Podcasts about pcas

Send us a textA planthopper from Asia is marching across the U.S. — and California's vineyards and citrus groves are squarely in its sights. The spotted lanternfly (SLF) has already devastated crops in the East, and its arrival in California is only a matter of time. But there's hope. In this episode, Dr. Marco Molfini talks about scientific discoveries of previously undescribed species! We explore groundbreaking research from UC Riverside where scientists are racing against the clock to identify native egg parasitoids - tiny natural enemies - that could stop SLF before it gains a foothold in California. These findings have the potential to make a significant impact on California agriculture!Listen to this episode as a companion piece to Dr. Mofini's article in The Adviser.Dr. Molfini's Article in the March 2025 issue of The Adviser magazine.YouTube video: How to Make A Spotted Lanternfly TrapPCAs go to www.salinas-summit.com for the 2025 Salinas Biological Summit, click on ‘Buy Tickets', select ‘Get Tickets' and then enter access code SBSPCA25. This enables PCAs to register at the discounted ticket rate.

If you're looking for job security, you might consider being a home health or personal care aid. It's the highest demand job in Minnesota, according to the state government. That need is only expected to increase as the population ages. But the median wage for home health and personal care aides is just over $35,000 per year, which leaves little to save for retirement. Now the union that represents many of these workers is asking the state to chip in for retirement in their next contract. Viktor Solberg lives on the Iron Range, cares for his mother full-time and is active in his PCA union, SEIU Minnesota. Solberg joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about his work on better benefits for PCAs in Minnesota.

Send us a textIn this episode, we're joined by Eric Peterson, a Compliance Specialist at Azzule Systems, a division of Primus GFS, to discuss his recent article in The Adviser magazine titled A PCA's Introduction to Auditable Integrated Pest Management Plans. Eric breaks down what makes an IPM program auditable, why it's critical today, and how PCAs can guide growers in implementing effective plans. Azzule Systems website:  https://azzule.com/ PrimusGFS website:  https://primusgfs.com/Crop Steward website:  https://cropsteward.com/CAPCA Grant Information:  https://capca.com/grants/

On today's show we'll find out how the Almond Board is helping PCAs get Continuing Education Credits for free with their new program, the Almond Learning Hub. That's coming up in this week's Almond Update.     We also hear about the Center for Irrigation Technology at Fresno State's Ag Tech Days event on October 25th. Joining us to tell us more about it is Charles Hillyer, director at the Center for Irrigation Technology at Fresno State.

