- Author: Linda Forbes
Tasting event showcases research on production of agave for tequila, mezcal and more
The researchers view agave production as an ecological and financially viable solution for agriculture in a changing climate. They work closely with growers, environmental organizations and agroecology experts to advance sustainable production practices that promote biodiversity; soil, water and air conservation; and the protection of the natural environment.
The team recently held a “Fire, Smoke & Legend” event in Sacramento to showcase their research and offer tastings of scores of agave products from research collaborators and more than 20 vendor partners. Participants also sampled food from a variety of local restaurants.
“We value science outreach and education, so we are excited to share our findings with the community,” said Samuel Sandoval Solis, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist in water resources management at UC Davis and principal investigator for the research project. “Many attendees at the Sacramento event said they were inspired to grow their own agave, and we want to help them do that sustainably.”
One attendee commented, “It's great to see and sample the wide variety of products you can make with agave. I had no idea!”
In addition to its economic and environmental benefits, agave has great cultural significance in Latino and Indigenous communities. For thousands of years, these plants were vital to the survival of ancient Mesoamerican people, providing food, fibers and tools for sewing and medicine. Agave symbolizes health and abundance in Mexican culture.
Researcher Yessica Viridiana Fernandez Galicia, a Ph.D. student in agricultural economics at the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo in Texcoco, Mexico and member of the Water Resources Management Group led by Sandoval Solis, noted that the guidelines they published provide “practical, easy-to-use information on climate change resiliency in agave, which species to consider for different distilled products, temperature ranges, managing residues and more.”
J. Pablo Ortiz-Partida, senior climate and water scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, lends his expertise in developing strategies for vulnerable populations in California to adapt to the current and projected effects of climate change, particularly water impacts.
"Our research has shown that growing agave can be a profitable water-efficient alternative and climate-resilient endeavor for California farmers and others who have an interest in the industry,” he said.
Other collaborators include Gabriela Rendon Herrera, UC Davis graduate student researcher; Alyssa J. DeVincentis, director of science and technology at Vitidore, Inc.; and Louise Jackson, UC Davis professor and specialist in sustainable agriculture practices.
With support from UC ANR seed grants, the research began in March 2023 and the guidelines were published in August, 2023. The collaborators are continuing to work on developing and disseminating best practices for agave production in California through a variety of educational materials and events.
More information is available at https://california.agave.ucdavis.edu/.
- Author: Linda Forbes
Un grupo de investigadores y colaboradores de la Universidad de California está desarrollando técnicas agrícolas innovadoras para cultivar agave en California sin comprometer los recursos naturales. Los hallazgos y consejos prácticos del equipo están disponibles en línea en inglés y español y están diseñados para ayudar a los californianos a cultivar agave de manera sostenible. Este cultivo se puede utilizar para producir endulzantes y bebidas destiladas rentables como tequila y mezcal.
Los investigadores ven la producción de agave como una solución ecológica y financieramente viable para la agricultura en un clima cambiante. Trabajan en estrecha colaboración con productores, organizaciones ambientales y expertos en agroecología para promover prácticas de producción sostenibles que promuevan la biodiversidad, la conservación del suelo, el agua y el aire, así como la protección del medio ambiente natural.
El equipo recientemente celebró un evento "Fire, Smoke & Legend" en Sacramento, donde presentaron su investigación y ofrecieron degustaciones de decenas de productos de agave provenientes de colaboradores de investigación y más de 20 socios proveedores. Los participantes también tuvieron la oportunidad de disfrutar de comida de una variedad de restaurantes locales.
"Valoramos la divulgación científica y la educación, por lo que estamos entusiasmados de compartir nuestros hallazgos con la comunidad", dijo Samuel Sandoval Solís, especialista de Extensión Cooperativa de la UC en gestión de recursos hídricos en UC Davis e investigador principal del proyecto de investigación. "Muchos asistentes al evento de Sacramento dijeron haberse inspirado para cultivar su propio agave, y queremos darles apoyo para hacerlo de manera sostenible".
