(The following was taken from Jeff Mitchell's presentation.)

Jeff Mitchell, Cooperative Extension cropping systems specialist at the UC ANR Kearney Agricultural Research & Extension Center and in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis specializing in vegetable cropping systems, irrigation management, soil quality, organic soil amendments, extension models, and postharvest physiology was a presenter at the 2015 STEM conference held at Reedley College on April 25, 2015. About 1300 middle and high school students from the local region came to learn about careers requiring an educational focus on science, technology, engineering, and/or math. Mitchell's workshop was called “SOIL: Get Your Hands Dirty!”

Mitchell shared how he became an extension specialist, emphasizing that broad life experiences can often help you discover your passion and lead to satisfying career choices.

Students learned that we will have an additional 3 billion people by 2050. This leads to the problem that the estimated food production demand from 2010 through 2050 will be 730 Exacal (an Exacal is 10¹⁸ calories), which is more than the demand we had over all of human history. Related problems are that we risk having a food production deficit and a water deficit. There is a linear relationship between soil organic matter (%) and available water content (%).  So, if we need to increase our food production with finite resources, we need to keep our soil healthy and productive. Whichever country develops strategies and technologies that allow the soil health and soil water availability at the root zone to be maximized will be ahead in the race to feed the world.

Just like caring about our own health, we must care about the health of our natural resources. Mitchell shared that 2015 is the international year of soils with the motto, “healthy soils for a healthy life.” Innovative farmers and scientists are using the concept of soil health, which “has added principles and dimensions of soil biology and agroecology to our understanding and consideration of the overall health of the soil resource base. It is not easy to perfect a no-till or conservation agriculture tillage strategy, but once one succeeds, the soil health approach allows a farmer to “maximize profits and increase production while protecting [his or her] land.”

Students were posed the question, “Are there indications that soil function, soil quality, or soil health is declining in California?” This question can be answered by testable hypotheses, and is a good place for university/federal research support partnerships. “Is there evidence that water intake characteristics of soils might be improved? Is there evidence that the value of soil biodiversity may not be expressed or realized to some sort of optimal extent?... Is there evidence that soil water storage and movement are not what they might be for optimal water use efficiency and benefit?”

Mitchell noted that Dr. Dwayne Beck of the Dakota Lakes Research Farm commented that natural systems…

• Harvest the maximum amount of sunlight
• Leak very few nutrients, including CO₂
• Have diversity
• Tend not to export nutrients
• Make maximum use of water and nutrients by having highly developed porosity and Mycorrhizae (VAM) webs
• Do not do tillage

Mitchell also noted that USDA NRCS states that managing for soil health includes…

• Minimizing soil disturbance
• Maximizing the diversity of plants in rotation/cover crops
• Keeping living roots in the soil as much as possible, and
• Keeping the soil covered with plants and plant residues at all times

… and will unlock the secrets of the soil.

Mitchell noted that there are many farmers, university scientists and USDA scientists studying conservation agriculture as a tool to meet the challenges of population growth. Conservation Agriculture

• Has developed to be a technically viable, sustainable, and economic alternative to current crop production practices
• Is gaining acceptance in many parts of the world as an alternative to both conventional agriculture and organic agriculture
• Is the integration of ecological management with modern, scientific, agricultural production
• Is not ‘business as usual,' based primarily or solely on maximizing yields
• It is based on optimizing yields and profits to achieve a balance of agricultural, economic and environmental benefits
• It advocates that the combined economic and social benefits gained from combining production and protecting the environment, including reduced input and labor costs, are greater than those from production alone.

Conservation agriculture strategies include

• Minimal soil disturbance
• Preservation of residues that provide permanent soil cover
• Diverse crop rotations
• Use of cover crops
• Integrated pest management
• Reliance on precision, highly efficient irrigation
• Controlled or limited mechanical traffic over agricultural soils

Mitchell noted that “More with less”…agriculture in the future will have to sustainably produce more food, feed, fiber and energy on less land through more efficient use of natural resources and with minimal impact on the environment in order to meet growing population demands. This will become a global imperative. In 2012, Beck stated that the USDA Agricultural Research Service National Program 216, Agricultural Systems Competitiveness and Sustainability is “The agronomic and ecological equivalent of the moon race of the 1960's…They did not achieve a successful landing by testing small incremental improvements in rocket design. They did it by having a specific goal and teams focused on developing the techniques required to achieve that goal.”

Therefore, if a student's passion is to benefit the world by ensuring that there is a sustainable, safe, affordable and abundant supply of nutritious food, feed, fiber, housing and water, then a career pathway in agricultural engineering, biological engineering, agronomy, soil science, plant science, genetics, entomology, nematology, plant pathology, agricultural economy, and other related STEM fields of study are all good choices.

Students were able to see the benefits of an ongoing conservation tillage trial that is being conducted at West Side Research & Extension Center. There were samples of conventional and conservation tillage soil. Students noted that the conservation tillage soil was able to hold its shape while soaking up water when dipped in the water, and that the conventional tillage soil dispersed into the water.

It's that time of year when volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions released from nonfumigant pesticide applications can impair air quality. Regulations are in effect that growers and pest control advisers should know about, especially for the San Joaquin Valley starting May 1. 

