- Author: Jamie Tuitele-Lewis, Resource Conservation District of Monterey County
- Author: Barb Satink Wolfson, UC ANR
The Monterey Bay area will host part of the first California Central Coast Prescribed Fire Training Exchange, or Cal-TREX.
Fire practitioners from across the state, greater North America and international locations (Spain, Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador) are gathering for a Prescribed Fire Training Exchange on June 3-10.
The training is hosted by the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association, which empowers the public to build a culture of “good fire” and helps private landowners conduct prescribed burns in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
Prescribed burns will be open for the public to observe on various days throughout the training, most likely June 4-9, depending on the weather. Please see the CCPBA webpage for updates on upcoming burns: http://calpba.org/centralcoastpba.
Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX) first came to Northern California in 2013, and have made a dynamic, positive cultural shift concerning prescribed fire, within both regional fire services and the general public. These “good fire” TREX events have drawn significant attention, especially in the context of more severe wildfire seasons.
After months of cross-organizational cooperative planning, participants in the weeklong training will be burning a mix of grassland, oak woodland and shrub vegetation types, and make a lasting, positive change concerning “good fire” on the Central Coast.
The TREX will provide experiential training opportunities to advance regional prescribed fire capacity, while also enhancing research to better understand the ecological response of wild plant and animal species following fire.
At this TREX event, participants will learn how to safely conduct prescribed burns in various vegetation types across three counties. Along with multiple prescribed burns, the weeklong program will include lectures and seminars on local fire ecology of plant and animal species, tribal burning practices and burn planning led by multiple burn bosses and other experts.
Burn locations may include the Nyland property (owned by Trust for Public Land and San Benito Agricultural Land Trust) near San Juan Bautista, the Santa Lucia Conservancy near Carmel Valley and the Kechun Village (owned by the Nason family) in Arroyo Seco.
Be advised, while the CCTREX works closely with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District (MBARD) to assure good smoke dispersal, smoke may be seen and present in these areas during and after a burn. Please see the CCPBA webpage for updates on upcoming burns: http://calpba.org/centralcoastpba.
BurnBot, a new technology featuring a mobile burn chamber, remote-controlled mastication and fire drone systems, will be used for the prescribed burn on June 4. To observe the Nyland burn on June 4, register at https://bit.ly/CCPBApublicRxfire. Details including time and directions will be emailed to registered participants.
Participants and partners include members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, CAL FIRE, local land trusts, scientists, ranchers, students, researchers, land managers and others. The CCPBA is funded by two CAL FIRE wildfire prevention grants.
For more information, contact Jamie Tuitele-Lewis, fire fuel mitigation program and forest health coordinator, at jtlewis@rcdmonterey.org or Barb Satink Wolfson, UC Cooperative Extension area fire advisor, at bsatinkwolfson@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Mike Hsu
Population explosion of insect vector contributed to $100 million in losses in 2020
While most Californians are wholeheartedly embracing the wet start to winter, one group is welcoming the rain more warily (and wearily) – lettuce growers in the Salinas Valley.
“It's a blessing, yes, we need the water,” said Tony Alameda, managing partner of Topflavor Farms, which grows a variety of produce in Monterey and San Benito counties. “But, oh gosh: with that water, here come the weeds, here comes the habitat, here comes all the other problems that go along with it.”
Weeds are overwintering havens for a tiny insect called the Western flower thrips, which in turn carries the impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) – a plant virus that caused $100 million in lost gross revenue for Salinas Valley growers in 2020.
The agricultural community called it “the biggest problem we've seen in a long, long time,” said Mary Zischke, facilitator of a task force convened by the Grower-Shipper Association to address INSV and a related affliction, Pythium wilt.
Widespread crop failure in 2020
Since INSV was first observed in the state in 2006, the virus – which poses no threat to people – triggered significant crop losses in 2019, leading up to a catastrophic 2020. As Alameda's lettuces began to show the telltale “bronzing” of the leaves, efforts to bag up or remove the infected plants had no effect on the virus' implacable spread.
“Nothing seemed to work,” he recalled, “and you just watch those fields collapse, week after week, until you're just like, ‘Ugh, there's nothing here to even harvest.'”
After “100% crop failure” that year in his prime fields at the heart of the Salinas Valley, Alameda tried to dodge the virus in 2021 – shifting lettuce plantings to San Benito County and instead using his most valuable land for unaffected crops such as cilantro, leeks and radishes. By decamping to San Benito, Alameda was able to harvest 70% of his usual lettuce yield.
Generally, growers enjoyed a reprieve from virus pressures in 2021. Even in this “good” year, however, about one-third of all lettuce plantings in the Salinas Valley had at least a low level of infection, according to Zischke.
“Since we were attributing a lot of our so-called good fortune – on having less damage this year – to the cooler weather, we know we can't count on that to get us out of this problem,” Zischke said. “All the models point to the fact that we're in a warming climate, so we were fortunate this year.”
