- Author: Luis Espino
The 2014 rice season is in full swing. Some ground is still being worked, and fields are being flooded and planted. Calls are starting to trickle in (algae, tadpole shrimp) and it's looking like it will be a challenging season.
But in this blog entry I'm not going to write about rice. I want to take this opportunity to tell you about a very special celebration, a centennial celebration.
One hundred years ago, on May 8, an act of Congress formally created the Cooperative Extension system nationwide. This legislation called for “cooperation” between land-grant universities, the USDA and county governments in order to fund an agent to work in the community “extending” the agricultural knowledge generated on university campuses and agricultural experiment stations.
In California, the University of California was in charge of establishing extension agents in the counties throughout the state. Humboldt County was the first to get an agent on July 1913, a year before passage of the federal legislation. The agent had the title “farm adviser”, which was later changed to “farm advisor”.
Today, UC Cooperative Extension advisors are present in all California counties, and include not only farm advisors, but also natural resources advisors, nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisors, and 4-H youth development advisors, among others.
UC Cooperative Extension has evolved significantly in the last 100 years, but its core mission remains the same: to serve the people of California.
Happy centennial, UCCE!
- Author: Luis Espino
In early 2012 UCCE conducted a survey of rice storage facilities (on and off-farm) to see what research and extension needs the rice industry had in this area. The results of the suvey have been published in the journal California Agriculture, and if you are interested, the article can be accessed on the web here: http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.edu/landingpage.cfm?article=ca.v068n01p38&fulltext=yes
The survey showed that storage facilities are users of IPM: most operations rely on monitoring, thresholds, sanitation and aeration to manage pest problems.
We'll use this information to continue work in this area!
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
The San Joaquin County and Delta Rice Growers Meeting will be Monday, March 3, 2014 from 1:00-4:00pm at the Cabral Agricultural Center (2101 E. Earhart Ave., Stockton, CA 95206). See the agenda below, and please contact Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, Delta farm advisor, with questions.
Agenda:
1:00pm Doors open, sign-in, light refreshments, and welcome
1:05pm Rice Specialist Introduction, Bruce Linquist, UCCE
1:35pm Rice Industry Update, Roberta Firoved, California Rice Commission
1:50pm Variety Selection and Milling Quality, Cass Mutters, UCCE, Butte
2:20pm Rice in the Delta – The Potential to Mitigate Subsidence and Enhance Sustainability, Phil Bachand, TetraTech
2:50pm BREAK
3:00pm Potassium Fertility, Bruce Linquist, UCCE
3:30pm Weed Competition, Control, Timing and Herbicides, Albert Fischer, UC Davis
4:00pm Wrap-up and evaluations
Applied for DPR and CCA continuing education credits.
- Author: Luis Espino
2014 Annual Rice Grower Meetings
Sponsored by UC Cooperative Extension
-------------- 4 Locations --------------
WHERE & WHEN
Richvale: Monday, Jan. 27, 8:00 am, Evangelical Church, 5219 Church St., Richvale
Glenn: Monday, Jan. 27, 1:00 pm, Glenn Pheasant Hall, 1522 Highway 45, south of Glenn
Colusa: Friday, Jan. 31, 8:00 am, CIP Conference Room, 100 Sunrise Blvd., Colusa
Yuba City: Friday, Jan. 31, 1:00 pm, Veterans Hall, 1425 Veterans Memorial Circle, Yuba City
TIME: Doors open at 8:00 am and meetings start at 8:30 am at Richvale and Colusa.
Doors open at 1:00 pm and meetings start at 1:30 pm at Glenn and Yuba City.
Program
8:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m.) Doors open, sign-in, coffee
8:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m.) Call meeting to order
8:35 a.m. (1:35 p.m.) Rice Research Board Nominations – Dana Dickey, Rice Research Board
8:40 a.m. (1:40 p.m.) Rice Specialist Introduction – Bruce Linquist, UCCE
9:10 a.m. (2:10 p.m.) Perspective on the Potential Drought and its Impacts
Richvale meeting: Ted Trimble, Western Canal Water District
Glenn meeting: Thad Bettner, Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District
Colusa meeting: Lewis Bair, Reclamation District 108
Yuba City meeting: Curt Aikens, Yuba County Water Agency
9:40 a.m. (2:40 p.m.) Regulatory Update – County Ag Commissioner
10:00 a.m. (3:00 p.m.) Weed Competition, Control, Timing and Herbicides – Albert Fischer, UC Davis
10:30 a.m. (3:30 p.m.) — BREAK —
10:45 a.m. (3:45 p.m.) Potassium Fertility – Bruce Linquist, UCCE
11:15 a.m. (4:15 p.m.) Waste Discharge Requirements – What does it mean to the grower? – Roberta Firoved, California Rice Commission
11:45 a.m. (4:45 p.m.) Fall Weather Patterns and Grain Quality – Cass Mutters, UCCE
12:00 a.m. (5:00 p.m.) — ADJOURN —
****Applied for DPR and CCA CE credits****
2014 Annual Rice Grower Meeting Program
