- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A welcome sign of spring each year for grape producers is budbreak, the moment when tiny buds on the vine start to swell and green leaves appear. Budbreak varies by region, variety and even vineyard topography, but in Sonoma County, unseasonably warm weather caused buds to burst early, reported Bill Swindell in the Press-Democrat.
“Perhaps it's the new normal,” said Jen Walsh, the winemaker at La Crema Winery in the Russian River Valley, commenting about long-term change due to global warming.
The Carneros region that borders San Pablo Bay is typically the first wine appellation to experience bud...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Fresno Bee has raised the alert for spotted lanternflies, a devastating pest from India, Vietnam and China that may be making inroads in California, the No. 1 agricultural area of the nation.
Reporter Ryan Sabalow wrote that winegrape grower and vintner Warren Bogle likened the pest to the coronavirus. “We definitely don't want them here,” he said.
Reports of spotted lanternflies in California have been minimal to date. Agricultural inspectors found several dead lanternflies on cargo planes in Sacramento, Stockton and Ontario, and experts say a live spotted lanternfly may have been seen on...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Trees are facing stress from a variety of pressures in California, including climate change and exotic invasive pests, reported Jeanette Marantos in the Los Angeles Times.
“There are lots of invasive pests everywhere because of global warming and the movement of plant materials in general,” said Philippe Rolshausen, UC Cooperative Extension subtropical tree specialist at UC Riverside.
Yellowing leaves, a thinning canopy and branch die-back are symptoms that the tree is sick. UC Master...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Is your tree on death's door? Here's how to tell
(LA Times) Jeanette Marantos, Feb. 28
…Climate change, invasive species and even international trade are taking a serious toll on California trees. An estimated 150 million trees died during the drought that started in December 2011, according to Smithsonian Magazine, and the stressed trees that survived became more vulnerable to attack by a host of newcomer pests, said Philippe Rolshausen, subtropical tree specialist for the Cooperative Extension office at UC Riverside.
“There are lots of invasive pests...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Labor costs drive mechanized pruning technology
(Farm Press) Todd Fitchette, Feb. 14
… As labor costs in California escalate, growers are becoming more interested in cost-saving technology. The Sunpreme variety of raisin grapes, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and released in about 2014, lends itself to more efficient pruning and harvesting.
The variety naturally dries on the vine, according to George Zhuang, a Cooperative Extension farm advisor who specializes in grapes in the Central Valley. Combined with an ability to mechanically box hedge the vines during the dormant season, Zhuang says this will be the first year the variety will experience fully mechanized management...
