Rutgers Cooperative Extension Salem County, NJ 
Technology
Tools
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 Paper
1 - New Tools
Growers in New Jersey are facing major obstacles in maintaining profitability.
New state and federal guidelines are placing more restrictions on the way
growers can farm. Crop prices continue to fall, and land values and
development pressure continue to rise. Those that stay in farming
look toward Rutgers Cooperative Extension to implement new technologies
to enhance their farming operations. Results from these demonstration
projects suggest that GPS and its related technologies (GIS and RS) will
continue to play a significant role in improving farm management practices
in New Jersey. The demonstration programs in Integrated Crop Management
(ICM) and watershed management are utilizing new technologies to 1) reduce
fertilizer and pesticide costs 2) improve crop management 3) improve spray
recommendations for pest control 4) monitor irrigation systems 5) monitor
nutrient pollution to watersheds and perhaps most importantly 6) provide
value-added information to growers to improve farm management and farm
profits even on the finer spatial and temporal scales applicable to New
Jersey agriculture.
Paper II - Wireworm During the past six years, corn and potato crops in southern New Jersey
have experienced frequent crop damage caused by wireworms. Bait traps and
field observations show that damage is caused most often by Melanotus communis
(Gyllenhal). To characterize the temporal and spatial distribution of these
wireworms, two corn fields known to be infested were mapped using a real-time
Trimble AgGPS Model 122 differential GPS unit. Site-specific sampling points
were established in each field. Bait traps were placed at each sampling
point in the fall of 1998 after the corn silage crops were harvested. Wireworm
counts, soil temperature, soil compaction, and elevation readings were
obtained at these sites. Too few wireworms were collected to draw any statistically
significant relationships among soil temperature, soil compaction, and
elevation. GPS/GIS technology is useful in tracking both the spatial and
temporal distributions of wireworms and will play a significant role in
addressing future wireworm problems for
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