Yes, Virginia, there is a Free Lunch. Thanks to CA Crop Improvement! 

All are welcome to attend the field day at UC Davis to see research plots on alfalfa, small grains, corn/sorghum, and canola/camelina/castor as biofuels. This is a great opportunity to meet others, learn about new varieties, pest management, IPM, and irrigation management. 

California Crop Improvement offers a barbeque lunch for attendees. Many thanks to CCIA for providing a lunch. The field day is sponsored by UCD and UC Cooperative Extension.

Hope to see you there! 

UC Davis Small Grains/Alfalfa Field Day

Wednesday, May 15, 2013, Davis, CA (directions below)

Small Grains Schedule (Morning)

8:00     Registration (Coffee and donuts)

8:15 a.m. – Noon: Small Grains Field Tour

• Welcome and Introductions
• Issues for California Wheat, Pest and Disease Resistance Needs – Janice Cooper, California Wheat Commission
• New UC wheat varieties, FSP increases, wheat research– Jorge Dubcovsky, UCD wheat breeder
• Departure to field tour
• Promising UCD Lines for Future Common Wheat and Durum Wheat Variety Releases – Oswaldo Chicaiza and Alicia del Blanco, Wheat Breeders
• Genetic Studies for New Traits –
• Barley and Oats Breeding Programs – Lynn Gallagher and Alicia del Blanco
• Collaborators Quality Program –Phil Mayo, Wheat and Barley Regional Testing Program Coordinator
• Dedication of the new Small Grain Combine
• Mapping new stripe rust resistance genes - Nicolas Cobo, PhD student
• Discovering genes for drought tolerance - Tyson Howell and Eligio Bossolini
• Using barley to identify resistance genes to wheat stripe rust - Josh Hegarty, PhD student
• Pyramiding mutations to enhance resistant starch - Brittany Howell, PhD student
• Engineering flowering time - Rebecca Nitcher, PhD student
• Statewide Germplasm Development and Evaluation – Wheat & Triticale, Durum, and Barley – Phil Mayo, Wheat and Barley Regional Testing Program Coordinator. With participation of breeders from private breeding companies.

12:00 Noon - Barbeque Lunch Sponsored by California Crop Improvement

Alfalfa/Forage/Biofuel Schedule (Afternoon)

12:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Alfalfa & Forage Field Day

• Water quality issues with pesticides in alfalfa/grain–Jenny King, Yolo Co. Ag. Commissioner
• Yield and pest management in new crops: Canola, Camelina and Castor grown for Biofuels—Steve Kaffka, Nick George, UC Davis
• Low-lignin trials in alfalfa—What are the possibilities?—Dan Putnam, UC Davis
• Sorghum and corn forage N-variety trials—Chris DeBen and Dan Putnam, UC Davis
• Testing of new weed control strategies for alfalfa—Mick Canevari, UCCE Advisor Emeritus, San Joaquin County, D. Putnam, UC Davis
• Testing of photosynthesis enhancers in alfalfa – Craig Giannini, Dan Putnam UC Davis
• Alfalfa aphid outbreak in 2013, and IPM update - Pete Goodell, UC IPM Program
• Alfalfa weevil and hopper IPM management in alfalfa—Rachael Long, UCCE, Yolo County
• Subsurface drip experiments on alfalfa—Dan Putnam, UC Davis
• Management of water in alfalfa:  My Experiences with Subsurface Drip Irrigation in Alfalfa—Rick Martinez, Grower, Dixon, CA
• Management of water in alfalfa:  Monitoring ET in the Field—Rick Snyder, LAWR, UC Davis
• Alfalfa varieties: yield and pest management implications—Craig Giannini and Dan Putnam, UC Davis

4 CE hours (PCA credits) and 6 Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) hours

Directions: UC Davis Agronomy Field Headquarters, Hutchison Road, Davis, CA

Take Hwy 113 near Davis to Hutchison Rd., just west of Davis. Go west. Right at first rotary, left at second rotary, about 1/3 mile further down on the left near clump of trees. 

See:  http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu for printable schedule