- Author: Milton E McGiffen
Assistant professor positions in soil biogeochemistry and soil health that would touch on biochar-related areas have opened up at the University of Missouri. For more information search: http://hrs.missouri.edu/find-a-job/academic/
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
South Sacramento Valley Processing Tomato Production Meeting
When: Thursday, January 10, 2019
Time: 7:45am to 12:00pm
Where: Woodland Community Center (2001 East Street, Woodland, CA 95776).
Agenda:
7:45 DOORS WILL OPEN — COFFEE AND REFRESHMENTS WILL BE AVAILABLE
8:15 Broomrape- a Weed of Industry Concern: Gene Miyao, retired, UC Farm Advisor, Yolo/Solano/Sacramento counties
8:40 Recent Tomato Lessons Gleaned from UC Russell Ranch, Long-Term Experiment: Israel Herrera, field manager, UC Russell Ranch project, UC Davis.
9:00 Local Pesticide Regulation Update: Jenni King, Deputy Ag Commissioner, Yolo County
9:20 Decision Support Tools for Processing Tomato Irrigation and Fertilization: Daniel Geisseler, Nutrient Management Specialist, UC Davis
9:40 BREAK
10:00 Summary of Fungicide Efficacy Evaluations for Powdery Mildew Control; and Progress Report on Yield Response to Grafting: Brenna Aegerter, UC Farm Advisor, San Joaquin County
10:20 Processing TomatoVariety Evaluations: Scott Picanso & Jonathan Deniz, TS&L.
10:40 Keys to Field Bindweed Management: Lynn Sosnoskie, UC Farm Advisor, Merced and Madera counties
11:00 Monitoring Southern Blight in Colusa County and 2018 Field Observations: Amber Vinchesi, UC Farm Advisor, Colusa and Sutter/Yuba counties
11:20 Fusarium Diseases of Tomato- an Update on Identification and Management: Cassandra Swett, Plant Pathology Dept, UC Davis
Continuing Education Units:
PCA credits are pending. CCA credits: 1.5 hrs IPM, 1.5 hrs Crop Management.
San Joaquin County and Delta Field Crops Meeting
When: Thursday, January 17, 2019
Time: 8:00am to 12:00pm
Where: Cabral Agricultural Center in Stockton (2101 E. Earhart Ave., Stockton, CA 95206).
Agenda:
8:00am Doors Open and Sign In
8:15am Nitrogen Stabilizers in Silage Corn, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE San Joaquin/Delta Counties
8:45am Measuring the Interaction between N Demand and Water Use in Irrigated Corn, Mark Lundy, UC Davis
9:15am Regulatory Update, Tim Pelican, San Joaquin County Agricultural Commissioner
9:30am Fish Friendly Farming Program for the Delta, Laurel Marcus, California Land Stewardship Institute
9:45am Break
10:00am Agronomic Strategies to Improve Alfalfa Pest Management, Dan Putnam, UC Davis
10:30am Opportunities for Automation and Optimization of Surface Irrigation Systems, Khaled Bali, UCCE, Kearney Research and Extension Center
11:00am Italian Ryegrass Management in California Wheat Cropping Systems, Mariano Galla, UCCE, Glenn/Butte/Tehama Counties
11:30am Managing for Soil Health and Soil Salinity, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE, San Joaquin/Delta Counties
12:00pm Evaluations and Adjourn
Continuing Education Units:
Applications for continuing education units for pesticide licensing, CCAs, and nitrogen management (continuing education requirement for the Irrigated Lands Program) have been submitted.
Annual Meeting of the California Weed Science Society
When: Wednesday to Friday, January 23 to 25, 2019
Where: Hyatt Regency in Sacramento (1209 L St, Sacramento, CA 95814).
The annual meeting of the California Weed Science Society will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento, January 23-25. This meeting is a great opportunity for professionals to stay informed of the latest pesticide regulations, industry trends, and active weed management research in California. This year's weed school will focus on invasive plant management for wildfire mitigation while the general session will update participants about the control in invasive weeds in the Delta. Concurrent research sections will focus on specific areas of interest including: trees and vines, rice, turf and ornamentals, forestry and natural areas, agronomic and vegetable crops, roadsides and industrial sites, and aquatic systems. Friday's session will focus exclusively on laws and regulations. Registration can be done through mail or online (http://www.cwss.org/events/registration/). Cost of attendance is $249 (through January 3rd). A schedule of events can be found at: http://www.cwss.org/events/schedule-of-events/.
Continuing Education Units:
Continuing education units will be offered.
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
While soil health is currently a big buzzword in CA agriculture, UC Davis researchers want to dig into how managing CA soils to build soil health indicators impacts a grower's crop management decisions, productivity, and economic bottom line.
To further investigate these issues, UC Davis soil scientists are looking for processing tomato growers interested in participating in a soil health survey in summer 2019. The research will provide insight into the relationship between soil health indicators (which include soil chemical, biological, and structural/physical factors) and crop management, including how certain aspects of soil health impact fertility management and tomato yields.
To do this, researchers will ask participating growers to choose 2-3 fields for researchers to survey, including what they view as their "best" and "worst" fields, in either subsurface drip or furrow irrigation. Growers will also be asked to provide information on the history of the fields sampled, including crop rotation, duration in drip irrigation (if applicable), a general description of inputs management, as well as their own perspectives on soil management. Soil collected from growers' fields will be analyzed for soil texture, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, pH, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, electrical conductivity, and aggregate stability. Soil microbiological factors will also be measured, including bacterial and fungal biomass, mycorrhizal biomass, and microbial carbon and nitrogen pools.
