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Posts Tagged: Richard Smith
May 2018 News Clips
Mien farmers get advice for growing strawberries in Yolo County
(Woodland Daily Democrat) ANR news release, May 31
Abnormal Weather Takes a Toll on California Olive Crop
(Ag Net West) Brian German, May 30
The late winter freeze caused significant issues for several different commodities throughout the state and has been especially problematic for the California olive crop. The fluctuating temperatures have created substantial concern among the industry as bloom looks to be far below normal levels.
“Overall we're a little on the pessimistic side. The bloom, on the whole, has been pretty poor, many orchards actually have a very light, to next to no bloom at all,” said Dani Lightle, Cooperative Extension Orchard Systems Advisor for Glenn County. “There's an orchard here or there that looks pretty good, but on the whole, it is a little bit dismal.”
http://agnetwest.com/weather-takes-toll-california-olive-crop/
How Avocados Define LA and the Secret to Making the Best Damn Avocado Toast
(LA Taco) Gab Chabran, May 29
…Eric Focht who is a staff research associate in the lab of Mary Lu Arpaia at UC Riverside through UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences tells L.A. Taco that the recent avocado economy boom is “similar to what we see today with something like bitcoin.” He helps run a breeding program at UCR studying different avocados varieties, focusing mostly on Hass avocados but also looking at other less known versions of the popular fruit.
In short, he is working on breeding the perfect avocado that tastes great and is easier, faster, and less water-dependent to grow. This year is shaping out to be a good one for avocados, but this issue is always one to keep in mind.
Focht states that in the future, there will likely be more variety available in the mainstream marketplace. One varietal that Focht gets excited about is the Reed avocado which has now been popping up in places such as Whole Foods. It's known for its round, dinosaur egg shape and is about the size of a softball. It has a relatively large seed but the edible flesh is sometimes double or even triple that of a Haas that can make a lot more people happier per individual fruit.
http://www.lataco.com/how-avocados-define-l-a-and-the-secret-to-making-the-best-damn-avocado-toast/
Amazing graze
(Chico News & Review) Ashiah Scharaga, May 24
When drifting clouds dapple the sky and vibrant wildflowers—tickled pink buds, honey-hued petals and virent stems—awaken in the verdant fields of Table Mountain, explorers quicken their pace. They spot trickling streams and grazing cattle. Occasionally, they look straight down, turning anxious eyes to their mud-slicked heels—did they step in one of the fertile cow-pie mines littered across the landscape?
That may seem a nuisance, but it's a necessity. Tracy Schohr, a livestock and natural resources adviser for University of California Cooperative Extension, said the natural magic of the popular Butte County recreational spot is made possible because of a long-standing grazing program. “If cattle were not actually on Table Mountain Ecological Reserve,” she said, “essentially those invasive species would choke out those native plants, and they wouldn't be there.”
… In the past, grazing was misunderstood and primarily viewed as destructive, said Dave Daley, a fifth-generation Butte County cattleman and associate dean of Chico State's College of Agriculture. He credits changing perspectives to the development of grazing science, fueled by people such as Schohr and Kate Wilkin, a UC Cooperative Extension forestry, fire science and natural resource adviser for Butte, Yuba, Sutter and Nevada counties. (Schohr covers Butte, Plumas and Sierra counties.)
https://www.newsreview.com/chico/amazing-graze/content?oid=26315855
Sheep Shearing 101: Why Aspiring Shavers Flock to This California School
(KQED) Tiffany Camhi, May 23
…“We try to get the students shearing the first day because they make a lot of mistakes,” says John Harper, head of the UC Cooperative Extension Sheep Shearing School in Hopland.
Harper says if you can make the right moves with your feet, everything else falls into place.
“We're dancing instructors,” says Harper. “It's like 'Dancing With The Stars' on steroids, but with sheep.”
Around this time of year, hundreds of thousands of sheep in California need to have their wool shaved off. But Harper says there's a shortage of sheep shearers worldwide.
