- Author: Roger A Baldwin
- Author: Niamh Quinn
- Author: Daniel H. Putnam
PROPOSED LABEL CHANGES
The US EPA has proposed a series of dramatic changes to rodenticide labels which will significantly change how rodenticides are used in alfalfa, pasture, and many other crops (orchardes, vineyards).
Among other restrictions,
- All rodenticides for field applications will be restricted-use (new requirements for equipment, training)
- Above-ground applications eliminated
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Morgan Doran
- Author: Brooke Latack
- Author: Dan Putnam
Interest in integrating livestock and alfalfa production is on the rise in the U.S. as a way to produce more food per acre and improve farm income.
There are significant economic and environmental advantages to grazing, including lower costs, pest control, healthier animals, and soil health benefits. The main concerns or negatives may be bloat risk or hoof damage to alfalfa fields, but millions of acres of alfalfa and alfalfa-grass mixtures are grazed safely each year.
An Old Practice Becomes New: The practice of routinely grazing alfalfa and alfalfa-grass mixes is not new. It is a historical practice in the U.S., and in many parts of the world, grazing alfalfa and grasses is an...
- Author: Michael Rethwisch
- Author: Ian M Grettenberger
- Author: Daniel H. Putnam
A new caterpillar was found this fall on alfalfa in the Palo Verde Valley of California and several other alfalfa growing areas of western Arizona.
Is this a New Pest? The initial finding of the ‘dot-lined angle' caterpillar (moth) was reported to UCCE in mid-October by a highly experienced pest control advisor (Richard Wellman), who had collected it in several fields in the Palo Verde Valley but realized it was an unfamiliar species. UCCE advisor Michael Rethwisch (Riverside County, CA) identified the species as the dot-lined angle (Psamatodes abydata), with this identification confirmed by Marc Epstein at the California Department of Food and...
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Morgan Doran
- Author: Robert Poppenga
- Author: Dan Putnam
Sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor L.) is a type of sorghum which is widely grown for hay, greenchop or grazing systems. Typically over 50,000 acres of sudangrass are grown for hay in the Imperial Valley of California, much of it exported to Japan.
However, sudangrass (and sudan-sorghum hybrids) can be grazed or fed as greenchop to livestock particularly beef animals or used as a vigorous cover crop. What are the risks of feeding sudangrass to livestock?
Is Grazing Safe? A couple of questions have come up about grazing sudangrass including: 1) grazing sudangrass stubble after harvest, and 2) grazing sudangrass in a cover crop. Is this a safe practice? Maybe, but pay attention! Care is...
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
- Author: Sarah LIght
- Author: Rad Schmidt
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Healthy soils are key for ensuring optimum plant health for high quality, high yielding alfalfa stands, not to mention long-term crop production.
What is meant by 'healthy soils'? Those soils which continually improve in structure, organic matter, aeration, and ability to nurture plant growth are key attributes. Soil 'tilth' is another word for the 'crumbliness' and excellent structure of the soil which allows for good water retention, drainage, fertility, and aeration. To improve soil health we need to address some of the problems commonly seen in alfalfa fields such as compaction, lack of aeration, and poor drainage, which in turn leads to poor root growth and low yield. What are the...