Each participant will receive a detailed report on test results of their fields and overall findings from the study, though all results from individual fields and farms will be anonymized with all identifying information removed when being shared with anyone other than the grower.
UC Davis researchers hope that this study will contribute to knowledge of how soil health status impacts management decisions for annual vegetable growers on the ground, including how soil health can contribute to agroecosystem productivity, prosperity, and sustainability for California farms.
Please contact Nicole Tautges, UCD crop scientist, for more information or to request sampling on your farm.
Nicole Tautges
Cropping Systems Research Manager
Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility
University of California, Davis, CA 95616
Ph: 530-219-5380
Email: netautges@ucdavis.edu
- Author: Emily Baumstinger
UC Sierra Foothill REC is hosting a community workshop & field demonstration event where The Silver Lab at UC Berkeley will discuss results from a long-term (10 year) compost addition trial on foothill rangeland and observed benefits for forage quality, quantity, and soil health characteristics.
At this event, researchers will also be spreading compost for a new project supported by the 2017 Healthy Soils Demonstration Project and funded by Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds and part of California Climate Investments.
Agenda:
- Demonstrate application of green waste and food waste compost
- Examine impacts of compost addition on forage production and quality
- Discuss how compost addition can improve rangeland soil properties
- Explore sourcing and applying compost at an operational scale
- Review cost/benefits and incentives
All are welcome to attend - Get more info by calling 530-639-8800 or emailing Jeremy James at jjjames@ucanr.edu.
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Time: 10am – 12pm
Location: 8279 Scott Forbes Rd. Browns Valley, CA
/span>Agenda - Rangeland Compost Nov 2018
- Author: Milton E McGiffen
Josiah Hunt of Pacific Biochar wrote a nice article soon to appear on the nascent California Biochar Association website:
Pyrogenic Organic Matter in Soil (aka biochar)
As long as fire and plant life have co-existed, charcoal has played a role in the development and fertility of topsoil. With thanks to some scientific sleuthing, we can pin that down to about 400 some odd million years ago, in the Palaeozoic period. (Heike Knicker, 2011, Link to full article: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Heike_Knicker/publication/232408899_Pyrogenic_organic_matter_in_soil_Its_origin_and_occurrence_its_chemistry_and_survival_in_soil_environments/links/02e7e529090d0535b8000000.pdf
“The presence of [soil organic matter] SOM is regarded as being critical for soil function and soil quality.[2]”, it says on the Wikipedia description of Soil Organic Matter, citing Beare et al. 1994. On that same page two mentions of charcoal can be found:
In mentioning sources of Soil Organic Matter:
- “Additional sources of soil organic matter include plant root exudates[9] and charcoal.[10]
In describing Plant Residues:
- “Charcoal is elemental carbon derived from incomplete combustion of organic matter. Charcoal is resistant to decomposition.”
Using Wikipedia as a proxy for general awareness, it appears that there is at least an acknowledgment of charcoal as a piece of the soil organic matter puzzle, and that the SOM puzzle is “critical for soil function and soil quality”. While seafood does fill some of our diet, the rest of our food ultimately comes from soil. It doesn't seem too far of a stretch to say that soil organic matter is critical to humanity's food supply. Yet common farming and gardening practice in modern America is seemingly devoid of intentional use of charcoal in managing soil organic matter.
Into this gap came the word biochar. Biochar fills the void between the general lack of intentional use of charcoal and soil life's affinity for it (and some interesting climate change implications too). And apparently that void must have had quite a vacuum to it, since the term biochar popped onto the scene several years ago, there has been an explosion of research and literary work devoted to it. Some 4,000 research articles to date.
It could have been called the California Pyrogenic Organic Matter for Soil Association, or the California Charcoal for Soil Association, but it is not. We are the California Biochar Association. It is just a made up word – biochar – but it is pretty useful. Pyrogenic organic matter is quite a mouthful. Charcoal usually brings to mind a BBQ. Agri-char was an interesting option for a while, but according to an unconfirmed mention, that word was already a registered trademark, but “biochar” was still open.
I hope you will enjoy the wide range of information we present here for an incredibly old material with a relatively new name.
Thank you for taking part.
- Josiah Hunt
Bibliography:
1.) Pyrogenic organic matter in soil: Its origin and occurrence, its chemistry and survival in soil environments
Heike Knicker,
Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, CSIC, Avda. Reina Mercedes, 10, P.O. Box 1052, E-41080 Sevilla, Spain
Available online 12 March 2011
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Heike_Knicker/publication/232408899_Pyrogenic_organic_matter_in_soil_Its_origin_and_occurrence_its_chemistry_and_survival_in_soil_environments/links/02e7e529090d0535b8000000.pdf
2.) Beare, M. H.; Hendrix, P. F.; Cabrera, M. L.; Coleman, D. C. (1994). "Aggregate-Protected and Unprotected Organic Matter Pools in Conventional- and No-Tillage Soils" (PDF). Soil Science Society of America Journal. Free PDF download. 58 (3): 787. doi:10.2136/sssaj1994.03615995005800030021x. Retrieved 13 July 2016.