Agriculture

Effective December 19, 2023, the Department is expanding the HLB quarantine boundary in the Santa Paula area of Ventura county in grid 437. A map of the proposed boundary can be found at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/citrus/pests_diseases/hlb/regulation.html.

It's a week before Christmas and it's not just the geese that are getting fat. If you're thinking that the bathroom scale and you are not good friends, not to worry.

Who will spot and photograph the first bumble bee of the year in the two-county area of Yolo and Solano? The Bohart Museum of Entomology is sponsoring its fourth annual Robbin Thorp Memorial First-Bumble Bee-of-the-Year Contest, which begins at 12:01, Jan. 1, 2024.

The invasive pest spotlight focuses on emerging or potential invasive pests in California. In this issue we are covering the Oriental fruit fly. The Oriental fruit fly (OFF) is an invasive pest that attacks over 230 crops including citrus and other fruits, nuts, vegetables, and berries.

Maybe eucalyptus? So you thought there were only three species of eucalyptus? Well there are a lot more and they all grow differently. Here's an interesting study evaluating their performance in the Central Valley which probably has value along coastal Southern California, as well. https://www.nrcs.

SWEEP 2023 opening soon! The State Water Efficiency Enhancement Program READ ALL ABOUT IT https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/sweep/ Get your paperwork ready! SWEEP 2023 will release $23 million in funding this round, looking to open by the end of this year.

To manage johnsongrass, a noxious weed that crowds out cotton and sickens horses, farmers have tried herbicides, burning and hand-pulling.

There's still time to register for our first-ever Sierra Foothills Rancher's Fire Academy! We'll be covering topics like using prescribed fire to control rangeland weeds, planning your own prescribed fire, fire tool basics, ranching hardening, and managing livestock during wildfire.

If you like insects, macro photography, and cool calendars, you'll want to order the "World of Insects" calendar, published by the Entomological Society of America. You'll see insects you've never seen before--and learn a little about them.

This is from an older post, but the recent fire in Ventura reminds me that orchards always need to be ready for fire, especially with the dry weather and Santa Anas that are in store for us. There is promised rain forecasts, but those arrive when they arrive, not when they are projected.