Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
University of California
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

UC Cooperative Extension | Agricultural Experiment Station

Preparing soil for winter can protect soil health

Katharina Ullman, Organic Agriculture Institute training and technical assistance coordinator, left, and field day participant view results of soil health test.

Farmers placed clumps of soil into metal mesh baskets, submerged the baskets into jars of water, then watched to see if their soil held together. The slake test, conducted at the Soil Health Field Day in Woodland, measured soil health. Healthier soil,...

UC Delivers

The US Environmental Protection Agency designated the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) a serious non-attainment area for PM10, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10µm. PM10 can bypass the body’s respiratory defense mechanisms and has been linked to cardiac and lung diseases. Because air quality violations occur during periods of intense tillage activity, row crop agriculture has been pinpointed as a major contributor of PM10. Conservation tillage (CT) production systems that reduce or eliminate tillage have been developed in other regions. Less than 2 percent of California’s annual acreage uses CT approaches. Do CT production practices reduce dust and can they be developed for California crops?

Read about: Conservation Tillage Production Generates Less Dust | View Other Stories

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UC ANR 2020-2025 Strategic Plan

UCANR Stategic Plan

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