- Author: Mark Lundy
There will be a workshop outside of Arbuckle on the benefits of hedgerows for farms in the Sacramento Valley next Wednesday, 10/8 from 8:30-10:45.
Follow the links for more details on the AGENDA and a MAP to the location.
Hope to see you there!
- Author: Mark Lundy
There will be a tour of second-year poplars purpose-grown for bioenergy production in Clarksburg, CA from Noon - 2:30 PM on September 10th, 2014.
For more information and to RSVP, follow this link:
http://hardwoodbiofuels.org/event/clarksburg-field-tour/
- Author: Mark Lundy
The UC Davis Dry Bean Field Day will be Thursday, September 4th from 10AM-Noon at the Agronomy Field Headquarters in Davis (near Bee Biology, between the airport landing strip on the S and Hutchison Dr. on the N).
There will be a field tour of lima and common beans as well as some heirloom beans with potential for organic production.
Hope to see you there!
- Author: Mark Lundy
This is the description of the groundwater situation from Professor Richard Howitt, the lead author of a recent study put out by the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis. It is estimated that two-thirds of the state's water supply will be pumped from wells in 2014, as in previous dry years.
I know that people are seeing well water levels drop in the Sacramento Valley. This ‘overdraft' (pumping more out of the aquifer than is being recharged) is clearly not sustainable on a year-in, year-out basis. Even though groundwater and the regulations that may eventually accompany its use make for thorny conversation, it is a conversation that is happening, and one that we all need to engage in (as politely as we...
- Author: Mark Lundy
A report released in July from the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences summarized the impacts of the 2014 drought:
“The 2014 drought will result in a 6.6 million acre-foot reduction in surface water available to agriculture. This loss of surface water will be partially replaced by increasing groundwater pumping by 5.1 million acre-feet. The resulting net water shortage of 1.5 million acre-feet will cause losses of $810 million in crop revenue and $203 million in dairy and other livestock value, plus additional groundwater pumping costs of $454 million. These direct costs to agriculture total $1.5 billion. The total statewide economic cost of the 2014 drought is $2.2 billion, with a total loss of 17,100 seasonal and...
