http://ucanr.org/sites/KACLysimeter/blog/index.cfm?blogrss=21374&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed other Kearney and Small Crop conversations en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Sun, 19 May 2013 21:06:37 PST Sun, 19 May 2013 21:06:37 PST UC ANR The City of Parlier’s Earth Day celebration on March 30th attracted about 2000 attendees. Events included a tree planting, Easter egg hunt, family walk, folk dancing, zumba dancing, free raffles for prizes, games for youth, and face painting. Representatives from many local service organizations had booths that provided families with free items ranging from food to dental screening. KARE’s booth provided 1000 strawberry crowns and 2500 leaf lettuce transplants to the public. Youth......
]]> Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:51:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10261&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10261 In 2003, the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer (PSHB) was observed in Southern California. This beetle has a Fusarium sp. symbiont that causes susceptible host tree damage. The PSHB appears to be established in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties. In the Los Angeles area, PSHB has attacked over 200 species of native, ornamental and horticultural trees, including the native Coast Live Oak, California sycamore, and about 57% of the commonly used street trees in the area. Avocado trees are......
]]> Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:34:39 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10259&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10259 More than 1,600 third-graders and 330 teachers and chaperones from 24 Fresno County schools attended Farm and Nutrition Day March 22 at the Big Fresno Fairgrounds. Attendees had the opportunity to tour 50 stations with educational handouts, experiential workshops, presentations and demonstrations. Fresno County Farm Bureau organized the event with the assistance of several presenter groups, sponsors and volunteers, including two UC Agriculture and Natural Resources units. KARE provided short......
]]> Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:51:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10254&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10254 Themis Michailides, plant pathologist and lecturer in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis, and Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, recently visited Australia, primarily to visit pistachio and almond orchards and discuss disease control and food safety strategies for these crops. In 2011, Australia had excessive rains at harvest time, which resulted in pistachio crop losses of 40 to 50 percent due to anthracnose fungi. The lost crop was worth about $15 million. To help......
]]> Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:57:17 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10225&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10225 California's land grant universities are not like others across the nation. Understanding the dynamic generated by the state's unique three-campus system will be an essential attribute of the new dean of the UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES). This imperative was among the thoughts shared at a town hall meeting April 22 at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center convened by CDFA secretary Karen Ross and farmer John Harris. Ross and Harris,......
]]> Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:56:01 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9810&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9810 March 20, 2013, Ag Day: The California Advantage was held on the west lawn of the State Capitol, and gave UC Agriculture and Natural Resources the opportunity to share how we make a positive difference to healthy food systems, healthy environments, healthy communities and healthy Californians through our teaching, research, extension, youth development, and nutrition programs. Capitol Ag Day celebrates California’s bounty and dozens of booths allow attendees to learn about many of the......
]]> Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:41:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9676&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9676 Welcome to the newest edition of Small Farm News, the newsletter of the UC Small Farm Program. We no longer publish a traditional print newsletter, but have transitioned to this online-only format. We hope you find this new edition interesting, useful - and easy to share. You can read it all now or bookmark Vol. 1 2013 for later, or print a pdf version of the newsletter. In this issue: California Small Farm conference 2013There is still time to register for the California Small Farm......
]]> Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:38:10 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9314&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9314 There is still time to register for the California Small Farm Conference, being held on March 10-12, 2013. Join 500 farmers and representatives from the University of California, USDA agencies, farmers markets organizations and other nonprofits, as they gather at the Fresno Convention Center. Activities on Sunday include five Field Courses and the Tasting Reception. On Monday and Tuesday, there will be 25 workshops organized across five themes—Farmers Markets, Production, Farm......
]]> Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:05:28 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9313&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9313 California's Homemade Food Act (AB 1616) became effective on January 1, 2013. The bill allows individuals—including small-scale farmers--to market certain non-potentially hazardous foods made in private-home kitchens referred to as “cottage food operations” (CFOs), subject to several conditions--as described below. A two-tier cottage food operator registration and permitting system has been established to be enforced by local county or city environmental health agencies: 1)......
]]> Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:26:40 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9311&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9311 Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:02:51 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9310&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9310 Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:57:18 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9309&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9309 Small-scale growers can get reimbursed for part of their food safety audit, testing, or training expenses. California’s Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has a reimbursement program to assist specialty crop producers with the cost of first time food safety audits, informational assessments, water and/or soil testing, and training regarding Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). Small-scale growers can be reimbursed for up to $200 for these expenses. To request a reimbursement,......
]]> Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:33:16 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9308&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9308 The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources is participating in eight booths at the 2013 World Ag Expo, which will run from Feb. 12-14 at the International Agri-Center in Tulare. Pavilion A will house a cluster of University of California booths: UC Cooperative Extension Tulare County (UCCE) at booth 1411 will be next to Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KARE) at booth 1412, and Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) will be across the walkway at booth......
]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:09:21 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9197&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9197 Anaheim boasted a thriving wine industry in the late 1800s, before an unnamed affliction killed 40,000 acres of the grapevines and put 50 wineries out of business. The problem was later found to have been Pierce’s disease of grapevines. Would Anaheim be wine country today if it weren’t for Pierce’s disease? Probably not, but the sad fate of this Southern California wine industry underscores the importance of controlling the disease and the insects that spread it in......
]]> Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:48:06 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9164&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9164 The California Pistachio Research Board (CPRB) held a meeting at Kearney on January 17, 2013, to allow research programs to present research proposals for 2013 research funding. Twenty-eight research proposals were presented at the meeting, requesting a total of $1,076,000. Commodity research board funding is an essential part of University of California research programs. Established by a 2007 pistachio producer referendum, the CPRB is a state marketing order that receives mandatory......
]]> Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:20:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9137&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9137 Thanks to a gift from the California Pistachio Research Board, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources will soon be hiring a new UC Cooperative Extension specialist, announced Barbara Allen-Diaz, University of California vice president for Agriculture and Natural Resources. The Pistachio Research Board will donate $1.5 million to support a UC Cooperative Extension specialist to conduct nut and fruit disease research. This specialist position, which will be based in the Department of Plant......
]]> Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:34:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9135&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9135 Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:22:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8991&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8991 Entomologist Marshall Johnson, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, has received the Distinguished Scientist of the Year Award from the International Organization for Biological Control — Nearctic Regional Section. Johnson is based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier. Only one individual is recognized annually for the award. Nominees must have spent most of their career in the nearctic region, which......
]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:24:40 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8845&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8845 A training and certification workshop was held at UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center for agricultural pest management professionals and successfully added 23 individuals to the registry of Technical Service Providers . The goal of the workshop was to train, certify and register individuals with integrated pest management (IPM) expertise to support the mission of the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) as Technical Service......
]]> Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:02:13 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8805&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8805 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 Centerfor 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 14:54:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8673&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8673 The Fall/Winter 2012 issue of the UC Davis CA&ES Outlook magazine focuses on the Central Valley of California, with articles about valley alumni, students, research and facilities, including the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. The magazine notes that California is the top farm state in the nation in large part because of the agricultural productivity of the great Central Valley. "The Central Valley is an economic powerhouse for many reasons," wrote Neal Van Alfen,......
]]> Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:32:51 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8639&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8639 When California publishes its crop report in November, there will be a significant change in the ranking order of the state’s top agricultural commodities. In 2011, for the first time ever, the value of the California almond crop surpassed the state’s iconic grape industry to move into second place, behind dairy. California almonds are on a roll. In the last 20 years, scientific discovery and grower ingenuity have nearly doubled almond per-acre productivity. A good yield in the......
]]> Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:23:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8594&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8594 The California Small Farm Conference will grant nearly 100 scholarships to small scale farmers, agriculture students, family farmers, small farm employees and farmers’ market managers who may otherwise not have the finances to attend the California Small Farm Conference, March 10 to 12, 2013, in Fresno. Scholarships are awarded based on financial need. Depending on need, scholarships may include conference registration, conference-hosted meals, a ticket to attend the tasting reception,......
]]> Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:40:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8424&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8424 Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:21:38 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8423&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8423 Veterinarians at the University of California, Davis, warn pet owners to be careful about using rat poisons and similar compounds. In recent weeks, veterinarians at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital have seen a spike in accidental rodenticide poisonings. In the last two weeks of August alone, they diagnosed and treated six canine cases. If not treated, a dog can die within a week of ingesting rodenticides. "This is an all-too-common occurrence," said Karl......
]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2012 08:49:08 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8409&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8409 Alice Daniel, a reporter for the popular statewide public radio program The California Report, visited the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center today to gather information for a story on aflatoxin. Daniel interviewed Kearney-based UC Davis plant pathologist Themis Michailides, who led the team that discovered how to expose pistachio trees to spores of beneficial fungus that displace the fungi that produce aflatoxin. The fungus, AF-36, was used for the first time in pistachio......
]]> Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:00:21 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8398&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8398 UC and USDA APHIS recently presented a program at Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KARE) addressing the requirements for the export of California pomegranates to the Republic of Korea. James E. Adaskaveg, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Riverside presented information on the management of insects and pathogens on the Korean quarantine list. Magdalena Moreno from APHIS provided information on regulatory documentation required for exporting pomegranates to......
]]> Mon, 10 Sep 2012 11:33:20 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8296&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8296 Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:57:08 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8248&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8248 Employees from Constellation Brands, a vintner working closely with Kearney viticulture specialist Matthew Fidelibus, bought sample wines to Kearney today to compare with the corresponding grapes growing on the research vines. To read more about the research, see Vintner creates interesting new wines from research grapes....
