http://cehumboldt.ucdavis.edu/index4.cfm?blogrss=23438&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed News en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Tue, 21 May 2013 20:40:13 PST Tue, 21 May 2013 20:40:13 PST UC ANR Reporters sought UC Cooperative Extension expertise for recent articles about unusual farming efforts in two parts of California. Fresno Bee reporter Robert Rodriguez covered the story of sisters in their early 20s who have settled on their dad's Laton alfalfa farm after he suffered complications from a black widow bite. The young women purchased chickens on a whim and began producing specialty eggs under the brand name "Just Got Laid." Rodriguez spoke to Shermain Hardesty, UCCE specialist......
]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 09:31:10 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10421&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10421 A Sudden Oak Death "Blitz" planned for Sonoma County June 15-16 will prepare local residents to spot infected plants, collect samples from their neighborhoods and submit them for laboratory testing, reported the Kenwood Press. The session is hosted by UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners and Matteo Garbelotto, UCCE specialist in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley. Trees susceptible to sudden oak death include California bay laurel, tan oak, live......
]]> Wed, 15 May 2013 09:23:42 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10390&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10390 The Santa Barbara County 4-H program is raising awareness about the county board of supervisors' plans to cut funding for UC Cooperative Extension, according to reports that appear on the KSBY Channel 6 website and in the Santa Barbara Independent. According to the Independent article, written by Mary Thieleke Jackson, director of the Santa Barbara County 4-H Management Board, a draft budget released Friday, May 10, does not include a county contribution to UC Cooperative Extension. Budget......
]]> Tue, 14 May 2013 10:02:28 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10381&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10381 UC Berkeley researchers relied on historical samples of marbled murrelet breast feathers to understand what factors may be impacting the species' survival today, said an article on Crosscut.com. The team compared the ratios of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the feathers, which revealed what the birds ate. They learned that, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, murrelets relied heavily on sardines, anchovies and squid. But as decades passed, anchovy, sardine and squid stocks......
]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 10:38:55 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10377&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10377 California cherries are now beginning to show up at roadside stands, farmers markets and grocery stores, but the supply in 2013 may be a touch scanty, reported Reed Fujii in the Stockton Record. Joe Grant, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Joaquin County, said the cherry crop is light throughout the area, across orchards and varieties. "That rules out orchard-to-orchard factors, management factors or disease factors," he said. Crop losses are often weather-related, but early frosts, or......
]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 09:33:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10362&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10362 Despite light rain earlier this week, it appears the Butte and Glenn county rice industry is getting seeds in the ground during the ideal planting window, reported the Chico Enterprise Record. The ideal time for planting rice is May 1-15, said Randall "Cass" Mutters, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Butte County. As the date gets later, farmers will end up with a later harvest. Fall weather is more unpredictable and farmers could end up harvesting in the mud. Last year, farmers were still......
]]> Thu, 09 May 2013 09:41:30 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10346&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10346 To feed the growing world population, farmers will have to produce more food in the next 40 years than they have in the last 10,000, according to an op-ed piece published in the Modesto Bee and written by Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Don Bransford, chair of the UC President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources and a partner in Bransford Farms in Colusa. The article was written to bring attention to the fact that, despite......
]]> Tue, 07 May 2013 10:21:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10333&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10333 The nearly 30-member 2013 class of California Naturalists in Mendocino County participated in a field day Saturday at the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center, reported the Ukiah Daily Journal. The University of California's California Naturalist program aims to host courses around the state to train outdoor enthusiasts on a variety of topics, such as plants, animals, water resources and geology. The Mendocino Program focuses on the local mixed oak woodland. "The goal of the program is to......
]]> Mon, 06 May 2013 09:56:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10326&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10326 One reason the Napa County wine industry is so successful is its commitment to working together, wrote Paul Franson in an op-ed piece that ran in the Napa Valley Register today. Franson credits frequent industry meetings in the area, where a wealth of information on grape growth and wine production are offered. A recent meeting he cited was a field day last month in which John Roncoroni, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Napa County, took two groups through the Huichica Creek Demonstration......
]]> Fri, 03 May 2013 08:49:39 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10316&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10316 UC researchers are testing tobacco's potential to be genetically modified in order to produce biofuel, reported Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times' ScienceNow blog. “The beauty of our proposal is that carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere as a byproduct of combustion of these bio-fuels would be captured again by tobacco plants and, through the natural process of photosynthesis, be converted back into fuel," said Anastasios Melis, professor in the Department of Plant and......
]]> Wed, 01 May 2013 08:36:38 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10293&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10293 A settlement between Caltrans and the California Farm Bureau Federation, which resulted in CFBF dismissing a lawsuit against Caltrans about the Willits Bypass Project, includes a long-term wetlands study by UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension researchers, according to Caltrans and farm bureau press releases issued last week. Caltrans is building a bypass along U.S. Route 101 around the community of Willits. The project will relieve congestion, reduce delays, and improve safety for traffic......
]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:50:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10270&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10270 UC CalFresh educators took part in a field trip for fourth-graders in Fresno where the children tasted a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, reported Dale Yurong on ABC 30 Action News. "We encourage them to try it and then they try it and wind up liking it," said UC CalFresh nutrition educator Kristi Sharp. "That's a saying that we say - you can't judge it unless you try it." Fresno Unified School District is the state's largest recipient of funds from the fruit and vegetable......
