Skip to Content
sitenum=63
Happenings in the insect world
'A' Is for Almonds and 'Z' Is for Zamora
Kathy Keatley Garvey
Published on: March 9, 2016

"A" is for almonds and "Z" is for Zamora.

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, March 15 for a two-hour workshop, "Almond Pollination and Orchard Pollinator Planters" in Zamora, Yolo County. It's free and open to the public.

UC Davis pollination ecologists and other experts will be among those speaking at the event, to take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at 8304 County Road 91B, Zamora. No reservations are required.

“This field day will provide an overview of integrated crop pollination and on-farm wildflower plantings for almonds in the Sacramento Valley,” said organizer Katharina Ullmann, who received her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis last year with major professor and pollination ecologist Neal Williams. She is now a pollination specialist for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

“We will hear the latest research from a UC Davis lab studying almond pollination and wildflower plantings, learn about almond pollinators and how to support those pollinators using wildflowers," Ullmann said. "We will also discuss establishment and maintenance practices for planting habitat on field crop edges and provide an overview of plant species appropriate for plantings in the Sacramento Valley and beyond. Two growers will share their perspectives."

Among the speakers is Ula Lundin of Sweden, a postdoctoral researcher in Williams laboratory, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. "I am interested in how functionally important insects in agriculture like pollinators, pests and natural enemies are affected by agricultural management and environmental drivers at the field, landscape and regional scale," he says on the lab website. "In my PhD project I explored these questions in Swedish clover seed production, studying pollination and pest control provided by bumble bees and parasitoids attacking economically important seed predators." In his postdoc project, Lundin is working with "the enhancement of pollination and pest control services with wildflower plantings as a part of the Integrated Crop Pollination Project." 

The March 15 lineup:

9 a.m.: Welcome by Kat Pope, orchard advisor, UC Cooperative Extension, Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties; and Rachael Long, owner of the DH Long Farm and Yolo County farm advisor

9:10: Integrated crop pollination, almond pollination and research update by  Kimiora Ward, research associate, Neal Williams lab, UC Davis;  Ola Lundin, postdoctoral researcher, Williams lab, and Katharina Ullmann, crop pollination specialist, Xerces Society 


9:40: Almond wildflower plantings 101 (DH Long Farm) by Kimiora Ward, research associate, Williams lab; Kitty Bolte, junior research specialist, Williams lab; and  Tom Barrios, Barrios Farms 


10:25: Solarization for wildflower planting success (Tadlock Farm) by Jessa Kay Cruz, pollinator conservation specialist, Xerces Society; orchard manager, Tadlock Farm


10:45: Technical and financial support, Ha Troung, Yolo County, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

The sponsors include UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Davis, Xercies Society, Integrated Crop Pollination Project Colusa County Resource Conservation District, and the Yolo County Resource Conservation District.

Continuing education credits will be given. Participants are asked to bring a hat, sunscreen and good walking shoes. For more information contact Katharina Ullmann at katharina@xerces.org or at (530) 302-5504. 

A honey bee pollinating an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee pollinating an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tags: almond pollination (5), field day (3), Katharina Ullman (3), Neal Williams (78), UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (695), Ula Lundin (1), Zamora (1)
Comments: 0
Viewing -3--3 of 1