Bug Squad BlogBy Kathy Keatley GarveyI'm honored and humbled to have one of my images showcased at the annual Insect Salon hosted by the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA) at its recent meeting in Salt Lake City. It won a second-place award. PBESA covers 11 Western states, plus…
April 21, 2025 updateGeneral background: We are a little slow getting off the mark with our updates this year. The UC ANR web platform was changed in the last month and we're having some issues migrating the old website and blogs over to the new platform. In the meantime we're using this web…
General background: We are a little slow getting off the mark with our updates this year. The UC ANR web platform was changed in the last month and we're having some issues migrating the old website and blogs over to the new platform. In the meantime we're using this web hosting platform…
General background: We are a little slow getting off the mark with our updates this year. The UC ANR web platform was changed in the last month and we're having some issues migrating the old website and blogs over to the new platform. In the meantime we're using this web hosting platform. …
General background We are a little slow getting off the mark with our updates this year. The UC ANR web platform was changed in the last month and we're having some issues migrating the old website and blogs over to the new platform. In the meantime we're using this web hosting platform…
Hantavirus has been in the news a lot lately. Betsy Arakawa, wife of the late actor Gene Hackman, recently passed away in New Mexico due to the disease and California has already seen 3 hantavirus-related deaths this year. In this article we share information to help you understand hantavirus and what you…
Tina Saitone, a University of California, Davis, professor and Cooperative Extension specialist in livestock and rangeland economics, sought to quantify the direct and indirect costs after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife launched a pilot program to compensate ranchers for wolf-related losses.
On March 18, 2025, the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (USDA-FSA) announced that it will provide $10 billion in direct payments to eligible agricultural producers of qualifying commodities. Passed under the American Relief Act of 2025, the economic relief will be delivered…
Bug Squad BlogBy Kathy Keatley Garvey When the Bohart Museum of Entomology erected its pop-up tent on the Briggs Hall lawn during the recent campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day, insects popped up.They included walking sticks (stick insects) and a few specimens from the Bohart Museum's global collection of…
Imagine the California Central Valley being carpeted from one end to the other with wildflowers in the spring. When the Scottish naturalist John Muir first came over the Sierra Nevada mountains in the spring during late 1800s, he wrote: “At my feet lay the Great Central Valley of California, level and…
This year, with high input costs and low rice prices, a lot of growers are testing their soil to determine if they need to apply P and K fertilizer. I have received a number of calls this week asking about interpreting their soil P test for rice soils. I have recommended using the Olsen-P test (or a…
We hope you enjoy our Spotlight series. Learn more about who we are and what we do by hearing directly from our program volunteers! This is the second in our Spotlight series. If you missed last month's, you can read it at https://ucanr.edu/blog/stanislaus-sprout/article/get-know-terry-pellegrini…
Producers that have pastureland or rangeland that also have grazing livestock (Cattle, sheep, goats…) should develop good grazing management practices. Stellar grazing management allows for a pasture to be grazed in a sustainable way that will prevent damage to the pasture and provide ample nutrition to the…
Bug Squad BlogBy Kathy Keatley GarveyThere she was, a mining bee (genus Andrena) sunning herself on a Passiflora (passionflower vine). She did not notice me.Such a tiny bee, about the size of a grain of rice. It's a solitary ground-nesting bee known as "an early spring bee" and it lives only a…
Vice President Glenda Humiston announces the launch of the new UC ANR Policy Institute. This institute will be transformative in delivering the UC ANR mission by increasing science-based communications and community engagement to inform policy decisions and implementation. The new UC ANR Policy Institute…
By Carmen Kappos Inyo-Mono Master Gardener Volunteer While the words soil and dirt are often used interchangeably there are differences between them. Recently, Dustin Blakey, our local UCCE Farm Advisor, gave a talk called “Preparing Garden Soil on the East Side.” During this discussion Dustin…
Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae), also called buttercup oxalis or sourgrass, might be a familiar sight in winter and spring, particularly to those who live in coastal regions or the Sacramento Valley. Some people enjoy seeing this plant’s cheerful yellow flowers pop up in their spring gardens, but for…
Blog article by Brenda AltmanOne overlooked feature of John F Kennedy Library in Vallejo is the free garden seed station. It is located on the wall just before the restrooms. Anyone can take seeds for their own use. Seeds are donated by library patrons and the Seed Barn. The seeds are separated…
Bug Squad BlogBy Kathy Keatley GarveyFlameskimmers bring great joy.Today we saw our first dragonfly of the season in our Vacaville garden. The flameskimmer, a female Libellula saturata, perched on a stick and allowed me to take a few images. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I reviewed a book…
