Solution Center Blog

Can we use soil health indicators to predict specific soil fertility outcomes?

“Soil health”, as both a term and a concept, has been gaining traction in the last few years. The National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has defined soil health as “the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans”. Generally, soil health is considered to be the intersection of soil physical, chemical, and biological factors. Each soil will have differing levels of health within these three areas....

Nitrous oxide and cover crops in California vineyards

Cover crops have become a popular tool in vineyard floor management, and winegrowers utilize cover crops for a variety of reasons. Maintaining plant coverage of soil for as much of the season as possible helps limit soil erosion. Competition between cover crops and vines can be used to limit vine access to water and nutrients, helping control vine vigor. Incorporation of cover crops into the soil can increase soil organic matter and increase the amount of water soil can hold. Cover crops are...

Successful Growers Workshop in San Benito County

A growers' workshop on nutrient and irrigation management featured the Solution Center for Nutrient Management last week in San Benito County. The workshop was funded by the San Benito County Water District and brought together a wide variety of attendees including: growers, seed representatives, consultants, scientists, an operational engineer, an aide to Senator Canella and the President of the San Benito County Farm Bureau. Beginning with a presentation on the latest water quality and...

Growers and researchers come together for workshop on tomato nitrogen management

The Solution Center for Nutrient Management brought together growers, advisors and university researchers for a breakfast meeting to discuss nitrogen management in processing tomatoes. A number of growers attended to share their experiences and learn about research including a new protocol for accurate soil nitrate sampling, and the latest updates on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions research. Cooperative Extension Specialist Daniel Geisseler also presented the CDFA-FREP website that...

The Solution Center for Nutrient Management database is live and growing fast!

One of the most useful features of The Solution Center for Nutrient Management  is the Nutrient Management Research Database, which holds concise summaries of California specific agricultural nutrient management research.  The entries can be searched using the interactive map feature (see pic below) which allows the user to select a county they are interested in and see the related summaries of research conducted in that county.   The database can also be searched by...

Read more