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Posts Tagged: Van Butsic
December news clips
Franz Niederholzer - 2019 New Year's Profile
(Appeal-Democrat), Dec 31
Keeping Up with Navel Infections
(Dairy Herd Management) Emre Gürdal and Noelia Silva del Rio, Dec. 31
How Do Wildfires Start?
(Live Science) Donavyn Coffey, Dec. 28
…In other words, "a source [of heat] hits receptive fuel that's dry enough to burn," said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, a fire analyst for the University of California Cooperative Extension forestry program in Northern California. In the right conditions, those three factors are all it takes to set a wildfire in motion.
…However, ignition is only the beginning. For a spark to grow into a sustained wildfire, there must be a perfect combination of factors, such as "dry conditions and really strong winds," Quinn-Davidson told Live Science. And because of climate change, dry conditions are lasting longer and, in turn, causing longer fire seasons.
https://www.livescience.com/64378-how-do-wildfires-start.html
Analyzing The Use of Selective Dry Cow Therapy
(Dairy Herd Management) Fernanda C. Ferreira and Emmanuel Okello, Dec 27
Private woodlands lost to California wildfire — and may not be replaced
(SF Chronicle) Peter Fimrite Dec. 25,
…It costs about $400 per acre to reforest land, said Bill Stewart, a forestry specialist at UC Berkeley who has studied forest restoration programs after fires.
“A lot of (small property owners) ... don't have the cash or professionals to do the job,” he said. They “take a big financial hit when their forests are caught in a wildfire.”
…Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist at the University of California Cooperative Extension, said wholesale clearing is not always necessary. The rush to clear the land, he said, can result in healthy trees being cut down.
“Many trees can survive pretty bad crown scorch, so there's generally no urgency to get them out, or there shouldn't be, anyway,” said Moritz, an adjunct professor at UC Santa Barbara. “This is especially true of species that resprout, like several of the oaks and also redwoods.”
Get to know your wasps: University of California entomologist addresses misconceptions
(Press Democrat) Kate Frey, Dec. 21
Rachael Long, a University of California Cooperative Extension entomologist and crop adviser, recently told me a story about three wasps that people frequently encounter around their homes and often have misconceptions about.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/9077426-181/get-to-know-your-wasps
Gene Editing Finds its Way to the Farm
(Dairy Herd Management) Clinton Griffiths, Dec. 21
…Alison Van Eenennaam, animal geneticist, University of California-Davis, says edits that create polled herds will soon be common.
“It's kind of like a pair of molecular scissors, if you will, that you can tell to go and cut the DNA at a very precise location in the genome,” Van Eenennaam explains. “What that enables you to do is go in and very precisely alter one particular gene of the thousands of genes that make up the genome, and you can introduce useful genetic variations.”
https://www.dairyherd.com/article/gene-editing-finds-its-way-farm
Farm Bill Set to Bring Several Benefits to California Growers
(AgNet West) Brian German, Dec. 19
...“There's some really good stuff in it for California, I mean first of all, getting a farm bill is fantastic,” said Vice President of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Glenda Humiston. “Some really good things for beginning farmers and ranchers, and veterans' efforts in ag. One thing that's really potentially exciting for California in the rural development title is increasing the eligibility of communities up to 50,000 for some of the programs.”
http://agnetwest.com/farm-bill-benefits-california-growers
Gene-edited farm animals are coming. Will we eat them?
(Washington Post) Carolyn Y. Johnson, Dec. 17
...“Right now. This is exciting, right this minute,” animal geneticist Alison Van Eenennaam said as she waited for a tiny blob of a fetus to materialize on a laptop screen on a recent afternoon at the Beef Barn, part of the University of California at Davis's sprawling agricultural facilities for teaching and research.
Commentary: Is Atascadero prepared?
