Blogs: Agriculture and Natural Resource

Some Thoughts on Intellectual Honesty

I'm a sucker for buying books at the airport, I think it's because so much free time beckons not only at the airport while waiting to board but then also in the airplane itself. So I recently bought at SeaTac the book "Think Again: The Power of...

Not a Raspberry, So What is It

Out for a run in Bellingham last week to maintain my strength for the rigors of the CA berry industry when I spied a tree sporting raspberry-like fruit like those pictured below (and hence my senses being drawn to it immediately).  I've done...

Announcing Plasticulture Field Day July 30

  Mark here - I've got an admin responsibility on the same day, so won't be at this meeting, but nevertheless encourage one and all who are interested in seeing firsthand our team's trial of various biodegradable plastics in the field to...

Sunscald on Blackberry

I made a visit to a beautiful blackberry field a few days ago and was shown this example of sunscald, in this case on mature Ouachita blackberry. Notice these are not tunneled, and also one observes immediately that only the part of the fruit facing...

UC Cooperative Extension Santa Cruz County Has Moved!

Just to let you all know we completed our move from our office we've been at for 56 years into a new facility at 500 Westridge Drive which while on the other side of town.  This is part of a re-organization by the County of Santa Cruz to...

Central Coast Good Fire Fair Coming Up on October 5th

Attention all Santa Cruz Mountains Forest Enthusiasts! Our friends over at the UCANR Fire Network, in collaboration with numerous local partners, have put in an incredible amount of work to bring together the first annual CENTRAL COAST GOOD FIRE...

California Oak Moths Visible in Santa Cruz County

Are those moths? What are they doing to my oaks? Why are they out in the daytime? If you live in the Santa Cruz area (or much of the Bay Area) and have coast live oak or other oak species on your property, you have probably been wondering these exact...

Coast Redwoods Stewardship Webinar planned for June

I'm excited to announce we have a great webinar planned in June covering coast redwood ecology and stewardship both pre- and postfire! Join me and two of my amazing UCANR colleagues Kristen Shive and Cleo Wölfle Hazard. Sign up free at...

Ceanothus in the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Burn Footprint

Whether you've been hiking or driving through the CZU Fire burn footprint in the Santa Cruz Mountains, you might have noticed that the understory of the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests look quite different from how...

Pile Burns in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Conditions in the Santa Cruz Mountains have been ripe for pile burning recently. You may have noticed slight hints of smoke in the air as regional forest managers work quickly to burn woody material that has been carefully piled in fuel and forest health...

Evaluation of sudangrass and sorghum-sudangrass hybrid cover crops for winter control of storm water runoff and erosion in vegetable systems.

Introduction Traditional winter cereal cover crops planted in the Salinas valley have many potential benefits including, scavenging nitrate in the soil profile, increasing organic matter in the soil, and protecting the soil from erosion during storm...

New UCIPM Entomology Advisor--Dylan Beal

Hello everyone, I'm the new UC IPM Entomology Advisor serving the communities of Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties.  Born and raised in the Santa Clarita Valley, I'm excited to return to my home state of California. Inspired by a...

UCCE offers water measurement training Sept. 13 in Salinas

California water-rights holders are required by state law to measure and report the water they divert from surface streams. For people who wish to take the water measurements themselves, the University of California Cooperative Extension is offering...

2024 Fusarium wilt of lettuce variety trial field day

Register here: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=43345  

2024 Automated Technology Field day

University of California Cooperative Extension 2024 Automated Technology Field Day Thursday, June 27, 2024 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Hartnell East Campus, Salinas, CA 1752 East Alisal Road, Salinas (follow signs to demonstration...

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 Detected in California Dairies - What Ranchers Need to Know

Dr. Gabriele Maier, Professor of Extension, Beef Cattle Herd Health and Production, UC Davis September 2024 What happened? The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced in a press release on August 30th, 2024 that highly pathogenic...

Central Coast Rangeland Coalition Fall Workshop - October 17, 2024 at Cal Poly

  Join UC Cooperative Extension and Cal Poly for the Central Coast Rangeland Coalition Fall Workshop Date/Time: Thursday, October 17, 2024, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm Location: Cal Poly Beef Center Pennington Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 ...

Women in Ranching Education & Development

Two Community Wildfire Meetings: August 14th in Tres Pinos & August 15th in Paicines

The San Benito Wildfire Resilience Program (SBWRP) is hosting two community meetings in August to provide residents with information and gather input to update the countywide Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), last updated in 2010. ...

San Benito County Wildfire Protection Plan Event on July 17, 2024

Please join UCCE Fire Advisor Barb Satink Wolfson and a host of other partners to provide your input on a new San Benito County Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Date: July 17, 2024 Time: 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm Location: 549 Mission Vineyard Rd., San...

Battle Between a Butterfly and a Bee

So, here you are, a newly eclosed Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, eager to sip some nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. It's a warm, windless day, and you're anxious to score, score,...