]]> Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:20:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9807&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9807 After the extraordinary explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas this week, people living in rural agricultural areas are looking around warily to see whether a similar facility might be in their own backyards. The Redding Appeal-Democrat asked Franz Niederholzer, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Sutter and Yuba counties, whether such danger lurks in their community. Niederholzer said ammonium nitrate fertilizer was popular and prevalent until 1995. "It was phased out after the bombing in......
]]> Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:10:25 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9789&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9789 UC Cooperative Extension range research was featured at a field day Saturday in Tehama County, reported Julie Johnson in the Corning Observer. Josh Davy, UCCE advisor in Tehama County, reviewed test plots were 60 varieties of annual and perennial range grasses were growing. Ken Tate, UCCE specialist, and Leslie Roche, postdoctoral researcher, both in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, gave an update on their long-term grazing research projects evaluating the effects of multiple......
]]> Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:46:08 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9772&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9772 The "Roadside Attractions" column in the Santa Maria Times today comments on the increasing number of hoop houses seen along Santa Barbara County highways and byways. Hoop houses, long white tents also known as tunnels, shelter raspberries, the article said. “There’s been a dramatic increase in berry growing in the county,” said Mark Gaskell, UC Cooperative Extension advisor for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. Hoop houses essentially serve as mini-greenhouses.......
]]> Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:58:17 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9760&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9760 Citizen scientists are once again beginning their annual Northern California search for signs of Sudden Oak Death, reported Lisa Krieger in the San Jose Mercury-News. Volunteers were trained in Santa Cruz on Friday and training sessions are planned for Orinda, Berkeley, San Francisco, Saratoga, Burlingame, Woodside, Atherton and Los Altos Hills. "This outreach is really important because it not only teaches people how to look for the disease, but it also helps them to monitor for it in their......
]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:15:58 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9751&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9751 So far, the impact of climate change on San Joaquin County hasn't been apparent, reported Reed Fujii in the Stockton Record. The story said Paul Verdegaal, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Joaquin County, has been tracking local crop and weather data for 30 years and to date has seen only normal year-to-year variability. "There's no particular trend in early bud break (in vineyards); there's no particular change in earlier harvest," Verdegaal said. "I haven't seen any hint of a trend,......
]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:11:24 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9750&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9750 At the World Ag Expo in February, nine states had booths designed to recruit California dairy operators out of the Golden State, reported the Los Angeles Times. South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard himself made a personal appeal for the state, where ag officials estimate that a single dairy cow creates $15,000 in economic activity each year. In recent years, an average of 100 California dairies have closed annually, said Leslie "Bees" Butler, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the......
]]> Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:06:45 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9686&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9686 UC Cooperative Extension in Humboldt County is asking local artists to submit their work for its "Art and Agriculture" show and auction, an event that is part of the 100th anniversary of the organization, said an article published in the Times-Standard. Humboldt County was the location of California's first UCCE office, opened in 1913. The program later spread across the state with the passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914. According to the article, the Humboldt Centennial is “a......
]]> Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:35:50 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9667&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9667 Rising demand for Asian vegetables in urban areas of California is creating an improved market for produce grown by the San Joaquin Valley's Asian farmers, reported Yu Wei in the San Francisco-based China Daily. Richard Molinar, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Fresno County, told the reporter that demand is driving increased cultivation of Asian vegetables in Fresno County. "We have around 50 to 75 Chinese farmers here in Fresno County and over 2,000 acres of Chinese crops selling locally......
]]> Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:17:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9628&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9628 The 80-member San Joaquin Valley Quality Cotton Growers Association has leased the 80-acre Shafter research station from Kern County, recruited University of California researchers and initiated talks with the Kern Community College District and a number of private groups to bring cotton research back to the historic facility, reported John Cox in the Bakersfield Californian. In addition, ag companies are expressing interest in using some of the station's vacant greenhouses, labs, storage......
]]> Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:23:54 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9599&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9599 Construction is scheduled to begin April 1 on the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources new home in Davis, reported Jeff Hudson in the Davis Enterprise. The facility is a former indoor sports center. Following retrofit construction to ensure the interior is LEED-certified, ANR is slated to move in before the end of this year, the article said. “ANR is a statewide program, with programmatic staff in 57 of California’s counties. But the bulk of our (administrative) operations have......
]]> Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:46:34 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9592&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9592 Scientists need more information about how farmers use nitrogen fertilizers before the state imposes new regulations, reported Tim Hearden in Capital Press. Hearden's story was based on a study published in California Agriculture journal. Nearly 600,000 tons of nitrogen fertilizer is sold in California each year, but sales figures are not an accurate indicator of how it is used. Imposing regulations without supporting data could fail to address the problem while damaging agriculture, said Tom......
]]> Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:19:19 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9555&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9555 Drought, population growth and salty soils are problems that may cause worldwide food shortages in the coming decades, reported Edward Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee. These are problems that will be addressed by scientists and policymakers at the Climate-Smart Agriculture Global Science Conference at UC Davis this week. For the story, Ortiz interviewed Eduardo Blumwald, professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, one of the conference speakers. Blumwald believes many of the......