]]> Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:37:40 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8160&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed ljvanderstaay@ucanr.edu(Laura Van der Staay) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8160 KARE's GIS Facility recently posted the Field-Level Water Management for Growers and Planners map interface. The site supports user-defined inputs including field site, soil type, crop type, irrigation method, and the typical range of Kc’s. Users will be able to access the website and navigate to an area of interest (county, township or field level) and use built-in query tools to retrieve a range of crop coefficients for that area. http://webgis.uckare.org/prop50/...
]]> Wed, 15 Aug 2012 16:00:38 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8153&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed klynn@ucanr.edu(Kris Lynn-Patterson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8153 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 09:05:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8102&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8102 Leslie Roche of Orosi, who served as a high school intern at Kearney, received the 2012 Shapiro Family Award for Excellence in Science for the quality of her doctorate dissertation and outstanding academic and research record at UC Davis. At Kearney, Roche worked with UC Davis entomologist Charlie Summers, UC Cooperative Extension advisor Jim Stapleton, and UCCE specialist Jeff Mitchell. "She did a bang-up job with us, continued through her undergraduate studies at UC Davis, and ended up......
]]> Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:17:30 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8040&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8040 Tue, 24 Jul 2012 10:55:24 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7998&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7998 A 12-year study published in the July-September 2012 issue of the University of California’s California Agriculture journal demonstrates that cotton grown in rotation with tomatoes — using lower-impact conservation tillage — can achieve yields similar to standard cultivation methods and at lower cost. Conservation tillage seeks to reduce the number of times that tractors cross the field, in order to protect the soil from erosion and compaction, and save time, fuel and labor......
]]> Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:12:49 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7979&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7979 Research conducted over the past 11 years at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier, Calif., will help ensure the safety of California’s $1.16 billion pistachio crop. This summer, for the first time, a beneficial fungus is being used in San Joaquin Valley pistachio orchards to protect the nuts from aflatoxin contamination. Aflatoxin can form on a wide variety of crops, from corn to cotton to tree nuts. Careful management practices help keep levels low, but......
]]> Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:34:21 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7925&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7925 During the 2000s, organic milk production was one of the fastest growing segments of organic agriculture in the United States, according to a USDA Economic Research Service publication Characteristics, Costs, and Issues for Organic Dairy Farming. In 2008, about 3 percent of the nation's cows were managed organically. Among the conditions necessary for a cow to produce organic milk, she must eat only organic feed or browse on organic pasture for at least the previous 36 months. However, dairy......
]]> Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:14:33 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7913&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7913 If a superb winegrape cultivar adapted to warm temperatures emerges from a research trial at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, the state’s premiere agricultural region may be able to establish a reputation for growing fine wines. For this reason, UC Cooperative Extension specialists in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis have teamed up with winemakers from Constellation Brands to identify a wine variety that excites the palette and flourishes......
]]> Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:46:05 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7836&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7836 Eight long-time UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center employees - with experience and institutional knowledge from a combined 238 years of service - retired today. About 100 current and retired Kearney staff and academics gathered in the center's multi-purpose room to see them off. The retirees are: Walt Bentley, UC Cooperative Extension advisor, Integrated Pest Management entomology, 36 years Diana Bulls, administrative assistant, 20 years Sal Garcia, assistant......
]]> Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:41:28 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7829&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7829 Preparing to conduct sensory testing of table grapes is Zilfina Rubio, a junior specialist in the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center lab of Mary Lu Arpaia, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UC Riverside. At the behest of the Table Grape Commission, members of the public are visiting Kearney's sensory lab facility today to taste and evaluate grape selections from the USDA's table grape breeding program....
]]> Thu, 28 Jun 2012 11:25:41 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7823&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7823 An international assemblage of minds is a key element in Themis Michailides' plant pathology lab at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Michailides is a plant pathologist and lecturer in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis and based at Kearney. Among the plant disease issues being addressed in the lab are aflatoxins in pistachios and almonds, black heart of pomegranate and limb dieback of figs. Below are some of the new faces who joined the Michaelides team in......
]]> Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:29:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7741&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7741 The Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center will staff a booth at a blueberry, blackberry and strawberry tasting 8 a.m. to noon June 23 at the Bravo Lake Botanical Garden, 200 E. Naranjo Blvd. in Woodlake, Calif. The event is hosted by UC Cooperative Extension in Tulare County, the UC small farm program, Woodlake Pride Inc., the California Blueberry Commission, the US Highbush Blueberry Council and the California Strawberry Commission. Visitors to the Kearney booth can try......
]]> Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:13:12 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7643&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7643 Only five years after the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center was dedicated, an entomologist fresh from earning a Ph.D. at Cornell University began working in field crop pest management at the Parlier, Calif., facility. “I started and just kept going,” said Charlie Summers, a research entomologist who was first affiliated with UC Berkeley and later affiliated with UC Davis. Summers ends a 42-year stretch at Kearney when he retires June 30. Summers grew up on a......
]]> Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:27:24 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7680&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7680 A highly regarded member of UC’s regional integrated pest management team at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, entomologist Walter Bentley retires June 30. Bentley transferred to Kearney in 1994 after 17 years as a UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Kern County, specializing in entomology. The integrated pest management team – with advisors representing the core pest management disciplines, entomology, nematology, weed science and plant pathology –......
]]> Mon, 28 May 2012 15:09:06 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7587&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7587 Manuel Jimenez, University of California Cooperative Extension advisor in Tulare County, hosted the annual spring blueberry open house at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center May 23. The event featured a tasting tour of dozens of blueberry varieties, review of an ongoing mulch variety trial, information about hoop houses and a first look at a new research project in which the most commonly grown commercial blueberries are grafted on a rootstock with greater tolerance for......
]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 08:19:12 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7552&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7552 Five students from Central America and the Caribbean who recently graduated from Reedley College with associate's degrees in agriculture business are undertaking a four-week internship at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. The students are part of Reedley College's Scholarships for Education and Economic Development (SEED) program, a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Agency for International Development and Georgetown University's Center for Intercultural Education......
]]> Wed, 23 May 2012 08:12:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7540&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7540 Nematodes, destructive pests recognized as one of the greatest threats to prolonged agricultural production worldwide, have been the focus of a distinguished 40-year career for UC Cooperative Extension specialist Michael McKenry, who retires June 30. McKenry is a nematologist in the UC Riverside Department of Nematology who is based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier. McKenry was born in Selma and raised on a farm where his family produced fruits and......
]]> Tue, 22 May 2012 12:30:47 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7536&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7536 The solar array at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center has been completed. Robert Ray, superintendent of the physical plant, said it will be integrated into the PG&E grid within a month and begin generating electricity for the F. Gordon Mitchell Post Harvest Laboratory, the sensory laboratory and a plant and sample handling lab. Below are photos of the construction process. Infrastructure has already been installed underground to expand the array when funds become......
]]> Fri, 04 May 2012 07:38:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7414&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7414 Fred Jensen had a gift for grooming future UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors. A litany of current and now-retired farm advisors began their careers working with Jensen when he was a viticulture specialist at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Jensen passed away April 18. He was 91. During his 15 years at Kearney, Jensen identified recent agricultural science graduates and hired them as staff research associates to work with him in the field and in his lab. He trained......
]]> Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:02:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7323&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7323 A group of world IPM leaders presented UC Cooperative Extension integrated pest management advisor Walt Bentley with its Lifetime Achievement Award at the 7th International IPM Symposium March 27 in Memphis, Tenn. Bentley also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists in February. Professionals and academics in the field of integrated pest management convene the international symposium annually to bring together the scientists and people who practice......
]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:47:25 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7297&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7297 An 80-panel solar array is being installed at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center to provide clean, green energy to the F. Gordon Mitchell Postharvest Laboratory, the sensory laboratory and a plant and sample handling lab. Initially, the array will generate 22.4 kilowatts of electricity per hour, a supply expected to cut the center's energy expenditures by $5,400 per year. "We have a significant amount of electrically intensive equipment in the post harvest laboratory," said......
