Blogs: Agriculture and Natural Resource

Mark Bolda's Berry Blog

The Meaning of the Brexit Breakdown
Posted 12/9/2018 - I know I pull too much from the Wall Street Journal, but I just can't not share this beautifully phrased paragraph that distills current political streams and what they could mean for the continuing integration of markets and labor across...

Community Education Specialist job opening at UCCE Santa Cruz
Posted 11/28/2018 - If any of you either want to participate in the great agriculture we have here on the Central Coast, or know someone who does, I have a job opening here at my office at UCCE Santa Cruz.  The position is to help farmers get involved in a CDFA...

Thrips on Strawberry Leaves
Posted 11/21/2018 - Already giving away the punchline in the title, but I was approached yesterday by a grower experiencing an unusual problem on his strawberries.  All of this has been handled remotely, so on first glance I see drying out spots of various sizes...

Heads Up on Lewis Mite
Posted 11/19/2018 - I had a pretty sharp eyed PCA stop by my office just this morning with a sizable sample of what turned out to be Lewis mite from a newly planted field of strawberries.  To this savvy individual, something about the mites he was looking at didn't...

Revised UC IPM Guidelines for Strawberry Now Available
Posted 11/18/2018 - It's been a long wait for many I know, but the revised UC IPM Guidelines for strawberry are now available.  This is a massive job involving a lot of work from many people, but these are the peer reviewed gold standard for pest management and...

Livestock and Range Update Blogs

Resources from Weed Meeting
We had a great 17th Annual Continuing Education Seminar for Ranchers on December 5! There were about 80 people. We had lots good discussion, particularly about ground squirrels and prescribed burning for medusahead. If you missed the meeting or want...

Rancher Seminar - December 5
Please join the San Benito County Weed Management Area for our 17th Annual Continuing Education Seminar for Ranchers on December 5 from 8:00 am to 12:15 pm at the Hollister Veterans Memorial Building: 649 San Benito Street, Hollister. This is a free...

Tools for Conserving Working Lands: Easements, Mitigation, and Other Strategies
Here's a message from the Pajaro Compass about their upcoming meeting. WHEN:Wednesday, October 24th, 8:30 am – noon WHERE: Veterans Memorial Building, Room 218, 649 San Benito Street, Hollister RSVP: Please follow the link HERE to RSVP, or...

Sheep Production 101 Workshop at UC Davis, October 13
Please join California Wool Growers Association for a Sheep Production 101 Workshop at the University of California Davis. This workshop will focus on sheep production basics, animal handling, breeding practices, nutrition, lambing, and predator...

What do you want to know about oaks?
A few Livestock Advisors in Central California are interested in developing a research project on oaks and we want to make sure the project will be valuable to you! I'm hoping you will be willing to take 3 minutes to fill out a survey about why oaks are...

Salinas Valley Agriculture

Assessing Use of Automated (Mechanized) Technologies in Vegetable Crops
Posted 12/13/2018 - Introduction. To gain insight into the agricultural industry and help develop research programs,the University of California and University of Arizona surveyed growers about their use of automated (mechanized) technologies in vegetable crops. The...

Agritourism Intensive classes start soon in Santa Cruz County
Posted 12/12/2018 - UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) and UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) in partnership with Santa Cruz, San Mateo and Santa Clara County Farm Bureaus, Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association, Santa Cruz County Small...

Amendment - CE Hours - 2018 Entomology Seminar
Posted 12/11/2018 - There was an amendment to the hours approved from DPR for the 2018 Entomology Seminar. The total approved hours are 3.0 (2.5 other and 0.5 laws and reg). The verification form that you received at the meeting is unfortunately incorrect. If you need an...

Grapevine Production Short Course
Posted 12/3/2018 - Grapevine Production Short Course February 12-15, 2019Springhill Suites Napa, CA and Oakville Experimental Vineyard Oakville, CA UC Davis Plan to join us for this integrated vineyard management short course featuring UC faculty,...

2018 Salinas Valley Entomology Seminar
Posted 11/28/2018 -

Small Farm News

Exploring Bay Area Wholesale Market Options
Posted 6/26/2017 - On June 13, the Small Farm Program partnered with UCCE Small Farm Advisor Margaret Lloyd to conduct a tour of wholesale produce markets for Sacramento region farmers. During the bus ride from Woodland to San Francisco, I described the packaging and...