]]> Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:58:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9547&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9547 UC Cooperative Extension's nutrition education programs were the feature of freelance writer Don Curlee's "Ag At Large" column last week. The column appears in a variety of publications, including the Hanford Sentinel, the Stockton Record, the (Sutter-Yuba) Appeal Democrat and Capital Press. Curlee's article noted that UCCE has, "Knowledgeable, trained advisors ... on hand locally ... to help with meal planning, wise shopping, individual diet planning and overall nutritional health." The......
]]> Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:24:58 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9540&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9540 Sahara mustard, a resilient weed native to North Africa and the Mediterranean, is invading desert landscapes in the American Southwest, squeezing out beautiful wildflower displays that attract tourists and maintain the local ecology, reported the San Diego Union Tribune. UC Cooperative Extension is testing methods of removing Sahara mustard, including hand weeding, hoes and herbicide. But these are only stopgap measures meant to keep the plant at bay in select spots. “I don’t......
]]> Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:01:53 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9492&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9492 Lunch trays filled with grayish green beans, mystery meat and a pasty scoop of mashed potatoes will be relegated to history if UC Cooperative Extension has anything to do with it. At the UCCE office in Stanislaus County yesterday, Jeri Ohmart of the UC Agriculture Sustainability Institute spoke to about 30 school food managers about how to get more fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthy fare into school cafeterias, reported John Holland in the Modesto Bee. Ohmart also displayed a food waste......
]]> Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:03:34 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9452&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9452 The warm, dry late winter weather in California has been good news for almond farmers who were concerned about a bee shortage during bloom, reported Capital Press. "It looks good right now," said Rich Buchner, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Tehama County. "The bees are out working like crazy. It's going to be warm and dry over the next 10 days, so it should be about perfect for almond set." Almond growers are enjoying a vibrant blossom season even though California only had about 500,000......
]]> Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:59:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9426&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9426 ]]> Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:00:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9417&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9417 During a tasting event recently at the UC Desert Research and Extension Center, experts conveyed their desire for a variety that is smoother and has better flavor than European cultivars, which were described as too “perfumy” and sweet, said an article in the Imperial Valley Press. “It’s crucial to have rich, full flavor,” said an extension specialist from Washington state. “I know it when I taste it.” The scientists and farmers weren't critiquing......
]]> Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:46:43 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9399&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9399 The public is invited to the UC Cooperative Extension office in Solano County tomorrow to take part in "Tobacco Jeopardy," a play on the TV game show that is intended to inform the public on the health effects of tobacco use, reported the Vacaville Reporter. The event is sponsored by the Solano County Tobacco Prevention and Education Program. "The goal of the training is to increase public awareness and inspire action to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke in Solano County,"......
]]> Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:36:24 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9364&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9364 The State Water Resources Control Board recommended a point-of-sale fee on agricultural commodities, a fertilizer tax, or a water-use fee from residents to offset the costs of providing clean drinking water to communities where tap water supplies have high levels of nitrate, reported Gosia Wozniacka of Associated Press. The final report to the legislature is on the SWRSC website. The AP article was published in BakersfieldNow.com, the San Francisco Chronicle and other publications. A story by......
]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:06:16 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9355&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9355 Proven health benefits is increasing demand for walnuts, and farmers are reacting by planting more trees, according to an article in the Chico Enterprise-Record. The trend has created a backlog for new trees. "All the nut crops are doing very well," said Joe Connell, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Butte County. Markets for almonds, pistachios and walnuts have expanded, and prices are firm, he said. In 2011, walnuts became the No. 1 crop in Butte County. If growers want to plant new......
]]> Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:43:56 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9336&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9336 UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners played a key role in establishing a vibrant garden behind a church in Livermore that has produced 8,000 pounds of vegetables for the church's food kitchen, reported two MGs in a column published in the San Jose Mercury News. What was unused vacant land only three years ago has spurred the creation of an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Fertile GroundWorks. Fertile GroundWorks has pilot projects under way to help organizations......
]]> Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:21:01 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9317&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9317 The official magazine of the World Ag Expo 2013 contains a three-page spread about sorghum research being conducted at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center by Jeff Dahlberg, director of the center. Copies of the magazine will be available to visitors at the world's largest agricultural exposition Feb. 12-14 in Tulare. A pdf of the sorghum article is attached below. In the article, Dahlberg says that, in the past, sorghum forages were not as good as corn for silage feed.......
]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:00:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9264&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9264 Mark Bolda, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Santa Cruz County, was recognized by the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association in January for his research and extension work on spotted wing drosophila, reported The Grower. Bolda received the 2013 Distinguished Service Award at the association's North American Berry Conference, Jan. 30, in Portland, Ore. He first identified drosophila as a new pest for coastal California berry growers in late 2008. Bolda led field trials to......
]]> Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:54:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9243&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9243 Demonstrating the global reach of UC research, the UC Integrated Pest Management Citrus Manual was displayed in a picture on Twitter of a Cornell graduate student and the Teso Women Development Enterprise in Uganda. The tweet was from the UC Davis-based Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program, which uses the Twitter handle @HortCRSP. The Cornell student, Brian Flanagan, is working on a HortCRSP Trellis Fund project. HortCRSP has just released a new call for Trellis Fund project......
]]> Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:58:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9227&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9227 Hands-on science activities offered as part of 4-H SET (Science, Engineering, Technology) at a El Dorado County park recently were colorful enough to warrant a lengthy feature story in the Mountain Democrat yesterday. The 4-H'ers experimented with resin to understand how tree sap trapped and preserved insects that flew and crawled 100 million years ago. They examined fossils, viewed a collection of dinosaur bones and went on a fossil fuel scavenger hunt. “We have great schools, but they......
]]> Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:56:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9183&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9183 No matter what happens with immigration reform, the United States will likely suffer a shortage of farm labor in coming decades, reported the Washington Post. The story was based on a study titled "The End of Farm Labor Abundance" by Edward Taylor, professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at UC Davis, UC graduate student Diane Charlton and Antonio Yúnez-Naude, professor in the Center for Economic Studies at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. “It’s......
]]> Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:15:37 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9165&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9165 When the calendar said it was time to harvest rice last September, the crop wasn't ready. Over the winter, UC Cooperative Extension advisor Randall "Cass" Mutters tried to solve the mystery of the untimely immature rice, reported the Oroville Mercury-Register. Since the problem was ubiquitous in the Sacramento Valley, Mutters deduced the weather was the culprit. He crunched weather numbers, studying humidity, nighttime and daytime temperatures, and uncovered a plausible explanation. Average......
]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:12:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9157&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9157 When FoodCorps begins operating in California this year, one of its "service members" will be hosted by UC Cooperative Extension in San Andreas, said an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. FoodCorps is a national organization that connects kids with healthy food. It selected two non-profit organizations - Life Lab and Community Alliance with Family Farmers - to administer the California program. Those two organizations selected 10 hosts, including UCCE. According to its website, FoodCrops......
]]> Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:20:49 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9142&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9142 Glenn McGourty, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Mendocino County, predicted 2012 will be a wonderful vintage in the North Coast wine region, reported the Ukiah Daily Journal. "We kind of wish every year could be like that. There was enough water, practically no frost protection needed, and no mold, mildew or rot on the fruit," he said. McGourty told reporter Justine Frederickson he usually finds growers to be pessimistic when they begin harvest, but that wasn't the case in 2012. "I even......
]]> Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:37:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9127&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9127 Two more trees in Idyllwild are infested with goldspotted oak borer, reported the Riverside Press-Enterprise yesterday. The announcement came at a community meeting over the weekend, in which Tom Scott, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Natural Resources at UC Riverside, and Kevin Turner, UC Cooperative Extension goldspotted oak borer program coordinator, joined fire and forestry officials to brief local residents about the new pest threat in the area. Residents learned......
]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:09:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9126&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9126 Cal Fire, UC Cooperative Extension and other officials will be meeting with residents of Idyllwild tomorrow to enlist their help in stopping the goldspotted oak borers' tree destruction in the picturesque mountain community, reported the Riverside Press-Enterprise. GSOB appears to have spread to Idyllwild by hitchhiking on firewood from San Diego, where it has killed some 80,000 oak trees. It has been found in only one tree in Idyllwild so far. Tom Scott, UC Cooperative Extension specialist......
]]> Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:34:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9091&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9091 It has been particularly cold at night in California for about a week, but it appears the state's citrus industry will emerge mostly unscathed, reported Oliver Renick on Bloomberg.com. “The temperatures were not severe enough to cause widespread damage,” said Craig Kallsen, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Kern County. “This is nothing out of the ordinary, so we’re able to handle this.” Thermometers dipped about 10 degrees below normal overnight during the......
]]> Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:21:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9086&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9086 During the recent cold snap in California, the media turned to UC Cooperative Extension advisors for information on the weather's impact on agricultural production in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. The consensus for this part of the state: cold weather is good news. The Stockton Record checked in with Joe Grant, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Joaquin County. "We'll take any and all cold that we can at this time of year to fulfill the chilling requirements of the trees," Grant......
]]> Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:03:32 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9071&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9071 California Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed $97.6 billion general fund budget for fiscal 2013-14 boosts spending on education, implements health care reform and eliminates what was a $25 billion state deficit when the governor took office, reported Tim Hearden in Capital Press. The governor's proposal increases funding for both public schools and higher education, adding $250 million for the University of California and California State University systems. The increases come after voters approved......
]]> Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:25:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9049&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9049 Volunteers are turning a food desert green in the Los Angeles Del Aire neighborhood as they plant more trees that will bear fresh fruit for the community, said an article in the LA Weekly Fruit and Vegetable Blog. Twenty-eight fruit trees and eight grapevines were planted in Del Aire park, near the intersection of freeways 105 and 405. A sign declares, "The fruit trees in this park are public. They are for everyone, including you." The story noted that UC Cooperative Extension is part of the......
]]> Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:22:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9044&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9044 The Redding Appeal Democrat reported in December that the ranks of U.S. farmers is dwindling. Said Sutter County almond grower Mat Conant, "Pretty soon we'll be such a small minority nobody will listen to us." Fewer farmers means there are fewer lawmakers with first-hand knowledge of agricultural production. "You can go to Washington, D.C., and talk about agriculture, but it doesn't have the same impact if you practically experience it," said Christopher Greer, UC Cooperative Extension......
