Safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving
Another alternative crop explored by UC scientists
Alternative crops always make interesting copy. In the past, I have had the opportunity to write about the potential for growing tea tree in the San Joaquin Valley, dryland switch grass for biofuel, dragon fruit, jujube, capers, tropical papaya and, when it was still an "alternative crop" in California, blueberries. Western Farm Press published a story in the current issue about a UC Davis study, being conducted at the UC Desert Research and Extension Center in Holtville, of jatropha, a potential oil crop.
Jatropha is a tropical, drought tolerant, perennial plant grown as a tree or shrub up to 13 feet in height, the article said. The fruit has three kidney-bean sized seeds which contain about 50 percent oil. For the trial, funded by Chevron, UC Davis scientists acquired jatropha seeds from India, started them in a greenhouse, then transplanted them into a one-acre parcel in California's southeastern-most county.
“I think jatropha would be ideal for this area,” the article quotes Sham Goyal, UC Davis agronomist. “A realistic estimate is an acre of jatropha could produce from 500 to 600 gallons of biodiesel per acre per year. If you’re paying $5 per gallon for diesel, that’s about $2,500 per acre of gross return.”
Goyal, a native of India, said the crop value would not allow for labor-intensive hand harvesting.
“If we cannot harvest the crop mechanically, then jatropha has no future,” Goyal is quoted.
The primary objective for growing jatropha is producing biodiesel with the plant's oil-rich fruit, however, by products can create paper, soap, cosmetics, toothpaste, rich organic fertilizer seed cake and biomass for power plants. Parts of the plant also have purported medicinal uses - providing treatment for skin diseases, cancer, piles, snakebite, paralysis, dropsy and many more, according to the Web site BioMass Development.
UC the midwife in birth of California Farm Bureau
The California Farm Bureau Federation is marking its 90th anniversary next year with an article in the current issue of AgAlert that traces the organization's origins and provides historical anecdotes. In the article, UC Cooperative Extension gets credit for being the "midwife" when the statewide organization was born in 1919.
Extension was created by the federal government in 1914. Before academic staff would be assigned to a county, the service was required to establish a farm organization to channel information from advisors and specialists to farmers and their families.
A county Farm Bureau representing at least 20 percent of the farmers in the county had to be operating before a farm advisor could be appointed for the county, according to the AgAlert article, written by the publication's executive editor, Steve Adler.
The first California county to qualify was Humboldt, which formed its Farm Bureau in 1913. The following year, Yolo, San Joaquin and San Diego counties founded their Farm Bureaus.
The article quoted a 1917 circular written by the founder of California's Agricultural Extension Service, B.H. Crocheron. Crocheron envisioned the county Farm Bureau acting as "a sort of rural chamber of commerce and ... the guardian of rural affairs. It can take the lead in agitation for good roads, for better schools, and for cheaper methods of buying and selling."
"Perhaps the Farm Bureau can help to buy cheaper and better seeds, can help to boost the local socials, can encourage the faltering school teacher, can get out and talk for good roads--but its first and surest function is to increase the local knowledge of agricultural fact," Adler further quoted Crocheron.
In time it became clear that the Farm Bureau should pursue a broader agenda, according to the article.
"Because the university could not participate in those extra activities, organizers decided to separate the Farm Bureau from the extension service. That was accomplished with the birth of CFBF on Oct. 23, 1919, when its constitution and bylaws were officially adopted," Adler wrote.
Winemaking on a warming planet
Tomorrow at twilight, vintners will converge on campus to weigh in on winemaking on a warming planet, says a spot on the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat's wineabout blog. (I love alliteration.)
Among the speakers at the 6 to 9 p.m. UC Berkeley event are Miguel Altieri, UC Berkeley professor of agroecology, and Kent Daane, UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension specialist in biological control.
They will be joined by leaders of two California wineries in a discussion about current practices in and research on traditional, organic and biodynamic winegrape production, according to the blog post. The panel will also assess vineyard responses to scarce water, fluctuating fuel costs, pests and changing weather patterns.
It is interesting that wine tasting will take twice the time as weighty winemaking discourse. The discussion is scheduled from 6-7 p.m., and the wine tasting and reception is from 7-9 p.m.
The plight of the honey bee
The headline, a play on the famous orchestral piece "The Flight of the Bumblebee," comes from the Web site tothecenter.com, which carried a rundown this week on the oft-publicized colony collapse disorder, a mysterious ailment that is severely curtailing the country's honey bee population.
The story appears as UC Davis news service distributes a news release about a new $125,000 contribution from Häagen-Dazs to help honey bees. Half of the money will be used to create a one-half acre Honey Bee Haven on the campus, the release says. Häagen-Dazs and UC Davis will determine how the balance of the gift can best be used to benefit honey bees.
Landscape architects will want to take note. The design of the new bee haven is at the center of a competition. The winning design team will see their ideas implemented at UC Davis and will receive recognition on the Häagen-Dazs commemorative plaque in the garden. Best of all, the winner will receive a free year's supply of Häagen-Dazs ice cream.
Information on the design competition may be requested from Melissa Borel at mjborel@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-6642.
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Bee dangling from guara blossom.
Well-attended UCCE program gets local news coverage
The Daily News of Tehama County covered a UC Cooperative Extension meeting where 130 people attended to "engage in dialogue about the complexities of water resource management." Reporter Ashley Gebb wrote that the event was the second biennial meeting on water resources in Tehama County and the surrounding area.
"We all know water does not abide by political boundaries," Gebb quoted the deputy director of Tehama County Public Works Water Resources, Ernie Ohlin. "Actions and things that we do in our own county can affect people outside our county."
Ohlin told the audience that Northern California farmers and residents need to understand their water resources because actions taken by the governor and the legislature could have an impact there.
Gebb wrote that Allan Fulton, irrigation and water resources advisor for the UCCE, agreed.
"We often think we are removed from it, but we're not," he was quoted.
Fulton noted that 60 to 75 percent of the water used in Tehama County comes from the underground aquifer, the article said.