Un asistente comentó: “Es genial ver y probar la amplia variedad de productos que puedes hacer con agave. ¡No tenía idea!”
Además de sus beneficios económicos y ambientales, el agave tiene un gran significado cultural en las comunidades latinas e indígenas. Durante miles de años, estas plantas fueron vitales para la supervivencia de los antiguos pueblos mesoamericanos, proporcionando alimentos, fibras y herramientas para la costura y la medicina. En la cultura mexicana agave simboliza la salud y la abundancia.
La investigadora Yessica Viridiana Fernández Galicia, estudiante de doctorado en economía agrícola en la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo en Texcoco, México y miembro del Grupo de Gestión de Recursos Hídricos dirigido por Sandoval Solís, señaló que las directrices que publicaron proporcionan "información práctica y fácil de usar sobre la resiliencia al cambio climático en agave, qué especies considerar para diferentes productos destilados, rangos de temperatura, manejo de residuos y más".
J. Pablo Ortiz-Partida, científico senior de clima y agua de la Unión de Científicos Preocupados, presta su experiencia en el desarrollo de estrategias para que las poblaciones vulnerables en California se adapten a los efectos actuales y previstos del cambio climático, particularmente en lo que respecta a los impactos en el suministro del agua.
"Nuestra investigación ha demostrado que el cultivo de agave puede ser una alternativa rentable y resistente al clima para los agricultores de California y otros que tienen interés en la industria", dijo.
Otros colaboradores incluyen a Gabriela Rendón Herrera, investigadora estudiante graduada de UC Davis; Alyssa J. DeVincentis, directora de ciencia y tecnología de Vitidore, Inc.; y Louise Jackson, profesora de UC Davis y especialista en prácticas agrícolas sostenibles.
Con el apoyo de las subvenciones semilla de UC ANR, la investigación comenzó en marzo de 2023 y las pautas se publicaron en agosto del mismo año. Los colaboradores continúan trabajando en el desarrollo y difusión de las mejores prácticas para la producción de agave en California a través de una variedad de materiales educativos y eventos.
Más información está disponible en https://california.agave.ucdavis.edu/.
- Author: Denise Godbout-Avant
Fascinating Bat Bits
Bats are the only true flying mammal, making up a quarter of the world's mammals. There are 1,100 species of bats, with forty species in the USA. California has twenty-five species, most of which are insectivores.
Bats are one of only three mammals that generally sleep upside down, with sloths and manatees being the other two.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, fruit-eating bats are responsible for dispersing seeds that grow into bananas, avocados and 300 other plant species around the world. Agave plants (which are the source of tequila and mezcal) evolved to supply most of their nectar after dark to attract the nocturnal bats to cross-pollinate their flowers.
Insect eating bats often consume their own weight in insects each night, eating up to a thousand mosquito-size insects in an hour! It is estimated that bats' value to agriculture could exceed $23 million per year.
Bats are excellent fliers with some species flying up to 60-100 mph. They can locate and catch insects in midflight in total darkness, using echolocation, which is the ability to locate objects by reflected sound waves.
Where Do Bats Live?
Usually, males and females with young will roost separately, but in late summer or early autumn, males may join the colony. In the winter when insects become scarce, some bats hibernate, while others may migrate to warmer areas, returning in the spring months.
Bat Myths and Facts
Because of their nocturnal habits, bats are rarely seen, so seem mysterious and are often misunderstood.
Myth - Bats suck people's blood.
Myth - Bats are blind.
Fact - Bats do have small eyes, but they are functional. Megabats, which are larger bats such as fruit bats (found in forests of Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe), search for their food using both sight and smell.
Myth - Bats fly towards and get tangled in people's hair.
Fact - Bats hang upside down from their roosts and tend to drop down and flap their wings before they start to lift off in flight. So, though it may appear the animals are swooping down on you and want to nest in your hair, they're not. In fact, bats don't make nests.