]]> Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:13:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9025&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9025 California rice grower Tom Butler is dry seeding his crop to reduce irrigation and draining the fields earlier than before when preparing for harvest. These new practices conserve water and may help the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from his farm, according to an article by UC Davis science writer Brad Hooker. The story was picked up by Western Farm Press. Butler is participating in a pilot program funded by the Environmental Defense Fund. Though it’s too early to......
]]> Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:40:12 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9010&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9010 Low production, low prices and labor issues are plaguing the California cling peach industry and prompting farmers to pull out their orchards in favor of growing something that carries less risk, reported Joshua Emerson Smith in the Merced Sun-Star. Many environmental factors can significantly compromise a peach harvest, said Maxwell Norton, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Merced County. "For tree fruit you need to have a greater net profit than you do raising tree nuts because growing......
]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 10:33:25 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8955&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8955 UC Cooperative Extension researchers are discovering that, for the best control of a pest like lygus bugs, growers should not view their individual farms as isolated islands, reported Cary Blake in Western Farm Press. “It takes a village to manage lygus,” says Pete Goodell, UC IPM Cooperative Extension advisor with the UC Statewide IPM Program. “Effective lygus management involves landowners, producers, pest control advisers, those with an expertise in biological and......
]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:24:41 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8947&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8947 Steady rain so far this fall has produced a verdant emerald green panorama on California rangeland, reported Capital Press this week. Livestock producers are elated, said Josh Davy, a UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Tehama County. "It's been nice to start the year with some big rains because it fills up the reservoirs, puts some drinking water out there and it helps build deeper soil moisture in case it doesn't rain later," Davy said. "We hope it keeps going until March." The 2012 rainy......
]]> Wed, 19 Dec 2012 09:48:15 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8938&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8938 State officials will spray pesticide on residential citrus trees near Fallbrook today (Dec. 17), part of an ongoing effort across Southern California to prevent a devastating citrus disease, reported the San Diego Union Tribune.The pesticide application targets Asian citrus psyllid, which can transmit huanglongbing disease. Residents in the area have been notified, said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He said officials have used the same preventive......
]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:19:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8911&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8911 After losing 86 UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists to retirement or resignations over the past four years, the University of California program has announced plans to step up hiring and put "more boots on the ground," wrote Cecelia Parsons in Capital Press. The article noted that UC is planning to hire 19 new UCCE advisors and specialists in the coming year. One of those - a regional viticulture advisor serving Tulare, Kern and Kings counties - will be funded with an $840,000......
]]> Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:58:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8886&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8886 A feature story about UC Cooperative Extension advisor Rachael Long graced the front page of the David Enterprise this week in an article about her newly published children's chapter book, "Gold Fever." The Enterprise story, written by Brett Johnson, noted that Long has a personal interest in bats and wrote several scientific articles about the flying mammals before picking a bat to be one of two animals in her book that helps save a nine-year-old boy who fell in a cave in the Black Mountains......
]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:59:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8854&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8854 Scientists from Wageningen University in the Netherlands will take part in a one-day seminar Monday, Dec. 10, at UC Davis on water efficiency and water quality, reported Imperial Valley News. Because 20 percent of the Netherlands is below sea level and the country maintains an important agricultural sector, managing water has required creative approaches. Wageningen University entered into a memorandum of understanding with UC Davis to collaborate on water issues. Both institutions and CDFA's......
]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 11:20:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8842&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8842 Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, explained in a radio interview posted by the Ag Net West radio network how UC ANR is filling gaps created by the retirement of UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists. "We are an aging population," Allen-Diaz said. "We fully recognize that we need to bring new, young, highly trained, highly skilled individuals into Cooperative Extension." She said administrators are making decisions by studying demographic......
]]> Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:35:56 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8813&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8813 This week a quarantine goes into effect in some parts of Tulare County to stop the spread of Asian citrus psyllid, according to a 3-minute story on The California Report. The decision comes after officials found ACP in traps near Strathmore and Terra Bella. For an update on the pest and the disease it can carry, The California Report's Rachael Myrow spoke with Mark Hoddle, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside. Myrow asked why the effort to prevent......
]]> Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:31:11 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8789&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8789 The dwindling supply of workers has created a new urgency for California farmers to employ mechanical harvesting technology, reported the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Some cherry growers, for example, were able to pick only once this year, said Chuck Ingels, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Sacramento County. Ideally, they'd pick as fruit colors and ripens. "They're finding that if they can't get labor to pick their crops, they're just not able to farm anymore," Ingels said. "So what they're......
]]> Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:04:01 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8776&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8776 The Virginia creeper leafhopper has been found in vineyards from the Oregon border to the northern Sacramento Valley, but so far has not made its way to the storied vineyards of Napa or Sonoma counties, according to an article in The Grower. Reporter Vicky Boyd based the article on a report by Lucia Varela, UC Cooperative Extension advisor, an integrated pest management expert for the north coast of California. So far, the Virginia creeper leafhopper has been reported primarily in backyard and......
]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:54:50 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8714&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8714 The initiative that would have required special labeling on food that contains genetically modified ingredients failed in California, 53.1 percent to 46.9 percent, reported ABC Rural radio in Australia. Host Anna Vidot talked to Alison Van Eenennaam, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis, about the fate of Proposition 37, which on Tuesday received about 4.3 million votes in favor and 4.8 million votes against. In the eight-minute interview, Van......