That's why he started the school in Hopland about 25 years ago.
Dan Macon of the California Wool Growers Association says the growing popularity of backyard flocks in California (usually just a handful of sheep) is adding to the demand for shearers, too.
“Infrastructure of the sheep industry is a key component,” says Macon. “Having people with that kind of skill and willingness to work hard is desperately needed.”
AUDIO: Hey, Salad Lovers: It's OK To Eat Romaine Lettuce Again
(NPR Morning Edition) Allison Aubrey, May 23
…After a big foodborne illness outbreak linked to baby spinach back in 2006, the leafy greens industry put in place a number of procedures to prevent contamination. "Prevention became the major focus after that outbreak," says Michele Jay-Russell, a food safety researcher at the University of California, Davis.
"They set up intensive testing protocols to monitor water quality," Jay-Russell says. The industry also agreed on standardized setbacks — or buffers — to separate growing fields from livestock operations, which can be a source of E.coli contamination. "You want a safe distance from where you're growing fresh produce and where you have concentrations of animals, like on a feedlot or dairy," she says.
Are avocados toast?
(Grist) Nathanael Johnson, May 22
…When Katherine Jarvis-Shean was a doctoral candidate researching the decline of cold winters a few years back, she thought more farmers should be freaking out. “I used to think, ‘Why aren't you guys more worried about this? It's going to be the end of the world.'”
After all, many fruit and nut trees require a good winter chill to bear fruit. But after spending a few years as an extension agent for the University of California — working directly with farmers and translating science into techniques they can apply on the land — she understands better. It comes down to this: Farmers have a ton of concerns, and the climate is just one of them.
“If you decide what to plant based on climate, but then can't make the lease payment, that's not sustainable,” Jarvis-Shean said.
https://grist.org/article/whatll-we-eat-in-2050-california-farmers-are-placing-bets/ https://www.wired.com/story/are-avocados-toast/
Lanternflies Eat Everything in Sight. The U.S. Is Looking Delicious.
(New York Times) Zach Montague, May 21
…Native to Asia, lanternflies first appeared in Pennsylvania in 2014. Despite a quarantine effort, they have also been discovered in small numbers in New York, Delaware and Virginia.
… “Most pests deposit their eggs on their host plant, or very close, so they already have food available,” said Surendra Dara, an adviser at the University of California Cooperative Extension.
“Those that have the advantage of being able to lay eggs on non-plant material obviously have a better chance of surviving and spreading,” he added.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/science/lanternflies-pennsylvania-crops.html
Garbanzos are catching on in Yolo County
(Woodland Daily Democrat, Ag Alert) Bob Johnson, May 19
…“The largest part of our crop goes to canning, maybe 90 percent,” said Paul Gepts, UC Davis plant sciences professor and legume breeder. “California can only compete with high quality products. We have other varieties with higher yields, but the seeds are too small. The growers get a premium for larger, high quality seeds.”
Gepts developed the two newest UC garbanzo varieties, Vega and Pegasus. Both have large, attractive seeds well suited for the canning market, and both have resistance to Ascochyta blight, a fungal disease that can devastate the crop.
… “I think growers are more interested in garbanzos because it's a winter crop, and wheat prices are low,” said Rachael Long, UC Cooperative Extension farm adviser in Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties. Long is finishing up UC's first Garbanzo Production Manual, which should be available before the end of the year.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/article/NI/20180519/NEWS/180519787
A French Broom smack-down
(Napa Valley Register) Elaine de Man, May 18
…If we all pull together and pay attention, we can eradicate French broom and send it packing. But it's going to take many, many hands and a concerted effort. It's going to take a village.
1. U.C. Agriculture and Natural Resources, Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74147.html
Kale, Not Jail: Urban Farming Nonprofit Helps Ex-Cons Re-enter Society
(New York Times) Patricia Leigh Brown, May 17
Even by the standards of the Bay Area, where sourcing local, organic chicken feed is seen as something of a political act, the spectacle of 30,000 fruit and nut trees being tended by formerly incarcerated orchardists is novel.
