Posts Tagged: Q
The Principles of Indigenous Food Sovereignty
Indigenous Food Sovereignty: Opportunities and Importance in Extension work
In 2007, the first global Forum on Food Sovereignty defined the concept as “the right of peoples to healthy, culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” Since then, advocates of food sovereignty have applied this definition to promote food access in remote areas, urban centers, cultural diaspora and reservations.
For Indigenous Peoples, food sovereignty includes a kin-centric relational model to the land and non-human relatives as part of the food system. In their 2020 scoping review, Tara L. Maudrie and colleagues identified four principles of indigenous food sovereignty (IFS) and assessed how interventions using these principles impact food access, diet quality, and health. Extension professionals can apply these principles to our research and education with Indigenous communities to increase our impact and create meaningful change:
Principle 1: Community Ownership - Ensuring that interventions are community-led. Using a research approach known as “community-based participatory research” (CBPR) prioritizes ongoing participant engagement in planning, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of the results. Example methods used in successful interventions include developing community advisory boards, consulting with elders and community leaders, and providing reports of the research outcomes to the community. Inviting tribal members and participants to be an active part of the “research team” through co-designed procedures and co-authored products ensures that the Extension projects directly benefit the community.
Principle 2. Inclusion of Traditional Food Knowledge - Emphasizing cultural knowledge about food production, harvesting and preparation. Locally relevant Tribal food systems activities – such as fishing, harvesting traditional plants, and cooking traditional recipes – support intergenerational knowledge passing and resilient food systems. Further inclusion of tribal land management and food production techniques such as burning and seed-keeping maintain a respect for Indigenous traditions and land ethic. Incorporating culturally relevant nutrition education, conducting prior research on local food systems knowledge, and gathering community feedback to inform project development can help to integrate traditional knowledge systems with Extension expertise in food systems and community health.
Principle 3: Promotion of Traditional and Cultural Foods: Encouraging the consumption of Indigenous, nutrient-dense, traditional foods. Traditional Indigenous foods uplift cultural values, and research indicates an association between traditional food intake and diet quality. Promoting specific cultural foods of local tribes represent this principle. Traditional foods offer an opportunity to explore potential collaborations with UC Master Gardeners, local producers and UC Master Food Preservers. Permission of tribal leaders for any use of traditional foods and preparations, especially for external audiences, is essential to support tribal food sovereignty and maintain trust between Extension agents and tribal communities.
Principle 4: Environmental Sustainability - Supporting sustainable food systems that respect and integrate Indigenous knowledge of the environment. Barriers to healthy food access include environmental degradation of traditional harvesting and cultivation sites, lack of reliable food distributors, and the replacement of fresh produce by packaged and processed food. These environmental factors can contribute to health disparities by disproportionately impacting communities with limited income and mobility. Creating gardens, food distributions and supporting cultural connections to the environment helps to foster resilient and sustainable food systems rooted in an ethic of care.
Maudrie's review shows that health and nutrition programs that integrate the principles of Indigenous Food Sovereignty have positive impacts on diet quality and nutrition security. These programs considered the program's environmental impact, continually engaged the community and prioritized traditional knowledge and foods. These principles can be applied to a wide variety of Extension methods and research approaches, offering a pathway toward improved food systems, cultural revitalization and better health outcomes for California's Indigenous communities.
Urban wildfire impacts water, soil and wildlife
UC experts offer tips on testing drinking water, rehabilitating gardens
As residents start to clean up after the Los Angeles County wildfires, the aftermath will continue to impact water and natural resources in and beyond the fire areas, according to water experts at University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Urban wildfires have grown more frequent and intense in the past decade. Record dryness and high winds created conditions capable of enormous heat and destruction; in these types of wildfire events, infrastructure systems – including water supply and electricity – may be affected.
For example, high heat created in urban wildfires can damage or destroy parts of a water distribution system, which disrupts supplies and introduces risks.
“Volatile organics and carcinogens can enter drinking water through compromised parts of the system that get melted by fire,” said Erik Porse, director of the California Institute for Water Resources. He added, “When distribution systems are damaged or face heavy demands, pipes can lose pressure, allowing bacterial growth.”
Water agencies in affected parts of Los Angeles County responded to these risks by monitoring water quality and releasing “do not drink” advisories in affected areas. Such notices are not unusual following disasters, but are jarring for residents who are accustomed to reliable household water.
