- Author: Michael D Cahn
Date: Wed. April 3rd, 2024
Course 8:30 am – 12 pm
Location: Monterey County Agriculture Conference Room
1432 Abbott St, Salinas CA 93901
- Learn how to use CropManage to support irrigation and nutrient management decisions and record-keeping for your crops.
- Learn how to set up your ranch and crops in CropManage.
- Learn about the latest updates and how CropManage can assist with Ag Order 4.0
CropManage is a free online decision-support tool for water and nutrient management of vegetables, berry, agronomic, vineyard and tree crops. Based on research and field studies conducted by the University of California Cooperative Extension, CropManage provides real-time recommendations for efficient and timely irrigation and fertilization applications while maintaining or improving overall yield.
At this free workshop, we will provide hands-on training so that you can learn to use the newest version of CropManage. Crops currently supported include many vegetables (carrots, cabbage, celery, broccoli, lettuce, tomato, spinach, etc.), berry crops (raspberry and strawberry), vineyards, tree crops (almond, walnut, pistachio, prunes, and pear), and agronomic crops (alfalfa and corn). CropManage is also available in Spanish.
Who should participate? Growers, farm managers, other farm staff, crop advisors, consultants, and technical service providers are welcome. The workshop is for both new and current CropManage users. Spanish translation will be available.
What to bring? This is a participatory workshop. Please bring a tablet or laptop computer so that you can follow along and participate in the exercises. Each participant will need a user account for CropManage. Please set up a free user account at https://cropmanage.ucanr.edu/ before the workshop. Please arrive early to set up your laptop or tablet computer on the wifi and get logged on to CropManage.
Registration is free: Please register here
by April 1, 2024. Seats are limited to the first 30 registrants.
Questions: Contact Michael Cahn at mdcahn@ucanr.edu / 831-214-3690
Agenda
8:30 – 8:50 am Registration and computer set-up
8:50 – 9:20 am Introduction
9:20 – 10:00 am Getting started with CropManage
10:00 to 10:15 am break
10:10 – 11:00 am Using CropManage for decision support and record-keeping
11:00 – 11:45 am Group exercise
11:45- 12 pm Discussion /Q&A/ wrap up
Continuing Education Units (CEU) for Certified Crop Advisors (CCA) have been applied.
- Author: Help Desk Team
Irrigation is not a ‘set and forget' thing. Your watering schedule should be adjusted each season (at least four times each year) as water needs in the landscape vary greatly from season to season. Seasonal adjustments allow us to adapt to changing weather conditions, plant growth patterns, and water availability. If your irrigation system isn't adjusted with the seasons, your plants can suffer from overwatering in the winter or underwatering in the summer.
As seasons change through the year, your plants' needs will change, too. For example, a 15-foot wide Chinese pistache tree (Pistacia chinensis) growing in Concord needs 52 gallons of water each week in July, 24 gallons per week in October, and only 8 gallons each week in January. Adjusting irrigation according to the season can decrease water use by half and your plants will be healthier.
You can calculate how much water your landscape should have for best growth. Look up the water needs of your plants in this database: https://ccuh.ucdavis.edu/wucols-db. Determine how much water is needed for each of your plants throughout the year here: https://puddle-stompers.com/waterwonk/how-much/index.php
Even knowing what your plants ‘should' need, it's best to test your soil occasionally to make sure the water you apply is getting to the right place. To test the depth of your watering, use a soil sampling tube or a small trowel to dig down 6–8 inches deep and observe the moisture level at the bottom of the hole. Get your hands dirty and learn what your soil feels like with varying moisture levels.
There can be substantial water waste when automatic watering systems are left to run on their own. Some systems come with a rain sensor function that will automatically turn off the system when it rains and others are smart controllers that adjust the schedule based on environmental factors. It might be time to upgrade your controller to take advantage of these benefits.
Some additional reminders for good irrigation practices:
Apply the right amount of water
Overwatering is more common than underwatering and can lead to more disease problems.
Water plants deeply and infrequently
The entire root zone should receive water, but let the soil dry partially in between to reduce the chance of root rot and other diseases.