]]> Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:57:16 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8689&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8689 The California Report, a popular radio news program that is broadcast throughout the state on public radio stations, devoted five minutes this morning to a solution found at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center for a serious pistachio production problem. Reporter Alice Daniel interviewed Kearney-based UC Davis plant pathologist Themis Michailides, who led the team that discovered how to expose pistachio trees to spores of a beneficial fungus that displaces the fungi that......
]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:53:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8668&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8668 Owners of 20 percent of California rangeland may choose to sell their land, perhaps to developers, if they don't receive tax breaks from the Williamson Act, according to researchers in the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology. This could cause sweeping landscape change in California, pointed out Michael Krasney on Forum, a talk radio program broadcast by KQED radio. Krasney hosted a half-hour show on the Williamson Act, basing the segment on research published in the current issue of......
]]> Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:00:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8641&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8641 California may not be in the path of hurricanes, but it has its own form of potentially devastating storms known as the Pineapple Express, which could produce wind and rainfall in the Bay Area that match Hurricane Sandy, wrote Jeffrey Mount in the California Water Blog. Mount is a geology professor at UC Davis and founding director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Science. Mount said that a major storm in the Bay Area would put more than 140,000 people at risk of serious flooding, along......
]]> Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:47:16 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8631&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8631 Research through university campuses, UC Cooperative Extension, and USDA Agricultural Research Service not only improves productivity and makes California growers more competitive in the international market, it also helps producers use resources more efficiently and minimize environmental and other societal impacts, wrote Bob Curtis and Gabriele Ludwig of the Almond Board of California in an op-ed published by Western Farm Press. The article noted that grants have been helpful in recent years......
]]> Tue, 30 Oct 2012 10:36:30 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8619&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8619 Just in time for Christmas, UC Cooperative Extension advisor Rachel Long releases a book that will introduce children to the fascinating world of bats, said an article in the Woodland Record. "Gold Fever," the first in the "Black Rock Desert Trilogy," in already for sale at some outlets, but is scheduled to be officially released Dec. 4. In the book, 9-year-old Jack is searching for gold with his dad in the Black Rock Range, when he falls into a cave. He befriends a bat named Pinta and a......
]]> Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:07:10 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8600&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8600 The agricultural and academic communities came together yesterday in Imperial County to celebrate the first 100 years of the University of California Desert Research and Extension Center, and to look toward the center's future, reported Imperial Valley Press. The center was established in 1912 to address the Imperial Valley’s unique agricultural challenges. Its areas of research include irrigation and drainage, pest management and crops that would thrive in the desert, wrote reporter......
]]> Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:53:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8595&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8595 Commercial pumpkin production poses many of the same challenges as growing other gourds and squash plants, like cucumbers, luffas, zucchini and watermelons, wrote Reid Fujii in the Stockton Record. Growers must watch out for overwatering, plant diseases, and pests like squash bugs and cucumber beetles, said Brenna Aegerter, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Joaquin County. "Like one of the growers here told me, it's a beauty pageant," Aegerter said. "It's all about how they look; it's......
]]> Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:23:43 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8586&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8586 When plants have at least 20 years to recover after a fire, they can go on for hundreds of years as a healthy habitat without fire, reported the Orange County Register. The newspaper included this information in a graphic accompanying an article about the five-year anniversary of the devastating Santiago Fire, which scorched more than 28,000 acres and destroyed 42 structures in Orange County. Sources of information for the plant recovery graphic included the UC Integrated Pest Management......
]]> Mon, 22 Oct 2012 11:20:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8561&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8561 The lead food story in the Fresno Bee this week focused on walnuts and their local availability. An important component of the story was the red walnut, a cultivar developed by University of California breeders a decade ago. Most walnuts grown in California have a light tan seed coat. The "Robert Livermore" walnut has a red seed coat. "It has a very interesting color and gives consumers and farmers another option," said Chuck Leslie, staff research associate in the Department of Plant......
]]> Thu, 18 Oct 2012 10:50:58 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8540&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8540 A native of Mexico and South American, the beautiful tropical fruit pitahaya - also known as dragon fruit - could be a viable crop for Southern California desert, said an article in the Desert Sun. Ramiro Lobo, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Diego County, shared the results of pitahaya studies conducted in San Diego and Irvine with a group of inland desert farmers recently. “The fruit size and quality is good ... we’re getting great marketable yields,” Lobo......
]]> Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:46:06 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8528&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8528 The Wall Street Journal today ran a brief article about California's water situation as part of its Innovations in Agriculture series. Reporter Jim Carlton noted that California leads the nation in farm revenue, but is also one of the country's driest states, and most populous. How do we do it? "If you have limited water supplies, you have to be as careful and efficient as you can with it," says Larry Schwankl, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Land, Air and Water......
]]> Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:05:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8509&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8509 Record-high gas and diesel prices are putting economic pressure on agricultural operations, but it is unlikely to push up food prices, said a story by Associated Press reporter Gosia Wozniacka. The cost of fuel is only a small percentage of the cost of farming and getting a product to store shelves, said Daniel Sumner, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis. Food prices will go up only by a few pennies on the dollar at......