Ash, runoff can contaminate supply of drinking water
If wildfires occur in watersheds that supply cities with water, ash and polluted runoff may contaminate water bodies in fire zones.
“Water treatment systems may be unable to treat incoming water if that water has high levels of solids or contaminants,” Porse said.
These risks arose with the Hughes Fire near Castaic Lake, which supplies drinking water to parts of northern Los Angeles County. As the fire spread last week, water agencies in Los Angeles were monitoring the situation closely.
Many areas of Los Angeles also rely on groundwater. Future rains can cause contaminants to infiltrate into groundwater basins and create similar treatment challenges for water agencies.
Local water agencies are the best source of information to find out if drinking water is safe. During times of both routine operations and disasters, water utilities are subject to stringent standards and they monitor water quality in their systems as required by law.
“If a water utility publishes ‘do not drink' or ‘boil' advisories in your area, follow directions in the notice and stay up-to-date through website and social media updates,” Porse advised.
Edith de Guzman, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in water equity and adaptation policy at UCLA, added, “Residents who are not in such advisory areas should feel confident that their utility is monitoring the situation and that their water is meeting regulatory standards and is safe.”
Anyone who has concerns about the quality of the water in their home or office can get their water tested. “Water testing can always provide residents or business owners more information and it's important to understand how to interpret results,” said Porse.
Researchers at UC ANR and the Food-Energy-Water Systems for the Underserved lab at UC Merced published a fact sheet with resources on how to test water and understand the results.
Mudslides, degraded waterways other possible effects of wildfires
While rain would reduce overall wildfire risk, as little as a half-inch of rain in a short period of time could also trigger mudslides or debris flows because intense fires alter the ecosystem.
“Mudslides are a danger in areas burned by wildfires because the fires can destroy vegetation that would usually do two things – soak up some of the water and help keep the soil in place,” said Hope Hauptman, assistant project scientist with California Institute for Water Resources. “So, without that stabilizing plant cover, rain can run off quickly, and the exposed soil – particularly on steep slopes – can turn into dangerous mudflows.”
In addition to removing soil-stabilizing plants, intense fires can change soil characteristics, causing it to repel rather than absorb water, said Monica Palta, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in urban water quality, health and justice at UC Irvine.
“A wildfire with high heat can cause sandy soils in particular to become hydrophobic, or repel water,”Palta said. “A hotter fire creates a waxy substance, formed from burned plant material, that coats the soil and inhibits its ability to infiltrate water and elevates surface runoff.”
Elevated surface runoff increases erosion and causes toxic soils and ash to wash into rivers and the ocean.
“Ash from wildfires can contain heavy metals that are toxic to fish and other animals,” Palta said. “Ash from urban wildfires can have additional types of toxins from melted plastics and other materials in human-built structures like houses.”
Wildfire ash also contains large quantities of nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen. When those nutrients enter coastal waterways, they can trigger harmful algal blooms, which is bad for swimmers, surfers and wildlife. “Algal blooms can produce their own toxins, and the large amount of decomposing algae in an algal bloom consumes oxygen that fish and other aquatic wildlife need to breathe,” Palta explained.
These water quality issues can persist for years after a fire.
“When contaminated water infiltrates soil or is taken up by plants, the contaminants have a good chance of being bound and stored there,” Palta says. “As wildfire destroys plant communities and causes soils to repel water, it causes not only the release of contaminants into the environment, but reduces the ability of an environment to capture and store those contaminants before they reach a river or the ocean.”
Cleanup crucial in rehabilitating garden after fire
To remove the harmful substances in soil and improve infiltration, Palta recommends taking off the top 6 to 12 inches of soil in gardens, disposing of the soil in plastic bags placed in a trash bin (do not discard in a green bin or compost pile), and then adding new, clean soil to garden beds.
Mixing in compost also will improve infiltration and bind contaminants like heavy metals.
“I would advise engaging a professional to remove the soil because you need to wear correct protective equipment to avoid exposure,” she added. “You can wash ash off of garden plants with water from a hose, but be aware that the contaminants will then go into the soil, so wash your plants before removing soil from the yard. Scorched plant material should be removed from the garden, as it may contain contaminants.”
She also recommends replanting vegetation in the “clean” soil as soon as possible, and taking steps to control erosion.
“To stabilize slopes and hillsides, you can lay logs or branches perpendicular to the slope to block water and erosion down the slope,” Palta said.
UC Master Gardeners of Butte County also have a list of tips on how to mitigate damage on a landscape burned by wildfire when heavy rains begin.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health encourages testing soil and water (if not done by your local water provider) prior to starting a garden. On page 16 of the agency's Soil and Water Testing Guidelines for Home and Community Gardens is a list of soil-testing labs.
/h3>Key to prosperity for Eastern Sierra ‘island’ communities is coordination, UCCE advisor says
Wilcher to leverage economic development resources, foster connections in Inyo and Mono counties
Tawni Thomson has a big job – literally. She is responsible for attracting visitors and activating business activity in Bishop, arguably California's most isolated city and the heart of vast Inyo County, the state's second-largest county by area.
“I know everybody says their place is unique, but we're almost an island,” said Thomson, who has served as executive director of the Bishop Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau for the past 17 years. “We're a four-hour drive to the ‘mainland' in any direction – it's four hours to Reno, four hours to L.A., four hours to Las Vegas. And instead of water we have open landscape.”
While those majestic Sierra Nevada views across the Owens Valley make the region appealing to outdoors enthusiasts, diversifying the economy and supporting tourism during the offseason (generally November to May) remain formidable challenges. Thomson said devoting focused attention and resources to economic development is difficult, with only 3,700 people within Bishop's city limits and 18,000 in all of Inyo County.
“We're a very small community and we have very few people working on economic prosperity; we're spread really thin,” she said. “So if there's a way we can create some efficiencies or even get some outside help – that would be really welcome.”
In October 2023, some help arrived in the form of Aaron Wilcher, University of California Cooperative Extension community and economic development advisor for Inyo, Mono and eastern Kern counties (subscribe to his blog and e-newsletter; he will also provide updates on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn).
New Cooperative Extension advisor brings open ears, open mind
A self-described “city slicker,” Wilcher grew up in San Jose and has spent much of his career as a program manager and technical assistance provider in the higher education space. Most recently, he was consulting in the northern San Joaquin Valley on the California Jobs First initiative, aimed at creating jobs and accelerating economic projects across the state.
And although Wilcher certainly will bring his experience on the workforce development front, he soon discovered he will be called upon to do much more in this region.
“There's so much to learn; one of the surprising things I've learned coming here is that the complexity of my work is almost greater because you're able to be engaged in so many more things,” he said. “Because we have so few resources, you really have to pay attention to all the ones you do have. So that means you better make friends with everybody – because everybody is important.”
Wilcher is part of an emerging Community and Economic Development team of more than 20 UCCE advisors and specialists supported by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. Like his counterparts embedded in communities across California, Wilcher first sought to get a better understanding of the most pressing issues facing the region he serves. He spent the first few months on the job talking with elected officials and a host of community managers, planners, directors and leaders.
“I really appreciate Aaron's approach in that he's come into our community and already made a significant effort to understand the different sectors in our economy and meet with people one-on-one,” Thomson said. “He's just been listening – and asking a lot of questions.”
Wrapping up his needs assessment late last year, Wilcher said he heard many priorities that are shared by communities across the state – such as devising regional economic strategy and creating entrepreneurial support systems – and a few concerns that are truly unique to this particular “frontier economy.”
For example, more than 98% of the land in Inyo County is public land, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and, predominantly, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power – a legacy of the Los Angeles Aqueduct project dating to the early 20th century.
“Less than 2% of the total land mass in the region is private property,” Wilcher said. “So how do you do economic development where there is no private property? For this area, it will be more about improving job quality, helping local business grow and start new operations and recruit local talent, and improving quality of life – rather than attracting large companies for relocation.”
Building partnerships, coordinating efforts can benefit all
Short of untangling that long-standing issue of land tenure, Wilcher also can tangibly serve the region in another crucial way – bringing the expertise and skill set that he's honed during a career of fostering cross-sector partnerships.
In Inyo County, Thomson said, there remains a disconnect between the agricultural interests that have been the historical lifeblood of the region and the tourism and hospitality industry that is now its primary economic engine. She noted that Wilcher has already made progress in building bridges and opening conversations.
“What I'm hoping for is that the tourism folks will have a better appreciation for the ag folks, and the ag folks will have a better appreciation for the tourism side of things – and realize that we can all work together and we really do all want the same thing: a healthy, vibrant economy,” Thomson said.