Here are highlights from Pam Wofford, Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), regarding the San Joaquin Valley. Pest control advisers cannot recommend and growers cannot use:

• high-VOC products containing abamectin, chlorpyrifos, gibberellins, or oxyfluorfen
• between May 1 and October 31, 2015 and again for May – Oct. 2016
• for alfalfa, almond, citrus, cotton, grape, pistachio, or walnut 

Review the updated factsheet for nonfumigant regulations, available on the DPR website. Limited, specific exceptions are allowed.  For exceptions, a PCA recommendation is required.  

No regulations affect the use of low-VOC products. Pest control dealer requirements remain unchanged, as do fumigant VOC requirements. 

Nonfumigant VOC emissions regulations for the San Joaquin Valley strive to maintain VOC emissions below the state implementation plan goal of 18.1 tons/day.  In 2013, emissions increased to 18.28 tons/day from 16.26 tons/day in 2012. 

View the 2013 VOC inventory for a report on all five ozone nonattainment areas on the DPR website. In addition to state implementation goals, there are VOC regulation benchmark goals to reduce emissions by 12 to 20% from emission levels in 1990. In 2013, VOC levels were reduced 11 to 88%. 

 VOC resources:

• Department of Pesticide Regulation VOC information
• Nonfumigant pesticide product VOC information
• UC IPM VOC: learn to minimize emissions and use DPR's VOC calculators
• UCIPM Pest Management Guidelines
  • Alfalfa
  • Almond
  • Citrus
  • Cotton
  • Grape
  • Pistachio
  • Walnut

Spider mites, fruit moth and twig borer larvae, aphids, and bark cankers are just a few pests that can wreak havoc on stone fruit trees. With spring well underway and trees in full bloom and beginning to develop fruit, it's time to monitor and take action before these pests get out of hand.  

UC IPM teamed up with UC farm advisors to develop a series of how-to videos that can help growers and pest control advisers monitor for pests and damage and determine if and when treatment is needed. 

In one video, Sacramento Area IPM Advisor Emily Symmes gives a brief overview of how to monitor for webspinning spider mites. Spider mites build up in stone fruit trees as the weather warms up. Late spring through summer is the ideal time to monitor for mites and their damage, which includes leaf stippling and webbing. If mites build up too much, leaves can drop, fruit may not fully develop, and branches and fruit can be exposed to sunburn.  

Shoot strikes, or dead drooping leaf tips, are often seen on young peach and nectarine trees. In a second video, UC Sutter and Yuba County Farm Advisor Janine Hasey explains how to monitor for shoot strikes and how to distinguish the culprits, oriental fruit moth and peach twig borer. Although Oriental fruit moth and peach twig borer can bore into both foliage and fruit, they cause the most devastating damage by feeding on fruit. Early season monitoring and treatment can prevent future fruit loss. 

In plum and prune orchards, leaf curl aphids and mealy plum aphids cause leaves to curl and become distorted. Aphids produce honeydew, which can lead to the development of sooty mold, causing fruit to crack and blacken. Aphids are often present when leaves start to grow. In his video, Rick Buchner, UC farm advisor for Tehama County, discusses how to monitor for aphids and explains how to decide when treatment is warranted. 

In a final video, UC Sacramento County Farm Advisor Chuck Ingels teaches how to distinguish Phytophthora root and crown rot from bacterial canker. The two diseases are often confused because they both cause bark cankers.  Phytophthora root and crown rot is confined to the lower trunk, but when a bacterial canker infection occurs in the tree trunk, the diseases can often be confused. Bacterial canker can be confirmed by cutting away the outer bark and looking for characteristic red flecks on the inner bark. Correct identification of these diseases will help in choosing a management strategy.

You can find all of these how-to videos on the UC IPM video library page. For specific information about managing pests in stone fruits or other crops, see the Pest Management Guidelines.

Jennifer Randall, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Weed Science at New Mexico State University provided a presentation on “Pistachio Bushy Top Syndrome: Disease etiology and diagnosis procedures" on April 7, 2015 at Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KARE).

The presentation was followed by a Q&A session conducted by Randall; Florent Trouillas, Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist at KARE and in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis specializing in fruit and nut crops; Craig Kallsen, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Kern County, specializing in citrus, subtropical horticulture and pistachios; Robert Beede, UC Cooperative Extension advisor, emeritus, in Kings County, specializing in horticulture: tree fruit, nuts and grapes; and Elizabeth Fichtner, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Tulare County, specializing in orchard systems.

Background: In the last few years, a new disease affecting UCB1 rootstocks emerged in CA, AZ, and NM. This disease was named Pistachio Bushy Top Syndrome (PBTS). Scientific evidence in 2014 demonstrated that PBTS is caused by the bacterium, Rhodococcus fascians (Rf). The percentage of rootstock exhibiting symptoms varies widely among plantings. At least 20,000 acres in CA have been affected to some extent. Two strains of Rf have been identified. Each is pathogenic, and they act synergistically to cause more severe disease symptoms. Pistachio growers in CA need to test for the pathogen in their newly planted orchards. This workshop attempted to bring academic, private and governmental diagnosis labs up to date on this new disease. Dr. Jennifer Randall from NMSU presented her group's latest research on the disease biology and detection methodologies.