(Atascadero News) Ray Weymann, Dec. 14
…But often, even 10 feet from a house takes one into a neighbor's property. Whether this means mandating more aggressive tree and brush clearing, and reevaluation of building codes for new and existing structures, is something the new council should consider, availing themselves with input from our local fire department but also from people like Jack Cohen. Another wildfire expert, Max Moritz, suggests that governments must be more aggressive in not allowing development in areas especially vulnerable to wildfire.
https://atascaderonews.com/article/commentary-is-atascadero-prepared
Ceres Imaging unveils cumulative stress index
(Successful Farming) Laurie Bedord, Dec. 14
...“Findings over the last four years show that the average Ceres Imaging conductance measurement from its imagery over the season has provided the best correlation with applied water,” says Blake Sanden, a Kern County University of California Cooperative Extension farm adviser. “While there's no perfect predictor of final yield, Ceres Imaging aerial sensing of canopy plant stress has a significant relationship with final yield.”
https://www.agriculture.com/news/technology/ceres-imaging-unveils-cumulative-stress-index
New Farm Bill Provides Funds For Research In California ‘Ag,' But No Big Boons
(Capital Public Radio) Julia Mitric, Dec. 13
…"What's fascinating about the Farm Bill is, after all that hyper-partisan debate … it's really a lot of the same of what we already had," said Glenda Humiston, vice president of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Humiston is pleased that California will get an increase of $25 million a year for research of specialty crops, agricultural jargon for fruits, vegetables and nuts, as opposed to commodity crops like soybeans, corn and wheat. Those federal grants will cover many areas, from adapting farming to the effects of climate change to finding cures for California's many invasive pests, Humiston said.
Can California Improve Forest Management And Prevent Wildfires Without Going Broke?
(Capital Public Radio) Ezra Romero, Dec. 13
...But can California expand programs like forest-thinning and controlled burns and manage its forests on the cheap?
UC Berkeley forestry specialist Bill Stewart says yes. “There's certain areas that it is going to cost you $700 an acre, but other acres you can treat for $50 or $100 an acre,” Stewart said.
Technology advances impact production efficiency
(AgriNews) Martha Blum, Dec. 13
“I'm passionate about genetics and sticking up for technology because if we don't stand up for it, we're not going to have access to it,” said Alison Van Eenennaam, Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Animal Science at University of California, Davis.
“The livestock industry doesn't have access to GMOs because of the debate around plant GMOs,” Van Eenennaam said during a presentation at the 2018 American Agri-Women Convention.
Lindcove squeezes 100 citrus varieties into one tasting
(Sun Gazette) Dec. 12
The University of California citrus research center swings open its doors this week to give farmers and the public the opportunity to view and taste more than 100 varieties of citrus.
Can Rakes Save Forests? Yes, As Long As You Have A Drip Torch In The Other Hand, UC ANR Says
(Sierra Sun-Times) Susie Kocher, Rob York, and Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Dec. 12
Have shears, will travel
(California Bountiful) Ching Lee
…Sheep owners, particularly those with small flocks, have had trouble finding shearers for years—and the smaller their flock, the harder it is to get someone to shear for them because shearers are paid by the number of animals they shear, said John Harper, a UC livestock and natural resources advisor who has run the annual shearing program for nearly 25 years.
http://www.californiabountiful.com/features/article.aspx?arID=2199
Could legalizing cannabis help the environment?
(Physics World) Kate Ravilious, Dec. 11
Using high resolution satellite imagery for the years 2012 and 2016, Van Butsic from the University of California, Berkeley and his colleagues found a boom in cultivation of cannabis in Mendocino and Humboldt Counties. By zooming right in, the researchers could identify the distinctive shape of the cannabis plants, the regular pattern in which the crop is planted, and the greenhouses perched in unusual places.
...“The chances of environmental damage are much greater in these regions because of the high potential for erosion, which threatens water quality, high potential for using water directly from headwaters, and the need to build roads to access these farms,” says Butsic.
https://physicsworld.com/a/could-legalizing-cannabis-help-the-environment/
What Does It Take To Defend Your Home Against A Mega Wildfire Like The Camp Fire? Here's How One Couple Survived
(Capital Public Radio) Ezra David Romero, Dec. 11
...Earlier this year, University of California system forest advisor Yana Valachovic toured the Carr Fire burn area in Redding.
“What surprised me there was how many of the stucco homes were lost and they were surrounded by green lawn,” Valachovic recalled. “What the mechanism of entry was is that they had a ring of vegetation right around the outside of their house.”
Susie Kocher, a forest adviser for the Lake Tahoe region with the UC Cooperative Extension, often works with homeowners that live within the Angora Fire burn area. That blaze destroyed about 250 homes in Lake Tahoe in 2008. A decade later, Kocher said people still aren't properly preparing their homes.
