Posts Tagged: obituary

Bohart Museum to Dedicate Open House to Jerry Powell

When the Bohart Museum of Entomology of UC Davis hosts a “Night at the Museum” (formerly known as “Moth Night”) it will be...

In this 2017 archived photo, Jerry Powell (seated at microscope) talks to colleagues at a Lepidopterist Society meeting at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. From left are entomologist Max Klepikov of Berkeley; UC Davis distinguished professor Don Strong of the Department of Evolution and Ecology; and Eric Lopresti, then a UC Davis graduate student. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

In this 2017 archived photo, Jerry Powell (seated at microscope) talks to colleagues at a Lepidopterist Society meeting at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. From left are entomologist Max Klepikov of Berkeley; UC Davis distinguished professor Don Strong of the Department of Evolution and Ecology; and Eric Lopresti, then a UC Davis graduate student. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, with Jerry Powell, a longtime director of the Essig Museum of Entomology. This image was taken Feb. 9, 2013 at a Lepidopterist Society gathering at the Bohart Museum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, with Jerry Powell, a longtime director of the Essig Museum of Entomology. This image was taken Feb. 9, 2013 at a Lepidopterist Society gathering at the Bohart Museum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Marilyn Judson: Genuine, Gracious, Generous

We first met artist Marilyn Judson of Davis in 2010 when she was preparing for a juried art show. We knew her initially as the wife of...

Davis artist Marilyn Judson displays some of her work. She died at age 91 on July 7. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Davis artist Marilyn Judson displays some of her work. She died at age 91 on July 7. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Shift toward hiring through farm labor contractors continuing

A Bakersfield farming cooperative will lay off 2,100 permanent seasonal workers and instead hire a labor force through farm labor contractors, reported Jill Cowan in the Bakersfield Californian. The shift toward hiring seasonal workers through farm labor contractors is not new, said University of California Cooperative Extension specialist emeritus Howard Rosenberg, who has studied agricultural labor management for decades.

"(Use of farm labor contractors) has grown from the low 20 percents, to now over 40 percent," Rosenberg said, "and some people would say that it's now over 80 percent."

He said farm labor contractors can help growers avoid "transaction costs for hiring and firing." Employing middlemen who are theoretically experts at "dealing with the complex regulatory environment" is a way of outsourcing some of an organization's management burden.

Agricultural leader Ron Tyler dies
Register Pajaronian

Ron Tyler, the director of UC Cooperative Extension in Santa Cruz County who retired in 1991, has passed away.

“I knew him for about 34 years and he was very dedicated to the ag industry, first being in his profession as the agricultural extension adviser for many years,” Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau executive director Jess Brown said. “In that role, not only did he interact with people in agriculture, but farmed and gave them advice.”

Stink bugs pose noxious challenge
The Business Journal

Native stink bugs don’t pose a great threat to local farmers because they have natural predators. But an invasive species that has wreaked havoc on some mid-Atlantic fruit orchards appears to be flitting toward the Golden State’s breadbasket.

“It’s spreading pretty rapidly,” said Walt Bentley, an entomologist with the University of California’s Integrated Pest Management Program. “Last year it seemed to have one of those population explosions.”

The threat to grapes is of critical concern in the leading grape-growing region in the nation. Stephen Vasquez, viticulture farm advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Fresno, said stink bugs could wind up crushed by presses at wineries and “contribute to off flavors in the wine.”

Stink bugs also are a nuisance to homeowners, clustering in attics and hiding between any slender space, the way cockroaches do.

“As it gets cold they will start to overwinter in people’s houses. They just haven’t become established yet. I suspect it’s just a matter of time,” Vasquez said.

Media mark the passing of ag giant J.G. Boswell

J.G. Boswell, the founder and head of the enormous family-owned farming concern J.G. Boswell Co., passed away last week at the age of 86. As an innovative cotton farmer in the San Joaquin Valley and influential advocate in land and water resource policy, Boswell's path often intersected with UC Cooperative Extension.  

Boswell inherited the company when he was 29 from his uncle, also named J.G. Boswell, according to an obituary published today in the Los Angeles Times. His farm spans 150,000 acres near the San Joaquin Valley town of Corcoran. In addition to farming, the company conducted an innovative research and development program, producing more productive seeds and making technological improvements to his gins that boosted their capacity to 400 bales of cotton a day.

UC Davis agricultural economist Richard Howitt told the Times that Boswell was also an innovative water user, one of the first to employ lasers to level fields so that water flowed evenly and efficiently. Careful water management, including employing agronomists to determine when and how to water, allowed Boswell's farms to produce more cotton with less water than competitors, Howitt told Times reporter Jerry Hirsch. Many of Boswell's techniques were later adopted by other farms.

J.G. Boswell was a friend to UC Cooperative Extension. His company's foundation is listed as a major contributor to the 4-H program and it provided land for UC research projects, such as a study underway in the late 1990s to determine whether agricultural drainage water can be cleaned using flow-through wetlands, as described in this UC Cooperative Extension news release. These weren't his only philanthropic endeavors. In fact, the former country director for UC Cooperative Extension in Kings County, Bruce Roberts, is now an agronomy professor in the J.G. Boswell-endowed chair in plant science at California State University, Fresno.

Google News lists 51 media outlets including a news obituary about J.G. Boswell's death, including:

• Fresno Bee: Titan of Valley agriculture Boswell dead at age 86
• Visalia Times-Delta: Local grower J.G Boswell II dies
• San Jose Mercury-News: JG Boswell II, king of Calif. cotton, dies at 86

Gary Rush obituary in the Record-Searchlight

The Redding Record-Searchlight ran an obituary today for retired UC Cooperative Extension county director Gary Rush. Rush was also a community development advisor emeritus. According to the story, Rush, 73, suffered an accident some weeks ago and succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, Jan. 24.

Rush retired from his post in the UCCE Shasta-Trinity office in 1993, after 30 years of service to the Northern California community.

"Gary was educated and wise in life as well as books. He was insightful, intelligent, ambitious, patriotic and just one heck of a good guy," the obituary said.

Friends and acquaintances may contact the family at (530) 275-4704.

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