Posts Tagged: Q

A U.S.-China trade war would cost California farmers

Loss of China's preferred trade status could hurt crop, dairy and livestock exports

The Biden administration recently announced large, increased tariff rates for Chinese electric vehicles, solar cells, semiconductors, and aluminum and steel products. This raises the possibility of another trade war with China that could impact agriculture. 

Economists from UC Davis and North Dakota State University evaluated the potential implications of the U.S. revoking China's Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status. They found that if China retaliated against a change in China's PNTR status, it could lead to a 9.5% increase in China's agricultural import tariffs, resulting in potential trade losses to California agriculture of around $1 billion annually.

California agriculture was hit hard by the 2018-19 trade war with China, and many industries have still not recovered from its effects. Despite this, there is increasing support in Congress for further restrictions on trade with China, with proponents asserting that China is not complying with the World Trade Organization's regulations.

The authors' research suggests that some product groups – such as horticultural products, dairy, livestock and meats – would likely experience even steeper than average increases in import tariffs.

“The impact on import tariffs for non-agricultural sectors would be even larger, with the average import tariff going up from 3.9% to 32.5%,” said co-author of the study Colin A. Carter, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis. 

For all California agricultural exports, they estimated an average decline in export value between 28.4% and 34.8% when comparing a scenario where China's PNTR status is revoked to one where it is not. This translates into an estimated trade loss of between $800 million and $1 billion, using 2023 California agricultural exports. Some crops that rely heavily on China for exports, such as tree nuts, would be more severely impacted by these effects, particularly considering that some of them are still subjected to residual tariffs from the 2018-19 trade war.

The last trade war between the United States and China led to significant decreases in crop prices and lost export opportunities. As co-author Sandro Steinbach, Associate Professor in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics and the Director of the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies at North Dakota State University notes, “Once access to a market is lost, gaining it back is difficult, as the 2018-19 trade war has shown.” 

To learn more about the potential implications of the United States revoking China's preferred trade status, read the full article by Carter and Steinbach: “Revoking China's Preferred Trade Status Would Be Costly for California Agriculture,” ARE Update 27(4): 1–4. UC Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, online at https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1715033514/20982/.

ARE Update is a bimonthly magazine published by the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics to educate policymakers and agribusiness professionals about new research or analysis of important topics in agricultural and resource economics. Articles are written by Giannini Foundation members, including University of California faculty and Cooperative Extension specialists in agricultural and resource economics, and university graduate students. Learn more about the Giannini Foundation and its publications at https://giannini.ucop.edu/.

Green Hall of Famer Oki retires after 29-year UC career

UCCE specialist's research prevents water pollution, reduces water use

When interviewed to become a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist in environmental horticulture, Lorence “Loren” Oki was asked what kind of research he wanted to conduct.

In response, he showed the hiring committee a photo of a residential gutter. “Water is a big concern, and I found very little research on runoff from homes,” said Oki, explaining that studying residential runoff is what “started his career” with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources back in 2002.

Although he remains active supporting growers and advising industry leaders, Oki retired from UC ANR in July 2023. Before joining ANR, Oki worked as a researcher for UC Davis' Department of Environmental Horticulture studying greenhouse irrigation in 1994, bringing his total time with the University of California to 29 years.

Oki, professor emeritus of Cooperative Extension at UC Davis, led many research projects that advanced the green industry which includes landscapes, nurseries and floriculture.

“Loren is the epitome of a specialist,” said Darren Haver, UC ANR's Research and Extension Center system director, who has worked with Oki for more than 20 years on projects that have  significantly improved urban water quality and water conservation efforts across California.

Research influences pesticide management statewide

With a $3 million grant funding a statewide study, Oki and Haver set out to characterize runoff from residential sources over a five-year period. They determined the volume of irrigation runoff from residential land use, as well as the pollutants in the runoff.