“There's still a lot of flammable plants planted right under picture windows,” Kocher said, adding that people have almost set themselves up for failure, “perhaps in the mistaken belief that they are kind of safe now because there's no big trees.”
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2018/dec/11/what-does-it-take-defend-your-home-against-mega-wi
Wildfire scientists brace for hotter, more flammable future as Paradise lies in ashes
(CNN) Bill Weir, Dec. 10
…"Well, my colleague Katharine Hayhoe says climate change is like gravity," says Dr. Faith Kearns. "Climate change doesn't really care if you believe in it or not. It's reality. We have gravity, we have climate change."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/10/us/california-wildfires-climate-weir-wxc/index.html
Are Your Bananas at Risk?
(BYU Radio) Top of Mind, Dec. 10
Guest: Norman C. Ellstrand, Distinguished Professor of Genetics, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside
...Here in the US, there's only one kind of banana in the supermarket – sweet, yellow, no seeds, about as long as your hand. It's a variety called Cavendish and it dominates the international banana market. Which turns out to be a big problem.
Jeff Mitchell: Conservation No-Till Is One Option For Water Conservation
(Cal Ag Today) Patrick Cavanaugh, Dec. 10
Jeff Mitchell is a Cropping Systems Specialist at UC Davis, based at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier. He has devoted his 19 years to improving nitrogen and water use efficiencies in food, feed, fuel and fiber in no-till cropping systems.
https://californiaagtoday.com/jeff-mitchell-conservation-no-till-one-option-water-conservation/
Solano 4-H schedules Fairfield open house
(Fairfield Daily Republic) Susan Hiland, Dec. 9
The Solano County 4-H Youth Development Program will host a 4-H open house from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on the first floor of the University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 501 Texas St.
California State Fair Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition opens Jan. 8
(Lake Co News) Dec. 8
…The California State Fair is proud to announce the head judge for the 2019 competition, Mr. Paul Vossen. Vossen will employ his expertise and experience at the California State Fair olive oil judging to lead the team of 15 Judges and ensure a fair and ethical judging process.
With more than 30 years of experience in the field as a University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor in Sonoma County, Paul Vossen offers practical advice to large commercial ventures and hobby farmers alike for clients around the world.
Getting the Facts Straight on Dairies
(California Dairy) Dec. 7
The inaugural California Dairy Sustainability Summit in Sacramento last month was a big hit. Conference presentations not only focused on what California dairy producers can do to increase their sustainability efforts, but also on how producers can better share their stories and correct some of the common misconceptions that have been circulating the public. Check out this video with Frank Mitloehner, Air Quality Specialist from the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis, who shared the facts, and read more about it in California Dairy Magazine.
http://www.californiadairymagazine.com/2018/12/07/getting-the-facts-straight-on-dairies
Why Californians Were Drawn Toward the Fire Zones
(Wall St Journal) Jeffrey Ball, Dec. 7
…Lax building codes are at the base of the problem. Even in California, which has some of the toughest such rules in the country, they often aren't adequate or adequately enforced. The codes often dictate the use of fire-retardant materials in house construction but typically say nothing about how a development must be situated on the landscape—and that can help determine whether that development will burn in a fire, says Max Moritz, a cooperative-extension wildfire specialist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “So the developers are able to come in, propose something, and often, without too much oversight, walk away after having built something in a dangerous place,” he says. “And we pick up the tab.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-californians-were-drawn-toward-the-fire-zones-1544202053?mod=e2tw
Cutting down Christmas trees on public land is good for forest management: expert
(KTVU) Lisa Fernandez, Dec. 7
A forestry advisor for the University of California is a big proponent of cutting down Christmas trees on public land as an inexpensive, family-friendly holiday ritual and a way to thin the forests of excessive small trees.
Susie Kocher, who works for the UC Cooperative Extension, has been trekking to the U.S. Forest Service land for the last two decades -- saw and $10 permit in hand -- to cut down her own white fir.
Researchers study how to enrich soil
(Appeal-Democrat) Ruby Larson, Dec. 6
Soil health and research on using cover crops were discussed by farmers, researchers and others at the University of California Cooperative Extension's Soil Health and Cover Crop Field Day on Thursday morning.
Dozens gathered for a presentation on the Healthy Soils Project, which the local UCCE is participating in. The project focuses on managing soil health, changes in soil carbon and reducing greenhouse gases.
