- Author: Mark Lundy
- Author: Rachael Long
Over the past few months there have been many small grain fields infested with aphids, primarily the bird cherry-oat aphid, which vectors barley yellow dwarf virus. Economic thresholds for chemical control are quite high, and most of the agronomists I've conferred with have indicated that spaying for aphids has generally limited efficacy. The best defense against aphids vectoring BYDV is selecting a resistant variety. Rachael Long, a UCCE farm advisor in the Sacramento Valley, recently posted some information about the susceptibility of some oat varieties here....
- Author: Mark Lundy
Here's what 8 ppm soil nitrate-N looks like at tillering. The top photo is from a wheat field where the pre-plant NO3-N was 6 ppm in the top foot.
The bottom photo is from an adjacent field with the same soil type, variety, and planting date, but different historical management, where the pre-plant NO3-N was 14 ppm in the top foot.
The extra 32-40 lb of available N per acre predicted by the 8 ppm difference in pre-plant soil NO3-N test can be easily observed in the difference in plant growth and color in the unfertilized portions of the two fields (outlined in red).
A nice, visual example of how real-time measurements of the soil/plant environment can help to inform N fertilization...
- Author: Mark Lundy
The 50th Colusa Farm Show will be held at the Colusa Fairgrounds from Feb. 3rd-5th. For a schedule of events, maps and other information go to:
http://www.colusafarmshow.com/
There will be a Crop Pollination Workshop held at the Colusa Farm Show on Feb. 3rd. The workshop is being presented by UCCE, Colusa County RCD, and the Xerces Society. An agenda for the workshop is available here:
- Author: Mark Lundy
There will be a UCCE-hosted processing tomato production meeting this Thursday, 1/8 at the Woodland Community Center (2001 East Street, Woodland 95776) from 8AM - Noon. The agenda is attached below. Hope to see you there!
- Author: Mark Lundy
Well, it' been raining!
Unfortunately, it has not been very well distributed across time. With so much rain coming all at once, many of our medium-to-heavy textured soils in the Sacramento Valley are saturated. Having seen a handful of wheat crops with partially submerged seedlings over the last few days, symptoms associated with waterlogging were on the mind. Here are some nice photos of the adverse effects of submergence on plant growth:
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/mycrop/waterlogging
Rain is the only way out of the drought, so let's not wish it away for too long, just long enough to keep some oxygen in the root zone!