If you are dealing with vine mealybug in your vineyard, you are not alone. Kent Daane, Cooperative Extension Specialist at the University of California Berkley studies different types of mealybug populations across the globe. Kent covers organic and conventional strategies, ways to increase the presence of generalist and specialist natural predators, and the importance of establishing refugia for beneficials. His latest work focuses on area-wide management tactics. Looking to the European Grapevine Moth eradication program as an example, Kent sees an opportunity to decrease vine mealybug populations through neighborhood driven monitoring, trapping, coordinated sprays, and mating disruption. Resources:         119: Vine Mealybug 101: Species Identification, Lifecycle, and Scouting to Create an IPM Program 130: The Biological Control of Vine Mealybug Using Mealybug Destroyers and Anagyrus Wasps Biology and management of mealybugs in vineyards Ecology and management of grapevine leafroll disease Impacts of Argentine ants on mealybugs and their natural enemies in California's coastal vineyards Insecticides for a mealybug and a carpenter moth on vine trunks, 2023 In-season drip and foliar insecticides for a mealybug in grapes, 2023 In-Season Drip and Foliar Insecticides for a Mealybug in Grapes, 2021 Kent Daane Mealybug transmission of grapevine leafroll viruses: an analysis of virus–vector specificity Sustainable Control tools for Vine Mealybug UCCE Napa Viticulture Extension Leaf Hopper site Vineyard managers and researchers seek sustainable solutions for mealybugs, a changing pest complex Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year Sustainable Winegrowing On-Demand (Western SARE) – Learn at your own pace Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript [00:00:00] Craig Macmillan: Welcome to Sustainable Wine Growing with Vineyard Team. Our guest today is Kent Daane. He is a Cooperative Extension Specialist with the University of California, Berkeley, and he works primarily out of the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. And today we're going to talk about a number of topics. Thanks for being on the podcast, Kent. [00:00:17] Kent Daane: Craig, thanks. I'm happy to be here. [00:00:20] Craig Macmillan: Let's dive in on one pest that everybody's interested in, continuing to be interested in, and you may have some new insights or newer insights on this. Let's start with mealybug management. Kind of what's the state of the art in that topic right now? [00:00:33] Kent Daane: Yeah, that's been the number one question I've been getting for many, many years now. It is an invasive pest. We know it came in, probably being brought in by a grower down in Coachella Valley. It has since spread into the San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast area where you are, Napa Sonoma, and it's been found now in Oregon. Just like Napa, Oregon has attempted an eradication program. And probably just like Napa, most likely it's not going to work. It's a very, very difficult insect to kill 100%. I mean, I can come up with all kinds of different programs, soft programs, hard programs, expensive programs, inexpensive programs, where I can suppress that insect pest. It's very difficult to remove it from a vineyard. And that becomes important when you think about the kinds of damage we're worried about in Central Coast wine grapes. Pretty much anywhere where they're looking at grape quality. But especially in the cooler regions. So, this insect, this mealybug, is one of many mealybug species. that is a vector of grape leaf roll associated viruses. And this is the primary reason it grows to such high pest status. So for the most part, the growers can knock its levels down far enough that it's not in the grape clusters or it's rarely found in the grape clusters. That's more of an issue for table grape growers. It's a cosmetic pest. When you look at some of the Regions in the San Joaquin Valley where they're growing a lot of table grapes Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, counties, there's enough heat accumulation and these grapes are harvested early enough in the season that they can still build up their Brix. They can still get a very good grape to market. Even when there's some vinely bug on the vine, they just don't tend to be as impacted by this leaf roll pathogen as our wine grapes. When you get into regions like San Luis Obispo, Napa, Monterey, Oregon, where they really are trying to hold those grapes on the vine for a longer period of time, trying to build up the bricks levels. That's where this. pathogen causes so much damage. [00:03:06] Craig Macmillan: most of our growers are already going to be familiar with this, but what kind of damage does the vine mealybug cause? It's so, so terrible. [00:03:12] Kent Daane: So the vine mealybug, besides being a vector of this pathogen, is also a direct pest of the grapevine. It can feed on the roots, on the trunk, on the leaves, and in the fruit. When this first hit California, we were working on it primarily as a San Joaquin Valley pest. growers that were putting on, you know, the products of the day dimethylate, lanate. If they were missing , the, target window where that pest was exposed, we would see thousands and thousands of mealybugs, not just per vine, but sometimes a thousand millibugs per leaf. It was causing defoliation. It was causing the berries to raisin on the vine. In South Africa, populations were getting so heavy. It was killing the vines themselves. How many people out there 20, 30 years ago were spraying so many neonics as we're saying today? We weren't doing that. now really, we were spraying for leaf hoppers as our number one pests followed by mites in case there was a flare up. It changed what we were doing in terms of pest management. In fact there's a group of us working internationally. Not just on the vine mealybug, but other mealybug species, because we've seen vine mealybug, grape mealybug, citrus mealybug, all becoming more problematic over the last decade. And we're, asking that question, why? What has gone on? And one of the thoughts we've got, not yet shown, but one idea is that we just sprayed so many of these, these newer chemicals that the mealybugs are developing resistance, The natural enemies are not, and we're seeing an escape of some of these mealybug species in now a, to them, a pesticide lessened environment. [00:05:10] Craig Macmillan: speaking of biological control, so this is an invasive pest, came from outside the U. S. That's the kinda the classical biological control problem. the pest comes, but its natural enemies don't come with it. there are some natural enemies of vine mealybug in the United States. [00:05:24] Kent Daane: Yes, they are, and I don't want to go too deep in the weeds on this, but this is new, very exciting to me. I did an importation program, that's a classic biocontrol program, where we go to the pests, origin, we look for natural enemies and we bring those back to the United States. Growers can't do that. It's got to go into quarantine. We have to study those natural enemies. Sometimes for years to make sure that they're not going to do any harm. The classic example people think about is I've got a problem with rats. And so I bring in a weasel, the weasel kills all the rats, and then starts going after my chickens. We don't do that anymore. Classic biocontrol is now much more modern. We've got all kinds of protective barriers against making a mistake. In fact, I think that we've gone a little bit too far. I think we're overly cautious. Bringing this back to the Vine melaybug, I imported material from Europe, from Israel, from Egypt, and from South Africa. We were finding mostly the same species in most of these different regions. The two most important species at that time were called Anagyrus pseudococci, which is The well known parasitoid that you can purchase from insectaries. The other one is Coxydoxinoides peregrinus, no common name on these insects. Both are established in California. When I did this work, we noticed a difference between the anagyrus near species Pseudococci that we were getting in Sicily and Spain with the material that we were getting that had already been established from Israel and what we're finding in northern Italy. Working with a taxonomist, Sergei Trapitsin he found some significant differences between these. And later on after both were imported in the United States determined that these were two species, one still Anagyrus pseudocoxi and one Anagyrus vladimiri. So sometimes you'll see insectaries selling Anagyrus vladimiri and you think, Oh, I want that. That's different. It is different, but both are established in California. We're actually going to do a followup study. now in collaboration with this international group to find out what we've got in California. I suspect we've got both. Now, why is this exciting? Because at the time we were doing this work, we felt like the parasites were different, and we felt that these different groups that we were importing, maybe one had co evolved with the citrus mealybug, And the other with the vine mealybug. And we had already done some work with the vine mealybug, molecular work, looking at its relationship to each other around the world. and their names are, scientific names would be citrus mealybug, planococcus citri. Vine mealybug, we knew as planococcus ficus, which means, Ficus tree, fig tree. And we were showing that this group was, they had an outlier and ours was the outlier. And then working with this international group, they said, look, back in the fifties, there was a planococcus vitis. And I think what you've got, what we've got on vines, is the vine mealybug. But not in Iran and Iraq at that time. And, and maybe in that Mediterranean region Israel, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey the Mesopotamian region, I think is what it is. Maybe there are some parasites there that we didn't have. Certainly, my colleague in Egypt and more parasites than we were finding in Europe. We just weren't able to get them all to establish in colony in quarantine. So it opens up the window that, that maybe there's something still out there. At this point in time, I say in all the countries where vine mealybug is reported as a problem, that's most of Europe Mexico, South America South Africa. We have the best of those parasites. We just want to delve deeper into what are we seeing in Turkey? How does that match up with what we know is in Egypt? And I do have colleagues in Iran. It's just harder for me to go there. [00:10:09] Craig Macmillan: right, of course. so this makes me think, is it possible that we have mixed populations of these mealybugs in California on the same plant, so it's different areas? [00:10:17] Kent Daane: So that's the project we're working on with this international group. What we decided to do in a three part approach is to first find out what everyone's got. The assumption is that in South America, In the United States, North America, we have got single invasion events. Our guess is that it arrived in the U S in Coachella and Mexico at the same time. We're pretty sure that the population they have in Peru is from California Yeah, they were bringing nursery wood in and lo and behold, they found vine mealybug. We went down to look at a nomatode problem to be honest with some UC California researchers. And we found that they had some mite problems at the same mites that we've got in North American California. So they were probably not being very cautious in what they were importing. So we're assuming that South America's got this California group which came from Israel. We know Israel and Egypt have something very similar, but it's different than most of Europe. South Africa is similar to Portugal and Spain, which makes sense with the trade routes that were going on in the 1960s. What we're guessing is that The European groups, there probably are, there's reported failures of vine mealybug mating disruption in some European areas. And we think that probably is this other mealybug that is probably in Turkey. So it's all very exciting to me, kind of delving deeper into the weeds on this. But the first part of this international group, again, a great group of people, Europe, South America our first part is what do we all have? Our second part is what we're doing a grower survey that we actually sent to the vineyard team and they spread out to some growers as well. What are, what are growers using to control the mealybug? Because maybe with some of the, we find out what it is and maybe growers are working harder to control our vine mealybug than say that the fig millebug which appears to be what they've got in most of Europe. Remember when I started the foreign exploration when I was in Spain growers would tell me yeah we've got the vine millebug but it really is not much of a pest. Citrus millebug on vines is more of a pest. Well they probably have that fig mealybug but [00:13:01] Craig Macmillan: Ah, [00:13:01] Kent Daane: You know, taxonomically, it looked to us like the vine mealybug.And I hope I'm not throwing all these things out and it's confusing. So, second part, that is, the survey. What do you have and what are you using to control it? And if it matches up that, yeah, what we've got is the one that's more difficult, that fills in a lot of boxes. Third and fourth part are now looking at the natural controls. What parasites are you getting coming off of this? What parasites are in your region? And how do they respond to the pheromones that we know are out there? So if they're not, if they're responding to both citrus and vine, maybe that's an indication that it's this other group. If they're not responding at all, or weakly, yeah, we've, we've got three or more distinct species. And we can't tell them apart, but maybe the parasites can. [00:13:56] Craig Macmillan: this is kind of a practical question. hoW do you monitor parasitic wasps? They're tiny. They live in refugia. They then come out and plant their eggs in their host. that seems like a really hard thing to do. [00:14:10] Kent Daane: That's an absolute fantastic question. So let's look at that most common parasite, Antigyrus Pseudococci slash Vladimiri. So what we found over the years is that it does a great job on mealybugs that are exposed in the fruit, on the leaves, on the cane. By the end of the season, if you're not putting on a lot of contact chemicals, you're getting greater than 40 percent parasitism. Very easy to see, [00:14:43] Craig Macmillan: Right. [00:14:43] Kent Daane: doesn't do very well against the mealybugs under the bark, because it's got this searching behavior where it's got to get on top of the mealybug, determine how big it is, do I want to put a an egg that's not fertilized in that, which would be a male, and they need smaller mealybugs for that. Do I want to put an egg which is fertilized? In that, that will become a female parasite that needs larger host. [00:15:09] Craig Macmillan: the same insect, the same parasite has the ability to do either. [00:15:13] Kent Daane: Yes. [00:15:15] Craig Macmillan: Wow. [00:15:15] Kent Daane: again, this is really a neat subject and I hope I don't bore the audience too much. But, a lot of these parasites that become important for mealybugs they have this little sac, so you've got your oviduct going to your ovarioles, in the female. And right around the oviduct area, before it splits into the two ovarioles, you've got this little sac called the spermatheca. unlike humans, where the sperm goes in and Seeks out the eggs and fertilizes it. The sperm go in and the female parasite stores them in the spermatheca. And then as the eggs are mature and ready to go down, oviduct and get ready to be oviposited into the mealybug, the female decides to fertilize the egg or not fertilize it. And if it's fertilized, it becomes a female. If it's not fertilized, it becomes a male. And that allows her to determine what the host size is, because the females are bigger than the males. And so she will walk up and down. and size that mealybug and say that this, this mealybug is a good enough size that this is worthy for me to put a fertilized egg in and that will become a female. Or a second in store mealybug, she'll say, this really isn't that good of a mealybug host. So I'm going to put An unfertilized egg, and that will become a male. And that was, going back to this Anagyrus Vladimiri versus Pseudococci, that was the most important difference that we found in this Sicilian and Spanish group of Anagyrus, was that they would oviposit and put females in smaller hosts than the male. earlier parasite which probably evolved on the citrus mealybug. So going back to this question because I do go off on different tangents. How do you sample for these things? So it's really easy to find a mummified mealybug on a leaf. But remember what we're doing. We're spraying now a lot of Movento and we're spraying a lot of the Neonics regardless of its Admire, Platinum, or generic derivative. They're all good materials. and maybe you're putting on an IGR like a plot, again, all good materials, Assail, all good materials. What they tend to do is work really good against the mealy bug, which is exposed on the leaves. Our systemic materials are really good at going out to the leaves. Our contact materials, our IGRs, the neonics, that are contacts kill the mealybug that's exposed. All of these materials do less of a good job with the mealybug underneath the bark. we're not getting a true indication of what these parasites can do because we're killing the host that's the best location for them to attack. So that means to really find out what's going on, you got to strip bark oftentimes. So now you're looking at parasitism in that region of the vine that the parasite doesn't like to be. Now, if we add to this, this other good parasite, which is the coccidoxoenoides peregrinus, we really liked to bring this in because it attacks the very, very small stages of the mealybug, the first and the second instar. It's sometimes a small third, but really it's focused on the second instar. [00:19:05] Craig Macmillan: Got it. [00:19:06] Kent Daane: It's in California. You can find it, but it's really hard to find out what impact it's got because it will parasitize the mealybug and will cause the parasitized mealybug to die. to feel sick and to seek out some area for protection because the anagyrus if you see that mealybug parasitized on the leaf causes that mealybug to kind of glue itself down to the leaf You have to flip that thing to get it off the leaf. A mummy is a dead mealybug which sticks to the leaf. The coccydox anoides causes the mealybug to find a place of protection because it doesn't stick it to the leaf. So it often times goes to the trunk, or goes to the stem, and eventually falls off the vine, and will pupate down into the ground. And so to sample for that one, you have to collect them as first or second instars live, bring them back to the insectary, and rear them out to the parasite, which is just really a lot of work hard to do. so these things are far more difficult to do. Sample four, then going out and counting, you know, aphid parasites, which are just out there as little brown mummified aphids. [00:20:29] Craig Macmillan: it sounds like this would play a role in my timing of my insecticide applications, whether it's Spirotetramat or Neonic or One of the programs that I think is common is to have spirotetramat on top and have a myothiamethoxam soil applied. Does that sound right? [00:20:47] Kent Daane: Yeah, that sounds right. I mean, they're both good products and they're doing what they're supposed to do. they're killing the mealybug. And when the timing is right, they're getting out there before the mealybug. So as the mealybug is going out towards the leaves. You know, they're probably doing a better job than the parasite will do on its own. Now, if you are an organic grower and you can't use those materials, then timing does become a little bit more critical because you're putting on, oftentimes, organic materials every 10 to 14 days because they've got a shorter residual. So on those you may want to, you know, work your timing around to avoid to give it a window of opportunity some of these natural enemies. There you're looking on the leaf, you're looking for mummified mealybugs. You know, are, do I have some of these good natural enemies in the field? You're looking for the mealybug destroyer, or one of the other beetles. Green lancelings are also doing a pretty good job. So you're monitoring those. And maybe you're deciding, I've got a lot of good activity maybe I should wait to put on pyganic or one of the other materials, which is broad spectrum give the other parasites a chance, a cycle, to see what their impact's going to be on that millibug population. Or maybe you're going to leave every fifth row unsprayed to let the parasites come back