…Amber Vinchesi and Sarah Light, agronomy adviser for UCCE Sutter-Yuba, gave a demonstration on how they would test for greenhouse gasses during the course of the project.
Climate Extremes: the New Norm
(Santa Barbara Independent) Laura Capps, Dec. 6
...“We need to change our perspective to one of co-existing with fire instead of fighting it,” said Dr. Max Moritz, a University of California wildfire scientist. “Fire isn't going away anytime soon. We need to locate and build our communities accordingly so that we reduce our vulnerability over the long term to this essential and inevitable natural process that is wildfire.”
https://www.independent.com/news/2018/dec/06/climate-extremes-new-norm
Will More Permits To Chop Down Christmas Trees Help Thin California Forests And Prevent Wildfires? (AUDIO)
(Capital Public Radio) Ezra David Romero, Dec 5
In a patch of forest a few miles from Lake Tahoe's shore, Susie Kocher and her family are crunching through the snow to find a Christmas tree.
…"It's a great win-win solution,” said Kocher, who is also a forest advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension for the Lake Tahoe area. “You get the public out in the forest, you do good work reducing the density of the trees."
Wildland fire research and impacts on nut orchards
(Western Farm Press) Logan Hawkes, Dec 5
..So far, tree nut damages or other agricultural losses in the deadly Camp Fire are unknown according to UCANR Sustainable Orchard Farm Advisor Luke Milliron in Butte County.
https://www.farmprogress.com/tree-nuts/wildland-fire-research-and-impacts-nut-orchards
Fruit tree owners get free lesson in pruning
(The Californian) John Karlik, Dec 5
Even those with the greenest thumbs may need some guidance when it comes to pruning trees. The University of California Cooperative Extension office is here to help again with its annual fruit tree pruning demonstrations on Dec. 12 and 13.
Starting at noon both days in the orchard of the cooperative's office, ag adviser Mohammad Yaghmour will show attendees how to trim back trees including apple, apricot, cherry and almond as well as grapevines.
Camp Fire Impacted Local Prescribed Fire Training
(My Mother Lode) Tracey Petersen, Dec 5
...The 20 participants were to get hands-on fire experience to better understand the art and science of fire management and ecology. However, organizer and Natural Resources Advisor at the University of California Cooperative Extension – Central Sierra Susan Kocher relays that due to the explosion of the Camp Fire no flames could be ignited for the training because the required back up resources were called to battle the mega blaze. She adds it is an ongoing problem regarding using prescribed burns for fire prevention. “I really think it shows just our exact dilemma. It's hard to get ahead of disasters because you're busy responding to disasters,” advised Kocher. “So, we just need to do everything we can to try and burn at all times of year to try to get ahead of these tragic wildfires that are happening.”
The New Abnormal: A Town Hall on California's Fires and the Future
(Commonwealth Club) Dec. 4, 2018
… To address some of these critical and urgent questions, please join The Commonwealth Club for a special free town hall on California's fires and what can be done in the short and long term to prepare for them.
Guests:
J. Keith Gilless, Chair, California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection; Professor of Forest Economics, UC Berkeley
Thom Porter, Chief of Strategic Planning, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
Kurtis Alexander, Water, Wildfire and Climate Writer, San Francisco Chronicle
Maggi Kelly, Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Valley's Gold: Food Safety
(Valley's Gold) Dec. 4
Learn about the economic engine that drives the region, Agriculture. With host Ryan Jacobsen
UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Specialist Elizabeth Lopez shares food safety tips and tools in this PBS episode starting at the 18:32 mark.
https://www.pbs.org/video/valleys-gold-food-safety-bqfgv4
San Diego County wants to build 10,000 new homes in fire-prone areas
(San Diego Union Tribune) Joshua Emerson Smith, Dec. 3
…What these building codes and other rules don't take into account is whether a particular project should be built at all, said Max Moritz, a cooperative extension specialist in wildfire at the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara.
“There's all these hazards that we use to guide our building and our zoning from floods to landslides, and fire is not one of them,” Moritz said.
“In the end, the taxpayer is left holding the bill for all this,” he added. “The developer may do a really good job at designing and convincing everybody that it's the right thing to do, but after they walk away, the public is left doing fuels maintenance for decades, and the public picks up the bill when there's a disaster.”
