- Author: Konrad Mathesius
“Commodity prices are in the tank.”
“Wheat prices these days don't look so good.”
“Diesel's worth the price of gold, it's the cheapest grain he's ever sold.”
Two quotes from growers I've spoken with, one from a country singer, all relevant points.
Growers looking to diversify their rotations as a way to weather the ebb and flow of the market might consider several alternative crops. Garbanzo beans might fit the bill.
Because of the Central Valley's mild winter, garbanzos can be grown in winter as an alternative to wheat. As a legume, garbanzos can partner with nitrogen-fixing bacteria to produce some of their nitrogen requirement. This is helpful in years...
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
Fluctuations in commodity prices mean that wheat can be a darling or a demon. When prices are high, wheat can command more acres pushing up the prices for canning tomatoes. When prices are low, growers are inclined to look at wheat's value in terms of metrics other than just yield, such as its role in the mitigation of disease pressure in tomatoes or the benefits associated with maintaining a cover crop in the winter. When wheat prices drop low enough, farmers begin looking for other options. Recently, the combination of wheat prices at a 15-year low and the rise of craft brewing culture in the American west has generated inquiries into the possibility of growing malting barley.
In the last decade alone,...
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
For those of you who were not able to make the meeting earlier this month, please feel free to check out the presentations below. Some of the audio for the slides was cut short due to a few technical difficulties, but most of the presentations are intact. You can move through the videos to just get a look at the slides as well.
Preventing Rodent Damage in Shrink Swell Clays, Konrad Mathesius, Agronomy Advisor, UC Cooperative Extension, Yolo, Sacramento, and Solano Counties.
Several ideas for preventing rodent damage associated with shrink-swell clays opening up when soils dry down after wheat. These are hypothetical ideas but that will be tested out in the coming...
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
The California Department of Food and Agriculture posted a webinar last week to answer questions for potential State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) applicants. This provides a crash course in the basics related to the SWEEP grant. These funds are intended to help growers conserve water and reduce emissions, which includes a wide range of possible projects. Projects must be valued at $100,000 or less.
I would strongly encourage any growers looking to upgrade their irrigation systems, maintain pumps, monitor their soil moisture, improve remote sensing, or undertake any other related project to apply. Applications this year are due by 5pm on March 14th, 2017....
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
We'll be holding a grower meeting this coming Thursday (Feb 9th, 2017) from 7:45 am until noon at Norton Hall (70 Cottonwood St. in Woodland). All interested growers, PCAs, industry representatives, and members of the ag community are encouraged to join. This event is also open to the public. The meeting has been approved for 0.5 DPR 'other' hours, 0.5 DPR 'laws' hours, and 3 CCA CEU hours (see below for details on categories).
The meeting will cover a wide range of topics related to rotational crops including: Managing gophers in alfalfa, tools for selecting appropriate wheat varieties, protecting sub-surface drip lines from rodent damage, Canola and Camelina, and water pump efficiency...
