University of California Cooperative Extension Sutter-Yuba-Colusa is holding a series of webinars in September and October to provide research updates on some of the major crops in the Sacramento Valley. The classes are relevant to growers throughout California and are primarily focused on pest management and pesticide safety. 

The September 9th webinar will feature Franz Niederholzer, Orchard Systems Advisor. "We will be reviewing proven almond IPM practices with an eye to reducing input costs, where possible, while delivering effective pest control," says Niederholzer. He has been working in almonds in the Sacramento Valley for almost 20 years. 

Amber Vinchesi-Vahl, Vegetable Crops Advisor, will give her webinar on September 16th. She states, "I will be providing information on important pest issues in vegetables and the latest research updates on disease and weed management in processing tomatoes and cucumber beetles in melons." Her research on tomatoes covers cultivator trials for within-row weed control and monitoring of soilborne fungal pathogens.

Whitney Brim-DeForest, Rice and Wild Rice Advisor, will present September 30th. "The webinar will provide an opportunity for discussion and interaction about weed identification," she says. "We will also cover the latest research updates on specific weed species, resistance management, and new herbicides in rice." The information is relevant to both organic and conventional rice growers, so all are encouraged to attend.

The final webinar will take place on October 7, and will be given by Sarah Light, Agronomy Advisor. Light says, "We will cover opportunities to decrease environmental risk through pesticide selection and application, accurate diagnosis, and reduction of loss to the environment." 

Enrollment is limited, so register early. The cost is $20 for 1, $35 for 2, $50 for 3, and $60 for 4 webinars. For more details or to register, visit http://ucanr.edu/syc-uccevirtualwebinars. DPR CE credits have been approved (4 "other" hours total, 1 per class), and CCA credits have been approved for IPM credits (4 hours total, 1 per class).  

If you have questions, contact Whitney Brim-DeForest [wbrimdeforest@ucanr.edu or call the UCCE Sutter-Yuba office at (530) 822-7515].

I recently visited a couple of fields that were showing signs of sulfide toxicity. At first sight, the symptoms could be confused with blast. Plants dry out and turn brown, panicles blank out. However, plants affected by sulfide won't have any leaf or neck blast lesions. But the tell sign that sulfide toxicity is the issue are the roots. Affected plants will have black roots that smell like rotten eggs.

Sulfide toxicity occurs in patches, most likely, where organic matter accumulated and water flow is limited.

Roots of plants affected by sulfide turn black and smell like rotten eggs.

Sulfide toxicity happens when soil microbes use sulfate as energy source, and produce hidrogen sulfide as a by product. Normally, the sulfide will precipitate and won't accumulate, but in certain soils sulfide can accumulate and become toxic to the plant. Sulfide toxicity seems to be caused by accumulation of organic matter, such as straw or root balls, that do not decompose completely during the winter time. Irrigation water with high salt content can aggravate the problem, especially in areas where water movement is limited.

Aerating the soil stops the accumulation of sulfide, therefore, draining for harvest will stop the problem.

It's that time again! If you would like to submit seeds for herbicide resistance testing, many weed species will be maturing right about now.

The UCCE Rice Weeds Program tests grower submitted seed samples of potentially herbicide-resistant watergrass species, sprangletop, smallflower umbrella sedge and bulrush. However, we encourage you to submit ANY species that you suspect to be resistant. We keep individual grower information confidential and any reporting of results will not identify individual growers.

Please fill out the form (linked here) for each weed seed sample (each field and/or species). The following tips will ensure that you receive the best possible results:

• The best timing of collection is when the seed easily falls off the seed head by gentle agitation in a paper bag (see video for demonstration):

o   For watergrass species, this should be close to rice harvest (seeds should be brownish in color)

o   For sprangletop, timing will be earlier, in August or September (seeds will appear greenish)

o   For the sedges, timing may be as early as July, all the way through early September

o   Smallflower umbrella sedge seed is yellow, with brown hulls (looks like dust)

o   Bulrush (roughseed) seeds are black and have small hairs

• Seed should be collected from areas that you know have been sprayed with the suspected herbicide.
• Collect seeds from multiple plants, and the amount should be at least a few handfuls of seed, to ensure sufficient quantity for testing.
• Please do not collect seed from around field margins.
• Allow seed to dry in the paper bag to prevent molding.

Bring the sample and form to your local UCCE Farm Advisor (Whitney, Luis, or Michelle) or send or drop off samples at the Rice Experiment Station (RES) in Biggs. If you need assistance in collection, please contact your Farm Advisor or PCA. Results should be emailed to you in March of 2021.

The UCCE Rice Team is conducting a field survey to collect watergrass samples over the next few weeks. The samples will be grown out in the greenhouse to help us start figuring out the identification and phenotypic characteristics (how to distinguish one from another) for the watergrass species found in California rice fields. The hope is that this will give us data for developing chemical and non-chemical management plans for watergrass, similar to what we have been working on with weedy rice over the past few years. 

The project was funded by the California Rice Research Board, and is led by Whitney Brim-DeForest (UCCE Sutter-Yuba) and Marie Jasieniuk (UC Davis). 

We are reaching out to ask for locations of rice fields from growers and PCA's, so our team can go out and collect seed. We are looking for all types of watergrass: "mimic", early watergrass, late watergrass, barnyardgrass (Figure 1), and the new species that we started seeing a couple of years ago (Figure 2). We hope to start collecting in the next week or two, through the end of September. 

For more information, and if you are interested in having us come out and sample your field(s), please contact Whitney Brim-DeForest (wbrimdeforest@ucanr.edu), or call 530-822-7515.