2026 Vegetable Integrated Pest Management Delivery Program

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) Vegetable Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program provides the following support to growers during the season to enhance IPM use in New Jersey vegetables.

Programs Available

1. Insect Trapping Program

We offer insect monitoring services using pheromone traps to growers statewide. Traps are checked twice a week, insect populations are recorded on charts posted at the farm and communicated through calls or texts, and data are shared in the Rutgers Plant & Pest Advisory and on Ag Pest Monitor websites. The main pest monitored is adult corn earworm (CEW), which is a pest of sweet corn, peppers, and tomatoes. Additional pests (such as pepper weevil and squash vine borer) may be monitored, as needed, or on a trial basis.

Activity	Reporting	Cost
CEW monitoring	2x weekly insect population chart	$500/farm

2. On-Farm IPM Scouting Program

Integrated Pest Management staff provide on-farm insect and disease pest management services that include field scouting for the crops listed below. Additional crops can be scouted by request. Scouts visit farms twice a week for scouting. Vegetable IPM staff can also train growers or grower-employed scouts by request. For specific information on the availability of RCE IPM or private scouting services in your area, contact the Vegetable IPM Coordinator for your region (see below).

A seasonal base fee of $500 per farm is charged to each participant regardless of the number of crops enrolled in the program. The trap fee of $500 is included in the base fee charge – farms with scouting do not pay separately for trapping.

Crop	Growth stage	Main pests	Cost/A
Cole crops	Seedling to harvest	Caterpillars, flea beetles, bacterial and fungal diseases	$35
Pepper	Transplant to end of harvest	Aphids, thrips, bacterial leaf spot, anthracnose, phytophthora, tomato spotted wilt virus	$30
Pumpkin	Seedling to harvest	Cucumber beetle, aphids, powdery and downy mildew, phytophthora	$30
Sweet corn	Seedling to tassel	Fall armyworm, European corn borer, aphids, leaf blights	$20
Tomato	Transplant to end of harvest	Thrips, spider mites, aphids, fruitworms, bacterial and fungal diseases, tomato spotted wilt virus	$40
Misc crops	Varies by crop	Varies by crop	$35

More Information

Management recommendations are provided by the RCE Vegetable Integrated Pest Management staff and through the 2026/2027 Mid-Atlantic Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendation Guide.

Additional information may also be obtained via the RCE Plant & Pest Advisory Vegetable Crops Edition.

To find out more about the Vegetable IPM programs available from Rutgers Cooperative Extension or to enroll in a program, contact your Vegetable IPM Coordinator:

February 2026