More research needed on thrips
Heat waves were a major driver of the INSV disaster of 2020. Although researchers have established a link between warmer temperatures and population increases of thrips, science still has a lot to learn about those disease vectors.
“Thrips are something we're trying to understand as much as we can, but it's pretty tough because they're a little mysterious in the way they get around and where they overwinter,” said Richard Smith, a University of California Cooperative Extension vegetable crops and weed science farm advisor for the Central Coast region.
Smith – along with U.S. Department of Agriculture research entomologist Daniel Hasegawa and California State University-Monterey Bay plant pathologist JP Dundore-Arias – provided an INSV update during an Assembly agriculture committee hearing in December.
Recent studies have identified several weeds as key “reservoirs” of thrips, including malva, marestail, and hairy fleabane. The ubiquitous mustards, fortunately, appear to be poor hosts for thrips, although their pollen serve as potential food sources.
Controlling those weeds – which are beginning to spring up as the days lengthen – is a top priority during the winter months, according to Smith. Aggressive weed management in the preceding winter was an important factor in limiting the virus' spread in 2021.
And because weeds recognize no boundaries, experts are also urging managers of non-agricultural lands to keep their properties as clean as possible, including industrial sites, equipment yards and the edges of roadways – namely U.S. Route 101, which runs through the center of the valley. Some growers have been volunteering to weed their neighbors' vineyards.
“We're encouraging everybody – as best they can – to knock down known weed hosts; that's really critical,” Zischke said.
Search for long-term solutions
Within the grower community, there is “nervous optimism” for the coming year, said Alameda, as he continues to hope for an innovation that would aid in the fight against INSV – whether a more targeted pesticide application or a beneficial insect that could deter the thrips.
However, both Alameda and Zischke pointed to the breeding of more resistant lettuce varieties as the ultimate solution to INSV – albeit one that is years away.
“We have a lot of different types of lettuce that we grow, so to move resistance into all the different types of lettuce we grow throughout the season … that's going to take time,” Zischke explained.
Research funding from the state and USDA – as well as projects supported by the California Leafy Greens Research Program – can help expedite that process. But, for Alameda, the INSV crisis underscores the need for more resources and farm advisors such as Smith, who has spent more than three decades cultivating relationships and building trust within Salinas Valley communities.
Alameda would like to see a renewed focus on bringing “bright, young, passionate people who live and breathe this stuff” to the region, so growers are better equipped to handle the inevitable next calamity.
“Hopefully this is a wakeup call to all,” he said. “This is a valued industry – you have to take care of it; it cannot be taken for granted. The ‘salad bowl of the world' cannot rest on its laurels.”
/h3>/h3>/h3>/h2>- Author: Jain Long Bi
- Author: Surendra Dara
- Author: Mark Bolda
- Author: Frank Zalom
Lygus bugs (Lygus species) damage strawberry fruit by puncturing individual seeds. This, in turn, stops development of the berry in the area surrounding the feeding site causing fruit distortion called “cat-facing”. Even at moderate densities, Lygus bugs cause economic loss to strawberry growers. Lygus bugs feed on many host plant species. In the Central Coast and Santa Maria Valley, they feed on strawberries and many flowering weed species and alternate crop hosts such as mustards, pepper weed, wild radish, vetch, alfalfa, and fava beans. The adult bugs usually overwinter in these weed species while some overwinter on second-year berries when present. They start to migrate to fall plantings in the spring, but only the adults can fly from one host to another. Therefore, an understanding of Lygus bug ecology and developmental biology on strawberries and the alternative hosts will help develop effective management strategies.
Pesticides remain the primary tool for suppression of Lygus populations. Due to the emergence of pesticide resistance, it is essential to better time the few pesticides registered to control this pest. The sprays must be timed to kill the youngest immatures because the registered pesticides are less effective against the adults. This will become even more critical as IGRs and other newer products become registered that have activity against more specific life stages of Lygus.
Monitoring to detect Lygus bugs on strawberries and the alternative hosts is the first step towards successful management of this pest. The rate of Lygus bug development is directly related to the amount of heat the bugs are exposed to, so measuring the amount of heat accumulation over time can be used to tell when different developmental stages in the Lygus bug life cycle will occur. A degree-day model was developed to measure the amount of heat accumulation over the season and is an effective tool to predict the Lygus bug development, but this method has not been widely adopted by strawberry growers and their PCAs.
The specific objectives in this project are: (1) to monitor the population dynamics and developmental biology of Lygus bugs in the Central Coast and Santa Maria Valley, (2) to identify the migration pattern of Lygus bugs to/from strawberries in the Central Coast and Santa Maria Valley, (3) to establish biofix dates for the Lygus bug degree-day model at multiple sites, and calculate degree-days throughout the sampling season, and (4) to disseminate timely information to the strawberry growers and PCAs to improve their Lygus bug management decisions.
