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Posts Tagged: small
UC Davis Small Grains and Alfalfa Field Day
The annual UC Davis Small Grains and Alfalfa Field Day will take place on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at the Agronomy Field Headquarters (2400 Hutchison...
What Are Those Red and Black Bugs on Milkweed?
Got milkweed? Then you probably have milkweed bugs. All summer and into fall, we spotted the familiar reddish, black and white bugs scurrying around...
Yule ornaments? No, just milkweed bugs about to reproduce. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the Small Milkweed Bug, Lygaeus kalmii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Seed pod of the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A milkweed bug and a buffet of seeds from the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Another Unwelcome Intruder
California's beekeepers not only worry about the varroa mite (aka Public Enemy No. 1), but the small hive beetle. As the state prepares for its...
The small hive beetle (black insect at left) spells trouble in a bee hive. The major problem here, though, is the larvae of a wax moth. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
San Diego is a hub for small farms
"We have 3 million consumers in San Diego County and maybe 17 to 18 million consumers in Southern California. It makes an opportunity for someone to find a niche and find a place to succeed in this world and sell their product," said Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources has an advisor dedicated to agricultural economics and small-scale farm production in San Diego County. Ramiro Lobo, who is based in the UC Cooperative Extension office in San Diego, said new and veteran small farmers face tough odds.
"Most of the land that is available in San Diego County is already being farmed. People are paying (standard) real estate prices for agricultural land," he said.
For existing farmers, the challenge is simply to stay afloat financially, Lobo said.
Decades ago, most small farms grew avocados and citrus, the article said. Because of water challenges, today's small-scale farmers typically grow high-value crops like cut flowers and other nursery items. Another crop that is growing is popularity is pitahaya, or dragon fruit. Lobo is testing pitahaya varieties at the UC South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine. Each summer he invites farmers and the public to the center to sample the fruit and learn about pitahaya production.
How Small Is Small?
Sometimes in a world of towering skyscrapers, jumbo jets and warehouses big enough to hold a small planet--or at least a state the size of...
A lady beetle, a monarch caterpillar and an infestation of oleander aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An oleander aphid on "the nose" of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An oleander aphid on the back of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An oleander aphid crawling on a tentacle of a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
