- Author: Trina Kleist, UC Davis
Surveys point to pathways to support farmers, ranchers
How can farmers and ranchers continue to grow our food while facing challenges of a changing climate, increasingly scarce water, land use pressures and rising costs? More than a decade of research is revealing important ways universities, government agencies and other support organizations can help our food producers develop resilience to these challenges and remain profitable.
Leslie Roche is a professor of Cooperative Extension, based in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. She helps lead a statewide team, including other University of California...
- Author: Hanif Houston, UCANR Innovate
Five agtech startups have been selected to participate in the VINE Connect Program, which vets and connects emerging agricultural technology with growers to accelerate the adoption of practical, farm-ready solutions. The program, run by UCANR Innovate, Farmhand Ventures, and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), will host a public field day on April 10 at the UC Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Camarillo, where these companies will demonstrate their technologies on farm.
"Our goal with VINE Connect is to ensure farmers have access to technologies that solve their problems," said Hannah Johnson,...
- Author: Emily C. Dooley, UC Davis
Recognizing behavior could optimize herd distribution, enhance nutrition
Researchers tempted grazing cattle with sweet molasses feed to discover whether cows would roam far and wide to graze or stick close to the herd, water supplies and feed stations.
The findings by animal scientists at the University of California, Davis and published in the journal Scientific Reports, offer a low-cost way for ranchers and others to identify the best cows for their landscapes to optimize grazing while meeting the nutritional needs of cattle.
This is the third in a series of papers about research...
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
The latest in irrigation research and technology will be showcased at the Advances in Irrigation Tools and Technologies Workshop in Holtville on Feb. 27.
“This workshop brings together University of California scientists, irrigation and water industries, government agencies and the farming community to discuss advances in irrigation tools and technologies and provide a guide to smart farming choices in the low desert region,” said Ali Montazar, UC Cooperative Extension irrigation and water management advisor for Imperial County.
The workshop will feature 19 presentations on cutting-edge irrigation...
- Author: Kitty Oppliger
Indigenous Food Sovereignty: Opportunities and Importance in Extension work
In 2007, the first global Forum on Food Sovereignty defined the concept as “the right of peoples to healthy, culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” Since then, advocates of food sovereignty have applied this definition to promote food access in remote areas, urban centers, cultural diaspora and reservations.
For Indigenous Peoples, food sovereignty includes a kin-centric relational model to the land and non-human relatives as...