…Jennifer Sowerwine, an urban agriculture specialist for the University of California Cooperative Extension at Berkeley, said that Ms. Haleh and Mr. Raders have “shifted the conversation around food justice.”
“It's not just about food security, but the security of providing living wages,” she said. That's no mean feat in a foodie monoculture.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/business/urban-farming-exconvicts-recidivism.html
Tough winter weather devastates local cherry, blueberry crops
(Bakersfield Californian) John Cox, May 16
It's hard to say at this point just how much damage blueberry fields and cherry orchards sustained during the winter, said Ashraf El-kereamy, viticulture and small fruits advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Kern County.
Machines take over for people at Napa vineyard
(Capital Press) Tim Hearden, May 14
In the heart of the Napa Valley, a vineyard produces fine Cabernet Sauvignon with virtually no help from laborers.
The 40-acre “touchless vineyard” was established by Kaan Kurtural, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist who has devoted much of his career to improving production efficiency in vineyards as labor shortages have worsened.
…When Kurtural started experimenting with vineyard automation 10 years ago, his primary goal was to save growers money in labor costs, he said. But since then, research has shown that grape quality is superior, largely because the tall canopy protects grapes from sun damage, he said. The system also uses less water than others, he said.
Dozens of strawberry growers gather in Santa Maria to learn latest industry advancements
(KSBY Staff) May 9
More than 100 farmers and growers took park in a meeting teaching them on the best way to grow a healthy strawberry.
The University of California put on the annual event which was free to the public.
Growers discussed improvements handling weeds, disease, and insects.
The Santa Maria Valley is the second largest strawberry growing area in California after the Salinas Valley.
The crop means a lot to people in Santa Maria.
"We've got a number of challenges to the California strawberry industry and we're doing are best to work together," said Steven Fennimore of University of California Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources. "I'm optimistic that we'll find some satisfactory solutions."
Growers talked about all kinds of different ways to boost their crop including ways of using images from aircraft to detect stress in plants.
Pesticide Use on California Farms at Near-Record Levels
(Fair Warning) Paul Feldman, May 9
…Some experts say long-term changes in the mix of items farmers produce in California, including increases in almonds and other high value crops, give the agriculture industry the incentive to use more pesticides. Such crops present “a larger economic risk if pests are not controlled,”said Brad Hanson, a weed specialist at the University of California, Davis, plant science department.
Jim Farrar, director of the University of California's statewide integrated pest management program, added that more pesticides are needed when “you move from something like alfalfa and sorghum for dairies, where cosmetic injury isn't a problem … to something like oranges where if there's a blemish on the rind you get downgraded even if the orange is perfectly healthy.”
https://www.fairwarning.org/2018/05/pesticides/
Cherry growers expect lighter crop yields
(Ag Alert) Ching Lee, May 9,
…Kari Arnold, a University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Stanislaus County, said she's careful not to paint the 2018 cherry season as a disaster year "because it's really not." The crop may not be as robust, she said, but this was somewhat expected, because last year's crop was so big.
What wasn't expected, she said, was the freeze in the spring, which "did cause some damage to flowers." But the damage varied depending on the location of the orchard and whether growers were able to apply frost protection, she added.
"It's still going to be a good crop," she said. "It may not be the same as last year, but they're going to be good cherries. They're probably going to sell at a higher price because there'll be less of them."
