Ongoing research

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NATIVE BEE, a Svastra obliqua expurgata, forages on top of a Mexican hat flower at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis. The bee is commonly known as "the sunflower bee." The flower is sometimes called a "prairie coneflower." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Feel Like Dancing?

August 24, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Collecting pollen and nectar is serious business. But when a native wild bee such as the Svastra obliqua expurgata, also called "the sunflower bee," forages on a Mexican hat flower, it adds a little gaiety to the scene.
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Chasing Carder Bees

August 23, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When this insect flashes by you in your garden, at first glance you think: "Yellow jacket? Paper wasp? What's that?" Then it lands and you realize it's neither. It's a bee.
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About Those Pickled Peppers

August 20, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked; If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
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Another Use of a Potted Plant

August 19, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When temperatures soar, look for honey bees to head for water resources. On the grounds of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, something as simple as a freshly watered potted plant will do.
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Beetle Mania

August 18, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Gardeners pinch them. Photographers shoot them. Hikers wonder what they are. The spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica) is a major agricultural pest. You'll see it on cucumbers, squash, corn, beans, watermelons, musk melons, cotton, tomatoes and other crops.
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Sano
Conservation Agriculture: Article

Earthworms signal success on innovative tomato farm

August 18, 2010
By Jeannette Warnert
If the return of earthworms to farm fields is an indication of success, then Sano Farms is on the right track. I havent seen earthworms in these fields in years, said Firebaugh farmer Alan Sano.
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Giacomazzi (with back to camera) speaks to Australian visitors.
Conservation Agriculture: Article

Aussie no-tillers visit Valley farmers

August 18, 2010
By Jeannette Warnert
Leading San Joaquin Valley conservation tillage farmers Scott Schmidt of Five Points and Dino Giacomazzi of Hanford recently hosted a group of 38 no-till farmers from Western and South Australia.
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Alan Sano, Jesse Sanchez and ? at the Sano Farm in Firebaugh.
Conservation Agriculture: Article

Cost-cutting tomato production approaches introduced in Firebaugh

August 18, 2010
By Jeannette Warnert
Tomato producers interested in cutting costs, reducing inputs and improving their soil, received a strong jump start to planning their 2011 seasons by participating in a recently-held how to get started with conservation tillage and cover crop systems discussion held at Sano Farms in Firebaugh.
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Farmers get a close-up look at a CT farm.
Conservation Agriculture: Article

Common points in conservation tillage practices

August 18, 2010
By Jeannette Warnert
A number of common points came through loud and clear by each of the farmers who hosted visitors during a recent field tour. Advance planning prior to the strip-till or no-till corn season is necessary. Laying out appropriately-spaced, shallow irrigation berms is desirable.
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Conservation Agriculture: Article

Tom Barcellos consistently uses strip till in silage

August 18, 2010
By Jeannette Warnert
Tom Barcellos of Barcellos Farms in Tipton, California, has been in the no-till and strip-till business perhaps longer and more consistently than just about any other dairy silage producer in the entire SJV.
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