California is managing its forests — but is the president managing its federal lands?
(NBC News) James Rainey, Dec. 2
...Scott Stephens, a University of California, Berkeley professor of fire science, said the fire cataclysms of the last two years seem to have ended a long era of inattention.
“We will start to change the trajectory,” he said, “so we won't have tragedies like we had in Paradise.”
Subfreezing temperatures predicted for early Monday in Modesto area
(Modesto Bee) Deke Farrow, Dec. 2
...The University of California Cooperative Extension in Sacramento County offers more
August 2018 News Clips 8/16-8/31
Enormous wildfires spark scramble to improve fire models
(Nature) Jeff Tollefson, Aug. 31
…“Something is definitely different, and it raises questions about how much we really know,” says Max Moritz, a fire scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
… The problem, Moritz says, is that most of the fire models in use today are based on data from the past two or three decades. But it seems that fire behaviour might be shifting in response to climate faster than anybody expected, and that makes it increasingly problematic to extrapolate from past trends, he adds.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06090-0
Rodent control critical in subsurface alfalfa systems
(Farm Press) Todd Fitchette, Aug 31,
For alfalfa growers seeking other methods of rodent control, Dr. Roger Baldwin, Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Davis, says rodenticides, fumigants and trapping can be moderately to highly effective, depending on method and means used.
https://www.westernfarmpress.com/alfalfa/rodent-control-critical-subsurface-alfalfa-systems
Deeply Talks: Fire & Drought–The Extremes Become Routine
(Water Deeply) Matt Weiser, Aug. 30,
The American West has entered an era of permanent water scarcity, a marked shift from previous periods of episodic drought. The same can now be said for fire: In California, there hasn't been a month without a wildfire since 2012. Join us for a conversation about the ways in which water and wildfire management intersect, and about the West's adaptation to its new, and far from normal, reality. We'll be joined by experts Crystal Kolden, associate professor of forest, range, and fire sciences in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho, and Van Butsic, cooperative extension specialist at the University of California, Berkeley. Email our community editor with questions for the panelists (lindsay@newsdeeply.com) or tweet us @waterdeeply using the hashtag #DeeplyTalks.
https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/talks/153877805
Deadly poultry ailment, Newcastle disease, reaches Ventura County
(Ventura County Star), Aug. 29
Maurice Pitesky, a veterinarian and University of California extension specialist in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, said one of the challenges in keeping a lid on the disease is the continued popularity of raising backyard chickens.
“While people have the best intentions, unfortunately a lack of biosecurity practices in people's backyards is one of the contributing factors of the disease spreading,” Pitesky said.
The longtime head of the UFW is stepping down. His replacement will be the first woman to lead the union
(LA Times) Geoffrey Mohan, Aug. 28
At its heart, the UFW remains torn between whether it can be both a grass-roots union and a broad social movement operating in the halls of power, said Philip Martin, a UC Davis agricultural economist and farm labor expert.
...“It is worth noting that the UFW does not have union locals, and so therefore does not have a system under which current farmworkers are trained in leadership development with the idea that they will rise within the union,” he said.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ufw-president-20180828-story.html
Expert Views: Managing Wildfires to Protect Water Resources
(Water Deeply) Lindsay Abrams, Aug. 28
Van Butsic, cooperative extension specialist at the University of California, Berkeley:
"Managing forest and wildfires to benefit water resources is difficult because there are trade-offs between short-term costs and long-term benefits. In the short term, wildfires can lead to increased erosion and sedimentation in streams and reservoirs. This contributes to lost revenue for downstream power generators and at times even requires water to be treated before it is potable."
Can Angelenos and Coyotes Coexist?
(LA Magazine) Henry Cherry, Aug. 27
…Intrigued by the animals, I stumbled across Coyote Cacher, an interactive website operated by University of California's Dr. Niamh Quinn. A native of Ireland, Quinn has been studying coyotes for about four years. “There are no coyotes in Ireland, but when I came here there was the need for coyote research in Southern California,” Quinn says. “There is a need for professional extension to the cities and the police departments, the people that never managed coyotes before but all of a sudden find themselves needing to do so.”
http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/coyotes-los-angeles/
Why homes are lost to wildfire — is yours as safe as it could be?
