- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
UC Cooperative Extension will host the SJC and Delta Field Crops Meeting on Friday, January 6, 2017 from 8:00am to 12:00pm. The meeting location is the Cabral Agricultural Center in Stockton (2101 E. Earhart Ave., Stockton, CA 95206).
The agenda is as follows:
8:00am Doors Open, Sign In, and Welcome
8:10am Sorghum Seeding Rates for Optimum Productivity, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE, San Joaquin/Delta Counties
8:35m New Pest Advisory: Sugarcane Aphid in California Sorghum, Larry Godfrey, UC Davis
9:05am The Do's and Don'ts of Planting Grain and Forage Sorghum – Why Sorghum is not Corn!, Jeff...
- Author: Rachael Long
- Author: Daniel H Putnam
Just as thinning hair is a hazard for humans, a thin alfalfa stand is a common hazard of getting old!
But thin alfalfa stands can occur in young stands as well. So what is the wisdom of overseeding alfalfa into alfalfa to improve the stand life and to correct stand deficiencies?
Figure 1. Thinning alfalfa stands can be a challenge for alfalfa growers – overseed to correct the stand or plow under? This stand was at about 5 plants/ft2, on the margins. Numbers of stems during re-growth may be more important than numbers of plants (see table 1 below).
Can overseeding (planting alfalfa into...
- Author: Peter B Goodell
ALFALFA IPM SURVEY
How much IPM is being used in alfalfa in California?
A new survey tool wants to help answer that question and needs your help.
If you are interested in participating in developing measures of progress in alfalfa IPM, please volunteer to take the ON-LINE survey (http://survey.ncsu.edu/IPM/CAalfalfa).
This survey will be used to gauge the level of IPM utilized by California Alfalfa Growers, similar to surveys conducted in almonds and cotton over the years.
Your participation in this survey will support your Extension and research professionals in getting a better picture of alfalfa pest management practices in...
- Author: Nicholas Clark
- Author: Larry Godfrey
- Author: Peter B Goodell
PCA's and field scouts, be on the lookout with your hand lenses this late fall for flea beetles in recently emerged small grains that are planted near forage sorghum fields. Check sorghum fields as well for these beetles if there are plants still standing and you expect a small grain crop to come up soon within that field or adjacent to it. Weeds may also be a transitional host for the beetle, so good weed control between crops and along field edges is important. The adult beetles are very small (1-3 mm long), are various in color patterns depending on the species, have enlarged hind leg femurs (upper part of hind leg), actively crawl on sorghum and small grains leaves, and will readily jump like a flea when disturbed. Still, the most...
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) runs the most extensive Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program in the nation and is hard at work ensuring that the fruit and vegetables we purchase and consume are free from illegal pesticide residues. Just last month, DPR detected residues of a pesticide not registered for use on grapes and fined the grower $10,000 for using a pesticide in violation of the label and for packing and attempting to sell the tainted produce.
Cases like this are rare in California but remind growers how important it is to apply pesticides correctly by following all pesticide label directions. Understanding and...