Agriculture

On to the Next Phase We've reached a new phase in our effort to learn how to bond a livestock guardian dog with cattle. As we described in previous blog posts, we are learning that we need to bond Sam, our 7-month old LGD puppy, with cattle and vice versa.

December 21, 2021 A group of relatively new NRCS hires including Kareem Adeleke, Elena De La Torre, Breana Garcia, Jacob Wright, and Mikhael Kazzi received an exceptionally valuable introduction to state-of-the-art regenerative agriculture orchard management systems in a tour that was organized by A...

New research estimates economic losses due to congestion, inefficiencies Between wildfires, drought, a trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic, the last few years have been hard on California farmers.

Individual microbes often have defined relationships with their hosts that include beneficial, commensal, and pathogenic interactions.

Cover crops seem to offset their water use by improving soil moisture retention Cover crop research conducted by a team of university researchers is now helping to inform and shape policy to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in several San Joaquin Valley counties.

It's time to revisit the "Thirteen Bugs of Christmas!" Back in 2010, Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (now emeritus) and yours truly of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology decided that "The 12 Days of Christmas" ought to be replaced with insects.

Do you know the names of native bees commonly found in California's urban gardens? And how many have you seen in their habitat?

If you follow Gwentomologist on Instagram, you'll see fascinating images, videos and data on scores of insects, including bees, butterflies and beetles, and such curious critters as wasp-mimicking beetles (genus Clytus) and burying beetles or Nicrophorus beetles (genus Nicrophorus).

Driving through her vineyards on a chilly morning in December, Hortencia Alvarado is taking comfort for now that the weeds she sees are all yellow. But there remains a nagging worry that, like the pesky plants, is merely lying dormant for the season.

Like many of you, I expect, I've recently debated whether to keep my social media accounts - Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram sometimes seem like a bottomless pit of advertising and argument. But then something like this happens....