She said she's concerned that word of it being a light crop may scare away field help, adding that "it's hard enough to get field labor in the first place anymore, because labor is becoming more and more difficult to come by and more difficult to keep."
http://www.agalert.com/story/?id=11854
Peak Avocado Is Yet to Come
(The Atlantic) Cynthia Graber, Nicola Twilley, May 9
…Its partners in evolution—the giant, elephant-like gomphotheres and three-ton ground sloths that dined on its fruit in return for transporting and then pooping out its giant seed—went extinct soon after the first bipedal apes arrived in the region. Rodents, jaguars, and eventually humans stepped in as dispersal mechanisms, albeit significantly less effective ones. The flourishing avocado forests that carpeted much of Mesoamerica dwindled and died out. And, as Mary Lu Arpaia, who runs the avocado breeding program at the University of California at Riverside, explained, the avocado became a backyard fruit, enjoyed by first the indigenous peoples and later the conquistadors, but rarely cultivated intensively—until recent decades.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/05/peak-avocado-is-yet-to-come/559883/
Climate change ruining California's environment, report warns
(SF Chronicle) Peter Fimrite, May 8, 2018
“If I were going to look across North America, ground zero for climate change is the Arctic. It is just changing really, really rapidly,” said Steven Beissinger, professor of conservation biology at UC Berkeley. “But California is an important laboratory to understand the effects of climate change on biodiversity.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Climate-change-ruining-California-s-12899272.php
More illnesses with later onset dates linked to romaine outbreak
(The Packer) Ashley Nickle, May 8, 2018
Richard Smith, a University of California Cooperative Extension advisor based in Salinas, also said the outbreak is hurting sales.
“It's having an effect,” Smith said May 7. “This is the problem — lettuce is pretty expensive to grow, and you've got to cover your costs. You can lose money, at this point the bigger growers can afford to lose for a period of time, but then they've got to make it up, and it just makes it hard. We're not sure how the year's going to go.
“I guess the good news is that the consumers are being sophisticated enough to be focusing on the romaine (versus all lettuce) ... The reality is I guess the FDA doesn't want to clear romaine yet because they think that the lettuce from Yuma might have a 21-day shelf life, so until the FDA clears it and then that news gets clearly articulated, I think it's going to be a damper.
https://www.thepacker.com/article/more-illnesses-later-onset-dates-linked-romaine-outbreak
AEI economists say farmers have ‘beef' with Trump
(Hagstrom Report) May 7, 2018
…Daniel Sumner of the University of California at Davis also told The Hagstrom Report that farmers hurt by the administration's trade policies have "a beef" with Trump.
Sumner said that even though the tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum have not yet gone into effect, California farmers including wine and almond producers are already worried. "Even if the tariffs don't happen, the rhetoric has effects," he said.
Sumner also said that Mexican buyers of U.S. dairy products — "reasonable business people in Mexico" — began months ago to contact New Zealand dairy producers about becoming a supplier because the Mexicans are worried about the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation.
https://www.thefencepost.com/news/aei-economists-say-farmers-have-beef-with-trump/
City Visions: Tech and the future of smart, sustainable farming
KALW, May 7, 2018
Host Ethan Elkind and guests explore the impact of new technologies on our agricultural industry.
What are the biggest challenges to our current food production system? And, how are Bay Area innovators meeting these challenges while promoting sustainability, efficiency and profitability?
Guests:
- Charles Baron, co-founder and vice-president of product at Farmer's Business Network.
- Jaleh Daie, Ph.D., founder and chair of AgriFood Tech and partner at Aurora Equity.
- Glenda Humiston, Ph.D., vice president of University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
http://kalw.org/post/city-visions-tech-and-future-smart-sustainable-farming#stream/0
Workshop planned on Napa fire prevention and best practices
(Napa Valley Register), May 7, 2018
A one-day seminar is planned for May 30 to look at the Napa ecosystem's recovery after the October wildfires and what policies are needed to reduce future fire impacts.
The workshop will be Wednesday, May 30, from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at Napa Valley College's Performing Arts Center, 2277 Napa Vallejo Highway.
Cost is $15 per person, with registration required at http://ucanr.edu/napafireworkshop2018. For more information, call 530-666-8143.
