- Author: Laura J. Van der Staay
Malcolm Media is providing three Ag expos this month: A tree and vine expo in Turlock was presented today; a grape expo will be in Sonoma on November 10, 2017, and a grape, nut and tree fruit expo will be at the Fresno fairgrounds on November 14, 2017. To pre-register, please use the above link.
This blog article is on the November 14th expo in Fresno. The Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo is provided every year at the BIG Fresno Fair grounds. Held in the heart of grape, nut and tree fruit growing areas, the expo is sponsored by the Central Valley wine, table, and raisin grape, tree fruit and nut industries. UC ANR scientists involved with applied research and extension for these cropping systems will provide presentations to the attendees.
The expo is free, and has free seminars that provide continuing education units approved by CDPR for CE/CCA licenses (1 hour of laws and regulations, and 4 hours of other), a free breakfast, a free lunch, and industry exhibits. It starts at 7:00 am and finishes at 2:00 pm. UC ANR speakers include:
- George Zhuang, Fresno County UCCE farm advisor in viticulture will present “Cropload Management on Young Pinot Grigio Vines”
- Kent Daane, UCCE specialist at Kearney Ag Research & Extension Center (KARE), specializing in entomology, will present “Update on Black Widow Control in Table Grapes”
- Kurt Hembree, Fresno County UCCE farm advisor in weed management will present “Herbicide use for Vineyard Weed Control” and “What's New in Tree & Vine Weed Management”
- Ashraf El-Kereamy, Kern County UCCE farm advisor in viticulture will present “Improving Productivity & Quality of Grapes”
- Kris Tollerup, Cooperative extension advisor at KARE, specializing in IPM, will present “Effective Ant Management to Minimize Damage at Harvest”
- Themis Michailides, Plant Pathologist at KARE, will present “Band Canker of Almond Becoming a Threat to New Plantings”
- Kevin Day, Tulare County UCCE Director and farm advisor in pomology, will present “Lowering Labor Costs with Pedestrian Orchards”
- Author: Andreas Westphal
- Editor: Laura J. Van der Staay
Andreas Westphal, UC Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Nematology at UC Riverside and UC ANR Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center started January 15, 2015. Westphal obtained his first two degrees from the University of Göttingen. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside under the supervision of J. Ole Becker. After some postdoctoral experience at UC Davis, and some faculty experience with Texas A&M University and Purdue University, he moved back to Germany. He was recruited by UC after Mike McKenry retired.
Westphal's research program will focus on nematode problems of tree and vine crops. He will explore a multitude of cultural, biological and chemical strategies for managing nematodes in almond, grape, peach, walnut and other crops. Westphal moved here from the Julius Kühn-Institut, Braunschweig, Germany where he researched nematode management on field crops, and was responsible for determining plant resistance to plant-parasitic nematodes in the official cultivar release program.