- Author: Thomas Getts
- Author: Rachael Long
Picture 1: Adult alfalfa weevil
Alfalfa weevils, key pests of alfalfa hay, have been showing pyrethroid insecticide resistance within the Intermountain region, specifically in the Scott Valley area west of Mount Shasta. In some alfalfa fields, weevil counts have been off the charts with 100 weevils per sweep, FIVE times the economic threshold level. These same fields showed little efficacy on weevil control by pyrethroids. In a 2016 test only 3-15% of weevils collected from conventional fields died from exposure to pyrethroids. Weevils collected from organic alfalfa fields that had no exposure to pyrethroids showed a 92% mortality (
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Thomas Getts
It's that time of year again to watch for those evil alfalfa weevils! Weevils are key pests of alfalfa, causing yield and quality losses mainly to the first alfalfa hay cutting. The alfalfa weevil complex includes the Western, Egyptian, and Eastern strains that are all likely the same species (Hypera postica). Each year, growers throughout the country deal with this devastating pest. Telltale signs of weevil damage are small holes in the leaves of the new growth during the winter and spring, depending on field location. Damage is most severe in the first cutting, with large uncontrolled infestations potentially causing damage to the alfalfa regrowth under windrows within the second cutting.
In...
- Author: Nicholas Clark
- Contributor: Shannon C. Mueller
- Contributor: Daniel H Putnam
- Contributor: Matt Quinton
As the alfalfa hay harvest season wraps up and we get in gear to attend the November 2017 Western Alfalfa and Forage Symposium in Reno, NV, we're making the presentations and handouts from the 2017 Kearney Alfalfa and Forage Field Day available.
Click here to select presentations and handouts to download.
The Alfalfa and Forage Field Day was held this year on September 20, 2017, at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KAREC) in Parlier, CA. Activities during the half-day event included a tram tour of ongoing forage research projects followed by a few hours of classroom style presentations by UC Farm...
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Daniel H Putnam
Dog gone it's hot!
This is expected in our Central Valley at this time of year, but when heat waves hit, it's important to be prepared with good irrigation management practices in alfalfa hay production.
Can alfalfa tolerate extreme heat? The short answer is ‘yes'. Alfalfa is originally from the Middle Eastern regions of Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia, so it is well adapted to hot, dry conditions. It's also routinely grown in the hot deserts of Arizona, Southern California and Mexico.
Managing Water. It is especially important that the crop has access to water during hot periods. In the absence of water, the crop will dry down and go...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
DAVIS--A memorial for UC Cooperative Extension entomologist Larry Godfrey, a 26-year member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m., Wednesday, June 7 in the Putah Creek Lodge, located off Garrod Drive, UC Davis campus.
Coordinating the memorial are his long time friends and colleagues, Extension entomologist Frank Zalom, distinguished professor of entomology, and entomology project consultant Vonny Barlow, both of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Barlow, the third graduate student in the Godfrey lab (1997) and who holds a doctorate (2006) from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and...