- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Bill Weir, UC Cooperative Extension advisor emeritus, passed away on July 28 in Merced. He was 84.
Born in in San Antonio, Texas, Weir earned his B.S. at Texas A&M University and his M.S. in vegetable crops and his Ph.D. in soil science at UC Davis.
Weir began his UC career as a staff research associate at UC Davis in 1966. In 1974, he joined UC Cooperative Extension as a field crops advisor in Merced County, where he worked until he retired in 2002. Weir worked on sugar beets, rice, barley, wheat, corn, dry beans, rye and oats, but is best remembered for his contributions to cotton. He became known as the "Father of narrow-row cotton" as his research showing increased cotton yields convinced growers to switch from planting on 40-inch beds – the width of a horse – to 30-inch beds.
In the 1970s, after observing that sunlight reached the soil between rows even late in the season, Weir began comparing narrow-row plantings of cotton with conventional 40-inch spacing, experimenting with various cotton varieties and plant populations.
Working with a local Merced County grower, Weir designed the first 30-inch spindle cotton harvester in the world by converting a conventional 40-inch picker. “Results of our tests led both John Deere and International Harvester to produce commercial 30-inch spindle cotton harvesters,” Weir wrote in a UC Delivers story.
By the time he retired, greater yields from narrow-row cotton generated over $7 million more revenue per year for growers in Merced County alone. Growers in other counties, other states and other countries adopted the practice.
Weir was also part of the research team that developed a technique called plant mapping. “We learned how to let the plant tell us what it needs and then act accordingly,” Weir said. “We were able to cut back on inputs, saving growers money.”
Scott Stoddard, UCCE vegetable crops farm advisor for Merced and Madera counties and director for UCCE in Merced County, joined UCCE in 1998. For the first four years, he worked as a staff research assistant with Weir on research projects in cotton, tomatoes, melons and sweetpotatoes.
“I was hired as an SRA to help Bill with his new veg crops responsibilities. Bill taught me so much about central California agriculture,” Stoddard said.
Stoddard recalled accompanying Weir to view test plots.
“We would ride together in his Chevy pickup – Bill preferred Chevrolet over Ford because they rode smoother – to a test plot and discuss soil types and salinity and the impacts on crop selection, drainage, and the eventual creation of Kesterson Wildlife Refuge. While cotton was always his main crop, he knew a lot about the melon industry and how to pick a ripe honeydew or watermelon in the field – which is a lot harder than a cantaloupe!”
“Bill preferred taking the back roads to get to farm calls and test plots. We would take the ‘long way' to West Side Research and Extension Center in Five Points, as it gave him the opportunity to see what was happening with all the different crops being grown on the west side of Merced and Fresno counties,” Stoddard recalled.
“August was his favorite time of the year because that's when everybody, from tractors to trucks, was so busy with harvest of so many commodities. He never complained about the 100-degree days – in fact I think he enjoyed the heat.”
During his career, Weir authored or coauthored 195 peer-reviewed or scientific papers. His many awards included the 1993 and 1995 Certificate of Excellence Awards from the American Society of Agronomy.
When he retired, Weir said, “Over the years, there were many changes in Extension. But, all in all, Extension has been great for me. If I were independently wealthy, I still would have liked to do what I did during my career. That's how much I've enjoyed working in agriculture, helping farmers and being a part of Extension.”
In retirement, Weir became a private crop consultant and enjoyed gardening and wood working.
He is survived by his wife Carol, son Daniel Louis Weir and daughter-in-law Teresa, daughter Deborah Leanne Weir and eight grandchildren.
Read more about Weir's life at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/mercedsunstar/name/billy-weir-obituary?id=36127405.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Woodmansee named UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor
For the past four years, Woodmansee worked as a research assistant and UC Davis student in the UC Rangelands lab to address management challenges on grazing lands.
“As an undergraduate research assistant at the Chico State Beef Unit, I discovered my passion for rangeland science and management a discipline that combines my interests in social, ecological and livestock production research,” said Woodmansee, who completed her Master of Science in agronomy at UC Davis in November.
“I am very excited to join the community of Siskiyou County and to work with ranchers and land managers to identify research priorities, develop projects and address challenges related to livestock production and natural resource management,” she said.
Woodmansee will be based in Yreka and can be reached at gwoodmansee@ucdavis.edu.
Marandi joins Program Planning and Evaluation
Before joining UC ANR, Marandi worked for local government and nonprofits on community wellness and food security. She learned UC Cooperative Extension was working toward the same goals. In her last position at the Center for Ecoliteracy, she managed their California Food for California Kids initiative, which works statewide to increase public schools' commitment and capacity for serving fresh and locally grown foods.
She earned a B.A. in political science from UCLA and a Master of Public Health from the University of Southern California.
Marandi is based in Oakland at UCOP and can be reached at (510) 987-0100 and leyla.marandi@ucop.edu.
Vargas promoted to community education supervisor 1
Vargas, who holds a Master's in Public Administration and a bachelor's degree in business administration, both from California State University, Stanislaus, began working for CalFresh Healthy Living, UC in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties as a Community Education Specialist II in March 2019.
As a public health professional, she has experience coordinating and implementing programs focusing on activity promotion, healthy eating, chronic disease management, maternity management, and tobacco cessation for adults and youth.
Vargas is based in San Luis Obispo and can be reached at rivargas@ucanr.edu.
Sutherland and almond advisors honored for IPM work
Andrew Sutherland received an award of excellence for integrated pest management practitioners at academic institutions, and the California Almond IPM Team received a team award of excellence.
