- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Cover crops offer many potential benefits – including improving soil health – but not knowing the costs can be a barrier for growers who want to try this practice. To help growers calculate costs per acre, a new study on the costs and potential benefits of adding a winter cover crop in an annual rotation has been released by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Cooperative Extension and the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Led by UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors Sarah Light and Margaret Lloyd, the cost study is modeled for a...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Growers are invited to attend free organic agriculture seminars hosted by UC Cooperative Extension. Lunchtime seminars will be offered on Tuesdays from 12 to 1 p.m. through March 8.
The 30-minute presentations will be delivered online via Zoom, followed by questions from the listeners and general discussion. The exception is a three-hour workshop on management of Fusarium wilt and other soilborne fungal pathogens in organic systems, from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 15.
Water management, weed control, grafting heirloom tomatoes, organic nitrogen management, soilborne diseases, biostimulants, biocontrol agents and mycorrhizal fungi will be discussed by UC...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Slugs, snails, ants, aphids, spider mites and inclement weather conspire against strawberry growers harvesting perfect red berries to sell.
“Farming is hard work,” said Fam Lee, as she pulled a weed from a row of strawberry plants. Lee and her husband Nathan Punh are among about 60 Mien farmers in the Sacramento area who call on Margaret Lloyd, a UC Cooperative Extension advisor, for farming advice.
“Although we are not organic farmers, we always want to go with organic,” said Lee. “For example, we have slugs and ants, I asked...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
In recent years, heirloom tomatoes have become a farm-to-table favorite.
Some consumers are willing to pay a hefty price at trendy restaurants, farmers markets, roadside stands, and even local grocery stores for tomatoes with irregular shapes, vivid colors and rich tomato flavor.
The consumer demand presents an opportunity for small-scale farmers, and a challenge.
“It's not easy to grow heirloom varieties,” said Margaret Lloyd, the UC Cooperative Extension small-scale farm advisor for Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties. “They often have less disease resistance, are lower yielding and cannot tolerate as much stress as improved modern...