And while the region's diverse sectors and myriad organizations are working independently on economic and workforce development, Wilcher said better coordination among the entities through an overarching convening agency would be a boon for all.
“You have a lot of small organizations that are effective and interesting in what they do and they have great people,” Wilcher explained, “but they need a lot more attention and resources to be able to: one, boost their own capacity and two, get together to force multiply their impact.”
Whether through the regional joint powers authority (Eastern Sierra Council of Governments) or some yet-to-be-defined new organization, Wilcher stressed that the best approach for better governance of economic activity comes from the community itself. The only way such an endeavor will be successful is if there is local grassroots buy-in, from the start and at every step.
“Ultimately it will be up to the community and empowering the community to support such an effort,” he said. “It will probably look like an entity – or set of entities – that will be the go-to place where people share ideas, develop projects and track progress.”
UCCE to offer trainings, connections to resources
Given the importance of “mom and pop” shops and eateries in the local economy, Wilcher – with the support of UCCE Inyo-Mono Director Dustin Blakey – is planning to provide training opportunities in the coming months for existing and emerging leaders across sectors to understand the local economy and empower them to drive and support new programs. Wilcher and Blakey have proposed a “community economic development academy” to offer curriculum in strategic planning, local economic data and program management.
The Eastern Sierra has made strides in recent years to lay the groundwork for development activities, Wilcher noted. Regional stakeholders led by the Eastern Sierra Council of Governments created a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy that outlines opportunities and goals for the region. These stakeholders have also been actively engaged in the Sierra Jobs First initiative, which devised a strategic plan for community and economic development investments. Wilcher also praised the work of the Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce and other chambers.
The Bishop Chamber of Commerce and the recently opened Eastern Sierra Business Resource Center – a partnership with the Sierra Business Council – provide some essential learning resources, but Thomson acknowledged her community would greatly benefit from additional offerings.
“It's great having more people make more educational opportunities available,” she said. “And it can be incremental – we're so small that even if we can help five people, that's a huge impact.”
Wilcher said he also seeks to bring to the region subject-matter experts like Keith Taylor, associate professor of Cooperative Extension and community economic development at UC Davis, and Anne Visser, professor of community and regional development in the UC Davis Department of Human Ecology.
Taylor has been helping to organize UC ANR's team of Community and Economic Development advisors. Across the state, Taylor said he aims to create greater awareness of underused resources from invaluable networks such as the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) and the regional rural development centers under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
“We're looking at how we can leverage existing assets in what I call the ‘hidden economy' – things like the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), major associations that provide immediate capacity for counties that often go underutilized,” he said. “The hidden economy refers to legal entities and business practices that enable local communities to capture more economic activity, making them less beholden to external forces and shocks.”
Like Taylor, Wilcher seeks to expand the toolbox for economic development in the Eastern Sierra region and thus empower people to drive their own sustainable growth and prosperity. He will share resources and insights on a newly launched blog; he urges interested community members to subscribe to the blog and sign up for his e-newsletter.
“I'm passionate about this; I'm excited to be here,” Wilcher said. “I love being at this intersection between technical aspects – like policies and data and all the things we do at the university – and working with the community and hearing what people are interested in, what they're working on and what they need.”
/h3>/h3>/h3>/h3>Climate, wildfire, wolves topics of Feb. 18 rangeland discussions in Davis
Rustici Rangeland Science Symposium to address California's changing landscapes
Ranchers, land managers, conservationists, policymakers and scientists will gather to discuss the evolving challenges and opportunities in managing the state's rangelands at the 2025 Rustici Rangeland Science Symposium on Feb. 18at UC Davis.
“The 2025 symposium will bring together a broad range of perspectives to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing California's working landscapes, which are crucial to both the state's economy and environmental health,” said Leslie Roche, professor of Cooperative Extension in rangeland management at UC Davis.
Key themes for the 2025 symposium, "California's Changing Landscapes," include:
- Climate and Weather: Understanding the changing climate, impacts on rangelands and potential solutions for adaptation.
- Wildfire Resilience: Expanding strategies to mitigate wildfire risks and post-fire recovery of rangelands.
- Ranching with Wolves: Examining the scale of wolf-cattle conflicts on ranches and assessing the economic impacts of ranching with wolves.
