Safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving
Sen. Florez begins efforts to improve animal welfare
California State Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) has introduced a bill that would ban the practice of docking dairy cow tails, according to a story in Capital Press. Calling the practice of severing cows' tails unnecessary and cruel, Florez said that the new bill is a good place for him to start in efforts to make animal welfare in agriculture a central issue.
Florez is chair of the Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture. According to the story, he decided to focus on animal welfare issues after the overwhelming voter approval in November of Proposition 2, which bars veal crates, battery cages, sow gestation crates and any enclosure that prevents animals from turning around, standing up or spreading their wings.
". . . We're very, very focused on trying to figure out what are the animal welfare issues that we have ignored for so many decades here in California," Florez was quoted.
At a press conference last week, Florez said tail docking tends to accompany higher-volume production and depressed market conditions. Reporter Wes Sander spoke to UC Cooperative Extension dairy farm advisor Noelia Silva-del-Rio for her perspective on tail docking.
The story said Silva-del-Rio is conducting a study that so far suggests that 89 percent of the state's dairies do not dock tails and 86 percent of dairy cows are in non-docking operations. The preliminary data has come from Tulare, Kings, Kern and Fresno counties, the article said.
When will Mother Nature get it right?
Farmers reeling from three years of drought and an unseasonably warm January are now worried about rainfall at the wrong time of year, according to a story in today's Redding Record Searchlight.
Almond trees that bloomed early because of warm January weather suffered some frost damage. Now, rain during spring bloom is inhibiting pollination. (Who can blame bees for curling up with a good book on rainy days?) Wet weather also raises concerns about fungal diseases. But despite these abnormal weather patterns, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Bill Krueger assured writer Debra Moore that almond farmers will still have nuts to harvest next fall.
"If there is good weather between storms, it will give the bees a chance to pollinate," Krueger was quoted. "The diseases won't be as bad as they would have been had these been warm storms."
The article also covered problems experienced by cattle ranchers when precipitation doesn't arrive on schedule.
UCCE livestock program representative Josh Davy told the reporter that February rain storms are filling up stock water ponds, but won't help farmers concerned about this season's rangeland vegetation, on which they rely for animal rations.
"The annual grasses are germinated with fall rains," Davy was quoted. "And this rain has come too late."
Canadian bees picking up the slack for locals
Solitary, hard working leafcutter bees are being imported from Canada to help pollinate seed alfalfa, making the crop profitable in the San Joaquin Valley, according to an article published today in Western Farm Press.
“Economically, seed alfalfa cannot compete with other crops without the leafcutter bees,” the story quoted Bob Sheesley, an alfalfa breeder who is a former UC Cooperative Extenion farm advisor and county director. Working together with honeybees, leafcutters boost alfalfa seed yield 250 pounds to 300 pounds per acre, Sheesley said.
The story was written by Dennis Pollock, who is now doing freelance ag writing after retiring from the Fresno Bee last year. For the leafcutter story, he spoke to UCCE farm advisor Shannon Mueller, who said leafcutter bees are more efficient pollinators than honeybees because they don't seem to mind being slapped in the face by the alfalfa flowers' reproductive structure as they forage for pollen.
Leafcutters won't be putting honeybees out of work, however. Honeybees are less susceptible to pesticides and are kept by professionals, unlike leafcutters, which farmers must manage and care for themselves.
Alfalfa seed.
Put that dropped pacifier back in baby's mouth?
A comment by UC Davis professor of medicine, Dr. M. Eric Gershwin, will probably give many moms the shivers. In a CNN story today, he says that if your child's pacifier falls on the floor, put it right back in his or her mouth.
OK, that's really hard to do, but it does draw attention to his point: The human immune system will offer a child better protection in the future if it is exposed to germs and allergens at a young age.
In the story, written by Elizabeth Landau, Gershwin called the immune system "a complicated, multiorgan, chemical and genetic nightmare" that evolved about 250,000 years ago and is unlikely to improve just by eating certain foods.
The CNN story originated at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, being held this this week in Chicago. The article opened with futuristic musings about diets personalized for individual health profiles, saying that blanket dietary recommendations are missing the mark.
In his AAAS presentation, UC Davis food chemist Bruce German said food manufacturers' profits depend on lowering the cost of production and making their products cheaper.
"No one's getting healthy in this model," he was quoted. "It's clear we have to move toward a consumer-driven food supply."
In a consumer-driven food world, he said, the industry would focus on improving all aspects of the consumer's health. People would receive dietary recommendations based on a very specific individualized health assessment, taking into account age, sex and medical history.
A question not addressed in the story: Even if people know exactly what they should be eating, will they be willing to give up fried chicken, donuts, french fries and ice cream?
Baby with balloons.
Master Gardener program doesn't lose ground
An article in the Redding Record Searchlight advises Master Gardeners to "Put away the pitchforks." A rumor that the program's training session at Shasta College would be dropped is false.
According to the story, horticulture instructor Leimone Waite called current and former Master Gardeners to arms (metaphorically) a few weeks ago saying the program's training class could be eliminated along with other college programs to deal with a budget shortfall. She urged supporters of the Master Gardener program to share their thoughts with college officials.
Shasta College President Gary Lewis said he received numerous letters from Master Gardeners, but told Record Searchlight writer Laura Christman the Master Gardener training class was never targeted for cuts.
"I was surprised I heard from people. It really wasn't in jeopardy," Lewis was quoted.
The Shasta College Master Gardener program is unique in California. Because the county UC Cooperative Extension program lacked a horticulture advisor, Shasta College took on Master Gardener administration and training in 2003.
"The program wouldn't exist in Shasta County without Shasta College," the story quoted Pam Geisel, UC ANR statewide Master Gardener academic coordinator.
Christman, a Master Gardener herself, wrote that Geisel considered it important to bring the Shasta program into the UCCE fold.
"If you speak with one voice as a group, you speak with a much louder voice," Geisel said.
Recently, the Shasta program became part of UC Cooperative Extension, although it still retains "Shasta College" in its name and the college continues to handle the training and oversight, according to the article.
The memorandum of understanding that was finalized in the fall means more structure and paperwork for the local group, but it also will allow for better access to UC experts and resources.
UCCE Master Gardener logo