What VegEdge Says About Tomato Bacterial Diseases and FSMA Food Safety Updates

VegEdge's own news feed points to two topics that matter to vegetable growers in the Upper Midwest: a rise in three bacterial diseases in Minnesota tomatoes, and updated FSMA guidance on agricultural water. In both cases, VegEdge does not host the full article — it summarizes the finding and links out to the University of Minnesota Fruit & Vegetable News site for the complete write-up. So if you want the details, the VegEdge news item is your starting point, not your destination.

Tomato bacterial diseases: what VegEdge reports

VegEdge published a news item titled "Tomato Transplants & Bacterial Disease" (dated 2022-04-13) describing an uptick in three bacterial diseases in Minnesota tomatoes:

• Bacterial spot
• Bacterial speck
• Bacterial canker

The key operational point in the VegEdge summary is where control starts: during transplant production. That means the management window opens in the greenhouse or seedling stage, before plants ever reach the field — not after symptoms appear on mature plants.

VegEdge frames this as a summary and directs readers to the full article on the Fruit & Vegetable News site. If you are a grower or crop consultant trying to act on this, plan to read the linked article for the specific control measures, since VegEdge's news item states the problem and the timing but not the full protocol.

FSMA food safety update: agricultural water

VegEdge also posted a "Spring 2023 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Update" (dated 2023-04-05). The summary states that the article covers current information about agricultural water for produce growers.

That is the extent of what the VegEdge news item itself provides — it identifies the topic (agricultural water under FSMA) and links to the full article. For the actual requirements, compliance dates, or testing details, you need to follow the link to the Fruit & Vegetable News article.

How to actually use these items

Because VegEdge routes both topics to the Fruit & Vegetable News site, the practical workflow is:

1. Start at the VegEdge news list and locate the item by title ("Tomato Transplants & Bacterial Disease" or the FSMA update).
2. Read the VegEdge summary to confirm the topic matches your situation.
3. Follow the link to the Fruit & Vegetable News site for the full article and any specifics on control or compliance.

A reasonable expectation to set: the VegEdge page gives you the headline finding and the timing ("control begins during transplant production"), while the linked article carries the detail you would need to act.

Where these fit in VegEdge overall

These news items sit alongside VegEdge's core IPM functions — the Moth Flight Network, degree-day calculations for key insect pests, and the Weekly Vegetable Update. The bacterial disease and FSMA items are time-stamped news posts rather than standing reference pages, so check the publication dates (2022 and 2023 respectively) and confirm whether newer guidance has superseded them before relying on them for a current season.