Agriculture

HLB Update - Ventura County Detections There have been no new confirmed positive HLB detections in Ventura since early February, and no recent expansions to the 5-mile HLB quarantine in place in the Santa Paula area.

If you missed UC Davis distinguished professor James R. Carey's well-attended seminar on "California's Fruit Fly Invasion: A 70-Year Struggle Nears Critical Mass," it's now online on YouTube.

La recolección de fresas, arándanos o cerezas, los paseos por rancheras para visitar cultivos de flores, la estancia en pequeños hoteles rurales e incluso las catas de vino son algunas de las actividades del agroturismo que muchos pequeños agricultores están incorporando a sus negocios.

Update on Novel Ant Control Method in Citrus (MyAgLife in Citrus, Episode 828) Recently, the Citrus Research Boards, IPM Entomologist, Ivan Milosavljevi?, Ph.D., was a guest on Episode 828 of MyAgLife in Citrus, where he provided an update on on a novel method of ant control in citrus.

Cover crops are planted to protect and improve the soil between annual crops such as tomatoes or between rows of tree and vine crops, but growers may be concerned about the water use of these plants that don't generate income.

When UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal, recipient of a UC Davis Academic Senate's 2024 Faculty Distinguished Research Award, delivered his seminar at a recent luncheon in the UC Davis Conference Center, honey bees showed up, too. In images, text, and analogies.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) has approved the herbicide Rely 280 (glufosinate-ammonium) for use in avocado groves in California. Rely 280 is a post-emergence broad-spectrum herbicide for use against broadleaf and grassy weeds.

Florida's citrus industry has long been susceptible to freezes, hurricanes, and disease. A series of devastating freezes in the 1970s and 1980s caused production to shift to more southern regions of the State.

During the initial throes of the Mediterranean fruit fly invasion in California, protesters disagreeing with the California Department of Food and Agriculture's eradication procedures and policies used to sing the catchy tune, "There Ain't No Bugs on Me," the work of Jerry Garcia and David Grisman.

I received several calls and comments about issues with tadpole shrimp this spring. While this pest is well known to growers and PCAs, it can still be difficult to manage during planting time. Mistiming of insecticide application can result in shrimp damage.