- Author: Vonny M. Barlow
- Author: Larry Godfrey
Introduction
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) has been cultivated in California since it was first introduced from Chile in 1850. Alfalfa yields can be reduced by several species of insects, such as leafhoppers in the genus Empoasca. These leafhoppers are highly polyphagous and capable of successful reproduction on over 200 plant species in 25 different families. In alfalfa hay in California there is a complex of three species of Empoasca leafhoppers (ELH) that are nearly identical in appearance and behavior. These include the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris), the garden leafhopper, Empoasca solana DeLong, and the Mexican leafhopper,...
/h3>- Author: Shannon C. Mueller
As promised, here is a link to the handouts and presentations from the Alfalfa and Forage Field Day held at the Kearney Ag Center on September 12th. You should find everything you need at http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/FieldDay/2014/KAC.aspx
We are collecting email addresses to create an electronic mailing list for meeting announcements. The cost of printing and mailing newsletters has become prohibitively expensive, so we are migrating to electronic delivery. The list will not be used to send information other than meeting-related announcements. If you didn't provide your email at the meeting and would like to be added to the list, please send...
- Author: Shannon C. Mueller
Current research and timely recommendations for producing alfalfa and forages will be covered during the annual Alfalfa and Forage Field Day at the Kearney Agriculture Research and Extension Center on Friday September 12. The program begins promptly at 8:00 AM and includes lunch and an afternoon field tour of Subsurface Drip Irrigation in Alfalfa.
The complete program can be downloaded at: http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu
A tram will take everyone to the field in the morning to view alfalfa and sorghum variety trials, forage and grain sorghum irrigation research plots, and an alfalfa-wheat rotation trial characterizing nitrogen...
- Author: Steve Orloff
Alfalfa is an excellent competitor with weeds. In fact, there is no better weed control method than a dense stand of alfalfa. However, even with a good stand, some weeds can get a foothold and infest the crop reducing its marketability. Most growers have an effective program to control winter annual weeds with a dormant season herbicide application. When it comes to summer annual weeds, grasses, such as green and yellow foxtail and barnyardgrass (also called watergrass), have historically been the most troublesome. While these weeds continue to be a major issue, there also appears to be an increase in pigweeds (both redroot and Palmer amaranth) in many areas of the state including the Central Valley, Intermountain Region and High...
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
Last month, I made a couple farm calls in the Delta to help with questions regarding soil, water, salinity, and compaction. The first was to an alfalfa field along the Sacramento River, near Rio Vista. The growers had been monitoring the Department of Water Resources salinity data for the river from a station near their intake. The salinity of the water was fluctuating heavily with the tide. The electrical conductivity (EC) was sometimes higher than 5 dS/m, or 3200 ppm, but other times it was lower than 0.5 dS/m, or 320 ppm. The growers use sprinkler irrigation, and they were worried that irrigating with this water would harm the alfalfa crop, or worse,...