in and then hit that row later. So you've got a chance for those natural enemies to move the just sprayed vines. [00:22:22] Craig Macmillan: That was going to be my next question is what is the refugee situation for these parasites? Do they come into the vineyard, do their thing and then leave? Do they come in when there is host and then they hang out in the vineyard for the rest of the season? Do we know? I'm just thinking about ways that I can preserve, conserve those parasites as much as possible so that they're there when I need them. [00:22:45] Kent Daane: That's a great question, Craig. And let's break this apart into two different areas. Let's talk about First, the generalist predators that I just mentioned, the green lacewings, a good mealybug predator against the smaller mealybug stages. A lot of the things we do to enhance natural enemies will enhance generalist predators. So that's where your cover crops come in. That's where your pollen and nectar come in. You'll increase generalist predators. Ladybird beetles, green lacewings, minute pyre bugs, those can all attack and kill. That same group of cover cropping that brings in the gentleness predator may have little impact on the specialized parasitoids. Things like the anagyrus and the coccidocsinoides, what they want is the mealybugs. And not all mealybugs will do. They really want the mealybugs that are better hosts for them. So, they tend to get everything they need out of that pest population. They can host feed. They can stick their ovipositor into a mealybug, turn around and feed on some of that exudate, some of what's being bled. The mealybug creates honeydew. That honeydew, instead of trying to plant a cover crop for honeydew, that honeydew serves as a food to increase the longevity of those parasitoids. And as the mealybug density goes down, the parasite numbers should go down as well. Now there are different kinds of food sprays that we hope to look at that oftentimes do help increase both generalists and perhaps specialist natural enemies. [00:24:46] Craig Macmillan: Hm. [00:24:46] Kent Daane: The number one thing you do to to enhance beneficial insect numbers is to watch the broad spectrum insecticide sprays or to time them where you're not spraying, you know, all 100 acres at the same time, but you're leaving a refugia so they can move back in. [00:25:08] Craig Macmillan: Interesting. So, I might be looking at something and saying, okay, I am going to have to take some action here. I'm hitting an action threshold but not pull the trigger on the whole thing. leave one area for a little bit, and then can you come back and treat that later, so that you're preserving some of these folks, and then they can come back on the other side, and find a balance between the chemical and the biological. Mm [00:25:31] Kent Daane: Right. A balance, a delay might just be 10 days, might be 20 days. We don't want to miss our spray window, but remember, Most of the natural enemies are winged as adults, whereas the female mealybug is never winged. Fairly slow, fairly thestle. So that allows for those beneficials to come back in. And if you're a large grower this just happens over over the course because you can't spray 100 acres in a day. [00:26:07] Craig Macmillan: Right. Right. Fascinating. Are growers starting to adopt, in your experience with the folks that you work with, are growers starting to adopt these kinds of timings and techniques and methods? [00:26:19] Kent Daane: I think growers are constantly adopting, improving, changing one of the common misconceptions when I talk to students or people who just don't don't know how to farm or farmers is that farmers really don't want to spray. Spraying costs money. it is an added expenditure, added time, added worry. So they'd much rather, you know, go back 50 years when we didn't have all these invasive insects from Vine mealybug to Virginia Creeper growers are always seeking out how to improve the insecticide materials they've got, how to reduce the insecticide applications they have to make. And that does include natural enemies, mating disruption. What it comes down to is just costs. So oftentimes there's a trade off. If you're going to use mating disruption, you may not be doing three applications of an insecticide for vine mealybug. Maybe it's one insecticide plus vine mealybug mating disruption. If you're organic and you're releasing beneficial insects and spraying every other week. Maybe you don't have the cost for mating disruption. So these are all decisions that individual growers have to make. Obviously we've got some growers in some regions can spend 300 per acre for mealybug control. Other growers simply cannot do that because of the value of, their product at the very end. [00:28:03] Craig Macmillan: Right. This is kind of a natural lead in to something I wanted to touch on, and that is the Virginia Creeper leafhopper that's found on the North Coast. That also an invasive, correct? Came in from outside. [00:28:15] Kent Daane: It is invasive to some extent. It is not invasive like the vine mealybug is from. The Mediterranean region Virginia creeper most likely is, is North American. But yes, it was never really a California leafhopper pest. It was, no England, Canada. Pest that then went into Washington, then went into Oregon, that then came into California. interestingly, the, leafhopper that I worked on for so many years the variegated grape leafhopper probably North American, probably had a different avenue, probably came up from the south, from Mexico, Texas, to Arizona, to California. So Some of our invasives are close relatives. [00:29:07] Craig Macmillan: Interesting. what's the difference in damage that's caused by the Virginia creep leaf hopper and the the variegated leaf hopper. [00:29:17] Kent Daane: So they're, they're very similar. I think that the grape leafhopper is the one we've been dealing with for the longest time and has been relatively mild compared to the other two. The variegated grape leafhopper When it first came into the San Joaquin Valley, it could defoliate vines. It had three to four generations per year. [00:29:42] Craig Macmillan: Oh, wow. [00:29:43] Kent Daane: It seemed to be much more damaging than the grape leafhopper. Virginia creeper leafhopper, now in northern California, making its way south. So it's gotten to the middle of the state. It's in Napa, Sonoma, Sacramento. I have not seen it. Heard it reported in the Fresno area. Oh, it has been reported in Fresno. But I'm not saying it causes much damage here. We really don't get many leaf hopper reports for damage here, except for organic growers. And that's because all the sprays for vine mealybug. Most of those vine mealybug sprays are very good against the leaf hoppers. Where I have seen it as a pest. It's been mostly in wine grapes. Mostly in the cooler regions of the state. Mostly controlled by conventional insecticides. There are programs organic materials registered for Virginia creeper that I think have done a fairly good job. But it, it does get out of hand. And I think for all these leaf hoppers with organic materials, what happens is that The organic products tend to not work well , against the leaf operant in the egg stage or the leaf operant in the adult stage. So timing is very important. You want to get those materials on. when egg hatch is nearly complete and when you've got mostly first and second instars out there. That's because most of our organic products tend to impact these pests by either being a desiccant like the soaps that dry it out or a suffocant like the oils that clog the spiracles. And so the the, adults just fly away from that tractor rig as it's coming down. The eggs are protected inside the leaf itself, in their little clusters for the Virginia Creeper. And the larger insects can, they're just more mobile. So it's hard to kill them. So timing becomes relatively critical with these insects. I've not worked directly with Virginia creeper other than hosting Houston Wilson did his graduate work in my lab and really focused on, on the parasites of this insect. Lucia Varela, now retired, did focus on looking at the different insecticides and she's got a nice summary article which is on Monica Cooper's website. It talks about the different insecticides, U C cooperative extension Napa County. And she's got a website that goes into materials for organic growers for Virginia creeper leaf hopper. I think that's where I saw. that information posted. And what Houston did was he just looked at and tried to improve the Enneagrus. So we get those two confused. The Lilybug parasite is Anagyrus. The Leafhopper parasite is Enneagrus. The two names sound pretty similar, but one is an inserted family and one is a Mimerit. Or a fairy fly, fairy winged fly. They're some of the smallest insects known. So, [00:33:03] Craig Macmillan: Wow. So, we are continuing to look at these new parasites, how they're performing, we're learning a lot more about them, and we're learning a lot more about timing of different kinds of sprays around their life cycle. [00:33:17] Kent Daane: Yeah, what Houston was trying to do was to understand why parasitism against the Virginia creeper leafhopper was against all the leafhoppers. Why parasitism was relatively low. So I was working with Danny Gonzales and Sergei Tripitsin, And just mentioning to the taxonomist, Sergei, that it seemed like there were differences amongst these Enneagris samples that we were releasing. And I had happened to save all of the material that had died. So I sent that to Sergei, and Sergei looked at these things closely and then said, look, we've got a complex of parasites. And he named Enneagris erythronureae. After the species that was most commonly attacking variegated grape leafhopper, which is Erythronere variabilis. There was another one, and he called a Negris tryptocova, which was named after his wife's father's family and he said that was the better looking one of the group. And there was one that just didn't do that much. And he named that after me, a Negris Dana. And so that one we thought was the one attacking the western grape leaf hopper most commonly. And it was being found more commonly in the riparian zone. So that's 20 years ago, fast forward to our new invasive leaf hopper, the Virginia creeper leaf hopper, which is again coming down from Canada to Washington to Oregon to California. Well, it ends up that the Enneagris deni is very important attacking that leaf hopper. So Houston was working out the relationship of these three parasites against these three leaf hoppers and trying to understand if he could manipulate their numbers to improve biocontrol. He looked at hedgerows, he looked at augmentative releases or inoculative releases, and we're still curious to see if that can't be improved even. [00:35:30] Craig Macmillan: That's fantastic. Another topic that I wanted to touch on, because it's a really cool idea, and I think we'll have applications across a lot of things eventually, and that is area wide pest management strategies. And I know that you've done a lot of work in this area from the beginning, really, of kind of the concept. What is an area wide pest management strategy? Management program. What does it look like? What can it what is its goal? How does it operate? What kind of success we've seen so far? [00:35:59] Kent Daane: Yeah, that's a fantastic question. It's a topic I'm really excited about and let's think about it when we think about the European grapevine model. that was another invasive insect, It was found in California, it was found in Chile around the same time. So you've got this invasive insect, and the state of California deemed this important enough to have an eradication program. [00:36:22] Craig Macmillan: Oh and just real quick. What kind of damage does grapevine moth do? [00:36:26] Kent Daane: So the European Greenvine Moth it'll feed on the vine, but it gets in the fruit clusters. think of the omnivorous leaf roller One of those, one of our tortricid pests that can really cause damage to the grape a number of generations per year, a lot of different possibilities where it might come from in terms of a host plant material. So it can be very problematic. It would require a spray every single year, an additional spray for a tortricid pest, if it were to establish. [00:37:00] Craig Macmillan: one the big issue here is that it attacks the berries directly [00:37:03] Kent Daane: absolutely. [00:37:04] Craig Macmillan: Okay. So that's a, that's a serious problem. [00:37:07] Kent Daane: No, no, the, it, it causes mold and rot and everything else once it gets in there. So, you know, two or three doesn't seem like a lot. You just think, well, berry can go to crush, but that berry will get all kinds of bunch rot. not a good fruit. So when you think about the eradication program, where there was monitoring everywhere in the state. When you think about the eradication program, where when they found this pest through pheromone traps, and then they did a ground search to find out where it was. And then there was a coordinated investigation. Effort to spray the right materials, to use mating disruption, to go after it in all of the adjoining areas. those eradication programs are very intense. Area wide control programs. So, let's think about Vine mealybug, which is now in most vineyards. We're still approaching this on an individual grower basis. We might have one grower using mating disruption, because they're going to go organic, and a next door neighbor doing nothing. There's going to be constant movement of that pest into that grower's. field We might have two growers, one using Movento every other year, and another using Platinum every other year. Those males are going back and forth between those vineyards, sharing whatever genetic resistance that they're developing. And so really, if those growers are switching, one's using Movento, one's using Platinum that insect is moving between those vineyards all the time. And it's not a resistance management program, or you might have a small five acre grower deciding to put out mating disruption. Mating disruption works better blanketing the whole area. So an area wide program, and then you bring into it the idea of roguing leaf roll diseased vines. there are two things I just mentioned in this last 30 seconds that are so important for area wide management of mealybug and leaf roll that are the killers to those programs. The first is mating disruption still costs more money than a pesticide application. It's a fantastic tool. It is a tool that works better the lower and lower the mealybug density gets. So you use insecticides to really drop the mealybug population down, but there gets to be a point where the mealybugs are now on the bark. There are little populations here and there, and we know the insecticides are never 100 percent. Mating disruption works better. The lower the milli buck density is. [00:40:05] Craig Macmillan: Got it. [00:40:06] Kent Daane: But there's a cost to it. So we start with insecticides. The next part is the rowing of the infected vines. That's very important on an area wide basis because if you're planting, you've had, vineyard is old, it's not productive, it's had leaf roll. You pull it out, but it's right next to a block that's got 80 percent infected vines. You're always going to have new infections showing up over and over and over again. Unless that grower next to you is just doing this bang up job of applying insecticides all the time to keep mealybugs from going into your vineyard. you can make area wide control work for the pathogen. and the pest. But in the best world, let's say you're in control of a thousand acres, pull out every vineyard that's infected and replant and then pull out every new infection in it. And people just can't afford this. [00:41:06] Craig Macmillan: Right. [00:41:07] Kent Daane: if you're managing 200, 300 acres and Your vineyard with leaf roll that's at 30 percent is still profitable. it's hard to pull out those 30%. It's just hard to do. I get it. But something that I wish we could get, you know, government subsidy for to, to have them help us come in, pull out the infected vines, start clean again. But it does work. It's worked in South Africa. It's worked in New Zealand. It's worked in Napa. It just comes at a cost that may be prohibitive in some regions, in some areas. So the best we can do is to manage mealybug and the disease incidence in an area wide manner. [00:41:52] Craig Macmillan: if I remember correctly, I mean, the work has been done now that, demonstrates roguing is your best strategy overall long term, but it's expensive short term. and that is the issue. That's the tricky bit. [00:42:06] Kent Daane: There are two tricky bits to it. The first tricky bit is the expense you just talked about. The second tricky bit is that in most of the regions where we know it's worked They have not been dealing, perhaps, with our vine mealybug. They've been dealing with the grape mealybug, long tail mealybug, obscure mealybug. we've got I think the worst mealybug. And maybe that mealybug is just better at surviving on root remnants. You know, you hear all the time from growers, I r I've been removing 10 percent of my vineyard every single year for five years. And when I looked at The south African data, they removed 20%. Second year, 5%. Third year, 3%. Fourth year, 1%. And after that, it was always 1%. [00:42:54] Craig Macmillan: last piece of this puzzle in my mind is you have to get your neighbors to cooperate. That's the area wide bit. You have to get people to get on the same page in terms of what they're doing. And it sounds to me like they don't necessarily have to be doing exactly the same thing. They just have to be sensitive to what somebody else wants to do. Does that sound right? [00:43:15] Kent Daane: There are areas where it has worked well. It can work in the Central Coast. It can work in Lodi. We may not see, you know, eradication of diseased vines. We may not see a reduction of vine mealybug to a point where we can treat every other year. We might be treating every single year. for this, but we can improve what we're doing through communication right now. In the central Valley, we're working with a great group of growers where we're just mapping out the vine mealybug and we're sharing with the growers where the melaybug populations are. It's their decision. What? What to use, what to do for control. It's their decision. Can they rogue or not rogue? But what we're trying to do is to help foster communication amongst the different growers that are neighbors, because we're a third party, which I think helps a little bit. it would be fantastic if we could have someone hired as a scout or PCA, where we work with. PCAs in the region and everyone shares data. We're trying a new computer program this year, which we at the end of the season, we'll launch with our collaborating growers where they can log on in real time. and see what the trap counts are as we count those trap counts. And that will help them make a decision, we hope, on what to do in terms of control measures. But again, the best thing might be that we're opening up communication, just as the Vineyard team is doing through podcasts, through field days, through the website. [00:44:55] Craig Macmillan: Well, let's hope. And I, and there's a number of other organizations too. the, the group in Lodi has done a fantastic job from what I understand. Fostering communication and sharing information. like you said, I think that's probably one of our, our, our best hopes. Is working collaboratively as an industry and getting communication between the experts like PCAs and the extension community. . [00:45:15] Kent Daane: And of course, anyone can always reach out to me with questions as well. [00:45:18] Craig Macmillan: Fantastic. And we'll put your information in the show notes. I want to thank you for being on the podcast. fantastic. Very helpful and very, very exciting. I think I was feeling a little more dismal about this whole topic coming into this interview than I am now. I think there's maybe more potential than I was kind of giving credit. I, you know, I come from a time back in the 90s when Vine Mealybugs showed up in the Central Coast. And it was a lot of gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair, and we did not know what to do, and the damage was insane. I mean, I saw stuff that was just blood curdling, and I think we've come a long way. We've come a long way, and that's from the efforts of folks like you, so I really appreciate it. I want to thank our guest, Kent Daane. He is a Cooperative Extension Specialist with the University of California, Berkeley. he works primarily out of the Kearney Ag Research Extension Center. And, thanks so much for being on the podcast. This is great. [00:46:10] Kent Daane: Thank you very much. Enjoy the harvest time coming up.   Nearly perfect transcription by Descript