]]> Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:11:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7300&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7300 Welcome to the newest edition of Small Farm News, the newsletter of the UC Small Farm Program.  With this issue, we have completed our transition from a traditional print newsletter to this new, online-only format. We hope you find this new edition just as interesting and useful as our classic newsletter — and easier to share. You can read it all now or bookmark Vol. 1 2012 for later. In this issue: Workshops to prepare growers for food safetyFor producers, food safety comes in many......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:40:32 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7093&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7093 For consumers, the effects of food safety practices can seem simple, though critically important: You’re either sick from the food you eat or you’re not. But for producers, food safety comes in many shades of risk at many critical points in their business operations: water testing, worker hygiene, harvest techniques, postharvest cooling and storage, previous land use, wildlife and more. To help small-scale farmers better plan for food safety concerns, several UC Cooperative Extension farm......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:40:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7154&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7154 At a recent statewide summit, California agritourism leaders overwhelmingly agreed that a statewide organization would be a major step toward improving agritourism support in the California. Agritourism is a completely new business for most farmers and ranchers, combining hospitality with agricultural production. Starting an agritourism enterprise requires learning new skills, complying with a multitude of new regulations, managing new risks, training new staff and collaborating with new......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:38:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7137&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7137 Though growers can earn retail prices at farmers markets, many farmers find their profits challenged by the additional marketing costs required, such as transportation and staff time. But one farmers market has developed a way that it can help farmers sell higher volumes to multiple buyers with just one trip — by serving as a venue for sales to restaurants and wholesale distributors, in addition to individual customers. The Santa Monica Farmers Market hosts 75-80 farmers every Wednesday and......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:36:35 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7104&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7104 California growers considering organic certification were able to hear about the value of doing so — and tips for getting started — from a farmer, buyer and agricultural economist at one of the California Small Farm Conference workshops. “I had about a thousand customers per week at the farmers market, pulling up my carrots and saying, ‘Are these organic?’ And I got tired of that question,” said farmer Phil McGrath, about one of the many reasons he chose to grow organically. McGrath and a......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:35:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7126&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7126 With the growing popularity of community supported agriculture has come a proliferation of CSA models, with a wide variety of structure, goals, customer interactions and food products. Two different CSAs offered tips to farmers and workshop participants at the California Small Farm Conference. On the panel were John Fonteyn and Elizabeth Del Negro, who operate Rio Gozo Farm in Ojai on 3.5 leased acres as the sole employees. Also on the panel was Sarah Nolan, the CSA coordinator for South......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:35:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7130&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7130 The presenter twisted his mustache before grabbing hold of the podium. "You will double your production! And you will have no pests, no diseases," he said, emphatically promoting an unnamed agricultural product to the audience gathered. "You ask me, how can you afford this product? I ask you, how can you not afford it?" he said. After his roaring introduction to participants at the California Small Farm Conference, the presenter Jim Downer, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Ventura County,......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:33:07 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7092&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7092 A farm advisor who has been instrumental in developing profitable niches for farmers was named "Outstanding Agricultural Educator" with a 2012 Pedro Ilic Award, for his dedication to small-scale farming. Paul Vossen, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Sonoma and Marin counties, accepted the award on March 5 at the California Small Farm Conference in Valencia. "Paul has contributed tremendously to the success of the growing California olive oil industry," said Shermain Hardesty, who presented......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:27:24 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7144&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7144 Nearly 2,000 third-graders visited the Fresno County fairgrounds March 23 to learn about the connection between the food they eat and their home county's No. 1 economic driver, agriculture. Farm and Nutrition Day is sponsored by the Fresno County Farm Bureau and the Fresno Fair. UC Cooperative Extension in Fresno County has been involved since the event's inception in 2005; this was the first year for the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center to bring an educational booth to......
]]> Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:15:57 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7096&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7096 Solar tents can easily, inexpensively and successfully kill weed seeds and rhizomes, eliminating the need for hauling weeds out of remote areas where the unwanted plants have taken hold, a UC researcher has demonstrated. Research by Jim Stapleton, a UC Cooperative Extension advisor and Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program Coordinator for Natural Resources, based at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, was published as Feasibility of solar tents for inactivating weedy......
]]> Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:25:05 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7075&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7075 Freelance photographer Elena Zhukova was at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center March 8 as part of a photo shoot involving all the UC campuses. To browse the professional photos Zhukova shot at other UC locations, visit the UC Office of the President gallery website. Below are snap shots of Zhukova at work at Kearney....
]]> Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:17:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6989&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6989 Felicitas "Lita" Santos is marking her last day at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center March 8. Santos worked at Kearney for 25 years, much of that time staffing the receptionist's desk in the main academic building. With her cheerful demeanor and vast knowledge of the institution, she has come to be known as "The Face of Kearney."...
]]> Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:16:12 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6987&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6987 Namesake of the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center’s postharvest center, F. Gordon Mitchell, died in February. He was 88. Mr. Mitchell began his distinguished career with the University of California Cooperative Extension immediately following graduation from college in 1949. He was the viticulture advisor in San Joaquin County for eight years before taking a position as statewide pomology specialist at UC Davis in 1957. During his career, Mr. Mitchell’s work resulted in an......
]]> Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:23:32 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6977&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6977 In recognition of a productive career advancing integrated pest management programs in California and for tireless support of IPM practitioners, UC IPM entomologist Walt Bentley received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists. The award was presented at the association's annual meeting, Feb. 6 in Oxnard, Calif., by his IPM colleague Pete Goodell, a nemotologist who is, like Bentley, based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in......
]]> Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:04:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6871&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6871 The UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center has a presence at what is billed the world's largest agricultural exposition, the World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif., Feb. 14-16, 2012....
]]> Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:06:49 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6840&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6840 The production costs for peaches grown in California are heavily dependent on the costs of hand labor for pruning, thinning and harvest. This work takes a lot of time in part because farmworkers must climb up and down ladders and reposition the ladders as they move through the orchard. UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center scientists have found that production costs can be cut dramatically by growing “dwarf” trees that minimize the need for ladder access. However, the limiting......
