- Author: Brady Holder
- Author: Peter Ako Larbi
- Author: Jackie Atim
- Author: Daniel Cabrera
Social media summary
Upon touring field research sites, listening to talks, and engaging in hands-on activities at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 100% of undergraduate students reported learning more about agricultural STEM research areas, which could steer them towards careers in agriculture.
The Issue
Students often lack awareness or appreciation of the existing relationships connecting agriculture and technology. For instance, students who are interested in emerging technologies may have never considered a career in agriculture. Conversely, students interested in agriculture may not have considered opportunities in research or practice involving technology. This tour sought to expose students to some examples of agricultural research involving technology to expand their knowledge of agriculture and the place of technology in agriculture-related research and practice.
How UC Delivers
In July 2023, UC ANR's Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension (KARE) Center hosted the 2023 cohort of students from the University of California Merced's San Joaquin Valley Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics Tools and Science (FACTS) Bridge Program for a tour. The goal was to broaden the students' exposure to agricultural research and extension involving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The tour was also intended to provide the students with learning about technology and job opportunities in agriculture. The day was divided into two sections. In the morning, students went outside to visit field research sites and learned more about the specific projects underway. In the afternoon, students attended indoor presentations with hands-on activities. The 5.5-hour tour was presented collaboratively by UC Cooperative Extension Specialists Peter Ako Larbi, Jackie Atim and Bali Lab staff research associate, Brady Holder. Agricultural Application Engineering (AgAppE) Lab assistant Daniel Cabrera provided photography coverage for reporting. KARE Center staff also provided logistical and transportation support for the entire tour. The students were led by UC Cooperative Extension Specialist Safeeq Khan.
After being welcomed upon arriving at KARE, the students started the morning section. They were transported on a tram to the research fields, making stops at selected locations where they were hosted to presentations and demonstrations. The presentations/demos were given in an interactive format which allowed the students to engage with their observations, comments, and questions.
The first stop was by an almond orchard where Larbi provided an overview of pesticide spray application in orchards and vineyards, including the integration of emerging sensing and automation technologies for precision application. He also demonstrated airblast spray application in the almond orchard, placing water sensitive cards in a target tree canopy to demonstrate spray dispersion and coverage
The second stop was the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) weather station where Holder talked about how it is used to calculate crop water use. The presentation covered the various sensors employed and how they combine to measure evaporation rate as well as transpiration of the grass underneath the station.
The third stop was by Atim's sorghum plots where she talked about research into drought stress using sorghum, a drought tolerant and nitrogen efficient crop that is utilized as food, feed, forage, biofuel and bioproducts. Holder was able to demonstrate the use of drones in sorghum data collection.
The morning section ended with two additional stops hosted by Holder: one by a subsurface drip irrigation demonstration in tomatoes with a presentation covering how evapotranspiration values from CIMIS are used for proper irrigation scheduling to meet crop water needs and avoid waste; and another by alfalfa plots used to research deficit irrigation and groundwater recharge.
The afternoon section started with two spray hands-on activities intended for the students to become more familiar with the concepts of spray application. After a brief introduction by Larbi, the students were split up for two activities: 1) a nozzle flow rate measurement exercise; and 2) a spray dispersion demonstration exercise assisted by Cabrera. Atim and Holder further presented on research done at KARE center. The students completed evaluation forms at the end of the section/tour.
The Impact
A major goal of this tour was to increase knowledge of agriculture and use of technology in agriculture in California. A summary of the evaluations provided by student respondents are shown in the graphic below. On average, 88±10% reported gaining “much” or “very much” learning from the individual presentations on the tour. Lumped into the two sections, 86% and 90% gained such learning in the morning and afternoon sections, respectively. Overall, 100% of respondents reported such learning gains during the tour. During the tour, students learned about challenges and opportunities in California agriculture, which could potentially become a stepping-stone into career opportunities or research areas they might undertake themselves in their future.
Studies have shown bridge programs like this one increase first year overall grade-point average and university retention. Exposing students to research activities is particularly beneficial for encouraging students to enter and persist in STEM majors. Introducing incoming first-year students to ongoing agricultural research improves their awareness of agricultural STEM research and practice opportunities, a key step in not only increasing interest in and commitment to pursuing agricultural STEM majors but also careers in food and agriculture.
The FACTS summer bridge program will continue next year, when a new cohort of incoming first-year, second-year, transfer students, as well as returning second-year students visit the KARE Center to learn about agriculture, ag research, and technology.
- Author: Peter Ako Larbi
- Author: Franz J.A. Niederholzer
UC ANR supports California's almond crop protection workforce through Airblast Sprayer Calibration Trainings to maintain or improve their technical knowledge. 100% of participants reported both learning professional skills and their intent to adopt practices that can improve the sustainability and profitability of California ag.
