- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
At the World Ag Expo in February, nine states had booths designed to recruit California dairy operators out of the Golden State, reported the Los Angeles Times.
South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard himself made a personal appeal for the state, where ag officials estimate that a single dairy cow creates $15,000 in economic activity each year.
In recent years, an average of 100 California dairies have closed annually, said Leslie "Bees" Butler, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis.
"Ten years ago,...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A daylong bus tour offered as part of the annual EcoFarm Conference at Asilomar Feb. 1-4 was led by representatives from Organic Ag Advisors, Community Alliance with Family Farmers and UC Cooperative Extension, according to a post by Caitlin Keller on the Daily Dish, a Los Angeles Times food blog.
Monterey County UCCE farm advisor Richard Smith led a tour of innovative farms along the Central Coast.
Asian citrus psyllid at Coachella Valley's doorstep
Guy McCarthy, Parl Desert...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The results of Harter's research were outlined in a UC Davis press release distributed last week and picked up by the Sacramento Bee, an LA Times blog and...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
American dairy operators are asking the Obama Administration to protect them from an increase in New Zealand dairy exports to the U.S., according to an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. But Daniel Sumner, director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, believes the American farmers' worries are overblown.
"They're making wild claims," Sumner was quoted in the story.
Obama's trade negotiators begin talks next week in Australia on a regional trade agreement that may make it easier for New Zealand dairy operators to...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
For Central Valley dairies, conflicting laws are making it hard to generate green electricity from dairy waste, according to an article this week in the Los Angeles Times.
In order to reduce emissions of methane - a greenhouse gas - some dairy operators have installed methane digesters that convert the methane into electricity.
However, the process produces nitrogen oxides (NOx), which react with volatile organic compounds to create ozone, a significant air pollution problem in the San Joaquin Valley. NOx levels for the valley, a region with air pollution among the most severe in the country, is set by federal officials and enforced...