- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
In the late 1800s, when automobiles started replacing horses in the United States, farmers were likely pondering how the new technology could be adapted for agricultural production. Before long, tractors revolutionized the industry.
A similar scenario unfolded in June at a UC Cooperative Extension field day in Merced County. Farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs gathered at Bowles Farm in Los Banos to learn how drones may be deployed on farms of the future to improve irrigation, fertilization and pest management practices and monitor the crop to maximize yield and profit.
Instead of driving a pickup truck around the perimeter of the field, pushing through hip-high row crops, or...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Because periodic droughts will always be a part of life in California, the UC California Institute for Water Resources (CIWR) produced a series of videos to maintain drought awareness and planning, even in years when water is more abundant.
The final video of the three-part series, which focuses on drought strategies for citrus, was launched April 6 on the UCTV Sustainable California channel. The first episode, which centered on alfalfa production, premiered Feb. 2 on the UCTV Sustainable California channel. The second video,...
California produces more than 80 percent of the world's commercial almonds. Popularity of the nuts has spurred almond acreage in the state to expand from 510,000 acres in 2000 to roughly 890,000 acres in 2015, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which requires statewide reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the growing interest among consumers and food companies in the carbon footprint of food products, prompted some University of California scientists to examine how almond production affects the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The dragon sleeping underneath Central Valley almond orchards is yawning and stretching its legs. The dragon is salinity, says UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor David Doll. “You don't notice it until it's too late, and that's when we have a problem,” he said.
Saline accumulation in the orchard soil profile is a recurring headache. But it becomes more acute during droughts, when farmers use more groundwater – which is generally more saline than surface water – or their surface water supply is more saline than normal.
Salinity accumulates in the soil when the tree is growing quickly and almonds are developing throughout spring and summer. When water...