Ag labor management seminars offer keys to success in times of labor uncertainty
Posted 1/17/2017 - UC Cooperative Extension will hold workshops in Temecula Feb. 1 and 2 to help California agricultural employers facing many challenges including labor shortages, wage & hour laws, joint liability, worker safety, workers comp insurance, and...

USDA Announces Streamlined Guaranteed Loans and Additional Lender Category for Small-Scale Operators
Posted 11/17/2016 - USDA recently announced the availability of a streamlined version of USDA guaranteed loans, which are tailored for smaller scale farms and urban producers. The program, called EZ Guarantee Loans, uses a simplified application process to help beginning,...

Economic Impact of Local Food Marketing in the Sacramento Region
Posted 7/14/2016 - Consumers often say that they buy locally produced foods because they want to support their local economy. Our newly released report confirms that buying locally produced foods does support the local economy. Our University of California Cooperative...

UC Small Farm Advisor works with grower to push the "Horticultural Envelope"
Posted 11/10/2015 - This article by Matt Kettman was published in the Santa Barbara Independent on October 6, 2015.  UC Small Farm Advisor, Mark Gaskell, has been providing technical assistance to small-scale growers in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties for...

Bug Squad

In Search of the Perfect Entomological Gift
Posted 12/13/2018 - If you're looking for the perfect "bugly" entomological gift, be sure to stop by the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis. The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane,  is open to...

Jessica Gillung's Research on Spider Flies: A Tale of Conflict and Uncertainty
Posted 12/12/2018 - When UC Davis doctoral candidate Jessica Gillung, who studies the parasitoid flies commonly known as spider flies, presents her exit seminar on Friday, Dec. 14, it's bound to draw widespread interest. Her research already has. She just won the prize...

A Timely Topic and None Too Soon: The Troubling State of Pollinators
Posted 12/11/2018 - What a timely topic--and none too soon! And the University of California, Davis, is a major part of it. Next July: a major occurrence in the world of pollinators: UC Davis will host the seventh annual International Pollinator Conference, a four-day...

The Birds and The Bees--and The Butterflies
Posted 12/10/2018 - ...Birds do it, bees do it Even educated fleas do it Let's do it, let's fall in love --Cole Porter When Cole Porter wrote “Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love” in 1928, he wasn't thinking about butterflies. He was thinking of birds, bees...

Congratulations to UC Davis Pollinator Ecologist Neal Williams
Posted 12/7/2018 - With all the increasing--and alarming--global concern about declining pollinators, it's great to see some good news: pollination ecologist Neal Williams of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is one of the Highly Cited Researchers in the...

Food Blog

For family fun and treats - a winter farm visit
Posted 12/10/2018 - California farmers all over the state invite you to visit, shake off the city, learn a little and enjoy your holiday shopping the old-fashioned way; direct from the growers of winter fruits and creators of small-batch treats to fill your gift baskets....

Lemon water tasting at UC research center kicks off an 18-month citrus sensory study
Posted 12/7/2018 - What flavors do you detect in a sip of lemon water? Are there notes of sweetness, sour, off flavors or fresh citrus taste? Scientists at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center and the USDA want to know every subtle taste sensation for...

Honey: Nothing short of miraculous
Posted 11/28/2018 - “Honey, please pass the honey!” That simple request, prefaced with a term of endearment for good measure, means there's honey on the table. And well there should be. As the daughter, granddaughter and great-great granddaughter (and beyond)...

Trying leafy greens from a sweet potato plant
Posted 11/19/2018 - This time of year, it can be hard to resist the pull of sweet potatoes — roasted, mashed with butter, and topped with a combination of delectable treats from maple syrup to pecans to marshmallows. But did you know that the green leaves of the sweet...

Watch livestream: Food leaders convene in San Diego Nov. 14
Posted 11/12/2018 - Food Tank is hosting its inaugural summit, titled “Growing the Food Movement,” on Nov. 14 in San Diego at the Illumina Theater. The event is co-sponsored by the Berry Good Food Foundation, the University of California's Division of...

Blog de Alimentos

Miel de abeja: un verdadero milagro
Posted 11/28/2018 - In English. “¡La miel de abeja, por favor pasen la miel!” Esa simple petición, precedida de una expresión de cariño, por si acaso, significa que hay miel de abeja en la mesa. Y debe de haber. Como hija, nieta y...

