An article in the agribusiness newspaper Capital Press about how much money is being spent on research around California to develop alternatives to fossil fuels was picked up from a UC ANR news release touting the most recent issue of California Agriculture journal.
Writer Tim Hearden's story, however, refers in the third paragraph to "the study," when in fact the release reported that more than two-thirds of a billion dollars coming from corporate and government sources are funding dozens of studies taking place at five research locations, according to Janet Byron, managing editor of California Agriculture.
"I'm grateful for the Capital Press story, but it's interesting to see how our material was used," Bryon said.
Also somewhat perplexing was Hearden's use of quotes from UC Davis news service public information representative Sylvia Wright. I tried to contact Wright to find out how the interview came about, but she is not available today.
Much of Hearden's material came directly from the release, so his story serves as another avenue for spreading word about UC research efforts to build better biofuels and help California reach its ambitious goal of a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020.
California farmers, forests and landscapes could produce 30 million tons of renewable biomass for electricity generation, biofuels and industrial processing, the equivalent of 2 billion gallons of gasoline annually, according to Bryan Jenkins, director of the UC Davis Energy Institute.
The Oct.-Dec. 2009 issue of California Agriculture journal
The tour's five stops included a Mediterranean food producer, a pistachio orchard, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s new rail shipment yard, a prune orchard and a walnut farm. At the latter two stops, UC Cooperative Extension researchers explained their work.
In photos accompanying the story, UCCE farm advisor Allan Fulton is shown discussing stress testing trees and farm advisor Richard Buchner is shown explaining the use of pheromones for coddling moth control.
Hacking noted she was aboard Bus 4, in which farm advisor Joe Connell manned the microphone and "chatted up the local farm scenery and answered questions from bus passengers."
A perhaps unfair but fun part of writing this blog is pointing out amusing errors that reporters make.
At a pistachio farm north of Chico, Hacking reported on growers John and Sue Roney's description of their operation.
"The pistachio trees are wind-pollinated and require one male bee for every 25 trees, John Roney told the groups of visitors," Hacking wrote.
Now that would be one busy bee! Actually, I'm pretty sure Roney said that 25 (female) pistachio trees require one male tree for pollination.
San Diego County officials are calling on a UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor once again to help solve a pesky problem with gnats, according to an article in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.
Last year, residents of the north San Diego County community of Jacumba were plagued by gnats and believed their source was a local organic farm. UCCE farm advisor Jim Bethke confirmed their suspicions and began working with the farmer to find an environmentally sound way to control the pests.
Now the problem has spread to Escondido, Fallbrook, Rainbow and Oceanside, the article said.
"This (gnat problem) has become a trend. There is something happening in Southern California," Bethke was quoted. "It may be associated with the drought or a type of agriculture, but there are more gnats this year in general in all areas. I also think that the problem in Jacumba has made people more aware of it -- that they can complain about it."
An article in the same newspaper last January said Jacumba residents couldn't enjoy their outdoor patios and that local schools provided fans to keep gnats off children eating their lunches outside, as reported in this ANR News blog post.
Reporter Angela Lau wrote in today's story that Bethke believes farms, creeks, rivers and lakes in Escondido and Fallbrook are the breeding grounds for the north county's troublesome gnats. He is working with scientists at UC Riverside to find solutions that would allow residents and organic farms to comfortably co-exist.
"A lot of people don't believe the problem can be solved unless the farm is gone," Bethke was quoted. "I don't believe that. The problem can be solved."
gnat
One of the reasons McGourty applied for the position, he explained in his written application, was because UC President Mark Yudof encouraged all UC faculty to reach out to K-12 education, "as the future depends on quality public schools in the state."
McGourty was also asked in the application about his knowledge of the Governor's budget and its impact to education.
"The present budget is abysmal," he responded. "We spend more on prisons than the combined budget of UC, CSU, and community college systems. Too many prisoners are high school drop outs. We cannot afford to have so many people outside of our economic mainstream. We need to have a school system that helps students who learn differently, are differently enabled and not simply focus on delivering a literal arts education for college-bound students. The immediate concern is that a challenging budget will negate many of the positive gains for K-12 education that were made in the previous two decades, such s classroom size reduction, tech education and electives that make school more appealing and interesting to students."
One of the topics of McGourty's research in his role with UCCE is biodynamic agricultural production, which was the focus of a ANR feature story.
Biodynamic farming is similar to organic production. As on organic farms, no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are used. The farm is viewed as its own ecosystem and typically supports a diverse mix of crops and livestock, which are considered complimentary. Biodynamic farmers use unique preparations and compost. Planting, cultural operations and harvesting are guided by celestial events.
“Some people scoff or roll their eyes,” McGourty said. “I am interested in looking objectively at what a group of dedicated farmers take very, very seriously. More importantly, they are getting some very good results in their winegrapes and wines.”
New school board member.
UC ANR's Web Action Team has added new features to the blog system that now appear on the ANR News Blog. On the upper right, you will see icons for "share," "e-mail," and "print."
Clicking on the "share" icon allows readers to quickly and easily add the post to their favorite social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, Digg and many others. Print and e-mail also simplify the sharing of information from the blog using more traditional communications approaches.
Note: The ANR News Blog is on the Web in two formats. The new features are only available on the original format. The "new and improved" format has a better look and more links, but does not yet have the share, e-mail, print or comment features.
