- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
What we've been waiting for all season...
A migratory monarch butterfly fluttered into our Vacaville garden at noon today (Tuesday, Sept. 17) and nectared on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola.
Then she treated us to a butterfly ballet.
The Danaus plexippus touched down, nectared, shot up, dropped down, and did it all over again, while male territorial longhorned bees tried to make her stay short.
But she hung around for and hour.
Wings up...and she was gone.
And then another flashed by...
It's migratory monarch season.
- Author: Ben A Faber
There has been a recent expansion of Avocado Lace Bug into parts of the Carpinteria area. It was more or less located in the San Diego coastal area. It spreads mainly with people.......
Read about it at the UC-IPM website and the observations of Mark Hoddle, IPM Specialist at UC Riverside.
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/avocado/avocado-lace-bug/#gsc.tab=0
- ALB does better in the slightly cooler more humid orchards in Oceanside when compared to the hotter inland Bonsall orchards.
- In the lab, under a fluctuating 24 hr temperate cycle similar to an avocado orchard in Escondido, optimal temps for...
- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
- Author: Carol Lovatt
The alternate bearing (AB) nature of olive is one of the top physiologically-driven challenges faced by olive growers. AB refers to the tree's habit of producing a heavy crop in one year followed by a light crop the next year. The heavy crop is referred to as the “ON crop,” which is characterized by large yields with small size fruit that may mature late and have reduced commercial value due to size. Conversely, the “OFF crop” has characteristically low yields with large sized fruit that may not be cost effective to harvest. AB adversely affects the consistency of the fruit supply, thus having a negative economic impact on every step within the production chain from farm to consumer. Because mitigation of AB can...
- Author: Haven Bourque, haven@havenbmedia.com, (415) 505-3473
Small and midsize farms, women and BIPOC farmers especially benefit
A new report reveals that California farmers participating in the state's Farm to School Incubator Grant Program are increasing sales of fresh, local and organic produce, meat and dairy products to schools, according to researchers evaluating program impacts. The report found that 57% of the program's farmers made sales to schools between April and September 2023, representing an average of 33% of their total farm revenues. All food producers funded by the Farm to School Grant Program state that they use or plan to...
/h3>- Author: Ryan D Puckett
Friday, September 13 brought growers, students and researchers to the Kearney Ag Center to obtain CEU's and learn about forage related research projects at the station as well as off the station in adjacent counties. The diligent and enthusiastic team of UC Cooperative Extension specialists presented on a wide range of topics relevant to forage crops grown in the San Joaquin Valley. In the field, Jackie Atim, abiotic stress specialist, discussed her projects in sorghum; alfalfa specialist Dan Putnam discussed the managed aquifer recharge (MAR) trials held at Kearney; and weed specialist Jorge Angeles demonstrated calibration techniques for spray equipment. Other informative presentations included information on...