]]> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:53:04 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6686&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6686 Applying composted green waste to a field before solarization is more effective for killing weed seeds than solarization alone, according to the preliminary findings of research conducted at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center last summer. Soil solarization involves covering a field with clear plastic mulch to trap solar radiation in moist soil. During the hot summer months, the soil temperature can rise to levels that can kill soilborne diseases, nematodes and weed......
]]> Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:40:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6705&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6705 The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center is growing this year. The program will add two positions in the coming months with new grant funding as more scientists recognize the value of employing spatial mapping in their agricultural research, said Kris Lynn-Patterson, the GIS Academic Coordinator at Kearney. GIS is giving researchers and growers a whole new perspective of the land. GIS software enables users to attach landscape......
]]> Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:46:34 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6685&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6685 A newly redesigned website, the UC Fruit Report, was launched at the beginning of 2012 with comprehensive information for Central Valley tree fruit producers. The website contains research and photos that three UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists developed and collected over the past 30 years. Website visitors will find useful horticultural information about establishing and managing fresh market peach, plum and nectarine orchards. UC pomology specialist Scott Johnson, who is......
]]> Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:17:35 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6657&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6657 Calling all small-scale farmers and their supporters! Now is the season of awards and conferences in the agricultural world — and that goes for small-scale farmers too. At the moment, we are seeking nominations for the Pedro Ilic Awards, which honor dedication to small-scale farming. These awards are named for Pedro Ilic, Fresno County small-scale farm advisor, whose death in 1994 prompted the UC Small Farm Program to annually honor those who carry out his legacy of personal commitment to......
]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:12:07 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6644&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6644 Richard "Dick" Rice passed away on Dec. 24, 2011, at the age of 74. Dr. Rice was a UC Davis entomologist who worked at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center for 33 years. Dr. Rice was raised and spent much of his career in the Central Valley. He attended Sultana Grammar School, Dinuba High School and a semester at Reedley Jr. College before going on to UC Davis in 1956. There he earned his bachelor's degree in 1960 and master's degree in 1961 before serving two years......
]]> Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:29:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6494&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6494 Romanesco, rainbow carrots, party cauliflower and watermelon radishes — the vegetables of the Great Veggie Adventure — are just four of the many vegetables that farm advisors with the UC Small Farm Program have worked with recently. Richard Molinar, farm advisor with UC Cooperative Extension and the Small Farm Program, frequently finds himself on his own "vegetable adventures" when visiting Hmong and Lao farmers in Fresno county with Michael Yang, agricultural assistant. "One of the......
]]> Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:17:53 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6334&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6334 The growing interest in valley pomegranate production was demonstrated by a standing-room-only crowd of more than 130 farmers, pest control advisers and industry representatives at the San Joaquin Valley Pomegranate Meeting Nov. 29 at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. UC Integrated Pest Management Program entomologist Walt Bentley opened the meeting with an overview of the crop's most serious insect pests. Bentley suggested growers focus on omnivorous leaf rollers and......
]]> Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:49:28 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6282&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6282   While growing vegetables for the Great Veggie Adventure, at least one California farm found a new product to sell at its farmers market booths. Valdivia Farms in Carlsbad normally grows heirloom tomatoes, baby squash and specialty bean varieties. But Ramiro Lobo, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor with San Diego County, asked them to try some colorful varieties of cauliflower, carrots and radishes as part of the Great Veggie Adventure. "We don't have a research station here in San......
]]> Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:48:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6209&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6209 UC subtropical horticulture specialist Mary Lu Arpaia, who is based at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, was one of four UC specialists who traveled to Sarajevo Oct. 24-28 at the request of local officials to present a condensed version of the UC Postharvest Technology Short Course. Nearly 100 participants from 11 countries attended the program, which included lectures and a field tour. Simultaneous translation was offered in Bosnian and Russian. “To me it was a......
]]> Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:23:20 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6135&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6135 An early October rainstorm in the San Joaquin Valley provided UC viticulture specialist Matthew Fidelibus an ideal opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of plastic vine covers for protecting late-season table grapes from inclement weather. Fidelibus, who is based at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, installed the covers in September on a Redglobe vineyard near Easton. Some farmers choose to grow late season table grapes – such as Autumn King, Crimson Seedless and......
]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:38:11 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6005&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6005 UC integrated pest management entomologist Walter Bentley has received the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Extension in recognition of his 34-year career dedicated to the development and delivery of practical, relevant and sensible pest management programs to the people of California. Bentley was named the UC Cooperative Extension entomology advisor for Kern County in 1977. In 1994, he was promoted to his position with the IPM program and......