The program is sponsored by UC Cooperative Extension, Napa County Farm Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Egg prices plunge as supplies rebound
(Capital Press) Tim Hearden, May 4
Commercial egg prices in California are plummeting, and a slow global economy combined with a rebounding chicken flock after last year's devastating avian flu outbreak are among the contributing factors.
…At first, Midwestern egg producers that didn't want to retrofit their barns simply avoided California. Those that did want to market to California found confusion in what actually constituted a Proposition 2-compliant cage, said Joy Mench, a University of California-Davis animal science professor.
“(T)he wording of Prop. 2 does not allow it to be regulated, so there is no official definition of what it means,” Mench said in an email. “That will have to be decided in the courts, either because there is a lawsuit or because someone is prosecuted.”
In enforcing the initiative, the CDFA uses the federal Shell Egg Food Safety rule, whose space requirement is larger than the United Egg Producer guidelines that most of the other states use, noted Maurice Pitesky, a poultry specialist at the UC-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
http://www.capitalpress.com/Business/20160504/egg-prices-plunge-as-supplies-rebound
Farming takes center stage at Yolo County Fairgrounds
Woodland Daily Democrat) Cutter Hicks, May 4
Field trips to the fairgrounds led to a farming experience for students as the Yolo County 4-H and Farm Bureau hosted its 10th annual Farm Connection Day to kick off the Spring Show this weekend.
The four-hour event Friday featured more than 100 agricultural displays and hands-on activities for kids of all ages as nearly 2,500 visitors walked through the gates.
Farm Connection Day was open to the public and more than 200 4-H students teamed up to host the event — with a little help from adult volunteers. Their focus was to teach students of Yolo County the aspects of the organization before judging shows later that day.
DeAnn Tenhunfeld, a Farm Connection Day organizer, said that the attendance was the largest seen since she founded it in 2008.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/business/20180504/farming-takes-center-stage-at-yolo-county-fairgrounds
Frost damage varied for California nut trees
(Farm Press) Robyn Rominger, May 2, 2018
Some almond growers experienced frost damage from recent freezing conditions, say University of California experts.
“There's really a lot of damage,” says Katherine Jarvis-Shean, UC Cooperative Extension orchard systems advisor for Sacramento, Solano, and Yolo counties. “The earlier varieties really took a hit. Some trees even dropped their nuts due to frost damage. It's pretty bad in some orchards.”
… Bruce Lampinen, UCCE almond and walnut specialist, measured temperatures in an almond trial at Davis, and notes that “Feb. 20 and 24 were the coldest days. It was very problematic because that's when the trees were in full bloom.” At full bloom, temperatures below 28 degrees F. can cause crop loss.
…Phoebe Gordon, UCCE orchard systems advisor for Madera and Merced counties, says, “From what I've seen and heard, the damage has been variable. Some orchards weren't hit that hard, and others were hit very hard. I think it depended a lot on micro-climate and what stage the trees were in. They become more susceptible to frost damage as they transition from dormant to full bloom, and to nut set. I don't think we'll really know until ‘June drop' is finished what the final load is.”
Dani Lightle, UCCE orchard systems advisor in Glenn and Butte counties, says, “Almonds were right in the middle of full bloom when the frost happened. Most of the orchards in my area seem to have escaped. We didn't seem to cross the threshold to where there was heavy damage. Of course, there are exceptions, but by and large we came out better in the end than we thought we would.”
http://www.westernfarmpress.com/tree-nuts/frost-damage-varied-california-nut-trees
New weapon in fight against walnut blight
(Farm Press) Robyn Rominger, May 2, 2018
Walnut growers have a new tool to help manage blight disease in their orchards — Kasumin 2L, manufactured by Arysta LifeScience, is the trade name for kasugamycin, and is available as part of a strategy to control the disease.
