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ANR news blog
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.
New York Times turns to UCCE again
Just a few weeks after garden writer Anne Raver of the New York Times interviewed a UC Cooperative Extension advisor about blueberries (as reported in this blog entry), she looked westward again for more insight on home gardening. Raver contacted UC Cooperative Extension horticulture and 4-H advisor Rose Hayden-Smith to get a historical perspective on gardening for today's column.
Raver reported on what must have seemed a preposterous suggestion from kitchen gardener and activist Roger Doiron. He wants the President of the United States to cultivate a garden on the White House lawn. Hayden-Smith said it wouldn't be the first time.
The nation's second president, John Adams, planted a vegetable garden at the White House to feed his family, Hayden-Smith explained “because back then, presidents had to fund their own household,” according to the story.
During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson had sheep grazing on the White House lawn. His wife planted vegetables to inspire the Liberty Garden (later changed to Victory Garden) campaign.
Just after Pearl Harbor, Hayden-Smith told the reporter, another Victory Garden campaign was started and Eleanor Roosevelt grew peas and carrots on the White House lawn. By the end of World War II, "Americans were producing 40 percent of the country’s produce” in their gardens, Hayden-Smith was quoted.
Sudden Oak Death all over the news
A meeting of the California Oak Mortality Task Force in Marin is generating a spike in news coverage of Sudden Oak Death. Today, the main theme is where the disease took hold in California. UC Berkeley researcher Matteo Garbelotto reported on genetic testing of Phytophthora ramorum, the pathogen that is killing California oaks.
According to a story in the Marin Independent Journal, Garbelotto found the pathogen's forebears at a site on Bolinas Ridge within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, five kilometers from the Kentfield site where the disease was first observed in California in 1995. Garbelotto said the owner of that Kentfield home had an interesting story to tell.
"He said when he bought the house it had just been landscaped with a lot a rhododendron plants and that within a few months from the time he purchased it all the rhododendron plants died," Garbelotto was quoted. Rhododendrons are hosts of the disease.
The Santa Cruz location identified in the study is on Bean Creek, just outside a nursery that was shut down due to a Phytophthora ramorum infestation.
In the San Francisco Chronicle, Garbeletto was quoted as saying Sudden Oak Death is the "No. 1 most wanted" plant disease.
"It can travel around the world, it can wipe out hundreds of miles of forests," Garbeletto is quoted. "It is having a big impact in California - it is killing our favorite trees and disrupting the ecological network of our forests."
Some of the other media outlets that reported on Garbeletto's finding were:
The blog East Bay Express probably had the most quirky headline for the story: "UC Eggheads Find Where Oak Plague Started."
The Oak Mortality Task Force continues today.
A tree suffering from Sudden Oak Death.