Oki and Haver, co-principal investigators, along with researchers from UC Davis and UC Riverside, discovered that the degradation products of the insecticide fipronil – commonly found in runoff water – were more toxic than its parent compound. The study led to an investigation of human pathogens and pathogen indicators in residential runoff, the first of its kind.

Another contribution was the early detection of a new pesticide used for ant control, enabling strategies to be put in place to prevent it from reaching local streams and creeks. Oki and Haver's work also persuaded the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to change pesticide labels to minimize the chances of pesticides moving off target during irrigation and rain events. 

These changes included preventing pesticide application before predicted rain and preventing irrigation after applications, keeping pesticides from impervious surfaces, and restricting applications on lawns and landscape beds within two feet of impervious surfaces and others.

Plant trials expand beyond California

Oki was also the principal investigator of the Climate-Ready Landscape Plants project, which may be the largest irrigation trial in the western U.S., and the UC Plant Landscape Irrigation Trials, the California component of that project. The UCPLIT trials originated in 2004 at UC Davis as a research project by Karrie Reid, retired UCCE environmental horticulture advisor for San Joaquin County, while she was pursuing her master's degree. In 2017, the irrigation trials were duplicated at the South Coast Research and Extension Center.

These projects evaluate landscape plants under varying irrigation levels to determine their optimal performance in regions requiring supplemental summer water. Throughout the trial, Oki identified many landscape plants, including rose cultivars, that remain aesthetically pleasing with little water.

Today, the trials have expanded beyond California as the Climate-Ready Landscape Plants Project at Oregon State University, University of Washington, University of Arizona and Utah State University.

Growing up in the nursery industry

In 2017, Oki obtained tenure, allowing him to expand his professional responsibilities to include production horticulture, specifically greenhouses and nurseries, an industry he was extremely familiar with. “I come from a nursery family,” Oki explained. “My grandfather started Oki Nursery in the early 1900s.”

During World War II, Oki's family was incarcerated in the Poston Relocation Center in Arizona and lost their homes and property. When they were released, they returned to the nursery industry to rebuild their lives. “After World War II, my father and uncle got more involved with my grandfather's work,” he said.

The Oki family played an instrumental role in technological development for nurseries in general. Oki Nursery, which was located in Sacramento, worked closely with IBM and was the first to use a computerized system in the industry.

Oki developed computerized scheduling for the bedding plants, poinsettias, chrysanthemums, bulbs and other crops.  He developed a method to calculate the cost of any crop grown by the nursery at any point in the crop cycle and computerized greenhouse environmental and irrigation controls. This may not sound impressive now, but that was in the 1980s.

“My father was known for being progressive and he also knew everyone at UC Davis,” said Oki. “He wanted to work with anyone who had an interest in doing something good for nurseries.”

Inducted into Green Industry Hall of Fame

In the 1950s, Oki Nursery partnered with researchers from UC Davis' agricultural engineering program and developed the overhead sprinklers commonly used in nurseries today. Until the 1980s, Oki Nursery was the largest nursery in Northern California. Before it shut down in 1993, Oki worked in the family business as a greenhouse manager when runoff became a growing concern.

“I remember getting served with a notice by the Regional Water Quality Control Board stating that we needed to prevent runoff because it was polluted with nitrate fertilizer, which was common in the nursery industry,” Oki said.

One of those efforts focused on using controlled-release fertilizer instead of applying fertilizer via irrigation as a liquid feed. “What we learned is that if we converted nurseries to controlled-release fertilizer, we could reduce the nitrate runoff,” he said. While a member of the Oki Lab, Bruno Pitton earned his Ph.D. studying nursery hydrology and the fate of nitrogen fertilizers in container crop production adding to the information on runoff and nitrate management. Pitton is now the environmental horticulture advisor for Placer and Nevada counties.  

In 2023, Oki was inducted into the Green Industry Hall of Fame, which recognizes individuals with a minimum of 20 years in the landscape, nursery or floriculture industry and who have made significant contributions to the field.

Having grown up in the industry, Oki said that his father taught him to never be afraid to try new things. “If you think you have an idea that might work, do the best you can to make it work. If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. And that's OK,” he said.

Revitalizing space for greater impact

This mentality encouraged Oki whenever tackling new tasks, like rebranding the California Ornamental Research Federation, a space for education and collaboration, as UC Nursery and Floriculture Alliance.

In 2009, Oki and David Fujino, executive director of the California Center for Urban Horticulture, became co-directors of CORF, which catered to the cut flower industry. At that time, Oki and Fujino realized that nurseries generated much greater revenue in the state than cut flowers.

“It was a strategic decision to change CORF to UCNFA, which included floriculture and nurseries in the name,” Fujino said. Combined, nurseries and floriculture have consistently placed in the top five agricultural commodities in the state.

When reflecting on their partnership, Fujino said that working with Oki was a “natural fit.” “I couldn't have asked for a better partner, a better colleague and, ultimately, a better friend to have my back and work side by side,” he added.

Since UCNFA's launch, the two have worked to maintain the group's impact by hosting “Ask your Advisor” webinars to connect advisors to growers, as well as co-hosting large-scale events such as the annual conference for the International Plant Propagators' Society — an organization focused on greenhouse and nursery production education — for the Western Region, which Oki's father helped establish in the 1960s.

Encouraging a return to education

Gerry Spinelli, UC Cooperative Extension production horticulture advisor for San Diego County and member of UCNFA's administrative committee, described those who have learned from Oki as his sons and daughters. “When I meet someone that's learned from Loren or worked with him, that person instantly becomes my friend. That's the kind of effect Loren has on us,” Spinelli said.

Grant Johnson, UC Cooperative Extension urban agricultural technology advisor for Los Angeles and Orange counties, credits Oki for his master's degree in horticulture from UC Davis.

“Loren gave me a lot of direction as far as career choices and research interests. He instilled in me a dedication to life-long learning, just like he continues to do,” said Johnson. Before Oki became his professor, Johnson worked with Oki as a staff research associate at the South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine.

Another influential person in Oki's life is John Kabashima, emeritus environmental horticulture advisor for UCCE Orange and Los Angeles counties and fellow Green Hall of Fame inductee. Like Oki, Kabashima grew up in the nursery industry.

Oki, who earned a bachelor's degree in ornamental horticulture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a master's degree in plant science from UC Riverside, decided to pursue a Ph.D. in ecology at UC Davis with Kabashima's encouragement.

While Oki was still working in his family's business, Kabashima said that Oki relied on UC ANR researchers for scientific information and felt like Oki wanted to be one of them. “I told him that he's a good nursery guy, but he's a better scientist,” said Kabashima. “His heart is in science.”

The two began working together as soon as Oki became a graduate student and have been colleagues and friends for nearly 40 years. “My favorite response from Loren whenever people ask him a question is, ‘It depends,'” Kabashima said. “It always leads to people opening up and giving more context. That's what Loren does, he gets you to think.”

Public invited to observe prescribed fire training in Santa Cruz County

 

First Forester TREX to be held June 3-6

California's first-ever Forester Prescribed Fire Training Exchange event focused on bringing together professional foresters, forest managers and fire practitioners will occur June 3-6 near Watsonville. The four-day event is being hosted by the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association, which empowers the public to build a culture of good fire and supports private landowners in conducting prescribed burns in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.

There will be one burn conducted during the event, likely on June 4 or 5, which will be open for the public to observe.

Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREXs) first came to Northern California in 2013, and have made a positive cultural shift concerning prescribed fire, within both regional fire services and the general public. These “good fire” TREX events have drawn significant attention, especially in the context of more severe wildfire seasons.

After months of cross-organizational planning, the four-day long training will be focused on exploring the connections between sustainable forest management, wildfire resilience, timber harvesting, prescribed fire, and will include a burn within a commercially harvested redwood forest. The TREX will provide experiential training opportunities to forest managers and planners to advance statewide knowledge of how to conduct prescribed fire in merchantable timber stands.

Along with the prescribed burn, the program will include lectures, local tours, and open discussions on how to incorporate fire into timber management, burn planning and timber harvest planning, pre- and post-fire considerations, and permitting mechanisms for fire and timber harvesting. Presentations will be given by local forestry consultants, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, CALFIRE and local fire practitioners.

The burn location will occur near Mount Madonna, on private land with access allowed for accompanied observation only.  Be advised, while the ForesterTREX planning team works closely with theMonterey Bay Air Resources District to assure good smoke dispersal, smoke may be seen and be present in these areas during and after a burn. Please see the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association webpage at calpba.org/centralcoastpba for updates close to the burn date.

Participants and partners include the Mount Madonna Center, members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, CALFIRE, local land trusts, scientists, ranchers, students, researchers, land managers and others. The Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association is currently funded via California Coastal Conservancy grants.

For more information or to join a group of observers, contact Barb Satink Wolfson, UC Cooperative Extension area fire advisor at bsatink@ucanr.edu.

Latest research in fire science focus of free webinar series

Wildfire, cultural and prescribed burns, plant flammability among topics covered

Interested in learning about some of the latest research in fire science and stewardship? Join the UC ANR Fire Network  for a series of free lunchtime webinars to explore fire science topics with colleagues from across the globe.

This four-part webinar series will address fire in land management, plant flammability, fire history and management and forestry and fuel profiles. 

Everyone is welcome to watch the Hot Topics in Fire Science and Stewardship Webinar Series. 

Restoring Fire to Meadows and Other Cultural Landscapes

Presenters: Alice Lincoln-Cook, California Indian Basketweavers Association; Brian Peterson, Fire Forward

• May 29, noon–12:45 p.m. Pacific Time
• Register by May 29: https://bit.ly/3Qksc0J 

How Can We Assess Plant Flammability?

Presenters: Jane Cawson, University of Melbourne; Max Moritz, UC Santa Barbara and UC ANR

• June 5, 3­–3:45 p.m. Pacific Time
• Register by June 4: https://bit.ly/3WetrlA

Nuances in Fire History and Management: Lessons from Oregon Presenters: Andrew Merschel, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest; Chris Dunn, Oregon State University

• June 12, noon–12:45 p.m. Pacific Time
• Register by June 11: https://bit.ly/44fMU7u

Forestry and Fuel Profiles

Presenters: Don Radcliffe, University of Washington; Eric Knapp, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest

• July 17, noon–12:45 p.m. Pacific Time
• Register by July 16: https://bit.ly/4aTqI5Q

For more information, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Home_430/Events.  

 

 

4-H, Boys and Girls Club, UCCE partner to inspire Orange County kids

Small containers with varying levels of sugar sit next to a row of beverages, including water, fruit juices, soda, a sports drink and chocolate milk. Trying to match each container with the beverage that contains its corresponding amount of sugar, Amore, a fourth grader, reads the nutrition label on the orange juice bottle. “What does the bottle say?” asked a student in the audience, attempting to help Amore.

Life skills such as how to read a nutrition label are representative of learning that youth can expect when joining 4-H, a nationwide program focused on empowering kids ages 5 to 18. 4-H offers experiential learning opportunities ranging from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and healthy living to civic engagement and leadership.

To expand its reach and make their program more accessible, 4-H launched a digital learning platform called CLOVER by 4-H that offers content tailored for three types of users: learner, parent and educator. As the platform grows in popularity, 4-H is eager to identify best practices in engaging new users to join the platform and retain their interest.

More than 250 free 4-H lessons

In California, 4-H programs are overseen by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. Given its successful contributions to statewide initiatives in the past, 4-H in Orange County, administered through the local UC Cooperative Extension office, was one of three counties selected to participate in a CLOVER pilot project in conjunction with the National 4-H Council. With more than 250 4-H lessons available online at no cost, the pilot project aims to introduce its users to 4-H.

To generate interest, 4-H in Orange County is leveraging connections to local Boys and Girls Clubs. In March, they hosted more than 20 kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Garden Grove (BGCGG) – including Amore – for a day of learning and exploration at the UC South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine, where the 4-H program for Orange County is based.

Rita Jakel, community education specialist and program coordinator for 4-H of Orange County, said that partnering with BGCGG will, hopefully, inspire its members to join their local 4-H club.

“The youth created a CLOVER account before engaging in eight CLOVER lessons taught by the staff at the Boys and Girls Club during their weeklong Spring Break Day Camp,” said Jakel, noting that the participants were introduced to 4-H before arriving to South Coast REC for in-person activities.

Interactive nutrition and gardening lessons

During their visit, the participants engaged in a typical day of 4-H lessons featuring presentations from the local Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and UC Master Gardener volunteers. Jakel then wrapped up with interactive sessions on animal adaptations—understanding the challenges animals face in gathering food—as well as lessons on growing and cooking with herbs.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of working with young people is the opportunity to creatively educate them on various subjects, ensuring that learning is both enjoyable and engaging,” said Javier Miramontes, community nutrition and health supervisor for EFNEP in Orange and Los Angeles counties, who started the day off with the lesson on nutrition labels. 

Miramontes visually explained how much sugar is found in various beverages and then challenged the students to do so on their own. “It's important to me that all students participate, as engagement is key at their age, not only for inclusivity but also to maintain their focus,” he said. Miramontes concluded with a review of his lesson and was pleased that most of the class demonstrated a solid understanding of the key topics.

While the intention of CLOVER is to introduce users to 4-H in hopes that they would want to become members of their local clubs, Jakel believes that participating through CLOVER could be just as effective, if not more. “We're testing out the idea of bringing kids to our facility for typical 4-H programming. If they like it, our hope is that they'll sign up on CLOVER and gain access to our educational approach there,” said Jakel.

4-H in person and online

The goal is to give youth options so that the 4-H experience, whether in person or online, does not feel out of reach.

When discussing their collaboration, Jakel said that the BGCGG staff would continue to support interested kids and their families with CLOVER registration. The staff also agreed to conduct programming based on the digital platform at their facility to continue exposing BGCGG members to all that 4-H has to offer, which they have already reported as easy to implement and engaging among the youth.

During their time in the garden, members learned about vermiculture and how worms are essential for compost. Mary Nguyen, STEM specialist for BGCGG, said that she enjoyed watching the youth light up when they are playing in the dirt and learning about how fruits can be combined to produce new generations. To wrap up their visit to the garden, the group received a small worm box to use for their own school garden.

“I hope that more fun field trips – and hands-on activities involving research that youth can participate in – will come from our partnership with South Coast REC and 4-H,” Nguyen said.

Field trips to see, touch, smell and taste 

From a UC Master Gardener's perspective, the youth were extremely interested in learning about everything and asked many questions. “I loved their curiosity,” said UC Master Gardener volunteer Laura Holly, who helped with the garden demonstration and tour of UC South Coast Research and Extension Center. “They wanted to know why certain pipes were painted purple (to indicate reclaimed water), about the windmills and how avocado trees are grafted.”

“More children would benefit from seeing how the trees that produce the fruit they eat grow,” Holly added.

Hannah, a fourth grader, said that she loved the lesson on herbs that Jakel led before the participants boarded the bus to return home. All members got to see, touch, smell and taste four different herbs before planting their own to take home. “I had a lot of fun. I think if I had to grow one thing, it would be chives. They actually taste really good,” Hannah said.

Amore, who knew what lavender smelled like before, had never seen a lavender plant. “My mom loves lavender, but I didn't know this is what it looks like. I planted some lavender to take home for her,” she said.

The partnership with BGCGG is one of many that Jakel hopes to foster in Orange County, in addition to uniting UCCE programs to enrich the learning experience for youth who visit South Coast REC and those enrolled in the 4-H program. Her goal, in line with that of CLOVER, is to make 4-H programming more accessible for the youth, parents and educators alike.

To learn more about 4-H in Orange County, visit https://oc4h.org/.

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