- Author: Ben Faber
Free Online Food Safety Training Sessions Available
Growers can complete free food safety training, as mandated by the U.S. Federal Department of Agriculture's new Produce Safety rule, from the comfort of their own home or business. Upon completion, attendees will receive a certificate from the Association of Food and Drug Officials verifying they have completed the training. The Food Safety Training Partnership — comprised of the Safe Food Alliance, Farm Employers Labor Service and California Farm Bureau — will host the webinars in February. Future webinar dates will be posted on their website. Online registration for the sessions is available.
The two-day sessions will include the following:
- Introduction to produce safety
- Worker health, hygiene and training
- Soil amendments
- Wildlife, domesticated animals and land use
- Agricultural water — production water and postharvest water
- Postharvest handling and sanitation
- How to develop a farm food safety plan
- Question and answer session — attendees are encouraged to share their experiences and have questions prepared
Attendees also will be provided with the following resources:
- A decision tree to help your determine how/if a regulation applies to your operation
- Record-keeping templates
- Tools to calculate “qualified exemption” applicability
- List of allowable water treatment compounds
- Water analysis calculation tools
In order to receive certification, attendees will be monitored during the session and must remain present throughout the course. For that reason, attendees will need a high-speed internet connection and computer/device with a webcam and microphone that must remain functional throughout the course.
The webinars are available as listed below. Please note, the instructors will provide time for breaks.
February 9 – 10
10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Register for the February 9 – 10 sessions now.
February 22 – 23
10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Register for the February 22- 23 sessions now.
- Author: Ben Faber
Years go by and the regulars are out there on the trees - red scale, broad mite, citrus thrips, bud mite, leafminer and more and more Asian citrus psyllid. And then suddenly one that has seemed to be just in the background pops up all over the place. What is it about the weather, the interaction of other agents like spray programs or harvest interval or rise of others that push the balance allowing an otherwise less common pest to show up? Purple scale has generally been in the background, out there, but not prominent in backyard citrus. In the last two weeks I've gotten six calls about the "sudden appearance" of this scale. It likes cool, but not cold; warm, but not hot. Perfectly adapted to the winter this year which probably slowed down the biocontrol agents, like wasps and ladybird beetles.
You can read more about the insect and its control at the UC Integrated Pest Management website.
- Author: Ben Faber
You wanted to know all about Frost, well it's all here. Emeritus Rick Snyder put it together over the years and it's at your finger tips.
English Frost Protection Training Units (videos)
Spanish Frost Protection Training Units (videos)
When to Turn Sprinklers On and Off for Frost Protection
FP001 Quick Answer—This quick answer provides information on using a psychrometer or temperature and dew point data to determine when to start and start sprinklers for frost protection.
Predicting Temperature Trends during Freeze Nights
FP002 Quick Answer—This quick answer gives a method for predicting the change in
temperature during a calm, radiation freeze night.
A Simple Method to Measure the Dew Point Temperature
FP003 Quick Answer—This quick answer provides information on how to measure the dew point for use in estimating minimum temperature and for starting and stopping
sprinklers for frost protection.
Sprinkler Application Rates for Freeze Protection
FP004 Quick Answer—This quick answer provides information on the sprinkler
application (precipitation) rates needed to protect crops from freezing.
Principles of Frost Protection
Frost Protection Training Units (videos) on measuring temperature, frost protection with water, frost protection with wind machines, and passive protection. Traning units are availble in English and Spanish .
FP005 Quick Answer—This quick answer provides information on the general principles of well-known frost protection methods. A PDF file of the WEB page can be uploaded from this Quick Answer. In addition, a shorter version is available.
Programs for Estimating Frost Night Minimum Temperatures and Temperature Trends (new 7 Mar 2007)
The FFST Excel application programs FFST_E.xls and FFST_M.xls are available from this link. The FFST application helps users to determine an empirical equation for estimating minimum temperatures during radiation frost nights. Note that the program will provide good estimates if there is little or no wind, no significant cold air drainage, and no clouds.
The FTrend Excel application programs FTrend_E.xls and FTrend_M.xls are available from this link. The FTrend application program is used for estimating changes in air and wet-bulb temperatures during a frost night. The application is useful for predicting when to start sprinklers for frost protection and for other methods as well.