Bats as Pests
Like many mammals, bats can contract rabies. It is rare for a rabid bat to bite a human. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 59,000 humans die from rabies each year, with 99% of these deaths being due to contact with rabid, unvaccinated dogs.
Most bat parasites such as fleas and mites are host specific and cannot survive on other animals. No evidence exists of disease transmission to humans or domestic pets from bat parasites.
Bat droppings, known as guano, can harbor a widespread fungus found in soil, Histoplasma capsulatum, which causes Histoplasmosis in humans. However, most human infections come from birds.
If You Find a Bat. . .
If you find a bat laying on the ground, please leave it alone, especially in the spring or fall, when they may be migrating and are just resting during their long journey. If after an hour or two, the bat has not moved, it is likely sick and should be avoided. If it is in an area where children or pets can access it, you may want to trap it. While wearing leather gloves, carefully put a box over it and slide a piece of cardboard underneath it to trap it. Then contact your local wildlife rescue organization (in Stanislaus County that is the Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center at 1220 Geer Rd., Hughson, 209-883-9414).
Bats in Trouble
One of their most dire threats comes from white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease that has decimated bats in the USA and Canada. Bats that hibernate during the winter do so to ration their energy and survive during a time of year when insects are scarce. The WNS fungus grows on bats' skin which disturbs their hibernation, thus increasing the amount of energy they are using, resulting in dehydration, starvation and often, death. However, a 2015 breakthrough appears promising. A team of researchers treated infected bats infected with a common bacterium on bananas which seems to stop the growth of the fungus. The treated bats were successfully released back to the wild.
How Can You Help Bats
- Learn more about bats, educating friends and family.
- With an iNaturalist app on your smartphone, you can take part in citizen science by observing bats in a park or your own backyard.
- Build a bat house. Bats need places to roost, rest, raise young. UC IPM gives information how to build a backyard bat house: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74150.html. Other bat house links are provided in Resources. Choose a pesticide-free open location with five to seven hours of sunlight. Bats prefer interior temperatures of 80-100ºF during the summer.
- Stay out of caves when directed. Bats need to be undisturbed in caves, particularly in the winter months. If you do visit caves where bats live, clean your shoes before and after to avoid tracking white nose syndrome to another cave.
Where to Go See Bats
- Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area: Not far from Sacramento, this colony resides under the Yolo Causeways, a 3-mile-viaduct on Interstate 80. These are Mexican Free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) who take up residence in the crevices in the concrete bridge. The colony numbers up to a quarter-million bats in size. If you want to see the bats yourself, you can find a place with a good view, but you can also book tours that are specifically designed to get you close enough to see the colony. https://www.yolobasin.org/bats2022/
- Consumnes River Preserve: Near Lodi, several species of bats are found in both the riparian forest and in a bat-friendly bridge built over the Cosumnes River. https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/cosumnes-river/
All About Bats Webinar
Webinar: “All About Bats”
Where: On Zoom
When: Wednesday, October 12, 2022, from 1:00-2:30 p.m
Instructor: Rachael Long, UC ANR Integrated Pest Management for Yolo, Solano and Sacramento Counties
Cost: Free
Register: https://ucanr.edu/all/about/bats
Resources
What Insects Do Bats Eat? https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/index.cfm?tagname=bats
Bats, Allies to Farmers: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=23708&postnum=23708
Bats in the Belfry: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=17395
Fear of Bats and Its Consequences by Merlin Tuttle: https://secemu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Tuttle_et_al_2017.pdf
Bat Myths: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/nature/article/bat-myths-busted
Myth Busters: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bats/myth-busters.htm
Nature Conservancy – Bats: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/animals-we-protect/bats/
Bat Conservation and Management – Bats in Buildings:https://batmanagement.com/blogs/bat-exclusion-control/bats-in-buildings
White nose syndrome: https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/05/27/bananas-to-bats-the-science-behind-the-first-bats-successfully-treated-for-white-nose-syndrome/
All About Bat Houses: https://batmanagement.com/pages/lc-bh-overview
Selecting a Quality Bat House: https://www.merlintuttle.org/selecting-a-quality-bat-house/
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- Author: Emily C. Dooley, UC Davis
UC Davis to study agave sustainability as tequila, mezcal industry grows
Agriculture in California faces an uncertain future as drought, wildfires and other climate extremes become more commonplace in the West. But a fledgling industry focused on growing and distilling agave plants, which are used to produce tequila and mezcal in Mexico, could be California's answer to fallowed fields and a lack of water.
