- Author: Maddie Herndon, UC ANR Cooperative Extension intern, Kern County
There is a mysterious sort of feeling that comes with being in a vineyard very early in the morning. It's tranquil and cool; it deceives you into thinking the temperatures won't be sweltering in a mere few hours. Surrounding alfalfa fields sweeten the air, and the sunlight that soon envelops the valley is soft. Though it's early, there is an industrious hum beneath the serenity. Birds are chirping, bugs are crawling, plants are growing, and already, workers are beginning their day.
Maybe it's the elusive feeling of belonging to something bigger than yourself, of being a part of the community whose work is rarely seen up close and even less frequently understood by the majority of society. It's a feeling of being connected to the...
- Author: Brad Hooker
The gauge reads 105 degrees in California's state capital as this article is being drafted. The four-year drought has baked itself into the landscape, with dead lawns crunching under feet and trees wilting under the heat, and has so far stolen a year's worth of precipitation. Deprived of moisture, the state has lost to wildfires three times the acreage of an average year. The once green valleys are now murky fishbowls of haze.
The total cost to the state, according to a new report released Tuesday by the
Research has shown that hedgerows of native California flowering shrubs planted along the edge of a crop field helps keep crop pests under control by increasing the activity of natural enemies.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and UC Berkeley researchers analyzing hedgerows in Yolo County have found that not only are farmers diversifying their land by planting hedgerows, but those hedgerows are attracting natural enemies that provide economic benefits.
The two-year study of hedgerows planted adjacent to processing tomatoes showed higher numbers of natural enemies such as lady beetles (aka lady bugs) and fewer crop pests compared with conventionally managed field crops edged with residual weeds.
The...
“Truth or Myth: Neonicotinoids and Their Impact on Pollinators: What Is the Science-Based Research?”
That's the topic of a special conference – open to the public – set from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9 at the UC Davis Conference Center, 550 Alumni Lane. UC Davis professors, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers and state officials will be presenters, announced conference coordinator Dave Fujino, director of the California Center for Urban Horticulture.
“We are pleased to have such a knowledgeable lineup of UC Davis researchers who will...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Can orchards get credit for storing carbon? A webinar discussing greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration and more is now online.
Sonja Brodt, academic coordinator in the UC ANR Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, and Elias Marvinney, a graduate student in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, hosted a webinar on July 29 to discuss their life cycle assessment analyzing the environmental impacts associated with walnuts, prunes, peaches, almonds and pistachios. The researchers are quantifying energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in orchard crop production both on the farm and...