The Issue
For efficient and effective pesticide spray application, all sprayers should be calibrated as often as necessary throughout the growing season of almonds, especially when dealing with orchards of different ages and sizes. Calibration is considered a best practice in pesticide spray application ensuring accurate application rates and adherence to pesticide labels which is the law. As such, proper understanding of sprayer calibration objectives and steps is needed to avoid using incorrect methods that give a false sense of accuracy. Educating growers and applicators in calibration methods will therefore empower them to ensure the use of properly calibrated sprayers well-adjusted to the target canopy to deliver maximum crop protection while minimizing pesticide loss.
How UC Delivers
In June 2023, UC ANR co-hosted two Calibration Safety & Compliance Training events, one for Northern California and the other for Central California, with the Almond Board of California (ABC), AgSafe Food and Farms (AgSafe), and the Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA). The Northern California training was held at the Nickels Soil Lab in Arbuckle, CA, while the Central California event took place at the UC's Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension (KARE) Center in Parlier, CA. The events were aimed at providing practical calibration training on how to prepare and calibrate airblast sprayers as well as compliance training such as how to manage required documents for pesticide applications. The 4.5-hour trainings included “Welcome” by the ABC, “Regulatory Update” by WAPA, “Calibration Training” by UC ANR, “Headquarters Compliance Training” by AgSafe, and “DPR Laws & Regulations Update” also by AgSafe. The DPR approved 4.0 hours of continuing education credits – 2.0 ‘Laws' and 2.0 ‘Other' – for qualifying participants. Overall, 50+ attendees participated in both events: 30+ in Arbuckle and 23 in Parlier.
The Calibration Training by UC ANR was a 2-hour practical session conducted in an almond orchard along with airblast sprayer demonstrations. It was presented in an interactive format allowing participants to interject with questions, comments, and observations. The Northern California training was led by UC Cooperative Extension advisor Dr. Franz Niederholzer in collaboration with UC Cooperative Extension specialist Dr. Peter Ako Larbi. Alternatively, the Central California training was led by Dr. Larbi in collaboration with Dr. Niederholzer. Both sections covered: “Sprayer parts review”; “Sprayer calibration basics and calculations”; “Sprayer speed determination”; “Sprayer air profile assessment and nozzle configuration”; “Flow rate measurement”; and “Spray coverage evaluation”. Staff from the Nickels Soil Lab, the Agricultural Application Engineering (AgAppE) Lab, and KARE Center provided Logistical, technical, and documentation support. The participants completed evaluation forms to provide feedback for just the Calibration Training section. Comments from the evaluation forms included…
“Very good class.”
“Great rapport with participants.”
The Impact
In all, 22 participants provided feedback on their learning for the combined Calibration Training sections for the Northern and Central California events. Overall, 100% reported “much” to “very much” learning from the combined Calibration Training sections indicating that they were very effective and provided participants with a great amount of learning. Likewise, 100% also indicated their intent to adopt the practices learned from the section. Looking at each section of the training, 82% reported learning “much” to “very much” from the “Sprayer parts review”, 100% the same for “Sprayer calibration basics and calculations”, 91% for “Sprayer speed determination with flagging”, 91% for “Sprayer air profile assessment and nozzle configuration”, 91% for “Flow rate measurement”, and 82% for “Spray coverage evaluation” (full breakdown of feedback by section in the graphic below). Additional written comments were mostly positive.
The needs assessment conducted by Dr. Larbi for his Agricultural Application Engineering Program in 2019 showed that 56% of perennial specialty crop growers and applicators in the San Joaquin Valley used airblast sprayers, 12% used tower sprayers, 15% used electrostatic mist blowers, and 17% used other sprayers. Also, 22% calibrated their sprayers 10 or more times a year, 32% calibrated 4-6 times, and 46% calibrated only 1-3 times a year. According to the California Pesticide Use Report, in 2021, 456,802 pesticide applications delivered 34,323,828 lbs. of pesticide across 24,147,968 acres of almond orchards. This amounts to 75.14 lbs. per application or 1.42 lbs. per acre. If even 1% of the application was overapplied and another 1% was underapplied due to using uncalibrated sprayers in the year (a conservative guess if nearly half of applicators only calibrate 1-3 years times a year), then 686,477 lbs would have been misapplied leading to either reduced pest control or increased pesticide loading on the environment. This number is very significant considering that the situation does not apply to only almond production. Thus, by increasing the competency of California's almond crop protection workforce for properly calibrating sprayers as a best practice, UC ANR potentially improved environmental sustainability.
UCCE academics Dr. Niederholzer and Dr. Larbi have an extended collaboration in providing spray application and sprayer calibration training in both Northern and Central California since 2019. The results presented here exemplify the impact of such trainings. Expanding this collaboration to include industry stakeholders reaches other audiences, potentially new participants, and increases the extent of impact. UC ANR will continue to support California agriculture through such trainings and the dissemination of science-based information to promote operational efficiency and profitability.