“This symposium aims to spark meaningful conversations and cultivate new partnerships that will drive solutions to the critical challenges of sustainablerangeland management,” said Ken Tate, professor of Cooperative Extension inrangeland watershed sciences at UC Davis.
Presentation and speakers include:
- “Building Climate Resilience across California's Rangelands: Approaches for Sustainable Ranching, Adaptive Management, and Collaborative Conservation,” by Roche
- “Climate-smart Agriculture: Rangeland Soil Health,” by Anthony T. O'Geen, professor & soil resource specialist in Cooperative Extension, Russell L. Rustici Endowed Chair in Rangeland Watershed Science, UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources
- “Increasing hydroclimate whiplash in California: Implications for California's grasslands and shrublands,” via Zoom by Daniel Swain, climate scientist, California Institute for Water Resources, UC ANR and Institute of the Environment & Sustainability, UCLA
- California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force: Expanding the use of prescribed grazing as a landscape management tool, by Patrick Wright, director of the Governor's California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force
- “State-of-the-Art Strategies for Reducing Wildfire Risk on Forests and Rangelands,” by Dan Macon, UCCE livestock & natural resources advisor, Central Sierra; and Bianca Artadi Soares Shapero, targeted grazing practitioner and project manager at Star Creek Land Stewards Inc.
- Ranching through Wildfire, by Tracy Schohr, UCCE livestock & natural resources advisor, Plumas, Sierra and Butte counties
- Status of Gray Wolf Population and Conservation in California, by Axel Honeycutt, state wolf coordinator, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Understanding the Scale and Scope of Wolf-Cattle Conflict on California's Ranches, by Tate
- Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Ranching with Wolves, by Tina Saitone, professor of Cooperative Extension, UC Davis Agricultural and Resource Economics
Closing comments will be made by Lynn Huntsinger, professor of rangeland ecology and management and Russell Rustici Chair in Rangeland Management, in the UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science and Policy.
After the presentations, participants are invited to network and engage in informal discussions during a social and poster session.
Register at https://bit.ly/2025RusticiSymposium. For more information and updates, visit https://rangelands.ucdavis.edu/2025-rustici-rangeland-science-symposium.
Established in 2012, the Rustici Rangeland Science Symposium celebrates the work of Russell L. Rustici and his commitment to advancing sustainable rangeland management. The event serves as a vital forum for engaging conversations on rangeland management, conservation, and policy.
The symposium is funded in part by the UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences' Russell L. Rustici Rangeland & Cattle Research, Education and Extension Endowment.
/h3>Almond Day updates growers on new pest, disease in California
UC Cooperative Extension advisors organize educational event in north San Joaquin Valley
Late in 2023, California almond growers – responsible for a crop valued at $3.88 billion in 2023 – started to hear about a potentially devastating new pest, the carpophilus beetle (Carpophilus truncatus).
With virtually no information about this species in California, Jhalendra Rijal and his colleagues spent 2024 investigating its extent in the almond-growing regions of the state and learning from peers in Australia, where the insect has been a persistent scourge for a decade.
“This year, we at least have the one year of experience with this pest, and we have generated information that is relevant and practical for the growers,” said Rijal, a University of California Cooperative Extension integrated pest management advisor. For example: After an insecticide trial was largely ineffective (likely because the beetle spends most of its life cycle protected within the nut), Rijal has been emphasizing cultural practices like orchard sanitation.
Sharing those crucial updates is one reason why the annual UCCE North San Joaquin Valley Almond Day is essential for growers, industry professionals and pest control advisers. This year's event was held on Jan. 21 at the Modesto Centre Plaza.
“It's the meeting on everyone's calendar,” said Rijal, who co-organized the event alongside his UC Agriculture and Natural Resources peers, Brent Holtz and Cameron Zuber.
With support from Farm Credit, the 2025 Almond Day attracted about 140 people, who heard about a range of best practices on almond production and pest management from six UC experts.
“This is a great educational tool,” said meeting attendee Ali Arshad, a Blue Diamond grower who operates several ranches in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. “I like to come attend their seminars as much as possible; they're very educational and informative – and very helpful too.”
Scientists offer advice on managing carpophilus beetle, red leaf blotch in almonds
Fellow grower Donny Hicks, who has attended 14 Almond Day meetings, concurred about the usefulness of the event. “Everything that was covered today is applicable to what I do,” he said.