Estimating Risk of Frost Damage from Climate Data (new 8 Jul 2006)
One of the programs included with the book Frost protection: fundamentals, practice, and economics. Volume 2, which is available from the UN FAO is the Frisk program. Information on how to obtain the book is presented above on this web page. Based on reader feedback, some improvements have been made to the Frisk application since the book was published. Updated versions of the application are made available to the public here. The Frisk program is an MS Excel application that is designed to help growers to make decisions on the risk of frost damage in a particular location. The user inputs the local climate data and a critical damage temperature, and the application computes the probability of temperature falling below the critical temperature on each day of the year. These data are then used to estimate the length of the growing season relative to the critical temperature by presenting a graph of the probability that the growing season will be less than a specific number of days. The application also computes the certainty that no air temperature will fall below the critical damage temperature after a selected date in the spring or before a selected date in the fall for design periods of 5, 10, …, 30 years. This certainty of no events is equivalent to the risk of having one or more events during the same time period. Although Celsius temperature was used in the example application programs, the program works equally well using Fahrenheit temperature. To obtain a copy of the application, click on FriskNH.xls for the northern hemisphere or FriskSH.xls for the southern hemisphere. Note that metric units were used in the Frisk application sample data.
- Author: Ben Faber
A UC Riverside-led team is looking at tiny underground microorganisms for a way to prevent a huge problem — Huanglongbing, a disease with no cure that has decimated citrus orchards worldwide.
The disease, also known as HLB or citrus greening, has multiple names but the same ultimate result: bitter and worthless citrus fruits. By some estimates, the end of citrus orchards in California and Florida could amount to $14 billion in lost commercial revenue.
“Often times, it is thought of as an above-ground disease of the fruits, leaves, and stems,” said Caroline Roper, plant pathology professor and director of the new research effort. “However, we have seen the roots of trees decline with infection, and we want to understand why.”
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded the UCR-led team $10 million over the next five years to investigate the role of soil and root microbes in the disease.
Roper said data from previous studies shows the microbiome of the infected tree — which includes bacteria and fungi as well as protozoa and viruses — plays a role in the disease.
“We have seen a shift in the root microbiome as trees get sicker,” she said.
The microbiomes shift to contain more potentially parasitic organisms that may act as secondary invaders to a tree that is suffering from HLB, according to Roper. The invasion of these root pathogens may be causing trees to die faster when they have HLB.
Part of this new research effort will test whether soil amendments like manure and compost might suppress parasitic microorganisms in the roots as well as the soil, and give the trees more strength to combat diseases including HLB.
In addition, the research team will try to determine the molecular basis of HLB resistance shown by citrus root stocks developed in Florida. They'll then see how those rootstocks perform in California, which has different soil and climate conditions.
The research team will examine both younger trees, because a lot of citrus growers have had to re-plant their orchards after infection, as well as older trees to see if mature groves can recover.
It will also be important to note how well root stocks from Florida, where there has been a heavy infestation of HLB, perform in California, where much less of the disease has been detected.
“One of the great things about this grant is that we're able to leverage existing field trials being done by our collaborators in Florida and at the UC's Lindcove Research and Extension Center in central California,” Roper said. “This may lead to faster results than we'd otherwise have had.”
Collaborators on the project include UC Davis; California State University, Sacramento; the University of Florida; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Ft. Pierce, Florida.
- Author: Ben Faber
Finding problems in the field.
From this to this, in three days.
What happened?
Is there a pattern? Is it spotty or all over? You say it's spotty, but do you see pattern in the spots? When you see salt damage or leaf blight (often the causes are the same, one a salt accumulation, the other a fungus hitting salt/water stressed trees), you go straight to the irrigation. Timing? Amount? Distribution? If other trees are doing fine, then the amounts and times are right. So it's the distribution? Emitter plugging? Emitter alignment? Animal damage?
Or is it root damage? Are there roots? Are there roots in the wetted zone? What color are the roots? It's getting cold, but there should still be some white/light colored roots. You got a resistant rootstock, but it can still get root rot. Maybe a shot of phosphite? Or Orondis?
I don't like fungicides in general, because they are such a short fix, but sometimes they can help through a tough time. I don't think it warrants Orondis at this time, though. Not yet, until you see what is causing the problem. Check the irrigation system and the roots first.
And this all happened on a weekend when there was wind and heat. Attention to the irrigation must be paid