]]> Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:59:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8496&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8496 Aerial and ground surveys have documented 375,700 new cases of dead live oak and tan oak trees over 54,400 acres of California where the pathogen that causes sudden oak death is known to exist, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Last year there were 38,000 dead trees covering 8,000 acres. Diseased trees were even found in Golden Gate Park, where there is no obvious source of the pathogen, such as nurseries or wildland. "It's puzzling that we found it there because it's a totally urban......
]]> Wed, 10 Oct 2012 14:33:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8481&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8481 Stephen Kaffka, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, is field testing a variety of potential biofuel crops in California, including castor, wrote Harry Cline in Western Farm Press. Among the possibilities are canola, amelina, meadowfoam, sugar beets, sweet sorghum, sugar cane and switchgrass. Castor, however, is the only on with a yellow "Do Not Cross" tape circling the experimental plots. The warning stems from the fact that castor beans contain......
]]> Wed, 10 Oct 2012 10:05:54 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8477&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8477 Food created through genetic engineering and conventional breeding are safe and they deserve equal treatment in the marketplace, a UC Berkeley biotechnology expert told reporter Lisa Krieger of the San Jose Mercury News. Peggy G. Lemaux, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley, says fear of the unknown can stop genetic engineering from helping consumers. She genetically engineered wheat to produce grain that is less allergenic and might......
]]> Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:01:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8459&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8459 European grapevine moth, light brown apple moth and glassy-winged sharpshooter combine to make "vigilance" the word of every day for growers in Sonoma County, reported Bonnie Durrance in the Sonoma County Sun. “Invasive pests are a problem,” said Nick Frey, president of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission. “They threaten California agriculture in general, and probably our ecology too, so it’s important to try to prevent their import into the state, and if they do get......
]]> Fri, 05 Oct 2012 10:58:21 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8440&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8440 Seemingly out of nowhere, thousands of bagrada bugs have descended on Santa Barbara County gardens and organic farms, reported Joan Bolton in Noozhawk. Bagrada bugs are native to east and southern Africa, Egypt, Zaire and Senegal, according to the Center for Invasive Species Research at UC Riverside. They first appeared four years ago in Los Angeles County, and rapidly spread through Southern California and southern Arizona. Surendra Dara, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Santa Barbara and......
]]> Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:46:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8419&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8419 KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting co-produced a documentary about the impacts of climate change on California food production. A half-hour in length, "Heat and Harvest" has three distinct segments: Cherries, said reporter Mark Schapiro, are the canary in the climate coalmine for California tree crops. "They're highly sensitive to changes in temperature and rainfall, which scientists say are being altered by climate change," he said. The segment included comments from Joe......
]]> Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:32:18 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8400&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8400 A tiny wasp imported from Pakistan by a UC Riverside researcher is becoming established in the Inland Empire, according to an article by Mark Muckenfuss in the Riverside Press Enterprise. Mark Hoddle, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, collected Tamarixia radiata in the Punjab region of Paskistan. After a period of quarantine, the beneficial insect was released in Southern California citrus trees beginning in December 2011. The......
]]> Wed, 26 Sep 2012 10:01:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8390&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8390 Almost any food in the grocery store that comes in a box, bag or can and is not organic probably has some genetically engineered content, according to an article in the Sacramento Bee about the potential ramifications of Proposition 37. If the proposition passes in November, the packaging of most foods with common ingredients like corn syrup, sugar, canola oil and soy-based emulsifiers will declare that they contain ingredients that have been genetically altered. Biotech crops are so......
]]> Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:09:34 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8385&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8385 As California rice fields begin to be harvested this week, farmers and UC experts say the yield is expected to be good, but unremarkable, said an article by Ching Lee in the Central Valley Business Times. "It looks like it's going to be an OK harvest," said Butte County rice farmer Michael Arens. Yields should be "somewhat average," the article quoted Chris Greer, UC Cooperative Extension advisor for Yuba, Sutter, Placer and Sacramento counties. A hot spell in August limited flowering in......
]]> Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:19:56 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8374&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8374 Organic weed control in orchards is far more difficult than conventional weed control, reported the Daily Democrat. The story was written by Bob Johnson for AgAlert. The most effective organic approach to weed control is a combination of cultural practices and organic herbicides, said John Roncoroni, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Napa County, at a pear weed control field meeting. "This is the wood mulch from last year," Roncoroni pointed out at the field day. "As you can see, the grass......
]]> Fri, 21 Sep 2012 10:21:28 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8366&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8366 UC Cooperative Extension in Tulare County offers a free screening of a film that addresses the increasing level of overweight and obesity in the United States, reported the Visalia Times-Delta. The film, titled “Children in Crisis,” is the third part of the HBO series “The Weight of the Nation." The film will show at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, at the Agriculture Building Auditorium, 4437 S. Laspina St., Tulare. Obesity is an on-going issue in Tulare County, Cathi Lamp is......
]]> Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:37:25 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8363&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8363 Rice insects and diseases were minimal or easy to control this year, reported Larry Godfrey, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Davis, at a rice field day in Biggs, Calif., according to an article in Western Farm Press. Godfrey reached that conclusion even though he trapped 10 times more rice water weevils in his control trials this season than in 2011, the article said. Tadpole shrimp populations also were high this season and damage was evident.......
