Agriculture

It's heartbreaking. Beyond heartbreaking. Caroline Yelle, 28, owner of Pope Canyon Queens (PCQ) at 8307 Quail Canyon Road, Vacaville, lost her business when the lightning-sparked Hennessey Fire, part of the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, swept through rural Vacaville on Aug. 19 from Napa County.

The University of California, Davis, has been awarded $20 million as part of a multi-institutional collaboration to establish a new institute focused on enabling the next generation food system through the integration of artificial intelligence, or AI, technologies.

Soil Health is not just one status or practice or one definition. It needs to be in the context of climate in which it's being evaluated. All too often our definitions of a healthy soil come from climates radically different from a Mediterranean or desert climate.

Have you listened to the new field bindweed podcast on Growing the Valley? Dr. Lynn Sosnoskie may have moved across the country to Cornell, but she is still interested in finding new and better ways to kill field bindweed.

Honey is the soul of a field of flowers. It's also been called "the nectar of the gods." "The bee hive is the ultimate home sweet home," says Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute.

The bees, they're gone. Beekeeper Clay Ford, who owns the Pleasants Valley Honey Company, also known as "Clay's Bees," is devastated. The fast-moving Vacaville Fire, part of the LNU Lightning Complex fires, claimed 73 of his 81 beehives. Gone, millions of bees.

The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is a new exotic pest that was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since moved to other nearby states (Figure 1).

The estimated gross value of Ventura County's agriculture for calendar year 2019 is $1,990,100,000. This represents an overall decrease of 5% in comparison to 2018. Strawberries were again the number one crop at $508,371,000, but decreased by 24% from 2018.

The UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute is gearing up for two virtual events, one in September and the other in October: "Sips and Bites: The Hidden World of Honey" from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9 on Zoom. Honey Sensory Workshop from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Be sure to catch the following...