The new bactericide was discussed at a recent University of California Cooperative Extension breakfast meeting at Yuba City. “It's great to have another chemistry in the rotational loop for blight management in walnuts,” says Emily Symmes, UCCE integrated pest management advisor.
http://www.westernfarmpress.com/tree-nuts/new-weapon-fight-against-walnut-blight
UC Cooperative Extension advisors help spinach growers finesse fertilizer applications
Richard Smith and Michael Cahn, UCCE advisors for Monterey and other Central Coast counties, have been conducting field trials for several years to determine volume data on fertilizer application. Once growers know exactly how much nitrogen their crop is absorbing, they can more precisely apply an appropriate amount.
Smith explained that baby spinach will absorb roughly 80 percent of the nitrogen it is going to take up in the final two weeks before harvest, making timing critical, Taylor reported. Spinach harvested a few days later, called "teen spinach" uses about 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre; larger-leafed spinach can used up to 120 pounds.
“No (previous) studies had evaluated high-density planting of clipped or bunched spinach grown on 80-inch beds,” said UCCE research assistant Aaron Heinrich. “Our study was specifically designed to provide data on the nitrogen uptake characteristics of spinach and to evaluate ways to improve nitrogen fertilizer management.”
UCCE featured in article about ag technology in Salinas Valley
A comprehensive rundown of Salinas Valley agricultural science published in the Salinas Californian prominently featured UC Cooperative Extension research and education.
Reporter D. L. Taylor opened the web version of the article with a 90-second video clip showing Richard Smith, UCCE advisor in Monterey County, in a spinach field talking about the amount of nitrogen the crop takes up.
Smith is conducting field trials on ways to more efficiently apply fertilizers, the article said. He is working with a product that works similar to time-release medicines that meters out nitrogen over an extended period. The system is expected to give plants the opportunity to absorb more nitrogen, permitting less to leach below the rootzone.
Krishnamurthy Subbarao, UCCE specialist based at the USDA Salinas station, is working with colleagues to find new lines of iceburg lettuce with resistance to verticillium wilt, the article said.
A new computer software tool developed by UCCE advisor Michael Cahn and his colleagues, called CropManage, helps growers figure out how much fertilizer and water to use and when on a field-by-field basis.
CropManage, a software tool developed by UC Cooperative Extension, can be used in the field with a tablet computer or smart phone.
Catching up on UC Cooperative Extension news over the holidays
The Redding Appeal Democrat reported in December that the ranks of U.S. farmers is dwindling. Said Sutter County almond grower Mat Conant, "Pretty soon we'll be such a small minority nobody will listen to us."
Fewer farmers means there are fewer lawmakers with first-hand knowledge of agricultural production.
"You can go to Washington, D.C., and talk about agriculture, but it doesn't have the same impact if you practically experience it," said Christopher Greer, UC Cooperative Extension director for Yuba and Sutter counties.
Lawmakers, like the people they represent, can be lulled into believing that America will always benefit from food costs significantly lower than in Europe, Greer added.
"Everyone gets a little complacent," Greer said. "We expect food to be available at a fairly reasonable price."
Historical Society presents a 'Centennial Celebration'
(Eureka and North Coast) Times-Standard
A meeting at the historical society on Jan. 5 began a year-long celebration of three Humboldt County agricultural organizations that are celebrating 100 years of service in the community: the University of California Cooperative Extension, Humboldt County 4-H Clubs and the Humboldt County Farm Bureau.
Speakers at the event, including Yana Valachovic, UCCE director in Humboldt County, were slated to highlight the roles of each of these organizations in working with youth, commodity producers and the community over the last 100 years. Many events and presentations throughout 2013 will celebrate the local agricultural community.
Far West High Cotton winner committed to finding better ways
Harry Cline, Western Farm Press
Third-generation Merced County farmer Chad Crivelli received this year's Farm Press/Cotton Foundation High Cotton Award for the Western States.
Pete Goodell, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in integrated pest management, was quoted in the Western Farm Press article announcing Crivelli's award.