]]> Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:34:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8337&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8337 Reedley seniors learned how to eat healthy on a budget by participating in a four-session course offered by UC Cooperative Extension CalFresh Nutrition Education, reported the Reedley Exponent. UCCE nutrition educator Nancy Zumkeller taught participants how to make 'cowboy caviar' during the program's third session, which reporter Jodie Reyna attended. During the program, Zumkeller compared the cost of a "healthy" shopping cart - which included white tuna and dried pinto beans - and an......
]]> Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:19:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8311&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8311 ]]> Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:07:50 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8303&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8303 Members of families that receive benefits from the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) are more likely to be overweight or obese than people in families that don't receive the federal food assistance, according to a UC Davis study cited by ABC News. However, the research doesn't say its the food assistance that is making them fat. The argument that excluding "unhealthy" items - like candy, soda and chips - from the supplemental nutrition program would......
]]> Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:57:44 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8295&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8295 A mysterious sudden crippling or death of pomegranate trees may be due to cold temperatures, said a story in Western Farm Press. Three farmers and Themis Michiliades, UC Davis plant pathologist based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, agreed that low temperatures have a lot to do with the problem. Michailides cited an Iranian research paper that showed similar cold snap damage. Michailides and Richard Molinar, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Fresno County,......
]]> Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:39:11 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8272&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8272 A desire to reduce fuel and water use is leading some farmers in the Central Valley to operate in new, more sustainable ways, reported Alice Daniel on KQED's The California Report this morning. For the five-minute story, Daniel interviewed Jeff Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, and Dino Giacomazzi, a Hanford dairy farmer. These new farming systems, they said, aren't straight forward and require a steep learning curve. Sometimes they......
]]> Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:30:51 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8263&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8263 Record-breaking heat led to 12 farmworker deaths in 2005, bringing the issue of heat-related illness to the forefront for California labor activists and legislators. New laws enacted since then call for employee and supervisor training, fresh water at work sights, access to adequate shade for rest and recovery periods and written documentation on site that provides information about the regulations. As the hottest August on record comes to a close, the next essential task has become educating......
]]> Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:59:38 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8251&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8251 Farmers usually bring in white-boxed beehives to pollinate their blueberries, almonds, avocados and other plants. However, since honeybees are expensive and colonies in decline, one UC Berkeley researcher is assessing whether lining fields with flowering shrubs and bushes will naturally attract a sufficient number of pollinators to the farm, according to a story in the Sacramento Bee. Claire Kremen, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC......
]]> Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:20:17 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8236&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8236 National Public Radio's Planet Money pointed out that many U.S. farmers who are losing their crops due to drought won't suffer financially because they have government-subsidized crop insurance. U.S. taxpayers spend about $7 billion a year on crop insurance, the story said. Daniel Sumner, director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center and professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at UC Davis, said he isn't in favor of the government giving farmers subsidies. Ski......
]]> Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:11:40 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8216&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8216 Alison Van Eenennaam, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis, commented on a KCRA news segment about Proposition 37, an initiative on California's November ballot that, if passed, would require special labeling on products that contain genetically modified ingredients. The reporters called the proposition a "multi-million dollar food fight." "All of the data that's come out from the American Medical Association and National Academy of Sciences have......
]]> Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:47:54 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8184&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8184 UC scientists have confirmed that populations of smallflower umbrella sedge from rice fields in Sacramento County have become resistant to the widely used contact herbicide propanil, reported Western Farm Press. Albert Fischer, professor, and James Eckert, staff research associate, both in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, collected smallflower umbrella sedge seeds from eight fields where resistance was suspected. They grew the weeds in pots, then sprayed them with propinal at half......
]]> Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:08:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8179&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8179 Rachel Carson, the author of "Silent Spring," a book credited for advancing the environmental movement in the U.S., would have supported the use of genetic engineering in agriculture, says Pamela Ronald, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis. Ronald considered the possibility in an op-ed article published in Forbes. Carson envisioned harnessing the knowledge of biological diversity — entomology, pathology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry and ecology — to......
]]> Tue, 14 Aug 2012 11:06:47 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8137&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8137 Master Food Preservers of Los Angeles County UC Cooperative Extension will demonstrate food canning techniques at the LA County Fair in September, according to a blog on LA List. With annual fairs getting plenty of publicity for their outrageous unhealthful food concoctions - think deep fried cereal, Twinkies and Oreos - instructions for converting summer's bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables to healthful winter staples is "a welcome addition," writes the author. During the fair's run,......
]]> Fri, 10 Aug 2012 10:43:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8120&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8120 Laura Van der Staay, program and facility coordinator at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, presented awards of appreciation at the annual conference of the Association of Education and Research Greenhouse Curators, reported Greenhouse Canada. Van der Staay is chair of AERGC. Clinton Morse of the University of Connecticut received a certificate of appreciation for his efforts in supporting the AERGC with information and communications technology. Dennis Raath of Lock......
]]> Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:22:06 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8103&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8103 In a search for new varieties of peaches, plums and nectarines, no stone is left unturned, reported Robert Rodriguez in the Fresno Bee. The story centered around Kingsburg Orchards, one of the largest local tree fruit producers. The organization's board met recently to sample 30 experimental stone fruit varieties. Kevin Day, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Tulare County, said the push to find an edge in the marketplace is no surprise in today's highly competitive retail market. "People......
]]> Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:57:30 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8084&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8084