Methods:
Seasonal Lygus bug life cycles are determined by systematically sampling strawberry fields and nearby flowering weed species starting early February 2010 to determine age structure (number of adults, small nymphs – 1st – 3rd instars, and large nymphs 4th – 5th instars) of the Lygus population on each host. We are currently sampling four sites in the Central Coast and two sites in the Santa Maria Valley. These sites cover a variety of climate.
Sampling in the strawberries is being done using a beating tray. The sampling unit is 10 plants that have been “beaten” to dislodge any Lygus bug present onto the tray on each sampling date. A suction sampling machine could be substituted in practice. Five areas in each field are sampled in this manner. Weeds are sampled by a sweep net, using 10 sweeps through the foliage or flowers as a sample unit and at least 5 units are sampled to determine number and age structure of Lygus bug present. Weeds that are flowering or have seeds present are preferred.
Ambient temperatures at sampling sites are recorded at hourly intervals during the sampling season using micro data loggers (HOBO temperature recorders, Onset Computer Corporation, Bourne, MA). The recorded temperature data are collected weekly for the degree-day calculation. Biofix for the degree-days is the first adult captured in strawberry plantings, and first nymph on weeds or other alternative hosts. These data are used to validate and demonstrate the Lygus bug degree-day model.
The resulting data are entered at the UC IPM Pest Monitoring web site and the web site is updated frequently. The web site address is http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PM/. The username is LDDmem and the password is Membugs.
Monitoring Location information:
- Boronda Road, Salinas
- Blackie Road, Castroville
- Old Stage Road, Salinas
- San Juan Road, Pajara
- Mahoney Road, Santa Maria
- Foxen Canyon Road, Santa Maria
- Author: Michael D Cahn
Access to weather data from the California Irrigation Management and Information System (CIMIS) has become easier than ever due to improvements in the website (www.cimis.water.ca.gov). CIMIS is managed by the CA Department of Water Resources.
CIMIS is a network of more than 120 weather stations that operate through out the agricultural regions of California. Currently, 13 stations are located on the central coast (Figure 1). All stations record relative humidity, air temperature, wind speed and direction, and solar radiation, and are located above a standard crop of grass or alfalfa, which are referred to as reference crops. Using these weather data and a mathematical model (Penman-Monteith) , potential crop water use, also called evapotranspiration (ETo), of the reference crop can be estimated. A crop coefficient is used to adjust the reference evapotranspiration data to evapotranspiration estimates for other crops, such lettuce, strawberry, or celery. CIMIS weather stations also monitor precipitation and soil temperature, and the stations calculate dew point, net radiation, and vapor pressure from the collected data.
The CIMIS staff has made many improvements in managing the weather data over the years. They use computer algorithms to check for outlying values which are flagged in reports. They have incorporated google maps to help you locate CIMIS stations near your fields (Figure 1), and they have incorporated Satellite weather data to help improve the spatial resolution of CIMIS evapotranspiration estimates.
Perhaps most importantly, the CIMIS staff has simplified getting access to the data. You can have the data emailed to you at a specified interval and also you can specify the format of the data (excel, web report, etc):
- Go to the CIMIS website and sign up for a user ID and password on the My CIMIS tab. (There is no cost for signing up and CIMIS does not send you annoying email solicitations).
- After logging on at the My CIMIS tab, select the station(s) from which you would like to receive weather data. Add the stations to a list.
- Under My Custom Report select “customize” to create a report. Choose the file format, station list, weather parameters, and time period (1 week, 2 week etc) that the report should cover (Figure 2). You can check the box to schedule the report to be automatically emailed to you (Figure 3). Note that the CSV format can be imported into Excel. The web report can be viewed directly from your web browser.
Figure 1. Location of currently operating CIMIS weather stations on the central coast as viewed from station location map under the Spatial CIMIS tab. Station numbers are displayed in the white rectangles.
Figure 2. User can select weather data and file format on the Custom report screen of My CIMIS tab.
Figure 3. User can select to have report emailed on the Custom report screen of My CIMIS tab.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
"There are no headline-grabbing fights, just thoughtful problem solving between partners," wrote Dan Haifley, the executive director of O'Neill Sea Odyssey, a non-profit organization that provides a free education course to fourth to sixth-grades students.
In his article, Haifley explained that Central Coast farmers and environmentalists formed a partnership in 1999 to improve the quality of water that flows from farms to the sea. A few weeks ago, USDA announced that the "Central Coast Irrigation and Nutrient Management Initiative" will receive up to $5.8 million dollars over four years to help area farmers with water quality projects. The funds will go directly to farmers for conservation planning, technical design and financial assistance for irrigation and nutrient runoff prevention.
Haifley mentioned in his article that UC Cooperative Extension was one of the agencies involved in creating this successful initiative.