(Mercury News) Lisa Krieger, Aug. 27
…“When you start to understand why homes burn, often through embers igniting fuel in home attics or adjacent to homes, then it is easier to understand these patterns,” said Kate Wilkin, a fire specialist for UC Cooperative Extension.
Limiting suburban sprawl can ease the devastation of wildfires
(Mother Nature Network) Matt Hickman, Aug. 27
…But there's a bigger issue at hand. Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist with the University of California's Division of Agriculture & Natural Resources, relays to Martin Kuz of the Christian Science Monitor that inaction from state lawmakers who are reluctant to lead the charge in restricting development in vulnerable areas is only worsening the situation. Presently, local officials, developers and homeowners face few limitations when building in fire-prone wild land urban interfaces. Moritz refers to this as a “political will problem.”
What are GMOs?
(KYMA 13 On Your Side) Caitlin Slater, Aug. 27
Take a look in your refrigerator or pantry and you most likely find something with a NON GMO label on it.
13 On Your Side reporter, Caitlin Slater received an award at the annual Yuma County Farm Bureau meeting. The keynote speaker at the event was genomics and biotechnology researcher at UC Davis, Dr. Allison Van Eenennaam. She presented on how GMOs are actually better for us and our environment.
https://www.kyma.com/news/what-are-gmos-/786983339
Irrigation Tips to Mitigate Almond Hull Rot & Bark Damage
(Pacific Nut Producer) Aug. 27
The posting of this video is a little belated as almond harvest has already begun, but if you've had hull rot issues this season, be sure to watch this brief video interview with Nut Crops Advisor Mae Culumber as she provides some tips to prevent hull rot and trunk damage through better irrigation practices, as explained at a mid-July Nut & Vine Irrigation seminar at the UC Cooperative Extension office in Fresno. Read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine. Culumber will also be addressing almond growers at the Annual Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo coming up on November 13th at the Big Fresno Fairgrounds, so be sure to attend!
http://www.pacificnutproducer.com/2018/08/irrigation-tips-to-mitigate-almond-hull-rot-bark-damage
Three Tips on Managing Pocket Gophers
(American Vineyard) Aug. 24
Pocket gophers can be very detrimental for growers, especially those with young orchards. So how do you minimize populations of these pesky critters? Watch this brief interview with Julie Finzel from the UC Cooperative Extension as she offers growers three quick tips for effective management. Julie will also be addressing growers on wildlife issues at the upcoming Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo at the BIG Fresno Fairgrounds on November 13th, so be sure to attend. Learn more about it on AgExpo.biz.
http://www.americanvineyardmagazine.com/2018/08/24/three-tips-on-managing-pocket-gophers/
Master Gardeners: gardening in an age of climate change
(Napa Valley Register) Aug 24
This article is a summary of a seminar conducted by Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County, on gardening in an age of climate change.
Idea to Reduce Glyphosate Use with Grapes
(Cal Ag Today) Mikenzi Meyers, Aug. 23
John Roncoroni, a UC Cooperative Extension Weed Science Farm Advisor in Napa County, has made strides toward meeting this challenge. “Many times, growers will do two applications of herbicides during the year … but what I'm trying to do is push it back to post-leaf fall after the season to clean up and come back with a pre-emergent material right before bud break then maybe skip that last glyphosate treatment after bud break.”
https://californiaagtoday.com/idea-reduce-glyphosate-use-grapes/
California Today: The Human Element in California's Wildfires
(New York Times) Tim Arango, Inyoung Kang, Aug. 23
William Stewart, an expert on forestry at the University of California at Berkeley, said that part of the California dream was keeping “nature as it is,” with minimal management of forests.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/us/california-today-fires-humans.html
Editing the Future of Aquaculture
(Hatchery International) Eric Ignatz, Aug. 23
…Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, a cooperative extension specialist at the University of California, Davis, and a collaborator on the Recombinetics project, says that gene editing in the case of polled cattle is used to address an animal welfare concern. Typically, horns must be burned off to better protect the safety of farmers and other animals.
http://magazine.hatcheryinternational.com/publication/?i=517633&article_id=3159268#
Industrial hemp could be an alternative crop of the low desert
(Imperial Valley Press) Oli Bachie, Aug. 23
Hemp, Cannabis sativa L., is a dioecious annual plant that has not been grown legally in California for many years, due to regulatory restrictions.
