Topics in Subtropics

UC Davis Ag Econ Department has put together a set of crop loss calculators in Excel. They are generic, but also specific to lemon and avocado. If you have had damage from the recent fire, take a look at them.

The very fact that avocados can be grown in hard to get to places means that the trees are also in areas that are subject to wildfire damage. Recently several hundred acres of avocado burned in the Fillmore/Santa Paula foothills. The fire was fanned by high winds and low humidity.

It promises to be an outstanding seminar. Andr Custodio Franco, assistant professor, Indiana University, Bloomington, will speak on "Deciphering the Soil Macrobiome: Belowground Communities Driving Ecosystem Responses to Global Change" at a seminar hosted Monday, Nov.

Confronted with approaching freezing conditions a grower has several options to mitigate the potential cold damage. There are foliar sprays like copper that can reduce the incidence and need to be applied several weeks in advance of cold.

Low-severity wildland fires and prescribed burns have long been presumed by scientists and resource managers to be harmless to soils, but this may not be the case, new research shows.