Funding levels for UCCE have been declining gradually for decades, resulting in decreasing numbers of Advisor positions. The recent and near future retirements of Advisors serving San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties has led our office to reevaluate our assignments to determine if we can make changes to better serve the wide range of crops produced in our area (Figure 1).

During the era of more abundant funding, Farm Advisors were often assigned to serve a specific commodity, or a group of related commodities. This type of commodity assignment allowed for these Advisors to develop expertise in a variety of topics directly related to the production of these specific crops.

As reduced funding levels lead to fewer...

The recently published edition of California Agriculture is devoted entirely to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and how this important legislation is being addressed in many agricultural regions of the state: 

http://calag.ucanr.edu/

Of potential interest to Central Coast grape growers are the summary results of the four-year study of vineyard irrigation water applications in the Paso Robles area, as published in the above issue:

Paso Robles vineyard irrigation study provides benchmark data to assist future area groundwater management

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The 2017 season had very challenging Grape Powdery Mildew conditions at many vineyards on the Central Coast. Crop losses of 80% or greater were observed at some of the most heavily impacted sites. The wet and overcast conditions in the spring were a primary factor leading to the heavy powdery mildew pressure. However, observed infection conditions were not necessarily uniform within regions; some vineyards suffered heavy infections while other nearby vineyards of the same variety had minimal problems which suggests that some control programs were much less effective than others. A constant concern is that powdery mildew can develop resistance to certain classes of fungicides that have a higher risk of such resistance...

The warm and wet spring following the earlier wet winter has created perfect conditions for a very uncommon appearance of Downy Mildew in vineyards of both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. Downy Mildew is a very aggressive disease that has the potential to cause large amounts of damage if not controlled.

The weather forecast for possible light precipitation over the next several days will create conditions conducive to rapid spread of infections. Growers in the coastal areas should pay extra attention to scouting for this disease and treat it accordingly if found. Infections have also been observed in other areas including Paso Robles, thus growers throughout the Central Coast should be on the lookout for this...