Soil health is broad term that encompasses a important topic: functional soil that can support human activities, animals, and plants. Measuring soil health can be difficult even for soil scientists, but in today's episode, Sarah Light shares some tools that growers, PCAs, and CCAs can use to judge soil health in their or their clients' orchards.Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service.

Shoutout to all the RNs, PCAs, Surgeons, etc! The entire healthcare realm LOL. Yall are always doing your big one. Always sacrificing your mental and physical health for the betterment of society. On this episode of Experiencing GhiaLogic, she wanted to shed light on why many healthcare workers are retiring early. The money lately simply has not been enough... ghialogic.com @GhiaLogicX --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ghialogic/support

We're back with another "Weedly" Wrap Up edition where we're talking Sandoval's crazy comparisons, the PCAs, Traitors, Kardashians and more... PLUS we're talking topline about last week's RHOBH as we lead into this week's finale! **36:20-44:45 Traitors Spoilers**Support the show*JOIN THE PATREON FOR EXCLUSIVE RECAPS AND MORE!!* *BUY US A COCKTAIL!* Check us out on our IG @reality.bites.podcast On TikTok @realitybitespodcast And, as always, please ‘Like, Comment, Rate and Review' wherever you listen to your podcasts!DISCLAIMER: The opinions, views, and conjectures expressed by Lauren and her co-host on the podcast "Reality Bites" are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of any networks, streaming platforms, or digital platforms mentioned or related to the reality television shows discussed. These opinions and views are solely based on their personal experiences and perspectives as a viewer and a former reality TV producer. Any statements made on the podcast, social media, online platforms, or any other medium are for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered as facts or representative of any network or platform. Thus, it is important for the listeners and viewers to keep in mind that the opinions and conjectures presented are subjective and should be taken ...

Welcome back to The Viall Files: Reality Recap Edition! Today, we are joined by Genevieve Parisi and Ciara Robinson to chat about all things reality television. First, talk about the People's Choice Awards and if influencers should be attending award shows (according to Billie Eilish? No). Then, we talk about Traitors and are joined by Peter Weber to talk about his experience on the show and what we can expect from the rest of Season 2. Next, we talk about Vanderpump Rules and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Then, we tackle the first six episodes of Love is Blind - from the pods to the Dominican Republic. Finally, we talk about the Bachelor and Joey's communication with the women of the season.  “You have great teeth… he may as well have complimented her knees at that point.”  Start your 7 Day Free Trial of Viall Files + here: https://viallfiles.supportingcast.fm/  Please make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode and as always send in your relationship questions to asknick@theviallfiles.com to be a part of our Monday episodes. To Order Nick's Book Go To: http://www.viallfiles.com  If you would like to get some texting advice send an email to asknick@theviallfiles.com with “Texting Office Hours” in the subject line! To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://www.advertisecast.com/TheViallFiles  THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Vuori - Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at vuori.com/viall. Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any U.S. orders over $75 and free returns. Go to vuori.com/viall and discover the versatility of Vuori Clothing. Nutrafol - Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you go to https://www.Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code THEVIALLFILES. Firstleaf - Try something new this year with Firstleaf. Go to https://www.TryFirstleaf.com/VIALL to sign up and you'll get your first SIX hand-curated bottles for just $44.95.  Episode Socials:  @viallfiles @nickviall @pilot_pete @genparisi @ciaracrobinson @alison.vandam @justinkaphillips @leahgsilberstein @dereklanerussell   Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 08:05 - PCA's 14:57 - Traitors 43:10 - Vanderpump Rules 58:51 - RHOBH 01:06:38 - Love is Blind 01:43:48 - Bachelor 01:52:38 - Outro  

Emma and Julie begin with a question for the audience: are you guys watching Love Is Blind S6 / if so, should they watch and recap? This somehow turns into a conversation on Kim & OBJ / celeb social media activity, a JLo analysis, and the Met Gala theme & co-chair announcement. Then, the headlines that Kelly Rowland stormed off The Today Show due to dissatisfaction with the dressing room. (Note: what a day to be Rita Ora.) Lastly, Kylie posting Devin Booker wearing Khy, Billie Eilish at the PCAs, and Harry Styles. Billie Eilish: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8KbHqUu/ Harry Styles: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8KbBHsK/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emma and Julie begin with a question for the audience: are you guys watching Love Is Blind S6 / if so, should they watch and recap? This somehow turns into a conversation on Kim & OBJ / celeb social media activity, a JLo analysis, and the Met Gala theme & co-chair announcement. Then, the headlines that Kelly Rowland stormed off The Today Show due to dissatisfaction with the dressing room. (Note: what a day to be Rita Ora.) Lastly, Kylie posting Devin Booker wearing Khy, Billie Eilish at the PCAs, and Harry Styles.Billie Eilish: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8KbHqUu/Harry Styles: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8KbBHsK/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode 54 of 'JUST TRISH" is out of this world as Trisha questions: What is the point of the moon? Plus, the crew roasts the People's Choice Awards after Billie Eilish shaded influencers at the event. Is Billie beefing with Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield? And JoJo Siwa is in even MORE trouble after being EXPOSED by a former child dancer from XOMG POP! Is this finally the end for the 'Dance Moms' star? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MARCH LIVE TOUR TICKETS > https://www.barstoolsports.com/events/citotour. Weekend recaps (00:00-19:47). Love Is Blind recap [S6 EP 1-6] (21:31-47:16). Larsa Pippen spotted wearing big diamond ring (47:17-50:56). Billie Eilish caught shading TikTokers at the PCAs (50:57-54:15). Kelly Rowland walks off Today Show set (54:16-59:34). Weekly Watch Report [‘One Day' spoilers] (1:00:59-1:37:56). CITO LINKS > barstool.link/chicksintheoffice.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/ChicksInTheOffice

In Episode 1 of Advice to the Adviser, we dive into some of the new California DPR Certification & Training updates for license and certificate holders, as well as a new grant opportunity for PCAs.CDPR C&T Information:  https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/cert_training.htmFor information on the CAL Program email ruthann@capca.comOPCA website:  https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/opca/CDFA/CAPCA Grant Information:  https://capca.com/grants/Additional music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Welcome back to another episode of the Edumagic podcast! Today's episode discusses the importance of working with support staff in the classroom. Our guest is Katie Lechenby, a Slippery Rock University professor and special education expert. She shares her insights and strategies for building relationships with PCAs and maximizing their support in the classroom. So, let's tune in and prepare for a jam-packed episode filled with valuable tips and advice.