"Chad meets with people during field trips to share the story about sustainable cotton," Goodell said. "He is a great spokesperson for urban folks who don’t understand what’s going on in cotton industry. He represents the cotton industry incredibly well, and the High Cotton Award is a well-deserved honor for Chad."
Crop issues test Coachella Valley vegetable producers
Cary Blake, Western Farm Press
Jose Aguiar, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Riverside County, recounted a surprising problem with Coachella Valley peppers in 2012 at the recent Desert Crops Workshop in El Centro.
“This problem threw us for a loop,” Aguiar said. “The bell pepper had a silvering appearance on the fruit exterior. It was not found inside the fruit. It was strictly a cosmetic issue.”
Riverside County is the largest bell pepper producer in California. The Coachella Valley has about 5,000 acres of bell peppers with a farm gate value of about $90 million.
UCCE advisor Richard Smith of Monterey County has found a similar problem in red pepper fields in the Salinas Valley. After testing, Smith’s first guess is the problem could be caused by the fruit rubbing against a branch. There are no holes in the fruit which eliminates the idea of insect damage.
Victor Gibeault named 2013 USGA Green Section Award Recipient
Cybergolf
Victor Gibeault, UC Cooperative Extension specialist emeritist in the UC Riverside Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, received the 2013 USGA Green Section Award in recognition for distinguished service to golf through his work with turfgrass.
"I am both pleased and honored to have been selected to receive the USGA Green Section Award," said Dr. Gibeault. "Now retired, I have been fortunate to spend my career as a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist, and in that role, I have worked on turfgrass research issues and educational projects and programs. My activities with the golf course industry have been enjoyable, fruitful, and have given me a sense of personal accomplishment, for which I am grateful."
Gibeault holds the U.S. patents for two zoysiagrass cultivars, De Anza and Victoria, and one buffalograss cultivar, UC Verde. Additionally he co-edited the 1985 book, "Turfgrass Water Conservation."
A significant number of articles publicized UCCE activities during the winter break.
New technologies offer promising options for organic weed control
For conventional growers, chemical herbicides have taken the drudgery out of weed control. For organic farmers, weeds continue to be a perennial headache.
Many large-scale organic growers have turned to mechanical cultivators to dislodge weeds. However, standard cultivation systems leave an untouched band of soil around the seedlings that must be cleared by hand. This hand labor often represents a large part of total production expenses.
Richard Smith, a UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Monterey County who specializes in vegetable production and weed control, heard about “finger weeders” while at a conference in Germany.
“There is a brand available in the U.S., but the European design is much better,” Smith said.
He purchased a finger weeder from the German Kress Company and conducted trials on commercial farms in Monterey County to assess their effectiveness in organic vegetable production. With this system, hard plastic discs with long fingers are pulled by a tractor horizontally down the field, dislodging recently germinated weeds while leaving transplanted vegetables unharmed.
The timing of cultivation is critical. For transplanted vegetables, the cultivation must be done after the plants are firmly rooted and weed seedlings have just one small, tender root. Soil moisture also influences the effectiveness of the finger weeder.
In a trial Smith conducted on organic leeks, the finger weeder removed 80 percent of weeds, while the standard cultivator removed 29 percent. Hand weeding time was reduced by 45 percent, from 19 hours per acre to 10 hours per acre. The yield of the leeks was not affected by the finger weeder cultivation.
On an organic radicchio farm, the finger weeder removed 81 percent of weeds, while the standard cultivator reduced 48 percent. Hand weeding time was reduced 44 percent, and the yield was unaffected.
In six out of eight trials, the finger weeder significantly reduced hand weeding time compared to standard cultivation.
“We want to raise awareness among our growers that this is a viable option for weed control on organic farms,” Smith said.
Smith is also studying other high-technology organic weed control systems, such as computer-guided cultivation equipment.
“There is tremendous potential in this technology, but it is very expensive,” Smith said.
For more information on organic weeding options, see the video below:
