Posts Tagged: San Luis Obispo County
Apply Now to Become a UC Master Gardener Program Volunteer
Are you interested in volunteering for the UC Master Gardener Program of San Luis Obispo...
UC ANR COVID-19 Update: Visitor clearance survey
Visitor clearance survey
UC ANR has been using a web-based daily “clearance to work survey” to ensure that employees who are working onsite or engaged in in-person field work, research or extension activities are free of COVID-19 symptoms. An offline or paper version of the survey is also available for volunteers or employees who cannot access the online survey. Symptom screening is a statewide recommendation for all employers and is required by UC guidance for campuses and ANR locations that have personnel working onsite. The UC Symptom Screening Task Force guidance also states that arrangements must be made to require the same or equivalent screening not only of students, academics and staff but also guests, contractors, vendors and members of the public who are permitted access to UC facilities.
To comply with this UC systemwide guidance and to increase the protection of our employees, beginning August 3, all visitors to UC ANR facilities must also complete a Visitor Clearance Survey prior to entry. Only visitors who receive a “Cleared to Enter” result will be allowed access. Visitors who are denied entry should be provided information about other ways to interact with UC ANR remotely, such as information available on websites, scheduling a phone consultation, video meetings, etc.
When visitors from a UC campus or vendors whose employer has a symptom screening process can demonstrate that they have already passed their institution's screening, those results will be acceptable to enter the UC ANR facility. Additionally, for UCCE offices, a county's symptom screening process will be acceptable to enter the UC ANR spaces.
To maintain privacy, UC ANR personnel will not record or retain the responses of any person's Visitor Clearance Work Survey, but will only keep a record of the final survey result, i.e.: “Cleared to Enter,” or “Stay Home,” using a daily visitor log or sign-in sheet to record survey clearance status.
The UC ANR Visitor Clearance Survey and additional instructions and details about the survey are posted on the UC ANR COVID-19 webpage: http://ucanr.edu/covid19 under “Standards for Resuming In-Person Activities.”
Celebration Corner
Starting in March 2020, Nutrition Policy Institute researchers rapidly adjusted existing projects and joined forces with partners to respond to the pandemic by providing guidance on adjusting school meal service and other school operations to meet the needs of families during school closures; providing guidance on food security measures among people experiencing homelessness; and supporting the strengthening of food assistance programs.
CalFresh Healthy Living, UC provided oversight, training and technical assistance to San Luis Obispo County Disaster Service Workers at essential farmers market sites to ensure that safety guidance was followed by vendors and the public. These efforts enabled farmers markets that serve low-income patrons through EBT Acceptance and Market Match programs to remain open and address food insecurity in these communities.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
Update on the Bagrada bug as it moves up to San Luis Obispo County
Small, but damaging pest. Female (top), male and female in copulation (middle), and mature nymph (bottom) of Bagrada bug. Photo by Surendra Dara
In the third week of September, nearly two weeks after they were first reported in Santa Barbara County, Bagrada bugs were found in the Arroyo Grande area in San Luis Obispo County. Organic growers are especially worried due to limited management options. Conventional growers are also concerned at the sudden appearance of overwhelming numbers of Bagrada bugs in some cases, but good control with insecticides such as dinotefuran has been reported.
Feeding damage on broccoli. Photo by Surendra Dara
Even death does not separate some of them. Photo by Surendra Dara
Here is some more information in addition to what I have written in my previous articles:
- Adults can survive for nearly four months under optimal conditions.
- Since it is a new pest, we do not know its overwintering efficiency in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. Bagrada bugs overwinter as adults, but periods of winter in our area could be very cold for them.
- Although brassicas are known to be preferred hosts, they can feed on a variety of other hosts.
- In Ventura County, they were reported on strawberries in large numbers, but it was not clear if they were feeding and causing damage to the crop. Because this pest is multiplying in large numbers and spreading around, they can be seen on atypical host plants in their way. If they happen to stay on these hosts for a long period, it is quite possible the bugs explore feeding on them.
- Bagrada bugs seem to be aggregating in weed hosts like wild mustard and alyssum even when crop plants such as broccoli and kale are nearby. So, using the wild hosts as trap crops can be a strategy as long as they do not serve as a source of infestation for crop plants.
- They seem to be responding well to synthetic pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, and organophosphate compounds. Since we do not know the future status of this pest, rotating chemicals with different modes of action is very important to minimize potential resistance problems.
- For organic growers, mechanical removal and use of pyrethrins and azadirachtin (for immature stages) seem to be available options at this moment. Azadirachtin is a natural growth regulator and should be used mainly against immature stages. Other organically approved materials do not seem to be effective based on available information.
- Careful monitoring, especially in sensitive areas such as those close to wild hosts, removal of wild or weed hosts, and rotating crops with non-host plants, can reduce the risk of infestation.
- New infestations can occur from infested nursery plants. So, care must be taken to prevent spread through the movement of plant material.
Bagrada bugs on strawberries during their migration to a more suitable host. Feeding damage has not been reported. Photo by Lane Stoeckle