On this week's Walnut Wednesday episode, walnut growers and PCAs are reminded to keep a lookout and identify spotted lanternfly in order to slow the infiltration of this pest into California.   Supporting the People who Support Agriculture Thank you to this month's sponsors as well as our weekly Walnut Wednesday sponsor who make it possible to get you your daily news. Please feel free to visit their websites. The California Walnut Board - https://walnuts.org/ HUMA - https://go.bhn.us/JCS2023https://huma.us/ AgroPlantae Inc. - https://www.agroplantae.com/    

If you like this podcast, then you will not want to miss the premiere sustainable winegrowing event of the year – the Sustainable Ag Expo. Cliff Ohmart, Principal at Ohmart Consulting Services has helped Vineyard Team bring together the nation's top researchers to present at the Expo for a number of years. In today's podcast, you will get a preview of the topics and speakers for this year's event. Enjoy the perfect blend of in-person and online learning. Speak directly with national experts, earn over 20 hours of continuing education (including 18 hours of DPR), and explore sustainable ag vendors November 14-15, 2023, at the Madonna Inn Expo Center in San Luis Obispo California. By popular request, this year we have doubled the number of online courses so attendees can learn on-demand between October 16 and November 30. Here are some of the sessions Cliff mentions. Make sure to check out the sustainableagexpo.org for the full program: In-Person Integrating Multiple Layers of Spatial Vineyard Information into Variable-rate Management Maps Terry Bates, Cornell University Vineyard Spraying Technologies to Improve Application Efficiency for Every Grower Brent Warneke, Oregon State University Trunk Renewal for Management of Trunk Diseases Kendra Baumgartner, USDA-Agricultural Research Service Soil Health and Regenerative Management to Support the Goals of Winegrape Producers Cristina Lazcano, UC Davis; Noelymar Gonzales Maldonado, UC Davis; Charlotte Decock, Cal Poly The Importance of Areawide Controls for Mealybugs and Leafroll – Is This Cost Effective? Kent Daane, UC Berkeley Online Update on Vineyard Autonomous Equipment  Michael Miller, CAWG, Director of Government Relations Nematodes affecting winegrapes: Biology and Management Dr Inga Zasada, USDA ARS Biological Control of the Glassywinged Sharpshooter and Pierce's Disease Dr. David Morgan, CDFA Current Status of the Winegrape Market  Jeff Bitter, Allied Grape Growers As a listener to this podcast, take 50 off of your ticket when you use code PODCAST23 at checkout. Get your ticket at Sustainable Ag Expo.org. Resources: ***Tickets | Sustainable Ag Expo*** 53: Producing Compost and Carbon Sequestration 90: Nematode Management for Washington Grapes 129: The Efficient Vineyard Project with Terry Bates Efficient Vineyard Madonna inn Sustainable Ag Expo Program: In-Person Online Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year - $50 OFF with code PODCAST23 Sustainable Winegrowing On-Demand (Western SARE) – Learn at your own pace Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript Craig Macmillan  0:00  And with me today is Cliff Ohmart. He is a consultant with Omart Consulting in a whole variety of areas. One of the things that he's doing right now is he's helping to organize or he's organizing the program for the 2023 Sustainable Ag Expo in San Luis Obispo coming up. He's going to tell us a little bit about some of the folks and some of the topics that will be there and some things that might be of interest to you. So welcome, Cliff.   Cliff Ohmart  0:22  Thank you very much, Creg. It's nice to be here with you. And I think this is a great opportunity to have this podcast before the expo so people can get an even better feel than just the website of what's coming.   Craig Macmillan  0:34  Absolutely. For those who don't know, what is the Sustainable Ag Expo?   Cliff Ohmart  0:38  it is a combined presentation slash trade show that the Vineyard Team has been putting on, I think, for at least 15 years now.   Craig Macmillan  0:47   It's been a while.   Cliff Ohmart  0:48  I's developed into quite the history, the roughly the format is there's a session in the morning from eight to 10, a half hour break for people to go out to the trade show 10:30 to noon, more presentations. Then there's lunch for people go to the trade show, then one to three, another half hour break, and then 3:30 to five. And there's only one session at the time, so people don't have to worry about missing something. Also, they're free to circulate through the trade show during the presentations if they so choose. This year, the Vineyard Team decided to change the format, which I takes I'm excited to see how this will go. So this year, it will be Tuesday, Wednesday full days as I just described that schedule. But then Monday evening, it'll be a kickoff what we're going to be doing for the feature presenter, which is Dr. Terry Bates from Cornell, he and I will be on stage for a period of time, I think half hour to an hour where we'll be in sort of an interview back and forth situation give a chance to see him ask questions to get ready for the next day. And so I'm excited about that. And then the first session which will be Tuesday morning from eight to 10. First Terry Bates will be doing a formal presentation of his work followed by a panel of Terry Bates, Dr. Andrew McElrone, and Dr. Mason Earles from Mason is from UC Davis. Andrew is works at ARS Agricultural Research Service Station, and Davis and their area of expertise is all around detailed data analysis and Andrew especially on water relations, particularly in vineyards, Mason Earles more along remote sensing, things like that. And the focus of Terry's talk, as well as the night before is on precision viticulture. He, along with a big team of people developed something called the efficient vineyard. And it's very impressive, in part because the software is available for anybody for free. And it's anywhere from it can capture as the website is a really nice website for you can use your phone to capture gopher holes, the location of gopher holes, broken post right up to very advanced remote sensing that you can import into the software. So it's all in one spot. I'm excited about this, because I think you've probably seen the same thing. There's so much technology out there. And it's very exciting. But I think especially for the small to mid size grower, there's a concern about do I have the time to do this? Do I have the ability to do this? What's this all about? Where's the bigger grower can hire somebody to check it out? And I think the session Monday night and Tuesday morning is going to be focused on what's the reality here? What can growers do with it. And then from the researchers perspective, which is Andrew McElrone, and Mason Earles, they want to see people applying their work. And so what is that's really what I'm hoping to get out of that session.   Craig Macmillan  3:49  Yeah, I have interviewed Terry Bates. And I've also communicated with him off and on over the years. And his areas of specialization is proximity sensing. So some of the high tech stuff they do has to do with like yield monitors and harvesters and different types of EC sleds and stuff like that. But he also is very much about making a map. And you can do it. One of his messages to me almost every time I talk to him is like people can do this, you can do it. You don't need to go too crazy, the most important thing is do it. And so I'm really excited to see him there and talk about the more advanced technological stuff. But also I imagine he'll be encouraging people to follow this concept. I think it's really, really fascinating and the things that they find out it's fascinating, too.   Cliff Ohmart  4:33  I agree.   Craig Macmillan  4:34  There's a lot of stuff also that's out there that's available but you don't have to invent you don't have to invest in there's information that's out there.   Cliff Ohmart  4:40  Yeah, that's what I think, especially for us on the West Coast. You know, Cornell is a powerhouse, as you know, and I think West Coast people, some people probably know that others don't. And there's more and more things to tap into, on both coasts, as well as the Middle. One fun thing too for me Is the moderator for the after Terry's talk for the session with Terry, Mason, and Andrew is going to be moderated by Donnell Brown, who is executive director of the National grape Research Alliance. And one of the things to think about is I don't have to moderate she's going to do it. Then the other thing is, the National Grape Research Alliance has been instrumental in bringing researchers together from around the US in viticulture and enology and creating a goal oriented team to go pursue money to do various things like develop the efficient vineyard project. So she's going to be the moderator. So she knows these people well, so that'll be fun. My only regret is I know, there won't be enough time to really get into what we do as much. But there'll be afterwards for people to talk to the speakers on the side.   Craig Macmillan  5:56  And that is one of the really great things about the expo is the speakers. Well, I guess full disclosure. Years ago, I worked for a Vinyard Team. And the position was technical program manager and and I was responsible for putting together programming for the expo and whatnot. Every buddy that I ever recruited, was super happy to stick around and talk to growers. That was like the high point for them. And this is an opportunity where you get to do that. And they take questions during the session. But sometimes people there's not time or they didn't want to ask and then they have an opportunity to actually interact with the with the scientists themselves. And that's just a fantastic opportunity. Because a lot of conferences and meetings, you can go and you don't really have the opportunity to talk to the the experts afterwards. And it's much more informal. It's very much also grower to grower, I think one of the things that's great about the the expo is there's a lot of conversation after the sessions between people along the lines of Yeah, we tried this, or we're thinking about trying this, or what do you think about it, you know, and that's just super invaluable. I think.   Cliff Ohmart  6:59  I don't want to forget, I don't think we will. But another change in format is this year, instead of the third day of presentations, we're going to be recording 10 or so virtual recordings that will be available from October 16 to November 30, to the attendees of the Expo, and we'll touch on a couple of those. I'm sure the Vineyard Team website will have a nice list of presenters of the imprison Expo in virtual as well so people could see. But I think we're going to touch on a couple of those you and I in this podcast. But I wanted to bring that out as well.   Craig Macmillan  7:34  Let's go right into that. First of all, because that is a change for Expo. But I think it's also a change kind of in our modern world. So this is the idea of making content available to those who have bought tickets essentially. Right. So it's another day of the expo, but they can view it at any time during that window.   Cliff Ohmart  7:51  Yes.   Craig Macmillan  7:52  So that gives them some schedule flexibility, which is pretty cool. Who are some of the folks that are going to be in these virtual virtual sessions?   Cliff Ohmart  8:00  There's a really interesting, I think half hour to 45 minute talk by a fellow named Michael Miller, who is the California Association of Winegrape Growers, Director of Government Relations, and he is doing a presentation on the laws and regulations related to using robotics, particularly driverless tractors in the vineyard, which probably does not surprise you. The technology is ahead of the laws and regulations. So there are driverless tractors now a little available, and yet the laws and regulations around you know, through OSHA, are you have to have a driver on the tractor at all times. Very interested to hear that presentation about what's coming, who's doing the work to try to change those laws. What might the changes look like.   Craig Macmillan  8:45  I'm totally fascinated by this idea. And yeah, absolutely, technology will run ahead of regulation, and then regulation kind of get caught up. And that's where we're at. Right now. We're in the middle of that process. And we went through with drones to kind of work our way through it. I can't wait to see that one. And it's gonna be fascinating. Who else?   Cliff Ohmart  9:05  Another advantage of doing these virtual recordings is we can get people from overseas. So those that have attended the expo before, especially the virtual ones during the pandemic, there's this interesting fellow Dr Zi Hao Wang at the University of Sydney and he has been working on using drones in vineyards for bird control. So he's two other and two years in the past on this and it's a continuation of the work he's doing. It's still pretty much theoretical at the moment in that it's not being used commercially out in the vineyard. However, he is an engineer by trade and education. And you can see when you see some printed presentation, he brings that to the end. One of them very interesting things is his his focus is on tethered drones. Not free flying drones. For two reasons. One is they need to be on call all the time during the day daylight hours. So there's a problem with battery life. And with tethered drones, you don't have to have that. The other is that even though drones, the trades make it sound like they're very easy to fly, they get away. And another reason that tethered drones offer the advantage. So it's fascinating. He's got simulations that he shows in his presentation about how the Tethered drones will work. One of the things that he he just reviews what he's done before, and there is a past year's presentation on this, where he shows proof of concept that you can train the birds to be afraid of drones, if just the drone by suffer bird is not going to be afraid of it. But he literally took dead crows. And because crows do exist native crows in Australia and our problems, he hung them from drones to show that you can definitely condition them very quickly. And then he's got great videos of birds flying away during this.   Craig Macmillan  11:04  That is really a trip.   Cliff Ohmart  11:05  And then another interesting one is going to be on carbon planning for for your farm or your vineyard. There is a company that develops sensors and things like that, but also ecologically based things called Agrology. They do some very detailed work. And so the CEO of Agrology, Adam Koeppel is going to give a presentation, carbon planning, I mean specifically about carbon planning, and measuring soil carbon in real time, which is necessary and the benefits of carbon planning. I thought that that's kind of a unique thing as well.   Craig Macmillan  11:40  What is carbon planning?   Cliff Ohmart  11:42  This would be you know, you've already heard people marketing, I've got a carbon neutral vineyard, it's how do you measure that? You know, how do you sequester carbon? Can you sequester carbon? What difference does it make, but it would be along the lines of and clearly energy consumption comes in? How do you develop a carbon plan for your farm, so that what's happening in the soil, but also energy use and all of that.   