Earlier this year a group of growers, distillers and retailers formed the California Agave Council to foster collaboration and offer a chance to share knowledge among members who previously had no formal network.
Now, the University of California, Davis, has established the Stuart & Lisa Woolf Fund for Agave Research to focus on outreach and research into the plants and their viability as a low-water crop in the state.
“The rainfall patterns and growing conditions in California are different from those where tequila is made,” said Ron Runnebaum, an assistant professor of viticulture and enology. “It is exciting to begin to harness the capabilities at UC Davis to determine which agave varieties can be grown commercially in California and what flavors can be captured by distillation to make unique California agave spirits.”
The fund was created with a $100,000 seed gift from Stuart and Lisa Woolf, who are Central Valley farmers and have a test plot of about 900 agave plants on 1.5 acres. They hope this gift will encourage others to also contribute.
The gift is focused primarily on optimizing production in California relative to Mexico, where labor costs are lower, and the farmers rely on rain rather than irrigation for water. Stuart Woolf believes California producers could grow larger plants with higher sugar content.
“I really believe we could be very competitive with Mexico,” he said.
The research also offers a chance to better understand the impact of location on the growth of the plant, which can be a source of fiber and alternative sweetener as well as the distilled spirits it can produce.
“As a drought-tolerant plant, agave holds great potential in water-stressed California,” Woolf said. “It's a crop that could get by with little to no water during periods of extreme drought.”
A crop with low water needs
Mezcal can be made from any agave variety in Mexico while tequila, Runnebaum said, comes solely from the blue agave plant grown within the geographically defined region of “Tequila.” In California, blue agave plants can weigh 110 pounds or more, and it takes about 11 pounds of agave to produce one bottle of tequila, according to a UC Davis article published last year. The plants in Mexico weigh 50 to 60 pounds on average, Woolf said.
Agave plants require minimal watering, can serve as firebreaks from wildfires and offer a chance for farmers to plant crops on land that would otherwise have to be fallowed, or abandoned because of a lack of water. It takes roughly six to eight years for the plants to mature.
“If we enter a severe drought, this is a crop I think we can avoid watering totally,” Woolf said. “For me, this plant is kind of coming around at the right time.”
Craig Reynolds, the California Agave Council founding director who has about 500 plants growing, says the industry is in “an embryo stage” and organizing can help the crop expand. He runs California Agave Ventures, which grows blue agave and sells starter plants to other growers.
“It's really taking off,” he said.
Coming together
About 40 growers and distillers gathered for a symposium in May to talk about the crop, from economics and logistics to site planning and processes. It ended with a tasting and sensory analysis of California products.
UC Davis hosted the event to bring people together and introduce them to what the university could offer in terms of research, training and outreach, Runnebaum said.
“I think there's a lot of promise in this potentially being a drought-tolerant crop in California,” he added. “UC Davis can help organize and research.”
The Woolfs would like their gift to be used to answer early research questions about growing sites, plant attributes and possible funding agencies, as well as gathering harvest data and producing a database with that information, according to the gift agreement.
Some key questions to answer: Is frost risk in California too high in relation to Mexico, where the plants thrive? Can California produce a fast-growing, high-sugar, disease-resistant crop?
In addition to creating best agricultural practices for the crop and doing economic analysis, UC Davis could serve as a training ground, much as it does for brewing and winemaking.
“UC Davis also has the potential to train future leaders for this industry,” Stuart Woolf said.
Editor's note: Runnebaum is affiliated with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources through the Agricultural Experiment Station at UC Davis.
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