Safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving
When in doubt, throw it out
Notwithstanding that oft-repeated rhyme scientists use to guide food safety decisions, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist offered some more detailed advice in a newspaper article today that people can follow when they open a carton of yogurt or a hunk of cheese to find a spot of mold.
Ed Blonz of the Contra Costa Times contacted UC Davis dairy specialist emeritus John Bruhn when preparing to answer a reader question about moldy dairy products.
In a nutshell, Bruhn told the reporter:
- Creating an acidic atmosphere using a vinegar-soaked cloth or paper towel might help in controlling mold growth, but it's not always reliable
- If there is a spot of mold in a yogurt container, remove a tablespoon of the product with the mold
- With cheese, cut about 3/4 to 1 inch around the mold contamination
And I'll add . . . when in doubt, throw it out.
Moldy cheese can be salvaged.
Asian citrus psyllid's northward march inevitable
Director of the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center Beth Grafton-Cardwell predicted Valley citrus growers' fears will be realized. Eventually, she believes, the Asian citrus psyllid will make its way northward from San Diego County, were it was first discovered in California last year.
Grafton-Cardwell shared her view in the lead business story of yesterday's Fresno Bee. Written by reporter Robert Rodriguez, the story said growers are mobilizing resources to get ahead of the invasion and protect the state's $723 million citrus industry.
However, Grafton-Cardwell told Rodriguez that quarantines, trapping and pesticide spraying may slow down the bugs' northward march, but probably won't stop it.
"With the volume of people traffic around the state, the psyllid will be carried into new places," she was quoted in the story.
The greatest concern associated with the Asian citrus psyllid is its ability to spread the devastating citrus greening disease. To date, none of the psyllids trapped in Southern California was carrying the disease.
Beth Grafton-Cardwell
Farm Bureau paper expands on state water woes
An AgAlert story by Kate Campbell expands on earlier news coverage of a recent State Board of Food and Agriculture meeting, where UC Davis agricultural economist Richard Howitt offered depressing news about water allocations for the 2009 growing season.
Howitt told the board that, based on an 85 percent cut in water deliveries for the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project, "We're estimating a 50 percent increase in groundwater pumping, compared to 2005. We're also factoring in the removal of older permanent crops and the use of stress irrigation, as well as the likelihood of water trades."
The expected economic impact of water woes in the Central Valley:
- 40,000 lost jobs
- $1.15 billion lost income
"If there are further reductions in water supplies to the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, these losses can go up," Howitt was quoted. "We cannot predict prices for cross-valley water transfers because they are complicated by the role of second- and third-party water districts."
Earlier this week, the Fresno Bee reported that Westlands Water District will receive no federal water deliveries at all in the 2009 season.
"What am I supposed to do, if I have no water?" farmer Bob Diedrich was quoted in the story. "I have five guys that I employ year-round, and now I may have to tell them they don't have jobs."
Gary Rush obituary in the Record-Searchlight
The Redding Record-Searchlight ran an obituary today for retired UC Cooperative Extension county director Gary Rush. Rush was also a community development advisor emeritus. According to the story, Rush, 73, suffered an accident some weeks ago and succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, Jan. 24.
Rush retired from his post in the UCCE Shasta-Trinity office in 1993, after 30 years of service to the Northern California community.
"Gary was educated and wise in life as well as books. He was insightful, intelligent, ambitious, patriotic and just one heck of a good guy," the obituary said.
Friends and acquaintances may contact the family at (530) 275-4704.
Irrigation experts dispute water report
University of California Cooperative Extension irrigation specialist Lawrence Schwankl joined with irrigation scientists from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Fresno State University in writing a rebuttal to a September 2008 report by the Pacific Institute titled "More with Less: Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California—A Special Focus on the Delta."
The university scientists' commentary was published in part yesterday in AgAlert and the full, 13-page PDF version is available from the California Water Institute Web page.
In AgAlert's summary, the authors wrote that, "The Pacific Institute paper directly draws incorrect conclusions, or infers incorrect conclusions, based on significant errors in its underlying assumptions."
They said the Pacific Institute asserted their report fills an important gap.
"This report is not a comprehensive analysis of agricultural water use and it fills no gap. As a means of prompting more discussion it only states the obvious," the commentary's authors wrote.
The commentary goes on to point out what it calls "fatal flaws" in the Pacific Institute's report.
"The (Pacific Institute's) conclusions assume that on-farm water savings can be directly translated into equivalent basin-wide savings. Such an assumption is incorrect," the scientists wrote. "You simply cannot apply an estimate of on-farm water savings to an entire basin to estimate net transferable water conservation. We note that the Pacific Institute paper implicitly agrees with this argument, but then goes on to ignore the basin-wide concept completely."