UCSB SmartFarm uses cloud computing to help farmers increase sustainability
(Santa Maria Sun) Kasey Bubnash, Aug. 22
"They're basically taking what Google and the internet are doing with information and applying it to ag," said Beth Grafton-Cardwell, a research entomologist at UC Riverside. "And that hasn't really been done."
The Social Costs of Living in Wildfire-Prone Areas
(East Bay Express) Alastair Bland, Aug. 21
…"But that's so politically contentious — it's a line politicians walk up to but turn away from," said William Stewart, a UC Berkeley forestry and wildfire specialist.
… “People seem to have short memories," said Sabrina Drill, a natural resources advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension, a statewide off-campus division of the university system that focuses on agriculture and natural resources. "I think people might think twice about building a home where there had just been a fire, but people seem to forget after about three years."
… Van Butsic, a UC Berkeley researcher who studies forestry and land use, has closely studied this. In a paper now under review for publication, he and scientist Anu Kramer, from the University of Wisconsin, describe an alarming trend of building homes in known fire-risk areas.
"We studied 30 of the largest fires since 1970," he said. On average, they found that 20 years after an inhabited area burns, not only were most of the destroyed homes rebuilt but many new homes were added — about twice as many homes in total as there were at the time of the burn.
… In 2016, researcher Susan Kocher spent nine months on sabbatical in Provence, the arid region of southern France that resembles much of inland California. Here, Kocher — the Central Sierra Natural Resources Advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension — compared building patterns in high-fire risk parts of California and France.
"In California we often say, 'We should be able to tell people they can't build here,'" said Kocher, whose research, coauthored with Butsic, was published in March of 2017 in the journal Land. "In France, they just tell people they can't build somewhere."
Cooperative Extension adapts to a less agricultural America
(Washington Post) Dean Fosdick, Aug. 21
In its century of existence, the Cooperative Extension System has been a valuable resource distributing university-driven, science-based information — mostly about farming and gardening — to the public. But in today's less agricultural America, the Extension network is adapting, expanding its rural focus into cities and suburbs too.
Karuk Tribe And University Expand Food Partnership
(Jefferson Public Radio) Geoffrey Riley, April Ehrlich & John Baxter, Aug. 20
The Karuk Tribe and the University of California-Berkeley developed a partnership several years ago to rebuild Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Lisa Hillman from the tribe's Píkyav Field Institute and Jennifer Sowerwine from UC-Berkeley are our guests.
http://www.ijpr.org/post/karuk-tribe-and-university-expand-food-partnership#stream/0
Finding the Sweet Spot for Carb Consumption
(KQED) Forum, Aug. 20
A Summary of the Study (The Lancet)
Guests:
- Lorrene Ritchie, director, Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California
- Rick Hecht, professor of medicine, University of California San Francisco
https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101866786/finding-the-sweet-spot-for-carb-consumption
Officials give updates, answer questions at Mendocino Complex virtual recovery meeting
(Lake County News) Aug. 17
After weeks of fire update meetings, on Thursday night local, state and federal officials participated in a meeting focused on recovery from the Mendocino Complex.
Speakers included County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson, Cal Fire Incident Management Team 2 spokesman Jeremy Rahn, Paul Gibbs of federal Incident Management Team 1, Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin, Supervisor Jim Steele, Public Health Director Denise Pomeroy, James Scott of Lake County Environmental Health, Lake County Water Resources Director David Cowan, Rachel Elkins of the University of California Cooperative Extension, Lakeport Mayor Mireya Turner and Lake County Recovery Coordinator Nathan Spangler.
The USDA Is Buying Milk And Giving It To Food Banks
(NPR Marketplace) Mitchell Hartman, Aug. 17
...Agricultural economist Daniel Sumner at the University of California, Davis said the purchase is only a drop in the bucket.
"How much can you move the needle on price buying one-tenth-of-one percent of milk?" Sumner said. "Not very much."
https://www.marketplace.org/2018/08/17/economy/milk-usda-50-million-food-bank
Israel and UC deepen water technology collaboration
(Jewish News of Northern California) Hannah Jannol, Aug 17
S.F.-based Consul General of Israel Shlomi Kofman attended the MOU signing ceremony on July 16, held during a three-day workshop titled, “The Future of Water for Irrigation in California and Israel.” The document was signed by an agricultural division of the University of California, UC Davis and the Agricultural Research Organization of Israel.