]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:37:20 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6044&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6044 The National Sorghum Producers recognized Dr. Jeff Dahlberg as the 2011 NSP Outstanding Achievement Award recipient during the 28th Biennial Sorghum Research and Utilization Conference held Sept. 14 in Stillwater, Okla. Dahlberg served as research director for the National Sorghum Producers and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program. He also previously served as the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) curator for sorghum. He returned to his home state of California in December 2010 to work......
]]> Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:52:35 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5901&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5901 L. Peter Christensen passed away peacefully at Hinds Hospice in Fresno, on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011. Born in Selma, Calif., on Nov. 1, 1934, he was the grandson of Danish immigrants. Both his grandfather and father were grape growers in Selma. A devoted, loving, self-sacrificing husband and father, Peter wed Eleanor K. Honzik in 1960, with whom he was married for 51 years and raised three sons in Fresno, California. Having grown up working in his parents' vineyard, Peter became an......
]]> Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:56:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5897&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5897 Drought tolerant, fast growing and nearly pest free, forage sorghum has the potential to be a valuable feed crop in California, says Dr. Jeff Dahlberg, a sorghum expert and the director of the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Dahlberg introduced San Joaquin Valley farmers to a new sorghum variety trial during the Alfalfa Field Day Sept. 8. The trial, which compares 80 varieties of forage sorghum, is also being conducted at the UC West Side Research and Extension Center in......
]]> Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:18:09 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5720&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5720 Woody Tasch, the founder of Slow Money, will speak on “Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Matter” Sept. 20 in Davis, at an event organized by the UC Small Farm Program. The talk, along with introductions, a Q&A session and light refreshments, will be 4-6 p.m. at the Rominger West Winery, 4602 Second St. in Davis. Tickets are $10, and reservations are available online at http://ucanr.org/slowmoney.Slow Money is a national network dedicated to investing in local food and agricultural......
]]> Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:34:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5668&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5668 Farmers' rugged independence and tendency toward experiential learning make them the ideal candidates for conducting their own on-farm research. UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors will provide the basic tenants for conducting such studies during the Alfalfa Field Day, Thursday, Sept. 8, at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier. Though farmers don't have to employ the rigorous scientific processes used by UC academics conducting agricultural research,......
]]> Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:21:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5705&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5705 “We really all wanted to be farmers, not truckers,” said farmer Dru Rivers, while discussing the motivations behind the 1981 founding of YoCal Produce Cooperative. Now as then, the logistics of moving farm-fresh products from fields to markets — not only transportation, but also cold storage, marketing, sales and food safety coordination — can present a challenge for many small-scale farmers. Collaboration as a way to meet these needs was the topic of the Collaborating to Access New Markets......
]]> Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:49:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5884&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5884 There was a surprise waiting for the food safety auditor when he looked around for signs of wildlife, though the farmer had told him his farm didn’t have any rodent problems. Under a bin were some tunnels, one of which contained a dead mouse. “You don’t want an inspector to find a dead mouse 6 feet from your strawberries,” said Richard Molinar, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor, in recounting the story. “First you need to think about everything in the field, but then you also have to be......
]]> Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:31:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5885&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5885 In case you missed it, here is our traditional PDF newsletter, also called Small Farm News. Why might you have missed it? Well, this newsletter started out as a print publication, mailed quarterly to several thousand subscribers. The newsletter is intended for farmers, ranchers, farm advisors, agricultural organizations and others interested in keeping up with information pertinent to California's small farms. For a few years, we encouraged subscribers to consider switching to an email......
]]> Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:30:30 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5670&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5670 A new winegrape variety trial at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center may help local vintners add a touch of distinction to San Joaquin Valley wines. During Kearney Grape Day, Aug. 16, UC Cooperative Extension viticulture specialist James Wolpert introduced growers to the 55 unusual varieties from Portugal, Spain, Italy and France being evaluated at Kearney. But don't expect to see these exotic red and white wine varietals - such as Corvina Veronese, Forastera, Trebbiano......
]]> Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:39:28 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5534&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5534 Some people say rabbiteye blueberries get their nickname from the circle on the blossom end the fruit. Others say the fruit's tendency to turn pink before going blue is reminiscent of a rabbit's eye. Whatever the reason, late ripening rabbiteye blueberries can provide San Joaquin Valley growers the ability to harvest fruit through the end of August, capturing a potentially lucrative market window, says UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Manuel Jimenez. Jimenez hosted blueberry growers at......
]]> Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:57:06 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5510&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5510 The UC Riverside avocado breeding program has identified a promising new avocado variety, which scientists believe will soon take off commercially. The GEM avocado is the great-granddaughter of Hass avocado, which is currently the industry standard in California. GEM has all the excellent characteristics of Hass avocados - creamy, nutty flesh; dark, pebbly skin when ripe - and it has additional benefits for the grower, according to Mary Lu Arpaia, a UC Cooperative Extension......
