- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The untiring leader of the UC Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation Center, Jeff Mitchell, was compared to the legendary American farming pioneer Johnny Appleseed by the author of The Grist's Thought for Food blog, Nathanael Johnson.
Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, took Johnson to research fields and farms to show progress being made toward more sustainable production practices in California row-crop farming. Johnson turned the visit into a 1,300-word feature that included links to...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Three conservation agriculture pioneers were honored at the UC Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation Twilight Field Day at the UC West Side Research and Extension Center yesterday, reported Patrick Cavanaugh in the California Ag Today blog.
CASI chair Jeff Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, presented the awards before the conclusion of an event that included tours of three local farms and three sites at the field station.
Ron Harben, project director at the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, was recognized for outstanding service to...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
When delving into conservation agriculture production, it's important to learn the entire system, advises Dino Giacomazzi, a Hanford dairy operator who uses the process to produce corn silage for his cows. Giacomazzi was quoted in a Hanford Sentinel story that focused on research results released in the latest issue of California Agriculture journal. The research concluded that the system works effectively in a cotton and tomato rotation.
In the Sentinel story, Giacomazzi urged local growers interested...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
University of California advisors and specialists, farmers, scientists and agriculture professionals gathered Friday in Clovis to launch a new organization that could potentially save farmers time and money, and reduce their impact on the environment, wrote Robert Rodriguez in the Fresno Bee.
The event marked the establishment of the Conservation Agriculture Systems Institute, which will support research and education efforts to encourage farmers' implementation of conservation agriculture practices.
The Fresno Bee story appeared at the top of the paper's Saturday business page under the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
"Let it be" is the mantra of some Central Valley farmers when it comes to turning up the soil, wrote John Holland in the Modesto Bee. Holland was reporting on a recent UC survey that found more farmers are using conservation agriculture practices.
The survey was conducted by UC's Conservation Agriculture Systems Institute, made up of government, academic and environmental partners. It looked at land in nine San Joaquin Valley counties that was planted in silage and grain corn, small grains for hay, tomatoes, cotton, dry beans and melons.
In 2010, conservation tillage systems accounted for...
