- Author: Kevin Fontana Fantinatti
- Author: Sonja Brodt
- Author: Vivian Wauters
In late February, in an almond orchard in the Sacramento Valley, the fall-planted cover crop mix of grasses, brassicas and legumes had barely produced a green fuzz above the soil surface, and it was unclear when it would bloom. Unfortunately, this scene is becoming more frequent across California, as climate change causes more prolonged droughts and rain-dependent winter cover crops can barely grow, which delays or reduces bloom, essential for supporting pollinators. Fortunately, California native plant species have evolved with drought and have developed many strategies to survive and reproduce in those conditions.
Would it be possible to...
- Author: Tiffany Dobbyn
Effort Will Develop Ways to Minimize Risk from Climate Extremes for Southwest Growers
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a $10 million
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
California water-rights holders who use water from streams can learn to measure and report the diversions themselves to comply with state regulations. UC Cooperative Extension will offer training via Zoom on Nov. 4, 2021.
Modoc County rancher Glenn Nader saved a significant amount of money by learning from the University of California Cooperative Extension how to correctly install and maintain a water volume measurement system on his ranch.
Nader, a retired UC Cooperative Extension advisor himself, and his wife have owned and operated a 2,880-acre ranch in Modoc County since 1999.
“We divert irrigation water out of the creeks on the...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
When the Detwiler Fire broke out near his family's ranch in 2017, Tony Toso was home to take defensive action to protect his family and animals. The Mariposa County rancher feels fortunate that he was on site.
“We were on the front end of the fire damage and it started on a Sunday,” recalled Toso. “Had I not been home that day, it would have been very difficult for me to access my property and help keep our livestock safe. Within a matter of hours of the fire starting, the CHP had our county road closed and would not let anyone in.”
Emergency personnel close roads around wildfires for the...
- Author: Olivia Henry
Extreme drought is changing agriculture across California — and urban farming is no exception.
Many community farms and gardens cultivate land owned by city or county departments, schools and private landowners. Lucy Diekmann, a UC Cooperative Extension urban agriculture and food systems advisor in Santa Clara County, says that how those institutions handle rationing or surcharges set by water retailers makes all the difference for urban farmers. Diekmann co-authored a 2017 study looking at how urban agriculture in Silicon Valley was...
