- Author: Michael Hsu
UC Cooperative Extension advisors, educators join growers in showcasing rice production
When Tracy Schohr volunteered in her son's pre-K class a couple years ago, she was stunned to find out that only two of the 20 children had ever been around a tractor. And this was in the rural Butte County community of Gridley, in the heart of California's rice-growing region.
Seeking to introduce more young children to agriculture, Schohr – the University of California Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for the area – and her friend Lisa Donati created an event to showcase rice farming.
After the debut of “Ricetastic...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Armyworms can be a serious pest in rice. The worms can eat the rice foliate or panicles, and cause yield reductions.
In 2015, a severe outbreak of armyworms caught rice growers by surprise, resulting in yield losses. In a 2018 survey conducted by UC Cooperative Extension, rice growers reported average yield losses in 2015 ranging from 4% to 12%. Since UCCE began a monitoring program in 2016, rice losses to armyworms have been rare, according to Luis Espino, UC Cooperative Extension rice farming systems advisor in Butte and Glenn counties.
To safeguard the rice crop against the pests, UCCE began conducting...
