I am pleased to announce the following two meetings:

1. UC Cooperative Extension and UC Davis will host a Healthy Soils Program Workshop on compost. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 26th from 9:00am to 12:30pm (BBQ lunch provided). The meeting will take place at Rominger Brothers Farm (28800 Co Rd 29, Winters, CA). Presentations topics include how to acquire compost, different types of compost and how it can improve soil health, and nitrogen management in tomato systems receiving compost. At the end of the workshop, there will be a compost spreading demonstration. Attendance is free, but registration is required. Continuing education credits will be offered (0.5 of N management for ILRP program; 0.5 NM and 1.0 SW credits for CCAs). The agenda is available from the registration page.

2. UC Cooperative Extension will host an online workshop on Using N-rich Reference Zones to Guide N Management in Small Grains. The workshop will take place on Thursday, November 4th from 2:00-4:00pm. Presentation topics include how to implement N-rich reference zones, online N management tools, and case studies from local sites. Attendance is free, but registration is required for anyone requesting continuing education. Continuing education credits (2.0 of N management) will be offered for the ILRP program. The agenda is pasted below, and the meeting link is here.

Thanks for your interest in UC Cooperative Extension programming.

 

Agenda: Using N-rich Reference Zones to Guide N Management in Small Grains

2:00 - 2:15 Overview of concepts and tools related to utilizing N rich reference zones to guide N management in California small grains. (Mark Lundy, UC Davis/UCCE)

2:15 - 2:30 Introduction to The Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Tool for California Wheat and other web tools for optimizing N management in California small grain crops (Taylor Nelsen, UC Davis)

2:30 - 2:35 Questions and Discussion

2:35 - 4:00 Case Studies: Using N-rich reference zones to guide N fertilizer management in diverse California environments. Presentations will discuss specifics of implementing N rich reference zones and using UC decisions support tools to make in-season N fertilizer decisions. 

• Yolo County irrigated site N rich case study (Mark Lundy, UC Davis/UCCE)
• Yolo County rainfed site N rich case study (Konrad Mathesius, UCCE)
• Kings County N rich case study (Nick Clark, UCCE)
• Sacramento County Delta N rich case study (Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE)
• Siskiyou County N rich case study (Giuliano Galdi, UCCE)
• Colusa County N rich case study (Sarah Light, UCCE)
• Wrap-up discussion and survey

I have been trapping armyworms in Delta rice since 2016, in collaboration with my colleague in the Sacramento Valley, Luis Espino. Monitoring involves scouting for worm damage – like leaf feeding or panicle injury – and deployment of pheromone bucket traps that catch the moths. The worms are often difficult to find unless you are scouting early in the morning before it gets too hot, which is why we use the pheromone bucket traps. We can observe when moth populations are reaching their peak to inform treatment decisions. Over the years, UCCE has cooperated with the California Rice Commission to get Section 18 emergency approvals of methoxyfenozide (Intrepid 2F), and because we have trapping data from the Delta, San Joaquin County has been included on the approval. Thank you to the cooperating growers for allowing me to trap on their farms.

In previous years, we trapped for both true armyworms and western yellowstriped armyworms. It appears, however, that the true armyworms are the ones that damage rice, so this year, we focused our trapping on them. I trap on three islands in the Delta, and I did see some leaf feeding damage in June. Moth flights peaked in late June (Fig. 1), but overall, damage was not severe this year. In fact, the moth counts were the lowest that I have seen since I started trapping in 2016. Some growers indicated needing to spray, but others did not. For those who sprayed, populations fell and did not resurge later in the season. I saw very little, if any, panicle injury in August and September.

You can find more information about my Delta rice research and extension program on my website. I wish you a successful harvest season!

 

Figure 1. Delta true armyworm trap counts. The trap counts represent the number of moths caught per day, averaged across three Delta locations. The 2021 counts were the lowest seen since trapping began in 2016.

UC Cooperative Extension will host the annual Delta field meeting on Thursday, September 30th from 10:00-11:30am, on Tyler Island in Sacramento County. The agenda is pasted below and attached. In addition to providing information on the annual field corn variety trial, this year's agenda includes presentations on nitrogen management in corn and wheat. The attached version of the agenda includes a map and directions to the field site. We have applied for CCA and CDFA INMP continuing education credits. The University is attentive to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Please monitor yourself for Covid-19 symptoms before coming to the event, and do not come if you are experiencing symptoms. While this meeting is outdoors, we will be following University safety precautions for in-person events. Please practice social distancing, or wear a mask if within 6 feet of another person. Thanks for your interest in UC Cooperative Extension programming, and we hope to see you in the field! 

Agenda:

10:00am     Field corn variety evaluation – preliminary results, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE, SJC/Delta

10:15am     Variety traits for the Delta, Seed company representatives

10:30am     In-season nitrogen management in wheat, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE, SJC/Delta

10:45am     Development of site-specific nitrogen fertilization recommendations for annual crops, Suzette Turner and Daniel Geisseler, UC Davis

11:00am     Viewing of field plots

I am pleased to announce the following meetings and webinars.

1. The Rice Experiment Station (RES) Annual Field Day will takes place next Wednesday, August 25, 2021 from 7:30am to 12:00pm, followed by lunch. The RES is located at 955 Butte City Highway (Hwy. 162), approximately two and one half miles west of Highway 99, north of Biggs, California. The field day is an opportunity to learn about the research being done at the RES, including variety development. It is sponsored by the California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation (CCRRF) and University of California (UC). For more information, please visit the RES website. 

2. Farmers' Rice Cooperative and Wetlands Preservation Foundation will host a Delta Rice Field Day next Thursday, August 26, 2021 from 8:30am to 1:45pm. The event will start at Canal Ranch (23011 Blossom Road, Thornton, CA 95686), followed by a bus tour of nearby Delta rice production. I will be present to answer questions about my rice research and extension program, including the Delta variety trial, armyworm monitoring, herbicide trials, and weedy rice outreach. Space is limited, so please see this flyer to reserve space.

3. The UC Dry Bean Field Day will take place on Tuesday, August 31, 2021 from 9:00am to 11:30am. The field day will begin at Honey Bee Haven, Bee Biology Road, on the UC Davis campus. Due to Covid-19 safety precautions, preregistration for this event is required. There is no registration fee. I invite you to view the agenda and register here. CCA continuing education credits (2.0) are available (0.5 of NM; 0.5 of PM; 1.0 of CM).

4. The UC Alfalfa and Forage Field Day will take place on Thursday, September 23, 2021 from 8:00am to 12:15pm, followed by lunch. The field day will take place at the Kearney Research and Extension Center, 9240 S. Riverbend Ave., Parlier, CA 93648. Due to Covid-19 safety precautions, preregistration for this event is required. There is no registration fee. I invite you to view the agenda and register here. We have applied for DPR, CCA, and N management (ILRP program) continuing education credits.

5. The Vertebrate Pest Council is hosting vertebrate pest webinars on September 28 (field rodents), September 29 (use of rodenticides), and September 30 (managing commensal rodents). The webinars run from 8:00am to 10:00am each day, and registration is required. Please see this flyer for more information.

Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic is a fluid situation. At this time, I plan to hold an in-person field meeting at the Delta field corn variety trial, as I have done in the past. The date is TBD but will take place in late-September or early-October. I will send a separate blog announcement when the date has been set. 

Thank you for your interest in our programs. Stay healthy, and hope to see you soon at one of these events.