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ANR news blog
State senator singles out UC Cooperative Extension
Before the state budget fiasco of 2009, Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) wasn't well known outside his district. But by making deals with the upper house's Democratic majority and voting for their budget, Maldonado practically became a household name. Increasing his popularity still more among many Californians, he named UC Cooperative Extension when listing California state budget priorities, according to a story by Harry Cline published yesterday in Western Farm Press.
Cline said Maldonado flew his own twin-engine aircraft to Tulare County for the World Ag Expo in February to participate in a pre-show visit with the news media.
“Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in the state and it needs to be protected and worked with,” Maldonado was quoted in the story.
Maldonado also said vocational agriculture programs in high schools, the Williamson Act to protect farmland from high taxes and the University of California Cooperative Extension are programs that should be protected from draconian budgets cuts in the future, Cline wrote.
Maldonado has an interesting back story. His father was a Bracero. As a child, Maldonado worked in the fields picking strawberries alongside his father to help support the family. After college, he returned to the family's small Santa Maria farm, which under his guidance grew from a half acre of strawberries into a 6,000-acre farm that employs more than 250 people and ships produce all over the world, according to his official biography. At the World Ag Expo event, Maldonado said there is the need is to bring back a temporary worker program for agriculture and the service industry.
“I do not want amnesty. We need temporary workers like my dad who came here to work. He did not come for a free ride. He came to work hard,” Maldonado was quoted in the Farm Press article.
Scientists concerned about California's alfalfa crop
UC scientists are perplexed and concerned about the condition of California alfalfa fields this spring. Alfalfa should be a lush, green carpet, but in many areas, there are patches that appear dead; in some cases, entire fields have been reduced to bare ground, according to UC Davis Cooperative Extension alfalfa specialist Dan Putnum.
Although scientists caution that there may be several factors contributing to this damage, stem nematode symptoms are present and the pest has been observed in lab tests. Alfafa stem nematode is a voracious microscopic pest that is generally present in Valley soils, but rarely becomes such a severe problem.
UC News and Information Outreach distributed a news release yesterday to get the word out about possible causes of the poor alfalfa stands, but the situation in alfalfa continues to unfold.
Putnam said that, in touring the fields on Tuesday, he could not identify a pattern related to alfalfa variety or pesticide regime. Different dormancy groups seemed equally affected.
"There was a little phytophtora damage deep on some roots, but most roots were relatively healthy. There were some fields with very great damage, and others without as much damage, but this could certainly be a result of crop rotation factors or lack of equipment or water transfer, as much as variety or pesticide patterns," he reported.
Putnam said most symptoms appear to be from stem nematode. However, because it is so unusually severe, scientists are keeping their options open.
UC Davis CE nematology specialist Lynn Westerdahl said scientists are considering gene sequencing to try to understand the pest and why it appears to be wreaking havoc in California alfalfa.
Stay tuned.
Contra Costa County budget covered by Bay Area media
The news media attended yesterday's Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors meeting in force to cover a variety of cuts the board is considering to balance the county's budget, currently $58 million short. Most of the media attention seems to be focused on a plan to cut out preventative health care for illegal immigrant adults, elimination of 58 sheriff's deputies and 18 deputy district attorneys.
Media outlets that covered the session included:
"These are impossible times with limited options," Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren Rupf said on the Channel 7 news clip, which is posted on the TV station's Web site.
The supervisors are also considering cutting UC Cooperative Extension's $305,000 allocation out of their budget, which will "effectively eliminate the 100-year-old 4-H program," Channel 7 reporter Laura Anthony said.
The news coverage included an image of a forlorn 4-H member carrying a sign that read: "I support UC Cooperative Extension."
The report said a final decision about Contra Costa's budget will be made by the supervisors on March 31.
Martinez paper reports on 4-H call to action
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will be met by 4-H youth and volunteers at their 9:30 meeting this morning if a call to action issued by UC Cooperative Extension county director Shelly Murdock is followed, according to a story in the Martinez News-Gazette.
According to the article, Murdock wrote the following to 4-H constituents in the county:
“4-H in our county is in imminent danger of being dissolved and we need your help to show your support of the Cooperative Extension Office. Our entire department has been slated for elimination from the county budget. Not next year…this year. If this happens, there will be no 4-H program in our county. The county only pays 12 percent of our yearly budget. For every $1 the county contributes, $8 additional dollars comes from other sources [such as UC Davis].”
The article said UC Cooperative Extension 4-H program representative Connie Tolleson urged concerned residents and parents to lobby the board of supervisors to retain 4-H support.
“The matter is currently up for consideration between this week’s meeting and next week’s, and since the Board always makes its decisions behind closed doors, in total violation of the Brown Act, we have (to) act now,” Tolleson was quoted in the paper.
UCCE collaborates on digital storytelling
The touching story of Lacey Maddalena appeared in the Sacramento Bee on Saturday in a nicely written article by Chris Bowman about a collaborative project involving UC Cooperative Extension and the UC Davis Humanities Institute.
Passion for the Land is the digital storytelling project designed to help residents of Sierra Valley, a 200-square-mile Plumas County valley at the 5,000-foot elevation, communicate with policymakers, community leaders, and educators about the challenges of sustaining working landscapes, wildlife habitat, and the rural way of life. It is one of the projects that make up the Art of Regional Change, which brings together scholars, students, artists and community members to collaborate on projects that aim to change the culture and amplify the voices of underrepresented groups.
The Bee story focused on Maddalena, one rancher in the alpine valley surrounded by snowy Sierra peaks. Maddelena, 24, inherited a 550-acre ranch from her father and decided to maintain her family ranching tradition rather than sell the parcel for millions of dollars.
"It's not about the money. It's about the love for the land. It's about looking out, seeing your progress every day," she explained in the digital recording, as reported by Bowman. "Seeing the calves get big, watching the grass grow tall, knowing those calluses on your hands are the product of hard work and determination. It's about knowing that someday future generations like myself will be able to have something beautiful of their own."
UC Cooperative Extension livestock farm advisor Holly George is working with the Humanities Institute to capture the thoughts and feelings of Sierra Valley residents.
"If we don't have the people who are for the land being able to make a decent living, and we don't acknowledge their stewardship, we lose them," George was quoted in the article.