Water early in the morning
Cooler temperatures and less wind will reduce evaporation, especially if using sprinklers or above-ground systems.
Avoid runoff
This happens often in clay soil and the water is simply wasted. Cycle the irrigation giving enough time for each cycle to be absorbed.
Regularly maintain your irrigation system
Check for leaks or damaged parts that could be wasting water and preventing water from getting to the right place.
Apply mulch
A 2- to 4-inch layer will reduce evaporation, minimize weed competition, and improve the soil.
See these links for more information on irrigation:
https://sonomamg.ucanr.edu/Drip_Irrigation/Drip_Irrigation_in_Different_Landscape_Situations/
https://sonomamg.ucanr.edu/Drip_Irrigation/
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County
![Photo of woman adjusting her irrigation controller Photo of woman adjusting her irrigation controller](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/102181.jpg)
![Photo of a soil probe with soil in it Photo of a soil probe with soil in it](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/102182.jpg)
- Author: Michael D Cahn
CropManage Hands-on Workshop
Bringing Irrigation and Nutrient Management Decision-Support to the Field
Date: Wednesday, March 29th, 2023
9:30 am – 2:30 pm
Location: Animal Services Center
Address: 12425 Monterey Road, San Martin, CA 95046
- Learn how to use CropManage to support irrigation and nutrient management decisions and record-keeping for your crops
- Learn about the latest updates to CropManage
- Learn how CropManage can assist with reporting requirements for Ag Order 4.0
CropManageis a free online decision-support tool for water and nutrient management of vegetables, berry, agronomic, and tree crops. Based on in-depth research and field studies conducted by the University of California Cooperative Extension, CropManage provides real-time recommendations for efficient and timely irrigation and fertilization applications while maintaining or improving overall yield.
At this free workshop, we will provide hands-on training so that you can learn to use the newest version of CropManage. Crops currently supported include many vegetables (carrots, cabbage, celery, broccoli, lettuce, tomato, spinach, etc.), berry crops (raspberry and strawberry), tree crops (almond, walnut, pistachio, prunes, and pear), and agronomic crops (alfalfa and corn). CropManage is also available in Spanish.
Who should participate? Growers, farm managers, other farm staff, crop advisors, consultants, and technical service providers are welcome. The workshop is for both new and current CropManage users. Spanish translation will be available. Lunch will be provided.
What to bring? This is a participatory workshop. Please bring a tablet or laptop computer so that you can follow along and participate in the exercises. Each participant will need a user account for CropManage. Please set up a free user account at https://cropmanage.ucanr.edu/ before the workshop. Please arrive early to set up your laptop or tablet computer on the wifi and get logged on to CropManage.
Registration is free: Please register here
by March 28th, 2023. Seats are limited to the first 40 registrants.
Agenda
9:30 – 10:00 am |
Registration and computer set-up |
10:00 – 10:30 am |
Introduction |
10:30 – 12:00 pm |
Getting started with CropManage |
12:00 to 12:30 pm |
Lunch break |
12:30 – 1:15 pm |
Using CropManage for decision support and record-keeping |
1:15 – 2:00 pm |
Group exercise |
2:00 – 2:30 pm |
Discussion / Q&A / wrap up |
CropManage Hands on Workshop Santa Clara County 2023 English
2023 CropManage Hands on Workshop Santa Clara County Spanish
- Author: Caleb Crawford
- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
Scheduling irrigation events based on crop use allows growers to meet the water demands of crop production wile reducing both the risks of over- and underwatering. Together with improvement of irrigation system efficiency, the integration of the crop water use concept to irrigation scheduling may additionally aid growers in adhering to policies designed to conserve water.
