Dear CropManage Users,

We would like to bring to your attention 2 important educational meetings on irrigation and nutrient management.   The first meeting is the California Plant and Soil Conference that will be held in Fresno CA on Feb 4^th and 5^th.   This conference has several sessions covering state-wide issues on irrigation and nutrient management, including the management of salinity and preparing for drought conditions.  Please refer to the announcement below for further details.

In addition to the Plant and Soil Conference, the 2014 Irrigation and Nutrient Management Meeting will be held on February 12^th at the UC Cooperative Extension Office in Salinas CA (see announcement below).   This meeting will focus on coastal vegetables, presenting current research results on water and nutrient management.   Results of replicated trials evaluating using ET data for scheduling irrigations in lettuce and broccoli will be presented as well as results from N management trials.  Also, an overview of salt management in vegetable systems will be covered.  There is no registration fee for this meeting.

We will provide a pizza lunch after the morning session, and then hold a brief field meeting on cover crop management in organic vegetables and strawberries at the USDA-ARS Spence research farm in the afternoon.

With growers facing drought conditions during the upcoming season and ever stricter water quality regulations, both meetings should be very worthwhile.

Best Regards,

Michael Cahn and Richard Smith

UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County

University of California Cooperative Extension, Monterey County

2014 Irrigation and Nutrient Management Meeting

Agricultural Center 1432 Abbott Street, Salinas, CA

Wednesday, February 12

7:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

7:45             Registration and Refreshments

8:00             Fertilizer value of nitrate in irrigation water Mike Cahn, Irrigation and Water Resources Farm Advisor, Monterey County

8:30             Strategies to reduce nitrate losses from leaching and runoff on organic farms  Eric Brennan, Research Horticulturalist, USDA ARS, Salinas

9:00            Update on nitrogen uptake by cole crops Richard Smith, Vegetable Crop Farm Advisor, Monterey County

9:30            ET-based irrigation scheduling of lettuce, broccoli, and other cool-season vegetables Lee Johnson, Senior Research Scientist, CSUMB/NASA    

10:00           Break

10:30           Nutrient budgets for vegetables Tim Hartz, Vegetable Crops Specialist, UC Davis

11:00            Managing salts in vegetable production Steve Grattan, Extension Specialist

11:30           Controlled release N sources for desert vegetables and evaluation of AVP-OX vegetables

for improved P use efficiency  Charles Sanchez, Soil Science Professor, University of Arizona, Yuma Agricultural Center

12:00           Conclusion and Pizza Lunch

Afternoon Session:

12:45           Low residue mustard cover crops for organic vegetable and strawberry production, USDA ARS Spence Farm, 1572 Old Stage Road, Salinas 

Eric Brennan, Roy Fuentes, Richard Smith and Mike Cahn

1:45             Conclusion    

*  Sponsors: University of California Cooperative Extension; Resource Conservation District (RCD);

*  Certified Crop Advisor Credits have been requested

*  For more information call Richard Smith 759-7357 or Michael Cahn 759-7377

Plant and Soil Conference Announcement

The 43^th annual California ASA Plant and Soil Conference will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 4 & 5, 2014 at the Radisson Hotel and Convention Center in Fresno, CA.  Sponsored by the California Chapter of the American Society of Agronomy and the California Certified Crop Advisors, the conference will focus on current agronomic topics that are of importance to growers, consultants, suppliers, educators and governmental organizations.

 The theme of this year’s general session is “Building Resiliency in California Agriculture” with speakers from the agriculture industry and research institutions.

 The conference includes technical sessions on a wide range of topics including:

• Nutrient management in annual and perennial crops
• Salinity management in crop production
• Water and drought management
• Pest management
• Waste water and manure management issues
• Soil quality and the effect of agricultural practices

A poster session including submissions from students and professionals will be featured at a complimentary reception with wine and hors d’oeuvres at the end of the first day of the conference.  Continuing education credit will be available for Pest Control Advisors and Certified Crop Advisors.

A detailed program for the 2014 conference, along with the registration and continuing education credit information, is available at the California ASA website  http://calasa.ucdavis.edu .   For more Information, contact Steve Grattan srgrattan@ucdavis.edu or Dave Goorahoo, ASA California Chapter President at dgooraho@csufresno.edu or (559) 278-8448

Hotel reservation information:

Radisson Hotel and Conference Center Fresno

2233 Ventura Street

Fresno, CA 93721

Phone: 559-268-1000

Toll free: 800-333-3333

Tell them you are with the California Chapter of the American Society of Agronomy meeting

Online: www.radisson.com/agronomy

Room rate $99.00

End date for the conference room rate is January 21, 2014