ANR news blog

Specter of organic GMOs raised by UC Davis prof

UC Davis plant pathologist Pamela Ronald has an idea that might make collaborators out of Californians who have commonly been at cross purposes. Ronald suggested that combining genetic engineering with organic farming may be the best way to grow food for a growing world population facing climate change and environmental degradation.

In a story with a Hong Kong dateline, Ronald told Reuters the world needed to use every technology available to secure food supplies for the 9.2 billion people expected by 2050, up from the current 6.7 billion.

"Genetic engineering is a way to make seeds ... Farmers rely on seeds for good yields, but seeds cannot solve everything," she was quoted. "You need some way to add fertiliser and control the pests. That's where organic farming has a lot to contribute."

Strange Days on Planet Earth

A new episode of the periodic PBS series "Strange Days on Planet Earth" tonight focuses on the global implications of overfishing. It features the work of UC Berkeley assistant professor of ecosystem sciences Justin Brashares.

Says host Edward Norton in the program's online preview, "Follow a fish, and you can end up in unexpected places." Check your local listings for the show's broadcast time in your area. In the Bay Area, it will air at 9 p.m. on KQED; in the Central Valley, it will air at 9 p.m. on KVPT.

Speaking of strange days on planet earth . . . many newspapers covered the strange late frost in the San Joaquin Valley this week that put some farmers' crops at risk.

According to the Fresno Bee, temperatures that dipped as low as 27 degrees early Monday caused damage in some vineyards, mostly on the valley floor near the Sierra foothills. Bee reporter Dennis Pollock talked to UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Bill Peacock.

"Industrywide, this was not a huge event," Peacock was quoted, "but for individual growers, the losses could be pretty severe. Some vineyards were marginally and mildly hit; others were absolutely clobbered."

The Tulare Advance-Register also quoted Peacock:

"We got hit Monday morning just before daybreak. Most growers escaped having any damage, but those that got hit hard are pretty much gone."

Reid Fujii of the Stockton Record spoke to Paul Verdegaal, a viticulture farm advisor in San Joaquin County. He said that he had received a few reports of frost damage in southern San Joaquin County, generally around Manteca and Ripon.

Overall damage to Valley vineyards in terms of affected acreage was minor, he said, "But if it hit where you were, it wasn't so minor."

Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune spoke to UCCE farm advisor for Yuba and Sutter counties Janine Hasey. According to the story, Hasey was tallying the damage the unnaturally late frost did to Yuba-Sutter orchards and fields.

"Normally we'd produce 10,000 tons, but now I'll be a lucky son of a gun if I get 2,000," a farmer told Hasey, the story said. 

Happy Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension veterinary specialist, John Maas, sent a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle asking the public to remember the "original environmentalists," cattle ranchers.

"California's ranchers manage more than 20 million acres of private land. They pay taxes, raise cattle, and protect wildlife in a sustainable manner. These are the green hills and mountain meadows you drive by on your travels," Maas wrote.

Maas notes that cattle are net re-cyclers of carbon dioxide and, according to research, are a negligible source of greenhouse gases.

To see Maas' letter, scroll down on the letters page, linked above.

 

Salinas columnist advises county to query UCCE

A new land-use ordinance under consideration in Monterey County would regulate roosters, which apparently annoy homeowners who are roused at the crack of dawn by the the birds' crowing, according to an op-ed piece in the Salinas Californian over the weekend. The column, by the executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau Bob Perkins, admonishes county staff to seek input from its own agencies, including UC Cooperative Extension, before proposing such restrictions.

Perkins wrote that residents who complained about noisy roosters are actually upset because they believe their neighbors are raising roosters for cockfighting. However, 4-H leaders and folks who breed exotic and game birds say that the proposed restrictions, permits and fees would prevent them from raising birds.

"The county has three valuable tools to analyze agriculture-related matters: the Office of the Agricultural Commissioner, University of California Cooperative Extension and an Agricultural Advisory Committee. All of them should be asked to comment on any agriculture-related issue as a matter of routine," the column said. ". . . The county should rely on the experts in its departments to analyze problems like this and to recommend measured, effective remedies."

The county planning commission rejected the proposed land-use ordinance on April 9, suggesting that other laws, such as a noise ordinance, can be used to find a solution to the problem.

4-H member with a chicken.

UC helps farmers grow grapes sustainably

The San Francisco Chronicle today ran a lengthy story about the trend in California vineyards toward more sustainable farming practices.

Freelance reporter Deborah Grossman noted that, decades ago, "entomologists at several UC campuses recognized a pending crisis from excessive chemical usage, which increased risks to worker health, pest outbreaks and pesticide resistance." Researchers introduced the concept of Integrated Pest Management in 1959.

Grossman interviewed San Luis Obispo County farmer Mitch Wyss. During the growing season, Grossman reported, Wyss consults a well-worn copy of "Grape Pest Management" by University of California researchers. Wyss counts leafhoppers in his vineyard weekly, purchases lacewings or ladybugs when numbers rise and uses a soft chemical spray only if needed.

The story contained information from a number of farmers and academics, including UC Riverside nematologist Michael McKenry, UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension specialist Kent Daane and UC Davis viticulturist Andy Walker.

McKenry commented on the difficulty of controlling nematodes without pesticides. "The only natural solution is to rotate the land," he is quoted.

Daane spoke about one of grape growers' newest pest challenges, the vine mealy bug. Daane told the reporter that the pest has few natural predators and is present year-round, breeding up to seven times a year.

Walker announced in March, the reporter wrote in the story, that new grape rootstocks are available with resistance to phylloxera and nematodes.

 

 

 

Vine mealy bug.

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