Troubled by the presence of Carpophilus truncatus on his orchard in Hughson, Stanislaus County, Hicks said he recently partnered with Rijal to set some traps on his property, hoping to grow scientists' understanding of the pest.
“It takes growers to help advance that knowledge and be the ‘guinea pigs' somewhat,” Hicks explained. “At the same time, if it helps us growers as a whole, that's a good thing.”
During his opening talk, Rijal reiterated the need for growers to clean up the remnant “mummy” nuts on the ground that serve as overwintering habitat and a food source for the next generation of beetles in the spring.
“Do the sanitation so you can destroy the population from the beginning and you will have less of a problem,” said Rijal, who also shared a visual ID guide that can help growers identify the specific pest in their orchard and thus better target their control methods.
Growers also heard practical advice on an emerging almond disease, red leaf blotch, caused by the fungus Polystigma amygdalinum. Named for the orange-red patches of discoloration on leaves, red leaf blotch in almond has led to significant crop loss across Mediterranean countries. Unknown in California prior to last year, there was an explosion of reports throughout the San Joaquin Valley during 2024.
“It was pretty surprising, both the quickness and vastness of the spread,” said Alejandro Hernandez-Rosas, a UC Davis Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Florent Trouillas, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis.
During his presentation, Hernandez-Rosas said a preventative application of fungicide at petal fall – and then again at two and five weeks after petal fall – appear to work best to manage this disease. Fungicide applications made after the blotchy leaf symptoms appear will not be effective, Hernandez-Rosas said, and further research needs to be done to determine the most effective products and optimal timing for growers to make the most of their applications.
And because leaf litter is the “primary source” of the disease inoculum, Hernandez-Rosas added that cultural practices focused on speeding cleanup or decomposition of leaf litter are critical to reduce disease severity. However, it is only effective if done over a wide area in conjunction with neighbors.
Rodents, irrigation, replanting and whole orchard recycling
Both Arshad and Hicks mentioned that they intend to tackle the gopher problem in their orchards.
“I plant a cover crop every year and the gophers tend to really like it – so I get overrun with those gophers,” Hicks explained. “I'm trying to find that balance of not letting them overtake my orchard but still being able to cover crop – because that's beneficial too.”
With many growers voicing a desire to learn about burrowing rodents, Almond Day organizers were pleased to schedule a presentation by Roger Baldwin, professor of Cooperative Extension in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at UC Davis.
Baldwin presented the available control options for not only pocket gophers but also ground squirrels and meadow voles. He stressed the need to understand the biology and ecology of the rodents to maximize efficacy; for example, whereas ground squirrels prefer green foliage as their main food source in the spring, they switch to seeds in the summer/fall – which would thus be a better time to use pelletized baits.
In choosing from baiting, trapping, habitat modification, burrow fumigation, biocontrols and other options, Baldwin recommended combining different strategies and approaches in an integrated way.
“Mixing and matching tools will give you the best possible results,” he said.
The utility of combining methods was also a key takeaway from the presentation by Moneim Mohamed, UCCE irrigation and soils advisor. Highlighting the latest tools and innovations, Mohamed outlined the soil-based, weather-based and plant-based methods to collect data that can help growers make the most of their water.
Mohamed said using even just one approach is beneficial in optimizing irrigation scheduling – but more is even better. “A combination of the three methods is the best,” he said.
Cameron Zuber, UCCE orchard crops farm advisor for Merced County, discussed considerations related to replanting an orchard, including field and soil conditions and the management of plant-parasitic nematodes and aggressive pathogens and pests. He also encouraged attendees to visit growingthevalleypodcast.com for more information on tree nuts and a host of other topics.
Finally, Brent Holtz, UCCE orchard systems farm advisor for San Joaquin County and a trailblazer for whole orchard recycling, presented an overview of WOR. He then shared recent findings on its effects on fungal pathogens, and ways to mitigate drawbacks of WOR – such as the initial carbon-to-nitrogen imbalance when the recycled almond wood chips are first spread on a field.
Hicks, who has already tried WOR in his orchard, is also the grower relations manager for RPAC, a Los Banos-based company that grows, processes and markets almonds. Hicks said he also brings what he learns during Almond Day to his fellow growers – illustrating the multiplier effect of such educational events.
“I have growers who possibly will be doing whole orchard recycling, and I can share that information,” Hicks said.
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