- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
![Early research results show that drip irrigation reduces downy mildew in organic spinach dramatically.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/anrnews/blogfiles/69800small.jpg)
Considered among the most important agricultural innovations in the world, drip irrigation has been researched for decades. UC Cooperative Extension weed management advisor Aliasghar Montazar has taken a close look at its application in organic spinach cultivation, reported Matthew Grassi in Growing Produce.
Not only does drip irrigation use less water than irrigation with sprinklers, the slow emission of water near plant roots also diminishes the crops' susceptibility to disease. Growers believe that ongoing issues with downy mildew is at least partially caused by...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
![Dawn Kooyumjian is interviewed by KCBS reporter Matt Biglar about the UC Master Gardeners in Contra Costa County donating plants to Oakland students.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/anrnews/blogfiles/69838small.jpg)
Coronavirus's next victim: Big Meat
(Grist) Nathanael Johnson, April 30
“It's going to cause price spikes somewhere downstream,” said Rich Sexton, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis. But the average shopper might only notice empty shelves rather than higher prices, because “big grocery chains don't like to jack up prices, especially in times like this.”
…“There is going to be even more of a rush to automate farmwork and slaughterhouses,” Sexton said.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
![Missy Gable talked with Fast Company about how to grow a vegetable garden.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/anrnews/blogfiles/69839small.jpg)
Pandemic And Wildfire: California Is Preparing For A Crisis Within A Crisis
(CapRadio) Ezra David Romero, April 15
…To protect human health, prescribed burns are not allowed for the time being on Forest Service land. But Ryan Tompkins, a forest advisor with the UC Cooperative Extension for Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen counties, says it's still early enough to prepare for wildfire with other tools like thinning and in some cases burning.
“It is really difficult because of the concerns about smoke and COVID, but sort of now is our chance to be...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
![Raising baby chicks offers meaning, purpose and connectedness during COVID-19 crisis, says a commentary published in the Sacramento Bee.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/anrnews/blogfiles/69628small.jpg)
Like flour, yeast, toilet paper and hand sanitizer, all over the country there's been a run on chicks, wrote Diana Williams in a article published by the Sacramento Bee. The author and her family adopted four chicks, and as they grew, so did her thirst for information on raising chickens at home.
"Imagine my delight in stumbling across a backyard chicken census online," Williams wrote.
The website, managed by UC Cooperative Extension epidemiology specialist and veterinarian Maurice Pitesky, offers...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
![Go to http://ucanr.edu/hlbapp to find out how close you live to citrus that were infected with HLB.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/anrnews/blogfiles/69468small.jpg)
UC Cooperative Extension developed an online interactive map that allows Californians to see how close they live to citrus trees infected with huanglongbing disease, reported Jeanette Marantos in the Los Angeles Times. This information is critical for the more than 60% of Californians who are growing their own backyard orange, grapefruit, mandarin, lime and other citrus trees.
Huanglongbing is an exotic citrus disease that kills every tree it infects. An exotic insect, the Asian citrus psyllid, spreads the disease from tree to tree. If the disease makes its way into California's commercial citrus...