Archive Nut, Prune and Olive Programs

Marek Borowiec, who attributes his interest in ants to E.O. Wilson's autobiography "Naturalist," has just won a major award. It's more than major: it's an international award for his distinguished research and scholarly activity.

Extension education plays a major role in agricultural development. Timely and efficient dissemination of information on new technologies, crop production or pest management practices, and emerging or potential problems helps growers to reduce their production costs and improve yields.

Bugs: they're what's for dinner! Well, at some dinners. In. Many. Parts. Of. The. World.

The joy of the season strikes a chord. When bees slip out of their California hives during winter sun breaks, they often head over to mallow blossoms to grab some nectar and pollen.

They've got your back. And your bees. The declining honey bee population now has 52 more friends. Science-based friends. Bee ambassadors. Partners.

(There was an error in the previous version of this blog post. The error has been corrected here and in the full report, available from my website.

It may be extinct, but don't say the "E" word to Robbin Thorp. Thorp, a noted bumble bee expert, hasn't seen Franklin's bumble bee for 10 years, but that doesn't mean it's not there--somewhere in its small native range of southern Oregon and northern California.

IGIS is in the news for the development and release of the Wild Pig Damage App! The app was recently higlighted by Julia Mitric, Food And Sustainability Reporter with Capital Public Radio. http://www.capradio.

A little something that a friend wrote for gardeners, but is applicable to farming. You can read more of Kourik's stuff at:http://www.robertkourik.com/tidbits.html Some garden suppliers now offer beneficial microbial and fungal inoculants to boost the soil's fertility.

A few months ago I wrote about starting some tests looking at various postemergence herbicides for non-crop use. This project was initiated due to new ordinances some cities in southern California were considering or adopted that limited the use products containing glyphosate on city owned property.