- Posted By: Brad Hanson
- Written by: WSSA press release
Weeds can be introduced to new areas from a variety of natural and human-influenced sources. Seed transport on vehicles or equipment can be a very important mechanism of spread.
The WSSA article below focuses on transport of invasive weed seed on recreational and work vehicles in rangeland areas but the same concepts hold true in agricultural or residental situations. Have you ever run a mower or tiller through a weedy area and then looked closely at the amount of vegetative matter (and potenially seeds) on the mower deck or in the nooks and crannies of the machine? All that junk (and seeds) can fall off in subsequently visited areas and introduce new weed species or biotypes into the new area.
It is a good...
- Author: Brad Hanson
We received several calls yesterday from a news organization in San Francisco about a CDFA biocontrol program for an invasive aquatic weed, water hyacinth.
I'm a terrestrial weed guy who works mostly in orchards and vineyards, not aquatics so I kept a low profile. However, I think biocontrol of invasive weeds is really interesting and decided to share two links about the program. This from KTVU Channel 2 in San Francisco: http://www.ktvu.com/news/28704763/detail.html and here is the official Press Release on the CDFA program:
- Posted By: Brad Hanson
- Written by: repost from Scientific American blog
An article was posted a couple days ago on the Scientific American blog in which the author deconstructed what she saw as common myths about organic agriculture. I thought I'd repost Christie Wilcox's article here "Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming > Conventional Agriculture"
In her article, she tries to play myth buster on:
Myth #1: Organic Farms Don't Use Pesticides
Myth #2: Organic Foods are Healthier
Myth #3: Organic...
- Posted By: Brad Hanson
- Written by: Smith, Roncoroni, Blodget, Blankinship, Tjosvold, Fennimore
This week we are finalizing plans for the 55th Annual UC Davis Weed Day on July 14th. It's not too late to register if you are interested in a sampling of the current weed science research at UCD! More info and registration information on Weed Day can be found here: http://wric.ucdavis.edu/events/weed_day_2011.htm
We've been busy this getting the agenda finished, spraying a few last herbicide treatments, and working out the many logistic details (thanks Gale P. for her focus on logistics!). I was thinking about what (and when) I'd post on the blog this week and, voila, the California Weed Science Society...
- Author: Brad Hanson
I was sent a short article from Science this week that discussed the impact of biotech crops on organic farms. The article is entitled "Can Biotech and Organic Farmers Get Along?" discusses issues with the science and politics surrounding GMO crops and gene flow to organic crops.
Science (online at www.sciencemag.org) is not open access so I can't post the pdf here. However, non-subscribers can read a summary and listen to a podcast interveiw with the author, Erik Stokstad, at this link (if you are at an institution that subscribes to Science, you can get the full article too). I think the podcast interview is interesting and a good presentation of...