UC Davis ENT Seminars: Look Who's Speaking

From honey bees to butterflies to nematodes--those will be some of the topics when the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology hosts its fall quarter seminars. The seminars begin Monday afternoon, Sept. 30 and continue every Monday through...

On Sept. 6, 2016, It Happened

On Sept. 6, 2016, it happened. A monarch fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville and touched down on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. It wasn't just "any ol' monarch"--if there's ever such a thing as "any ol'...

A Tiger and a Tithonia

When a tiger meets a Tithonia, or a Tithonia meets a tiger, Nature bursts forth in all its glory. Such was the case when we spotted a Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, foraging for nectar on a Mexican sunflower,...

Gulf Frit and Tithonia: Showstoppers

The Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, and the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, seem made for one another. Both are a showy orange. Both are show-stoppers. And both attract a photographer's eye. Especially when a Gulf Frit flutters...

Visual ID guide from UC aids in managing new almond pest

Nut orchard hygiene key to control carpophilus beetle, say UCCE, UC Integrated Pest Management experts Since the first reports of a new almond pest – the carpophilus beetle (Carpophilus truncatus) – came in during fall 2023, it has become...

UC seeks toddler volunteers for milk study

Researchers to study whether whole or low-fat milk is best for toddlers San Francisco Bay Area toddlers who drink cow's milk are being sought to participate in a 12-month study by UC Nutrition Policy Institute, a part of University of California...

Grasshoppers gobble crops, farm profits

UCCE advisors share control, abatement strategies across Northern California That buzzing noise in Northern California is the sound of grasshoppers chewing a path of destruction through crops and pollinator-friendly plants as they hop across an...

Could empty lots be growing food, economic opportunity?

UCCE scientists study feasibility of specialty crops for small urban growers The vacant lots around your neighborhood could be growing fruits and vegetables and making local produce more accessible – while reducing energy needed to transport and...

Paper highlights how climate change challenges, transforms agriculture

As the climate continues to change, the risks to farming are only going to increase. That's the key takeaway from a recent paper published by a team that included UC Merced and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers. The paper dives into...

Nuevo estudio de UC ayuda a agricultores a calcular el costo para producir fresas orgánicas

Un nuevo estudio que puede ayudar a los agricultores a calcular el costo y potencial rendimiento para el cultivo de fresas orgánicas en la costa central fue recientemente dado a conocer por la División de Agricultura y Recursos Naturales...

UCCE ayuda a mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y a reducir el desperdicio de comida entre familias del condado de San Bernardino

Entre agosto del 2023 y marzo del 2024, residentes de recursos limitados de diversos orígenes étnicos del condado de San Bernardino participaron en clases interactivas en las que expertos de Extensión Cooperativa de la Universidad...

Personas sin hogar cultivan alimentos y una mejor salud en albergue del condado de Alameda

La conversión de un viejo jardín de flores en un huerto de verduras ha dado un nuevo significado a la vida de varias personas sin hogar que, con orgullo, cultivan y cosechan las verduras que complementan las comidas con las que ellos y...

Entender las diferentes personalidades de pastoreo del ganado puede promover pastizales sustentables

Adaptar a las vacas a los pastizales según sus preferencias podría, además, ahorrar dinero a los criadores de ganado Según un estudio de la Universidad de California en Davis, conocer las diferentes personalidades de...

Expertos en agricultura hablan sobre los desafíos a los que se enfrenta esta industria en California

La agricultura genera 59 mil millones de dólares y emplea a cerca de 400 mil individuos en California. La industria, sin embargo, frecuentemente se ve amenazada ante los desafíos que representan los cambios climáticos, la...

New California Agriculture article highlights effects of prescribed fire on young Sierra Nevada Mixed-Conifers

California's forests have long been adapted to fire, where the presence of regular, low-severity fires helped maintain forest health. After decades of fire suppression, many private forest landowners are interested in reintroducing fire to their...

More than Fighting Fires: A Conversation with CALFIRE San Luis Obispo Unit Forester Dave Erickson

This July, San Luis Obispo county's first cultural burn since 1850 took place. This reintroduction of indigenous, ‘good fire' to the landscape was led by...

2024 CA Tree School: New event brought forest stewardship education and connection to Mendocino and El Dorado counties

  “We have a responsibility now that we own a piece of land,” shared Antonio, a new forest landowner who attended this year's inaugural California Tree School with his partner. “It's important to take care of it.” A...

Forest Stewardship Branches Out with California Tree School- Hopland

5,000 acres of Mendocino County oak woodlands provided the backdrop for UC ANR's first California Tree School session on May 4, which saw 45 forest landowners, natural resource professionals, and students join the UC ANR Forest Stewardship...

Supporting Community Wildfire Preparedness: A Conversation with Tahoe RCD’s Jason Brand

When looking to improve a region's wildfire resiliency, considering the impact of neighborhood level action cannot be understated. By tapping into existing community ties, the Tahoe RCD's Network of Fire Adapted Communities (Tahoe Network) program is...