Probando las hojas de la planta del camote
Posted 11/19/2018 - In English En esta época del año, puede ser difícil resistirse a la tentación de los camotes— asados, machacados con mantequilla y aderezados con una combinación de deliciosas golosinas desde la miel de maple a...

Una idea loca: un poco de estrés podría ser bueno para los nogales
Posted 11/6/2018 - In English. Cuando se trata de irrigar los nogales, la mayoría de los cultivadores de California creen que se necesita empezar temprano para mantener los árboles saludables y productivos durante todo el largo y caluroso verano. Pero de...

La salud de las abejas melíferas es crucial para el bienestar de especies importantes
Posted 10/18/2018 - In English. Nuestras amigas las abejas de miel hacen posible que nosotros devoremos una abundancia de productos a base de almendras. En el 2016, el cultivo de almendras de California alcanzó los 2,150 millones de libras valoradas en 5,200...

¿Es eléctrica? ¡Descifrando las ollas a presión eléctricas!
Posted 10/17/2018 - In English Puede ser que ya hayas escuchado todo el alboroto que han causado las ollas a presión eléctricas. Aun cuando no estés al tanto de las tendencias en la cocina, esta herramienta podría quitarle un poco de...

Forest Research and Outreach

Can rakes save forests? Yes, as long as you have a drip torch in the other hand.
Posted 12/11/2018 - Resposted from the UCANR Green Blog   The humble rake has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, and its role as a forest management tool ridiculed and scorned. However, most fire professionals believe rakes are a necessary part of...

Wildfire risk should be considered when planning new developments
Posted 12/5/2018 - San Diego County officials want to approve construction of about 10,000 homes in areas largely labeled by CAL FIRE as posing a "very-high" fire hazard, reported Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union Tribune. County supervisors said the...

Catastrophic wildfires and climate change lead to growing acceptance of ‘pyrosilviculture’
Posted 11/15/2018 - Reposted from the UCANR Green Blog For millennia, fires periodically burned through California forests, thinning trees, reducing shrubbery and clearing out downed branches and debris. Without periodic fire, the forests became more dense, with spaces...

Sanchez named UCCE woody biomass specialist
Posted 11/14/2018 -   Daniel Sanchez joined UCCE on Sept. 1, 2018, as a UC Cooperative Extension specialist in woody biomass utilization in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management at UC Berkeley. Sanchez is an engineer and energy systems...

Jones named UCCE forestry advisor
Posted 11/14/2018 - Reposted from the UCANR report     Michael Jones joined UCCE on Oct. 1, 2018, as the area forestry advisor in Mendocino, Lake and Sonoma counties. He specializes in forest entomology with a focus on forest health and integrated...

Oak Conservation

Proceedings Available - 7th California Oak Symposium: Managing Oak Woodlands in a Dynamic World
Posted 12/10/2015 - Overview: Beginning in 1979, there have been a series of symposia held every 5 to 7 years addressing the state of our knowledge about science, policy and management factors affecting California's oak resource. This program, held November 3-6, 2014 in...

Irrigating Oaks in the Drought
Posted 7/15/2015 - To water or not to water….an oak. That's the question. If only Shakespeare could answer our questions as eloquently as in his plays. In a state where the motto has become “brown is the new green” as people allow irrigated lawns to...

Call for Papers: 7th California Oak Symposium - Nov. 3-6, 2014 - Visalia, CA California
Posted 2/14/2014 - The 7th California Oak Symposium: Managing Oak Woodlands in a Dynamic California, will be held November 3-6, 2014 in Visalia, California. Complete details on the Symposium can be viewed on the website.  We are requesting abstracts for oral...

7th California Oak Symposium: Nov. 3-6, 2014 - Visalia, CA
Posted 1/8/2014 - General Overview Beginning in 1979, there have been a series of symposia held every 5 to 7 years addressing the state of our knowledge about science, policy and management factors affecting California’s oak resource. This upcoming program...

Oaks in the Urban Landscape - October 10
Posted 9/16/2013 -   Oaks in the Urban Landscape: Selection, Care, and Preservation is the most current and comprehensive handbook available for the management of oak trees. Join authors Larry Costello, Bruce Hagen and Katherine Jones, along with UC...