlling most major insect pests in agricultural crops, research continues to show that some alternative pest management strategies can provide additional cost-effective tools. Hendry County Florida Cooperative Extension Agent Gene McAvoy just forwarded this article: "Trap crops can be valuable tool in vegetable production" from the Southeast Farm Press on the benefits and strategies for use of trap crops. As it mentions, it is critical to manage a trap crop to kill the pest populations before they build up so the trap crop does not become a nursery crop to infest the main crop.

On the other hand, nursery crops of flowering plants such as cilantro and alyssum can be used  to attract and maintain populations of beneficial insects that are predators/parasites of many pest insects. Like a trap crop, there needs to be an adequate population of the nursery crop and it needs to be maintained to provide the nectar and pollen that feeds the beneficials.

Young seedlings should be protected from the flies that lay eggs at the base of the stems as the plants emerge. Those eggs hatch into maggot larvae that are pests on numerous vegetable crops (onion maggot, cabbage maggot, seed corn maggot which attacks several crops besides corn). Once those larvae are feeding underground, it is difficult to deliver most insecticides where they are needed to effectively kill the maggots. It is better to keep the adult female flies from laying the eggs in the first place. The challenge in using insecticides for this is in the timing and longevity of the materials available. If not properly timed to be there when the flies land, it will not work. Using a floating row cover insect barrier to exclude the flies from the fields can be a cost effective alternative and can remain on the crop for a longer period of time.

- RV

Sprayer Calibration Templates do the Math for You

The Journal of Extension is a publication we use to share ideas for Extension outreach. The Tools of the Trade section in the latest issue contained a report from Ron Patterson, Carbon County Extension Agent with Utah State Cooperative Extension, which I’ve summarized below. Sprayer calibration is a critical step in pesticide application and little math mistakes can make for costly application problems. Let me know if you find these tools useful.
Rick VanVranken