- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Reading my Google news feed this morning was a little like finding a unique treasure in a dusty, out-of-the-way antique store. For some reason, a 1986 story from Mother Earth News was near the top of the page.
Written by Robert Kourik, the article is about miniature fruit trees being studied at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center, a project that was under way about 20 years ago. With bonsai-like authentic proportions, the miniature trees came together to form an adorable Lilliputian orchard. The tree's diminutive size made for easy harvest, I recall, but apparently the compact canopy limited airflow, so...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The birth and demise of trees is bread and butter for UC Cooperative Extension. Today, two stories document a small part of UCCE's close connection with trees.
The Monterey Herald reports that Bill Tietje, an area natural resource specialist with UCCE in San Luis Obispo County, is coordinating the planting of 1,000 valley oak trees. The planting stems from a visit by Rep. Sam Farr with rancher Jack Varion.
"Jack is a great example of how ranchers can be great stewards of our land. The trees are just one of many great ideas Jack has come up with, and I look forward to more. Jack is an inspiration for ranchers and...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A story in the California Farm Bureau Federation publication AgAlert this week, with analysis of Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget proposal, includes concerns about cuts faced by UC's Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension.
AgAlert assistant editor Kate Campbell interviewed the state farm bureau's director of taxation and land use John Gamper for the story.
Gamper noted that state budget support for AES and UCCE has been in a "severe downward spiral" over the past two decades, with budget cuts of 20 percent and 25 percent to AES and CE, respectively, in 2002-03...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Packer, a Lenexa, Kansas,-based publication that focuses on fresh fruits and vegetables, ran a story yesterday about an ongoing dispute over CDFA handling of avocado imports from Mexico. (The story is available on The Packer's Web site only with a subscription.)
In short, the article says Mexican avocado producers are suing CDFA for unreasonably blocking Mexican avocado shipments to California. Mexican avocados were allowed entry to the California market beginning Feb. 1, 2007. Later that month, the agriculture department rejected 11 truckloads of the fruit because of the presence of live scale insects. Reporter John Chadwell sought insight from UC Riverside...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Viticulture farm advisor Larry Bettiga of the Salinas County UC Cooperative Extension office wrote a column that ran in the "Business Monday" section of the Salinas Californian today. The article makes a strong case for local agricultural research.
Local research has been instrumental in helping the Monterey County wine grape industry achieve and maintain a reputation of being early adapters of new technologies, Bettiga asserted in the article.
He noted that, when phylloxera was found in the Salinas Valley in the early 1980s requiring the replanting of some vineyards to phylloxera-resistant...
