- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
Interested in soil amendments, cover cropping and soil health? Check out this rapidly approaching workshop.
BUILDING SOIL HEALTH IN FIELD CROPS VIA ORGANIC AMENDMENTS AND COVER CROPS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12: 9:00 AM TO NOON
Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility, UC Davis
(Russell Blvd & Kinsella Lane, Winters, CA)
Agenda:
(1) Introduction: overview of project, what do we know about how amendments...
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
This is a new type of post that I hope to upload monthly to this blog site: a short little bit of information that can be read in about a minute that (hopefully) illustrates an important fact of value to growers in the SJV.
Our first 'Sixty Second Science Snippet" has to deal with pesticide names; specifically, that pesticides have more than one 'name' (i.e. a chemical name, a common name, and a trade name).
Pesticide Names
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
While soil health is currently a big buzzword in CA agriculture, UC Davis researchers want to dig into how managing CA soils to build soil health indicators impacts a grower's crop management decisions, productivity, and economic bottom line.
To further investigate these issues, UC Davis soil scientists are looking for processing tomato growers interested in participating in a soil health survey in summer 2019. The research will provide insight into the relationship between soil health indicators (which include soil chemical, biological, and structural/physical factors) and crop management, including how certain aspects of soil health impact fertility management and tomato yields.
To do this,...
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
Recently I was asked to help identify prostrate knotweed (Polygonum aviculare) that was collected from an alfalfa field. Admittedly, the tough and wire-like specimen that was submitted to me at the end of autumn didn't much resemble the succulent seedlings that I have often observed emerging in tree and vine systems in early spring. Consequently, I dug out my 'Weeds of the West' and 'Weeds of California and Other Western States' books and double-checked with colleagues to ensure that my ID was accurate. This post is meant to build on that effort and describe the morphological traits that are characteristic of prostrate knotweed and how to differentiate the species from a similar-looking weed, spotted spurge (Euphorbia...
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie