September 28, 2016 Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) – New Jersey has a total of four confirmed positives to date this year. Two cases were in Morris County, one case in Ocean and most recently, one in Passaic County. All four horses were humanely euthanized. Jersey Fresh Social Media - Staff continues to film, edit and promote the Jersey Fresh Recipe video series. Since last month, we have filmed, edited and published videos of Jersey Fresh Tomato and Cucumber Salad, Baked Jersey Fresh Zucchini Fries, Jersey Fresh Peach Dumplings and Jersey Fresh Peach Muffins. The Tomato and Cucumber salad video reached almost a half a million people with 179,418 views and the Baked Zucchini Fries had a reach of 141,887 with 54,843 views. Upcoming videos will highlight apples and potatoes. USDA Honey Bee Survey - This month the Apiarist analyzed the data from last year’s survey for the final report to the USDA. According to the data, there is good news for the beekeeping industry. Apiaries infected with pathogenic bee viruses are slowly increasing. Varroa mite levels are decreasing and the number of apiaries that had levels over the treatable threshold has significantly decreased from the previous year; and apiaries with Nosema levels over the treatable level have also decreased. Red Knot- Adaptive Management - The first planning meeting for the red knot- structural shellfish aquaculture adaptive management process was held in late August. Since that meeting was also slated to address numerous additional items, only a cursory review of potential meeting options was reviewed. Throughout September, meeting planning has continued amongst the agency working group. It is expected that these plans will continue through the fall with an early winter meeting in 2017. The meeting process will be inclusive of interested parties (e.g. growers, conservation groups, state advisory councils), with any resulting decisions residing in the authority of the agency working group (and ultimately concurrence from the US Fish and Wildlife Service that the decision maintains red knot protections). Water Supply Advisory Council - The Water Supply Advisory Council is watching the drought status and water supply deficit/surplus. As of the most recent update dated August 28th, 2016 there is a watch on the water-supply status for the following three NJ regions: Northwest, Central, and Northeast. At this time, the DEP cautions that a return to abnormally dry, warm weather through much of August has gradually eroded the progress made by abundant rainfall in July, although the indicator values remain above the marked lows observed by the end of June. Persistent droughty conditions coupled with high water demands threaten a worsening of the situation during the final weeks of summer. Honorary American Degree Recipients - Four individuals from New Jersey will be recognized for their support of FFA at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN from October 19 – October 22, 2016. Honorary American Degree recipients include Mark Biedron (President – New Jersey Board of Education); Kristina Guttadora (Executive Director – New Jersey Agricultural Society); Ryck Suydam (President – New Jersey Farm Bureau); and Kim Ann Szulecki (Teacher of Agriculture – Ocean County Vocational Technical School). In order to receive this award, an individual must have provided exceptional service to agriculture, agricultural education, and the FFA, as well as been nominated by FFA members.