]]> Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:01:42 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5360&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5360 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:39:16 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5511&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5511 The broad maple-like leaves and bright green curly-cue tendrils of grapevines are a familiar sight during the University of California’s annual Kearney Grape Day. At this year’s event, Aug. 16, participants will also get a guided tour of the vines’ interior vascular system in a presentation about grapevine water transport physiology. USDA plant biologist Andrew McElrone is using high resolution computed tomography – a type of cat scan similar to the medical imaging diagnostic system – to......
]]> Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:48:38 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5342&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5342 Forty-two local high school students learned about agricultural career pathways and how to advocate for agriculture by participating in Partners in Agricultural Leadership, a Reedley College-administered USDA Hispanic Serving Institution grant-funded competitive agricultural leadership and education program. Over the two-year program, Reedley College partnered with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSU Fresno, Fresno County Farm Bureau, Kingsburg Administrative Committee, Reedley College Ag Backers......
]]> Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:21:43 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5232&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5232 The Kearney community marked the retirement of its long-time computer programmer John Rassmussen today. John came to Kearney shortly after graduating from college to manage a brand new integrated pest management outreach system located at the field station. In 1981, IPM was delving into computer communications by offering a weather database, news features and pest management guidelines that could be read on terminals at UC Cooperative Extension county offices. The computer at Kearney - with......
]]> Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:22:15 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5201&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5201 Staff and academics at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KARE) hosted the Central California Blood Center's Blood Mobile today. In all, 22 people stepped up to donate a pint. The Central California Blood Center says more than 75 percent of Americans who reach age 72 will need blood at some point in their lifetimes; 97 percent will have a loved one or friend who will need life-saving blood. Among the most common procedures that require blood are heart surgery,......
]]> Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:59:36 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5179&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5179 A group of farmers from Tongyeong, South Korea, visited the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center today to learn about the scope of research activities under way at the facility. The visit was arranged by the City of Reedley, situated 4 miles east of Kearney. Reedley and Tongyeong are sister cities. The visiting farmers produce a diversity of crops in South Korea, including citrus, strawberries, orchids, kiwis, mangos and figs. At Kearney, they toured the post harvest......
]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:11:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5053&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5053 Before you can plant vegetables for a field experiment, you will need ... a field to plant them in. Sure, you'll also need a seed or a plant, some tools, some knowledge and a variety of other things. But definitely before you can plant anything, you need somewhere to plant it. Sometimes the "where" of planting is in a pot, in a greenhouse or in a garden. Many farm advisors — including some who work with the UC Small Farm Program — are able to plant experimental field plots at one of the......
]]> Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:45:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4968&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4968 In case you missed it: A brand-new, revised edition of the Small Farm Handbook is now available from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. The 2011 edition is a collection of expertise from 31 University of California authors, including farm advisors and specialists. This 188-page book has 11 chapters covering both the business side and the farming side of operating a small-scale farm. "One thing that’s different about this edition is that we really tried to focus on......
]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:37:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4846&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4846 With the cooler weather and later developing cotton crop in the San Joaquin Valley, 2011 is providing some challenges to cotton production. Add to that challenge the possibility of moderate to severe Lygus outbreaks in some locations. The large amount of rainfall this winter and spring will set the stage for more Lygus in summer. The relationship between historic rainfall records and annual cotton loss estimates supports the idea that Lygus will be more problematic this year and observations......
]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:08:44 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5001&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed pbgoodell@ucanr.edu(Peter Goodell) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5001 The first stop on country music artist Michael Peterson's whirlwind tour of San Joaquin Valley agriculture today was the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, where he enjoyed fresh fruit produced by local farmers and was introduced to the science behind the California agricultural industry's tremendous success. Peterson was in the Fresno area as a guest of the World Ag Expo, the largest agricultural trade show in the world, which takes place each February in Tulare. Expo......
]]> Tue, 31 May 2011 14:06:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4981&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4981 Hispanic farmers gathered at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center today for a half-day seminar in Spanish about small-scale agricultural production. A key topic was food safety. UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Richard Molinar acknowledged at the meeting that farmers who have been producing crops for dozens of years without incident might wonder why documenting food safety procedures is warranted. He said heightened awareness of food safety issues has consumers and......
]]> Wed, 25 May 2011 12:28:14 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4944&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4944 Just as grape growers learn they have made excellent progress toward eradicating European grapevine moth, officials are expressing concern over a new exotic insect pest, the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB). BMSB is now found in 33 states. Although not established in California, it has been identified in Los Angeles and Solano counties. BMBS can fly, but they primarily move into new areas by hitchhiking on vehicles and equipment. Native to Asia, it's thought that BMSB arrived in packing......
]]> Tue, 24 May 2011 09:44:46 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4937&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4937