The honors are awarded to people or teams based on demonstrated results in:
- Reducing human health risks
- Minimizing adverse environmental effects from pests or pest-management activities
- Improving economic returns by reducing input costs or improving product or service quality
- Documenting outcomes such as reduced pesticide use, hazard reduction, improved economic returns or positive environmental impacts
- Developing or implementing innovative strategies
- Working successfully with teams
Sutherland is being honored for his pioneering work as the first Area Urban IPM Advisor in California, a position he has served since 2012. With no prior program or predecessor to follow, he was faced with the task of serving the IPM needs of over 15 diverse stakeholder groups ranging from structural, industrial and household pest control operators to retail store staff, housing and lodging managers and childcare providers. Some of the focus areas of his program include bed bugs, cockroaches and termite remediation and reduced-risk pest management in childcare facilities and low-income multi-unit housing. One of Sutherland's notable projects was the development of a clearinghouse website for bed bug prevention and management information, serving site-specific and state-specific client groups in the Western United States.
The California Almond IPM Team, composed of UC Cooperative Extension advisors and others, is being recognized with the Award of Excellence - Team as a role model for the implementation of integrated pest management practices.
Team members are UC Cooperative Extension advisors David Haviland and Jhalendra Rijal, former Cooperative Extension advisor Emily Symmes, Brad Higbee, who retired from Paramount Farming Company, and Charles Burkes of USDA-ARS.
For more than a decade, the team conducted research on navel orangeworm, spider mites, leaffooted bugs and ants that laid the groundwork for IPM adoption in almond orchards. The team's efforts pushed mating disruption along the IPM continuum from basic to applied research, applied research to demonstration plots, demonstration plots to extension, and extension to adoption and implementation against California's key pests of almonds. The team represents a prime example of the impacts that can be achieved through multi-organizational collaborative efforts. These collaborative efforts included private farming companies, university and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists, extension specialists, growers and their associated commodity board.
For a full list of award winners, see https://ipmsymposium.org/2021/awards.html.
Blackburn honored by Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Mary Blackburn, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor, was honored Dec. 8 by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors with a resolution for her 50-plus years of work to help older adults, pregnant teens and other vulnerable people in Alameda County improve their health.
Blackburn, who has worked for UC ANR since 1990, joined the supervisors via Zoom to accept the honor and said she hopes the recognition motivates young people to serve their communities.
Noting her career began amid the racial unrest and turbulent times of the 1960s, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson said, "These kinds of accomplishments were pioneering."
Watch the 10-minute presentation at https://youtu.be/PbTwfcU7nBc and read more about Blackburn's career at https://bit.ly/2ShbLUj.
Drill appointed to NUEL Steering Committee
NUEL encourages work across programmatic areas to serve the diverse needs of urban communities.
“My own area of interest, from the natural resources viewpoint, is to look at and extend the ways that urban ecosystems can enhance the resilience of cities,” Drill said. “For example, on the engineering side, this can mean applying nature-based solutions, such as floodplain restoration and rain gardens, to improve water supply and quality and to reduce the impacts of flooding. It also means benefiting urban communities by making sure that they have equitable access to the physical and mental health benefits of natural areas – in other words, paying special attention in park-poor lower income areas, and working to reduce barriers to access to nature for communities of color.”
Other extension personnel may focus on nutrition, community gardening and food deserts, or the needs of urban youth for positive development opportunities.
NUEL seeks to support extension academics working in these areas by providing professional development opportunities and promoting multistate collaboration and knowledge sharing for research and extension programming.
Parker named president of National Institutes for Water Resources
NIWR cooperates with the U.S. Geological Survey to support, coordinate and facilitate research through the annual base grants, national competitive grants, coordination grants, and in operating the NIWR-USGS Student Internship Program.
Stoddard and Daugovish receive vegetable research award
Scott Stoddard, UCCE vegetable crops farm advisor for Merced and Madera counties, and Oleg Daugovish, UCCE strawberry and vegetable crop advisor for Ventura County, were presented the Oscar Lorenz Vegetable Research Award during the Vegetable Crop Program Team meeting Dec. 11.
The UC Davis Plant Sciences Department established the Oscar Lorenz Vegetable Research Award and presents it annually to individuals contributing to vegetable research.
Stoddard, who has been with Cooperative Extension for 22 years, focuses his research program primarily on tomatoes, sweet potatoes and melons, with an emphasis on plant fertility, variety evaluation, pest management and particularly weed management.
“He is THE California sweetpotato expert, collaborating with other U.S. sweetpotato production areas on variety development and evaluation,” said Brenna Aegerter, who presented Stoddard's award. “He has also made great contributions to pest management in sweetpotato. Scott is a great colleague and researcher. He is practical, grower-oriented, hardworking and has great ideas.”
“Oleg has contributed to development of Chateau herbicide for celery and strawberry, and several herbicides in strawberry,” said Steve Fennimore, who presented Daugovish's award. “He currently is a key member of a group that is developing precision soilborne disease management strategies for strawberry and vegetable crops in rotation with strawberry. Oleg is a master of languages besides Russian and English. He has learned Spanish and I have heard several of his extension presentations in this language and he is fluent. He is engaged internationally and has done several projects in Africa and the Middle East to help poor farmers in developing countries.”
Oscar Lorenz, a UC Davis professor of vegetable crops from 1941 to 1982, is remembered as an exceptional scientist, administrator and for his dedication to the California vegetable industry.
Each Lorenz award recipient will receive a plaque and a check for $1,000.