Safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving
Mo' better blues
On Saturday, the Fresno Bee published its take on the Valley's burgeoning blueberry industry. Writer Robert Rodriguez, well acquainted with UC Cooperative Extension, spoke to farm advisor Manuel Jimenez for perspective on producing a crop whose value climbed from zero at $30 million in less than 10 years. Jimenez's home county, Tulare, is the state's leading grower, producing a blueberry crop valued at $17 million.
"We have nearly every level of production right now from small plots to large commercial plantings of more than 1,000 acres," the Bee story quoted Jimenez.
Rodriguez noted that Valley farmers have spent years researching and experimenting with different varieties to find the ones best suited to the region's climate and soils, "with Jimenez's help."
Jimenez holds annual blueberry meetings at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center near Parlier to discuss new varieties and growing methods.
"But it's not easy having those field days, because growers don't always want to share," Jimenez was quoted.
Blueberry field day.
Capital Press gets it right
I'm not sure about writer Cecelia Parsons' opening analogy - the "blue wave" cresting and growers "still putting their boards in the water" - but her article in Capital Press about last week's blueberry field day at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center did hit all the important points.
Now that blueberry production in the Central Valley has been underway for the better part of a decade, and many growers have invested heavily to coax the healthful fruit out of the Valley's uncooperative alkaline soil, folks are starting to wonder what to do with what is beginning to look like a more than abundant crop.
A speaker at the blueberry field day - Mark Villata, executive director of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council - said its time to build on blueberry's healthful image to increase consumption, the article said. In the West, only 42 percent of consumers reported buying blueberries, compared with 58 percent in the Northeast. Ideas for new uses, ranging from pet food to cosmetics, were also raised.
Parsons noted in her story that UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Manuel Jimenez pioneered some of the early blueberry trials in California. She mentioned that Jimenez organized the field day and showed visitors some of the successes and challenges with blueberry plants growing at Kearney.
Jimenez speaks at a blueberry field day.
Another mission for the winged wonder
Farmers may wish to welcome bats to their agricultural fields. Genetic testing of bat scat proves they eat the menacing pest coddling moth, according to an Ag Alert article published in the Woodland Daily Democrat.
Rachel Long, University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Yolo County, is studying bats' diets to ascertain their role in combating insect pests in agriculture. She captures the winged rodents and keeps them until she can collect their guano for analysis.
"We just have one year under our belts, and so we don't have much data at all. But we do know that bats are feeding on codling moths because the test shows genetically that the fecal pellets are positive for codling moth," Long was quoted.
Their preferred abode may be a batcave, but farmers can attract the flying mammals by offering a place to live.
"There are growers that put up bat houses on their farms just to bring in bats," Long was quoted in the article.
Long also eased concerns about the common misconception that bats carry diseases such as rabies.
"The incidence of rabies in bats is no higher than skunks, or raccoons or dogs," Long was quoted. "If you have unvaccinated cats or dogs running around the shop or a barn, then it's not a good idea to have a bat house right there because any bat that falls out is likely to be sick."
Long offers some advice for building a bat house in her article, Use of Bats to Enhance Insect Pest Control (pdf).
Bat in flight.
California blueberry industry owes much to UCCE
California farmers interested in branching out with blueberries have gained much wisdom from UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Manuel Jimenez, who has maintained extensive research plantings of the crop at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center near Parlier since 1998.
Annual blueberry field days consistently bring significant numbers of farmers to the station to get the latest information on blueberry varieties and cultural practices, the most recent of which was held last week. According to a report on the field day in The Packer, more than 60 farmers were in attendance.
An article in the Los Angeles Times today about blueberries correctly notes that it took an "extraordinary confluence of scientific advances, daring growers and market forces to fuel the great California blueberry boom of the last decade." But writer David Karp failed to mention that it was UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors -- Jimenez, plus others working in the San Joaquin Valley and on California's coast -- that deserve the lion's share of credit for getting the industry off the ground.
The Times article speaks to the challenges of growing blueberries in an environment so different from the cool northern states where most of the nation's crop is produced. Summers are hot, winters cold, alkaline soil must be acidified and voracious birds discouraged.
At the end of his article, Karp suggests consumers remember, when they see local blueberries at the market, the heroic efforts that it took to get them there. However, the writer himself didn't remember to credit UC scientists who first thought of bringing commercial blueberry production to California, nurtured dozens of blueberry varieties under California conditions, and freely shared whatever they learned with the state's farmers.
Blueberries.
Riverside paper marks 10th anniversary of Pierce's problem
The Sunday Riverside Press-Enterprise ran a lengthy article marking the 10th anniversary of news that rocked the fledging Temecula wine industry: newly arrived glassy-winged sharpshooters were spreading Pierce's disease and threatening to wipe out grapevines.
The article said the region is a key battlefront in the quest for ways to overcome the challenges of producing quality wines in the presence of GWSS. Almost $400 million has been spent on Pierce's research in California since the outbreak, the newspaper reported, but experts believe it could be 7 to 10 years before the experiments yield a practical solution.
Press-Enterprise reporter Jeff Horseman included a rundown of research by UC Riverside, UC Davis and UC Berkeley scientists. Projects mentioned include:
- Taking benign Pierce's strains from mulberry trees and injecting into grapevines in organic and conventional vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties.
- Using genetics to trigger a "signal molecule" that tells the bacteria to stop spreading in the vine
- Attracting natural predators of sharpshooters (that don't harm grapevines) with buckwheat flowers
- Finding a grape gene that can deactivate the bacteria's enzyme and stop the breakup of xylem membranes
- Cross-breeding European grapes with naturally Pierce's-resistant native grapevines, mainly from Mexico, to create grapevines that can ward off the disease while producing quality wine
UC scientists named in the story were:
- Nick Toscano, UC Riverside
- Bruce Kirkpatrick, UC Davis
- Andy Walker, UC Davis
- Steven Lindow, UC Berkeley
- Mark Hoddle, UC Riverside
A grapevine with Pierce's disease.