- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
According to a previous ANR blog post, the 2013 processing tomato crop in California is experiencing worse-than-usual curly top problems, which is caused by a complex of Beet Curly Top Viruses (BCTVs) (Processing tomatoes face critical threat: curly top). Infections are generally lethal to young transplants. Older, more developmentally mature plants will become chlorotic and stunted with cupped leaves and curled petioles. Leaf veins will often turn...
- Author: Mary Louise Flint
Poison hemlock, Conium maculatum, was brought from Europe into the U.S. as an ornamental in the 1880s and now occurs throughout North America. In California it is most commonly found at lower elevations and coastal regions but it is continuing to spread into other areas.
Although made famous by Shakespeare and other literary giants as a murder weapon, cases of human poisoning are rare in California; however, poison hemlock is a serious concern to the livestock industry. Cattle, goats and horses are most sensitive to the plant’s toxic alkaloids but pigs, sheep, elk, turkeys and wild animals may also be...
- Author: WSSA
- reposter: Brad Hanson
Link here for the full WSSA press release
WSSA Pesticide Stewardship Series 10- The Applicator Must Ensure that Pesticide Spray Drift Does No Harm
Recently, pesticide spray drift from different pesticide applications caused damage to field corn on a bordering farm, vegetables in an adjacent backyard, trees and bushes in a nearby state park and vegetation on an adjoining campus. In all cases, the applicators were fined because they had not taken the...
- Author: Brad Hanson
I received an extension question this week about controlling bamboo that I thought I'd share.
In essence, the situation was that one neighbor had a large stand of bamboo on the property line and, because it is a "running" rather than "clumping" type of bamboo, it was invading the other neighbor's side of the property line. Bamboo neighbor likes the bamboo and the privacy afforded by the stand, other neighbor does not like bamboo creeping into their lawn and landscape. The question was "how do I control the invading bamboo without killing the whole (clonal) stand?".
They had been cutting the invadors and spraying the shoots with glyphosate with...
- Author: Brad Hanson
UCD ag engineering professor Ken Giles and colleagues have been testing a remote controlled helicopter for pesticide application in challenging terrain like hillside vineyards.
I'd heard about this research and knew there was going to be a field demo at the Oakville Experimental Vineyard (UC Vit and Enol Dept) in the Napa Valley. It sounded really interesting and I was hoping to be able to go but, unfortunately, duty called and I was I was out of town that day and not able to attend.
However, there was a nice...