… Doug Parker, director of the California Institute for Water Resources, helped put the MOU together. He said California and Israel already work together frequently on water research, but formalizing the relationship could give the two parties more leverage when applying for grants and funding.
https://www.jweekly.com/2018/08/17/israel-and-uc-deepen-water-technology-collaboration/
‘Batnadoes' Can Protect California's Crops
(Atlas Obscura) Anne Ewbank, Aug. 16
… He's likely right, according to Rachael Long, a farm advisor with the UC Cooperative Extension in the Sacramento Valley. She's researched for decades how bats can help farmers control pests. “Armyworms are always a big problem in rice production,” she says. “Bats are predators, of armyworms, cutworms, and other pests.” Bats' nocturnal feasts prevent adult moths from laying eggs that will hatch into hungry, rice-eating caterpillars, and, Long says, their impact cannot be overstated. When pest populations get out of control, “it can be really devastating.”
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bats-and-farming
Wildfires Are Inevitable – Increasing Home Losses, Fatalities and Costs Are Not
(KQED) The Conversation, Max Moritz, Naomi Tague and Sarah Anderson, Aug. 16
Wildfire has been an integral part of California ecosystems for centuries. Now, however, nearly a third of homes in the state are in wildland urban interface areas where houses intermingling with wildlands and fire is a natural phenomenon. Just as Californians must live with earthquake risk, they must live with wildfires.
Wildland-urban interface residents still build after burns
Even after wildfires have burned homes and taken lives, communities allow for rebuilding in wildland-urban interface areas prone to such disasters, reported Alistair Bland in the East Bay Express.
Van Butsic, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Berkeley, has studied the alarming trend of building homes in known fire-risk areas.
"We studied 30 of the largest fires since 1970," he said.
On average, 20 years after an inhabited area burns, most of the destroyed homes are rebuilt and many new homes were added — about twice as many homes in total as there were at the time of the burn.
UCCE forestry and natural resources advisor Sabrina Drill said people seem to have short memories.
"I (would) think people might think twice about building a home where there had just been a fire, but people seem to forget after about three years," Drill said.
Drill, Van Bustic and other UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists were sources for the nearly 5,000-word East Bay Express story about the hazards to people and property in the wildland-urban interface and ways to manage the problem in a state where climate change appears to be making wildfires more frequent and intense.
The article said most fire experts and community leaders believe not enough is being done to prevent catastrophic blazes. They want more prescribed burning to reduce fuel loads, increased funding for firefighting and wildfire research, and stricter controls on development in wooded areas.
"But that's so politically contentious — it's a line politicians walk up to but turn away from," said William Stewart, a UCCE forestry specialist at UC Berkeley.
He said society tends to be concerned about wildfires during and immediately after high-profile catastrophic events. However, the attention is often short-lived and doesn't generate change before the next fire strikes.
"It's surprisingly hard to get investments in fire prevention strategies, even after the scale of the fires we just had," Stewart said.
Stewart believes California's government should support more research into fire-safe building patterns and more effective vegetation management. Perhaps most importantly of all, he said, Californians must turn wildfire history into a learning experience.
"If we don't make significant investments in new ways of managing vegetation and building these housing developments in the (wildland-urban interface)," Stewart said, "we're going to be on this hamster wheel forever."
UC Cooperative Extension reaching out to NorCal cannabis growers
UC Cooperative Extension in Humboldt County has invited local cannabis farmers to meetings this week to discuss ways to reduce the industry's environmental impacts, reported Will Houston in the Eureka Times-Standard.
UC advisors and specialists will discuss future research aimed at reducing the impacts of pesticide and fertilizer use on cannabis grows.
At this week's meetings, Giraud said, "Mostly we just want to listen to folks who come to the meetings ideas and concerns. They're on the ground. We just want to know what could be planned with us."
The meetings will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 3 at Adriana's Restaurant, 850 Crescent Way, Arcata; and 12 to 2 p.m. Oct. 4 at Women's Civic Club, 477 Maple Lane, Garberville.
There will be brief presentations followed by group discussions. The UC participants include Van Butsic, UC Cooperative Extension land use science specialist at UC Berkeley; Kent Daane, UCCE biological control specialist at UC Berkeley; Houston Wilson, post-doctoral researcher at UC Berkeley; and Giraud.
