- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Woodland as ag hub topic of forum
(Woodland Daily Democrat) Jenice Tupolo, Jan. 30
Developing Woodland as an agricultural center is becoming more of a reality, even as local organizations worked together in creating a forum focused on agricultural innovation in Yolo County.
...The city of Woodland, AgStart, UC Agricultural and Natural Resources, and the city's Food Front initiative hosted keynote speaker and vice president of the UC ANR, Glenda Humiston, at the conference.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/business/20180130/woodland-as-ag-hub-topic-of-forum
Small Farmers in Fresno...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Napa and Sonoma county winegrape producers saw an increasing incidence of Pierce's disease during the 2015 growing season, reported Lynn Alley in the Wine Spectator.
Pierce's disease is caused by Xylella fastidiosa bacteria, which can be spread by a variety of sharpshooter insects. The outbreak in Napa and Sonoma counties is associated with blue-green sharpshooters.
There's been a “huge increase in traditional (Pierce's disease) hotspots and in sites not normally affected,” said Rhonda Smith, UC ANR Cooperative Extension viticulture advisor in Sonoma County....
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Grapes farmed in Northern California's famed "Wine Country" can be successfully produced with no irrigation water applied at all, reported Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press.
She spoke to farmer Frank Leeds, who produces grapes in Napa Valley without adding water, not because of the drought, but because he believes the practice produces the best wine. Another option some farmers are using is deficit irrigation, which provides irrigation water at carefully timed intervals.
The farmers believe dryland farming and deficit irrigation force the vines to develop deeper roots that give wine distinctive "terroir" notes, flavor...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The vital link that UC Cooperative Extension provides between public universities and communities is nowhere more true than in viticulture, reported Paul Franson in Wines and Vines. Cooperative Extension advisors have helped winegrape growers improve cultural practices and overcome a host of pests, diseases and water and climatic issues by applying university research to solve problems.
The lengthy article was written in honor of UC Cooperative Extension's 100th anniversary. The organization was formed on May 8, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Smith-Lever Act into law.
For the story, Franson...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
European grapevine moth, light brown apple moth and glassy-winged sharpshooter combine to make "vigilance" the word of every day for growers in Sonoma County, reported Bonnie Durrance in the Sonoma County Sun.
“Invasive pests are a problem,” said Nick Frey, president of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission. “They threaten California agriculture in general, and probably our ecology too, so it’s important to try to prevent their import into the state, and if they do get here, to detect them early. If you don’t get early detection, your odds of eradication are low.”