- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
The UC Field Crops, Alfalfa, and Forage Field Day will take place on Friday, September 29, 2023. The field day will take place at the Kearney Research and Extension Center, 9240 S. Riverbend Ave., Parlier, CA 93648. Sign-in and morning refreshments begin at 7:00am, and the field tour tram leaves promptly at 8:00am. There is no registration fee, but please pre-register for the event to help us with our planning. Only preregistered attendees are guaranteed a lunch. CCA continuing education credits (1.0 SW; 1.0 PM; 1.5 CM) and CDFA INMP credits (1.5) have been approved. DPR continuing education credits (1.0) are still pending. The agenda is below and attached to the bottom of this post. We look forward to seeing you at the field day!
Agenda:
7:00 am Sign-in (refreshments provided)
8:00 am Depart for Field Tour
- Sorghum Variety Trials (Grain & Forage) – Jackie Atim, UC ANR
- Sorghum variety trial under deficit irrigation – Jackie Atim
- Dry beans variety selection – Bao Lam Huynh, UC Riverside
- Almond-Alfalfa Intercropping System – Sultan Begna and Lauren Hale, USDA ARS
10:00 am Return from Field Tour
10:10 am New Extension Advisors Introduction – Nick Clark, UC ANR
10:20 am Alfalfa Weed Management – Giuliano Galdi & Jorge Angeles UC ANR
10:40 am Cotton IPM – Ian Grettenberger & Buddhi Achhami, UC Davis
11:00 am Brief: Small Grain and Alfalfa Weed Management – Nick Clark
11:05 am Break
11:15 am Compost Application to Alfalfa – Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UC ANR
11:35 am Byproducts Trends & Opportunities for the CA Dairy Industry – Jennifer Heguy, UC ANR
11:55 am Lima & Garbanzo Breeding and Dry Bean Heat Stress Testing– Christine Diepenbrock, UC Davis
12:15 pm Lunch
/span>2023 KREC Field Day agenda

- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
We invite you to attend a Delta Rice Workshop on Wednesday, August 23rd from 10:00am to noon on Staten Island (23319 N. Staten Island Rd., Thornton). The workshop is collaboratively supported by Fish Friendly Farming, the Delta Conservancy, Conservation Farms and Ranches, the CA Land Stewardship Institute, the Regional Water Board, and UC Cooperative Extension. Organizers will demonstrate the use of a recirculation pump in rice production, with a discussion of potential financial support programs. Additionally, there will be a presentation on The Nature Conservancy's Bird Returns Program, and I will provide an update on UCCE research in Delta rice.
The agenda is below, and more information is available from the attached flyer. CDFA INMP (1.0) and CCA (1.0 SW, 0.5 CM) continuing education credits have been approved. We hope to see you at the meeting!
Agenda:
Introductions
Fish Friendly Farming and Delta Conservancy/Regional Board funding - Laurel Marcus, FFF
Recirculation Pump System - Jerred Dixon, Conservation Farms and Ranches
Can funding programs such as SWEEP be used for recirculations pumps and pipelines - Laurel Marcus, FFF
Bird Returns Program - Julia Barfield, TNC
Research Activities in Delta Rice - Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE
Delta Rice Workshop Agenda

- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension will host the UC Dry Bean Field Day on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 from 9:30am to 11:30am. The field day will begin along Bee Biology Road on the UC Davis campus. The agenda is pasted below, and a downloadable version is attached to the bottom of this post. DPR (1.0) and CCA (1.0 Crop Management, 1.0 Pest Management) continuing education credits have been approved. Thanks for your interest, and we hope to see you at the field day!
Agenda:
9:30am Welcome and introductions: Christine Diepenbrock and Antonia Palkovic, UC Davis; Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UC Cooperative Extension
9:35am How can we further improve lima bean? A project funded by the USDA to improve breeding resources: Paul Gepts, UC Davis
9:50am Walk through and discussion of lima breeding material: Antonia Palkovic and Christine Diepenbrock, UC Davis
10:00am Field diagnostics – bean pest identification and management: Sarah Light, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, Nick Clark, UC Cooperative Extension
10:30am Travel to Veg Crops location (38.534222, -121.782222)
10:35am Blackeye varietal improvement - update on new pest-resistant varieties: Bao-Lam Huynh, UC Riverside
10:55am Results from round one of “speed breeding”, and testing nutritional alongside agronomic traits in limas: Christine Diepenbrock, UC Davis
11:00am From farm to (robot) stomach: what are the trait profiles of California beans after harvest?: Tayah Bolt, UC Davis
11:05am Screening for drought resilience in common and tepary beans: Matthew Gilbert, Tom Buckley, Troy Magney, Paul Gepts, Chris Wong, Antonia Palkovic, Travis Parker, UC Davis
11:20am Evaluating productivity and quality of cowpea and interspecific common/tepary bean in Davis and Parlier (contrasting temperatures): Sassoum Lo, Jonny Berlingeri, UC Davis
11:25am Developing low-cost phone apps/drone and rover platforms to measure agronomic traits: Earl Ranario, Heesup Yun, Vivian Vuong, UC Davis
11:30am Discussion and evaluation
2023 Dry Bean Field Day Agenda

- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
Diagnosing problems in the field is never an easy task, but it is one of the most interesting aspects of my job because I usually never encounter the same set of circumstances twice. This summer, I have been called out on a few interesting diagnostics calls, and I wanted to share some observations.
I visited a blackeye bean field that was planted at the end of June. Since June was unusually cool this year, the grower's planting was delayed. Blackeyes shouldn't be planted until the soil temperature reaches at least 65 degrees F, and the cool spring conditions kept the soil cool. About six days after planting, the beans were only sporadically emerged. The plants that had emerged looked healthy, but the overall stand was poor. The grower said that soil moisture was good at the time of planting. I scratched down and found the seed about three inches deep, which is perhaps a little bit deep for blackeyes. Seed had germinated, and the germinated seed looked healthy with no apparent seedling diseases. Seedling diseases include Pythium and Rhizoctonia. Pythium symptoms appear as water-soaked lesions, and the hypocotyl eventually ‘dampens off'. Rhizoctonia symptoms appear as reddish-brown lesions that can girdle the stem. We felt better that it didn't appear to be a disease problem. I reached out to my farm advisor colleague, Rachael Long, to get her take on the situation, and she agreed that this was likely delayed emergence due to cool soil and a deeper planting depth. In the end, we decided to test our patience, wait a few more days, and see what would happen. After another five days, the grower let me know that the plants had emerged, and the stand looked good!
The UCCE network has a breadth of experience to help identify problems and provide potential management solutions. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you'd like help with diagnosing problems in the field.
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension will host the UC Dry Bean Field Day on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 from 9:30am to 11:30am. The field day will begin along Bee Biology Road on the UC Davis campus. The agenda is pasted below, and a downloadable version is attached to the bottom of this post. DPR continuing education (1.0) is pending. CCA continuing education credits have been approved (1.0 Crop Management, 1.0 Pest Management). Thanks for your interest, and we hope to see you at the field day!
Agenda:
9:30am Welcome and introductions: Christine Diepenbrock and Antonia Palkovic, UC Davis; Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UC Cooperative Extension
9:35am How can we further improve lima bean? A project funded by the USDA to improve breeding resources: Paul Gepts, UC Davis
9:50am Walk through and discussion of lima breeding material: Antonia Palkovic and Christine Diepenbrock, UC Davis
10:00am Field diagnostics – bean pest identification and management: Sarah Light, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, Nick Clark, UC Cooperative Extension
10:30am Travel to Veg Crops location (38.534222, -121.782222)
10:35am Blackeye varietal improvement - update on new pest-resistant varieties: Bao-Lam Huynh, UC Riverside
10:55am Results from round one of “speed breeding”, and testing nutritional alongside agronomic traits in limas: Christine Diepenbrock, UC Davis
11:00am From farm to (robot) stomach: what are the trait profiles of California beans after harvest?: Tayah Bolt, UC Davis
11:05am Screening for drought resilience in common and tepary beans: Matthew Gilbert, Tom Buckley, Troy Magney, Paul Gepts, Chris Wong, Antonia Palkovic, Travis Parker, UC Davis
11:20am Evaluating productivity and quality of cowpea and interspecific common/tepary bean in Davis and Parlier (contrasting temperatures): Sassoum Lo, Jonny Berlingeri, UC Davis
11:25am Developing low-cost phone apps/drone and rover platforms to measure agronomic traits: Earl Ranario, Heesup Yun, Vivian Vuong, UC Davis
11:30am Discussion and evaluation
Dry Bean Field Day Agenda