UCCE has partnered with the Department of Water Resources (DMR) to generate weekly Etc reports for almond, pistachio, citrus, raison grapes, wine grapes, walnuts, and stone fruit. The Etc report is an estimate of the weekly soil moisture loss for each crop based on weather data gathered from CIMIS (California Irrigation Management Information System) stations. For the southern San Joaquin Valley, the report is based on data from the following six CIMIS stations: Merced, Parlier, Lemon Cove, Panoche, Five Points, and Stratford. For each crop, local UCCE farm advisors have monitored leaf out in the spring to make estimates of when to start the current irrigation season. Because leaf out may vary extensively by variety, the leaf out date estimates are selected at the approximate midpoint for a given crop. To use the Crop Water Use Report, select the crop of interest as well as the closest CIMIS station to the block in question to determine the approximate water use for the past week as well as the accumulated water use in the current season. Additionally, the report allows growers to estimate water use in irrigation systems with varying efficiencies, and to estimate the number of gallons applied per tree or vine over the prior week. Last, the Water Use Report provides an estimate of the next week's ETc based on an average from previous years.
The Crop Water Use Report is located on the UCCE Tulare County website (https://cetulare.ucanr.edu/) under the agriculture section in the Nut, Prune, and Olive Programs. It is also emailed out weekly from the UCCE Fresno County office. If you would like to be added to that electronic mailing list, please send an email to Mae Culumber (cmculumber@ucanr.edu).
The Etc reports provide valuable estimates of crop water use but are not a substitute for a grower's direct measurement of water stress using tools such as the pressure chamber. The water use report, however, does provide a “cheat sheet” for growers to use as a reference for their irrigation practices. Growers should consider local weather conditions, the exact leaf out dates of varieties under their management, the efficiencies of their irrigation systems, soil type, and historic water use and crop production information to customize irrigation practices at each site.
![Figure Farm Bureau 5 14 2022 Figure Farm Bureau 5 14 2022](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/90864.jpg)
- Author: Michael D Cahn
Date: Tuesday, May 10th, 2022
1pm – 5pm
Location: Watsonville Public Library
275 Main St., Suite 100, Watsonville, CA 95076
We will hold a hands-on training on CropManage. CropManage is a free online decision-support tool for water and nutrient management of vegetables, berry, agronomic, and tree crops. Based on in-depth research and field studies conducted by the University of California Cooperative Extension, CropManage provides real-time recommendations for efficient and timely irrigation and fertilization applications while maintaining or improving overall yield.
At this free workshop, we will provide hands-on training so that you can learn to use the newest version of CropManage. Crops currently supported include many vegetables (carrots, cabbage, celery, broccoli, lettuce, tomato, spinach, etc.), berry crops (raspberry and strawberry), tree crops (almond, walnut, and pistachio), and agronomic crops (alfalfa and corn). CropManage is also available in Spanish.
Who should participate? Growers, farm managers, other farm staff, crop advisors, consultants, and technical service providers are welcome. The workshop is for both new and current CropManage users. Spanish translation will be available.
What to bring? This is a participatory workshop. Please bring a tablet or laptop computer so that you can follow along and participate in the exercises. Each participant will need a user account for CropManage. Please set up a free user account at https://cropmanage.ucanr.edu/ before the workshop. Please arrive early to set up your laptop or tablet computer on the wifi and get logged on to CropManage.
Registration is free: Please register at https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=37233 by May 9th, 2022. Seats are limited to the first 25 registrants.
Continuing Education Units (CEU) for Certified Crop Advisors (CCA) have been requested
Questions: Contact Michael Cahn at mdcahn@ucanr.edu / 831-214-3690 or Sacha Lozano at slozano@rcdsantacruz.org / 831-224-0293
Agenda
1:00 – 1:20 Registration and computer set-up
1:20 – 1:40 Introduction
1:40 – 2:50 Getting started with CropManage
2:50 – 3:05 BREAK
3:05 – 3:50 Using CropManage for decision support and record-keeping
3:50 – 4:15 Group exercise
4:15- 4:40 Advanced features
4:40 – 5:00 Discussion / Q&A/ wrap up
NOTE: The following COVID-19 guidelines will be applied to this training workshop.
- Wearing a face covering during the workshop is required.
- Stay at home if you have COVID-19 symptoms, tested for positive, and/or close contacts with or exposure to others who have been tested for COVID-19.
- Face masks and sanitation items will be provided at the workshop.