Craig Macmillan  12:06  Speaking of so carbon, there is going to be a session I think on day two, around climate smart AG, regenerative ag and soil health.   Cliff Ohmart  12:15  Yes, and I am so excited about this session. When I reached out early on, I definitely wanted to session on soils, because there's so much going on around soil, micro biomes carbon sequestration, regenerative farming, and knowing that there's a lot of great concepts out there. But how much do we really know about all these things? Well, actually, the title of the session is, for the whole two hours, soil health and regenerative management to support the goals of Winegrape producers, Charlotte Decock, from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. So she'll be local in terms of the in person, Expo, she's going to be tackling this topic of regenerative agriculture. What is it? And what can be your production goals around it? So she herself is leading a comprehensive effort on looking at the practices which, you know, regenerative AG is nothing new, to be honest. And I think a lot of us realize that but so she's gonna be looking at things that are going to be sound very familiar cover cropping, compost, addition, sheep grazing, and no till, and what are they doing to specific soil characteristics biophysical and chemical, then another very interesting talk is Noelymar Gonzales Maldonado. And she is a PhD student with Christina Lazcanois here at UC Davis and Noely done some interesting survey around the perceptions of grape growers on what they think soil health is. And then she's connected that to the results of our survey to actual problem soils versus healthy soils and based on the growers deficient, and what they have done in those soils to, you know, address this idea of soil health, and it's going to be fascinating.   Craig Macmillan  14:02  Oh, yeah, um, yeah, totally.   Cliff Ohmart  14:04  Because we're talking about practitioners out there. What do they think regenerative AG is soil health is how do they deal with it and the soils if they have both really good ones, and not so good soils. And then the last person is I mentioned Christina Lazcano, and she's a soil scientist here at Davis, and she's going to be looking at regenerative ag and production goals. And she's leading a comprehensive effort on practices that I've already mentioned the cover crop and compost edition and looking at the effects chemically and physically on the soils. So you can see they're all related. The session is going to be interesting in that they'll all be up front, and they're going to be tag teaming. So it's going to be a really different type of session.   Craig Macmillan  14:49  That sounds really, really fascinating. I know Christina and Charlotte, and they are absolutely fantastic. Not only are they great scientists, they're great communicators, that's worth the price of admission to just see that one session. As far as I'm concerned.   Cliff Ohmart  15:01  So that's going to be Wednesday morning from eight to 10. So, you know, I think we've got a lot of good stuff all day. But the session opening session Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning are clearly highlights.   Craig Macmillan  15:15  Something else we should mention before I forget, are there continuing education hours available?   Cliff Ohmart  15:19  There are and we basically our goal was to have 15 to 18 continuing education units for PCAs. And growers. So that means related to pest management stuff, it will be a combination of the in person presentations, as well as those virtual presentations. Some of the virtual ones will be awarded CPA units, CEU units where you will have to take an exam after you have presentation because you can imagine there's no way in two days, we're going to be able to cram in 15 to 18 hours of CPUs a lot of CCA units as well, for the in person expo.   Craig Macmillan  16:01  Are any of those laws and regs. DPR laws and regs units?   Cliff Ohmart  16:05  There are we have a closing session on Wednesday afternoon, that is going to be done by Juan Muniz from AgSafe on worker safety and pesticides around the farm. So that'll be an hour and a half of laws and regs for that session.   Craig Macmillan  16:21  You've been to a bunch of these what's what's your favorite part, we've talked, we've hit on some highlights, but just you personally what's your favorite part of going to Expo?   Cliff Ohmart  16:27  My favorite part is to listen to what people are talking about in terms of the different presentations. You know, I'm biased, because I've helped put them all together. That's what I listened for. And then of course, for me, I get to see people because being retired, I don't go to many meetings anymore. And it's great to see both the growers the viticultural consultants, the trade people that I know to talk on the side. So all of that, and then it's fun to peruse the trade show, I don't have a lot of time because I ended up introducing a lot of presenters. So it's it really is a combination of all of that, because I stay at the Madonna Inn it's also fun to stay in one of those funky rooms at the Madonna Inn. That's not to say it's not comfortable. But I think you laugh. I think anybody that stayed there, they've got some really interesting rooms.   Craig Macmillan  17:19  For those who don't know, in San Luis Obispo, there's a hotel called the Madonna Inn, and they have themed rooms, and they're all different. And they're all decorated to the theme. So depending on how many times you stay, you'll stay in different rooms, and you'll see different things and the facilities themselves are quite interesting. So yeah, it's a fun, it's a fun place. It's a fun place to do it. And then they have an expo hall, which is where the expo will be, which is again, really a nice building, it's really well appointed, has everything that we need. Oh, what about what about food people need bring sack lunch?   Cliff Ohmart  17:53  No, my experience with the expo is there's always food available for lunch. It's gonna vary from Tuesday to Wednesday. But I have never felt like I needed to go out over lunch.   Craig Macmillan  18:06  I've always been very happy.   Cliff Ohmart  18:08  Yeah. And then there'll be a snack in the afternoon, and then tea and coffee and some pastry in the morning before you get there. So it's worth getting there a little at a time. Because that's there as well.   Craig Macmillan  18:20   How did you come up with the program? Were you given direction? Did you say hey, these are great ideas that you have people come to you and say I'd like to do this? How did you put together?   Cliff Ohmart  18:29  There is an organizing committee that the venue team through Beth Vukmanic put together and it's you know, it's an existing committee from year to year. And so how we start is we independent of them, I sit down and come up with some ideas and send it to them. And they do the same to me. And we very quickly put a pretty large spreadsheet together with all our ideas and with the ideas come specific people. And then from there, it really tends to come together very quickly. Once we get started reaching out to people, we base it on what's been happening in the past what seems to be current this year, that wasn't last year. So it's a combination of things.   Craig Macmillan  19:12  So again, it's grower driven, growers talking about what's of interest to them, and then handing it over and saying, okay, brings the best in the brightest. Obviously, things are always in flux. And at the point of this interview, we're quite a ways out from the expo. But we do have some other rock stars. I wanted to mention, John Roncoroni is going to be there. Apparently, he's a weed scientist. He is fantastic. I think he's retired or close to it, at least the last time I talked to him. And then Kendra Baumgartner and she's been kind of a perennial favorite, her areas, trunk diseases, and that area has progressed dramatically in 20 years what we've learned and it's always a joy to see what new stuff she brings. Akif Eskalen who's doing a lot of work in nursery practices. He's doing some pretty interesting things that could impact the whole industry, which I think is is pretty cool. Emily Symmes is going to talk a little bit about mealy bugs and mating disruption and David Haviland, who's an absolutely fantastic entomologist. I think he's going to talk about ant control. That's right. He's a very good speaker, and really, really good. George Zhuang. He is an extensionist, and has been doing really great work around the central valley, I believe, predominantly, but he speaks all over the state and has worked on all kinds of stuff. I think he's going to talk about root stocks. At this time. Matthew Fidelibus is also gonna be talking about root stocks and varieties in that session.   Cliff Ohmart  20:31  What I would point out there is he has developed an online guide to grape varieties  root stocks, and that specifically was talking about so I think that's a great opportunity for growers to hear about this.   Craig Macmillan  20:43  I'm also happy to see that Mark Fuchs is coming back. He's from Cornell, he has been one of the leaders in research on red blotch. He was our featured speaker at the expo, gosh, I don't know five or six years ago, he's always fascinating and is doing really interesting work. And then one of my favorite entomologist, and people in the whole world, Kent Daane, is gonna be talking about leaf row virus and areawide management for mealy bugs, which is turning out to be really important working together as a group to manage a pest. It's not just within your fence line, it's crossed the area. And that's been a really interesting project that has gotten some traction in Lodi, I'm familiar what they what they've done, there. And so that should be really fascinating as well, who am I leaving out?   Cliff Ohmart  21:26  Our fellow named Brent Warneke, who is going to be talking about sensor based sprayers and spraying and vineyards. He's from Oregon State. And he'll be talking about air blast, as well as micro sprayers. He's done a series of interesting work on sprayers that are sensor based. And as he sort of says in his little description, just because you have a sensor based sprayer, doesn't mean you're all ready to go. He's going to talk about how they can be best used and what they actually can do for you.   Craig Macmillan  21:58  David Morgan, I'm not familiar with David Morgan, can you tell me who that is?   Cliff Ohmart  22:03  You did a great job of covering the entire agenda for the in person. Now we can talk a little to finish up on the virtual part. So I was really interested in trying to get someone to come and talk about the Pierce's Disease Control Program that is based at CDFA. And it's the research arm is funded by growers by an assessment. It's very important, I think, for growers to see how successful their research dollars have been. And to make a long story short, I ended up having David Morgan, who is now working on exactly what he's gonna be talking about. But he is going to focus his presentation on the bio control of Glassman sharpshooter, which I think everybody knows is one of the crucial pairings in the Pierce's disease problem. He's stationed out in Riverside with CDFA and very knowledgeable biocontrol is his expertise, there's going to be a talk about a fellow named Michael Brownbridge who is with Bioworks. I'm not familiar with Michael but he's going to be talking about pesticides as well as bio fertilizers. So that's going to be a part of the program. And another one we just you mentioned Kent, Dana, and you refer to Lodi Yes, I've been so excited to secure Maria's Zumkeller she is with Lang Twins vineyard in Lodi and I saw a talk she gave at Lodi grape day in February, the Lang Twins have recognized for a while now the seriousness of leaf roll virus being vectored by vine mealybug. So the two together it's becoming a huge problem. They have boldly approached the use of intensive monitoring and rogueing vineyards to see if they can manage economically vine mealubug for leaf roll. And so Maria is going to be talking about the latest. They've got several years of data now and it's very amazing and impressive to see what they've done. It's possibly for people that have serious problems with leaf roll. This is one approach they might want to take and it is connected to Kent Daane's work because he's worked in the Central Coast and Lodi with area wide management and fine mealybug and coupled with that leaf roll So those are the things that I'm highlighting up then there's a talk by Luca Brillante, from Fresno and he's going to be doing a presentation on diagnosing red blocks disease, which of course is what Mark Fuchs would talk about diagnosing red blocks with spectrometry. So remote sensing.   Craig Macmillan  24:40  And then there's also some thing on powdery mildew controlled organic powdery mildew control.   Cliff Ohmart  24:45  Yes, there is interesting talk by Annemiek Schilder who is the county director in Ventura County and she has done a research experiment using compost tea and So that's what her presentation is going to be about. It's basically starts by saying what is compost tea, which is important to understand how to make it. And it's it's pretty simple. And then how to apply it and what results she's gotten out in the vineyard with it.   Craig Macmillan  25:16  Yeah, that'll be very interesting. People have been playing around with that for a long, long time. And I think it's, it's interesting to see it come back. And then one that I think that I will try to catch is Jeff Biller talking about the grape market, we can't forget the the other E. Right. We've got the environment, social equity, and economics and so grape markets' important. So all part of the all part of the picture and the those talks whether, it's him or somebody else is always very interesting. And there's usually something along those lines in the Expo.   Cliff Ohmart  25:48  And it's going to be very current. We have organized with Jeff, he will record that presentation, literally a few days before the videos will be released. So I think like October 11. So it would be very up to date. In fact, to Jeff's credit, he was not going to do a recording unless he could do it at the last minute because things change. Again, I agree. It's, you know, their times are not easy for a lot of growers. So a grape market is as complicated and   Craig Macmillan  26:17  Ever changing.   Cliff Ohmart  26:18  Yeah, we all need to keep track of that.   Craig Macmillan  26:21  Yeah, absolutely. Well, thanks Cliff has been great. Our guest today was a Cliff Ohmart with Omart consulting, and one of the things he does is he helps put together programming for things like the Sustainable Ag Expo, which is coming up in November of 2023. I personally cannot recommend it enough. Every time I've gone or have helped organize it. I've learned so much. And I've also met so many great people and some of them are speakers and so more growers and some of them were vendors and it's just a it's just a fantastic time to kind of get away and it's also really fun because usually hopefully harvest is over and you have a little little reward there at the end before you take your break and then come back and do budgets. So anyway, thanks, Cliff.   Cliff Ohmart  27:02  You're very welcome Crreg. It was really great to do it and I will see you and San Luis Obispo.   Craig Macmillan  27:09  You will see me you will see me I'll be there.   Nearly Perfect Transcription by https://otter.ai

To Whom It May Concern,It's Episode 187 - and we're talking all about Cover Letters! Cover Letters are opportunities to showcase YOU to employers - join us as we discuss everything you need to know about Cover Letters, including:Who to title your letter toReviewing before an interviewAI playing a role in crafting the documentTemplate or no templateAnd much more!Mentioned in this episode:Cover Letter Guide: https://careerservices.upenn.edu/cover-letter-writing-guide/PCAs: https://careerservices.upenn.edu/peer-career-advisors/Career Services: https://careerservices.upenn.edu/Union Update: https://time.com/6320222/mean-girls-tik-tok-movie/Our theme music is “The Strip” by Mala, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Dr. Andreas Westphal provides an update on tightening regulations and the latest research progress for nematode management in walnuts and other orchard crops. Dr. Westphal's upcoming nematode management field days will be on Tuesday November 28 (walnut), and Wednesday November 29 (almond) at the Kearney Ag Center (9240 S. Riverbend Ave, Parlier, CA). Who is it for? Field research representatives, farm advisors, PCAs, growers, consultants (CEU other(O): 4.0 for each day). What will you learn about? Rootstock development, pre-plant soil treatments, and post-plant treatments. REGISTRATION for this event: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=41461 Early registration is encouraged. Contact information: ph: 559 646 6555, email: andreas.westphal@ucr.eduMention of an agrichemical does not constitute a recommendation, merely the sharing of research findings. Always follow the label. The label is law. Find out more at ipm.ucanr.edu.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service.Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandvThank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music.

On today's episode, hear about the upcoming 2023 Crop Consultant Conference and opportunities for CCAs, PCAs, grower-applicators and industry professionals. Register today at https://progressivecrop.com/conference/.   Supporting the People who Support Agriculture Thank you to this month's sponsors who make it possible to get you your daily news. Please feel free to visit their websites. HUMA - https://go.bhn.us/JCS2023https://huma.us/ Vestaron - https://www.vestaron.com/spear-lep/ Certis Biologicals - https://www.certisbio.com/products?category=&crop=&pest=&main_nav  

You probably don't associate dressing up as Taylor Swift or Barbie with getting the vital health care treatment you need. But Minneapolis resident Jen Onsum has taken it upon herself to stand out from the crowd with fun clothes and funny posts on social media to attract a personal care attendant, or PCA, to work for her.She is one of hundreds of Minnesotans with a physical disability affected by a national shortage of home health care workers — the most recent data shows that there are more than 7,000 vacancies in Minnesota's personal care industry. Minnesota leaders say the state is in a home health care crisis. State lawmakers passed an increase in money for people with disabilities to use for hiring PCAs. Those wages will jump from $15.25 an hour to $19 an hour starting on Jan. 1.Onsum is hoping that higher wages in 2024 will help her attract more help. She talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Be prepared for a closer look at the myriad of self-directed care options available for families in Minnesota. Val Patino and Susan Morgan, the brains behind Accra, Minnesota's largest home care agency, lead an engaging discussion about the state's waiver program and the potential to carve out a full-time living as a personal care assistant (PCA). Set yourself on a learning journey as our esteemed guests throw light on the creation of self-directed programs and the strategies they deploy to ensure that PCAs are impeccably trained and adequately skilled. Listen to their approach to managing participants' dissatisfaction with the care they receive and their role in helping families oversee their PCAs' employment and administrative tasks.See additional episode resources at Home Health 360.

To be a patient care assistant (PCA) at UCHealth, you don't need prior experience or certifications. The training is provided. “Go for it,” said Julian, a U.S. military veteran who became a PCA. “It is one of the best things that has happened to me in a long time. I love, love what I do.” The program gives PCAs an opportunity to connect passion with purpose serving patients. Judy, a second-career nurse shares how, for many, the PCA role has become a springboard into nursing and other health care professions.

The fifth season of the STAR² Center Talks Workforce Success podcast highlights Primary Care Organizations (PCAs), Community Health Centers (CHCs), and National Training and Technical Assistant Partners (NTTAPs) who successfully used, disseminated, and/or implemented practices, strategies, tools, and more gathered from the STAR² Center's training opportunities, technical assistance, or original resources. In this episode, Michelle Fernández Gabilondo speaks with Judd Mellinger-Blouch, director of the Pennsylvania Primary Care Career Center at the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers about some of the challenges facing the health center workforce today and what tools and strategies can be employed by health centers with the support of PCAs to work toward workforce success.

Tune in to the latest Here in Nursing podcast to learn about the PCA Career Ladder program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. You'll hear from the nurse educator who manages the program as well as one of our senior patient care associates who has participated the PCA Career Ladder. Listeners will learn more on what the program is and its benefits for both patients and the patient care team. In addition, you'll hear about how this option encourages Ohio State PCAs to further their professional development and rewards them for their commitment to growth and excellence without moving to a new career path.

Vineyard farmers manage numerous pests but the invasive species can be some of the most troublesome. Kyle McAbee, President of McAbee Ag Consulting, PCA and CCA sustainability specialist shares what growers need to know to manage pests currently in their area, like Vine Mealybug, and prepare for ones that could come in the future, like Spotted Lantern Fly. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is critical. Sustainable and conventional growers should rotate chemistries, scout to track location, time of year, and mating events, look at how other areas manage the pest, control host species, and be ready to do something about the issue. Most importantly, growers should talk with their Ag Commissioner, Farm Advisor, and each other. References: 26: Controlling Mealybug Vectors of Grapevine Viruses 49: Stopping the Spread of Red Leaf Viruses 96: Spotted Lanternfly - Threat to California Kyle McAbee email McAbee Ag Consulting FaceBook page Penn State Extension Spotted Lanternfly StopSLF.org UC IPM: Vine Mealybug Vineyard Team Programs: April 12, 2023 Neighborhood Vine Mealy Bug Management Meeting - REGISTER Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - DONATE SIP Certified Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript Craig Macmillan  0:00  Our guest today is Kyle McAbee. He is president of McAbee Ag Consulting. He is a licensed pest control advisor, and certified crop advisor with a certification in sustainability specialization. And we're going to talk about pests. Thanks for being thanks for being on podcast Kyle.   Kyle McAbee  0:18  Yeah, good to be with you Craig.   Craig Macmillan  0:20  So you and I were just chatting. And I also been thinking about this a lot recently. And one of the big challenges for sustainability in agriculture in general was pest management, obviously. And I've been looking back into the past and kind of watching things. And I've been wondering if you see something similar to this, have you seen changes in pest pressure, different kinds of pressure, particular pest in different regions? In the last seven or eight years?   Kyle McAbee  0:46  Yes, absolutely. Definitely seen, you know, fluctuations in pest pressure, with certain pests, likely an average overtime average, slow increase, but that said, you know, it's it's year to year, some years, you know, we're looking for certain pests in places that we've seen them for years in and years out and can't find them. I'll give you an example. Last year, the mite population, in particular Paso Robles, but I think in a wider area, you know, I speak with a lot of different PCAs in the local industry, and we're all scratching our heads wondering, you know, hey, we've had Pacific Mite these blocks for the last six, seven years in, we can't find one this year. It just depends on the season and what pest we're talking about, of course, too.   Craig Macmillan  1:29  And that's a really interesting one to me, because that suggests that biological control is working, right? Because you're not treating for mites unless you're seeing mites. So it's not a question of a prophylactic set of sprays, necessarily, they've knocked on the population, one would think, or maybe it's some kind of changing climate reason.   Kyle McAbee  1:48  When we're looking at any of these populations, whether it be pest or whether it be a beneficial insect. It is absolutely environmentally based, whether, you know, we had a warm winter, and it didn't knock back the overwintering populations as normal, or we had an extremely cold winter, which, you know, could further give us some over over winter kill on the overwintering populations, depending on what pest we're talking about, obviously, but yeah, environmental chemicals that are being used, and well, not even chemicals. You know, of course, cultural practices, you know, what folks are doing for dust control for mites? For example, you know, there's just so many factors. But yes, I do think environment and warm winters, and obviously, warm spring and summer have played a big part in increased pest pressure, and particularly mealybug.   Craig Macmillan  2:34  Yeah, so with mites, we just talked about a decline. And when we're talking about vine mealybug, I've been hearing the same thing. And it seemed like, well, back in the 90s, when it showed up, it was just a disaster. I mean, it was really, really bad, you know, and it's never gonna go away. But then things seem like they kind of settled down. I mean, he still had to deal with it. But it wasn't the kind of incredible devastation that we saw in the late 90s. Now you're seeing these things start to these populations and the damage start to come back up, right?   Kyle McAbee  3:02  Yes, I do believe that, you know, as an industry, overall, we've definitely seen an increase in the last, I guess, eight harvests or so that have been in Paso Robles. And not just Paos Robles, you know, kind of up and down the central coast. And yeah, yeah, absolutely seen seen situations where, you know, we've been in control of vine mealybug in certain areas, you know, our hotspots, if you will, is that all of a sudden, we've kind of lost control lost a grip a little bit, or, you know, they're starting to win a little bit more than they were before. Additionally, and more importantly, to me, is we've got blocks and vineyards, that historically, you know, we've been rigorously scouting them season in and season out. And all of a sudden, we're finding mealy bugs, and I'm, and, you know, we'll, you know, blocks that we've trapped, for years just preempt, you know, preventatively to monitor the population that way as well. All of a sudden, we start getting a, you know, a couple counts here, and a couple of counts there. And so we start paying closer attention. And, you know, couple year two, year three after that, then we, you know, all of a sudden, hey, we found some vines with mealybug, on Vine mealybug. And knowing that, you know, had not had that problem in those blocks previously. So new populations moving into new blocks.   Craig Macmillan  4:17  From what I understand we're finding vi mealybug in areas where we haven't had it before. We're seeing increases in the counts, populations are there. Do you have some ideas about why that might be?   Kyle McAbee  4:29  Two different things going on here? We're gonna start with areas blocks of vineyards that we know we've had hotspots of vine mealybug we've been watching them and fighting them for years, maybe a decade for some folks maybe longer for others in those areas. You know, we've had successful years weather that we've had help from Mother Nature and those years in addition to our, you know, IPM programs, whatever it may be, but I do know that over time in the last, you know, five years call it I've definitely had some areas where I've seen Those spots increase, and I've started to scratch my head. And despite the fact that I rotate chemicals, and, you know, IRAC groups and all that, and our cultural practices, I do see, you know, some loss of control in those areas and increase in population and maybe, you know, even growth, you know, outward into the vineyard, you know, I think that, in particular has a lot to do part just in part, but a lot of it is that has got to do with maybe some chemical resistance, some some product resistance, you know, in particular, the neonic, the IRAC 4A's have been so widely used year in and year out, over and over, I've been very suspicious of resistance to those, I don't lean just on those, but I've definitely seen areas where we get no control from those products. And so I've done some work with the USDA to look into that, in particularly one vineyard in Monterey County, we, you know, we took samples of the population, and that was an inconclusive test, you know, there's many reasons as to why that didn't, didn't really work out, a lot of it was the protocol in the lab and how they were doing it, but that doesn't change my mind. And the idea that we do have some resistance to, to those products, not just to pick on those, but I think that's where first place to start, if we're going to talk about resistance with my mealybug I think that's a big part of the problem. The other part of that the meaning, you know, hotspots that are have spread, or you know, are getting worse, I think that those vines are getting older, and the, you know, the bark is fluffing, and there's just more protection for them underneath the bark, as opposed to young, young vineyard, you know, so those hotspots, you know, obviously, as you go, you know, 5, 6, 7, 8 years later, well, those vines are a whole different environment for vine mealybug. And I think that plays a big part into it as well, you get some old grenache or syrah or whatever it may be some of these varietals that that do tend to really multilayers of slough bark, it's just impossible to get any of these chemistries, whether it be organic, or conventional, whatever it may be any of these products in there, and there's just too many places for him to hide, there's got to be some sort of resistance issues, at least that's my opinion, I think others agree. But there's also you know, environmental factors, not just the weather, but you know, in the more of a micro environment for these insects. So you know, these these areas that we've had these populations that we've monitored, that we've been fighting for years, and been successful all the sudden, you know, you're seeing lack of control, and you're having a hard time with even new products, and new chemistries, and additional rotation and stuff. And I think that's got a lot to do with, you know, those vines have changed in the you know, those five or 10 years, you know, they've gotten older and a big part of, as we all know, are most you know, most folks know, and older vines got, you know, much more complex bark system on the trunks and cordons, multi layers, much more area for these these insects to hide under the bark and where we can't make contact with them. And I think that's a big part of it that I know a lot of folks have talked about, and we're all aware of and there's just, you know, what do you do? Right, but I think that's a big part of why these hotspots have have gotten worse, personally, it's coverage at that point, right? It's it's simply coverage.   Craig Macmillan  8:20  In the world of fungicides we faced this for a long time. And the question then is they go Okay, now what do I do? Where do I go from here? I've become dependent on certain materials? Now I'm trying different things. I'm still like in control software chemistries, we're talking about organophosphates, or anything. What's your strategy? What do you think? And where are you going to go in the future with this?   Kyle McAbee  8:39  I'm not the only one doing this. But we in our problem areas, we rotate our chemistries a lot, but that's not all we do. A big part of this is scouting, obviously, you know, we we have to stay on top of it and monitoring any spread or new hotspots. So that's a big one. Another huge part. I mean, okay, so you've identified where they're at, well, what do you do? Well, trapping is a huge part of this cultural practice, if you will, in monitoring not just where they're at, and what they're doing, but mating events and trying to attack these things from the inside out, in addition to chemical programs that are, you know, we all use a lot of the same products, which is kind of why I touched on potential for resistance, but trapping and reacting accordingly. So looking at those meaning events, if you're going to trap, you better be willing to do something about it. Okay, we've got a count of 50 in this trap. Well, the clock is ticking. You know, that mating event is happening. Now. You don't have seven days, you don't have 14 days, you need to be able to get out there now. And if you're using floatable meeting disruptors, you've got to be willing to go out there and spray that at least that area, you don't have to spray the whole vineyard but you know, depending on the size of the property, reacting to it accordingly. The other option, you know, some of these mating disruption companies, they have the hangers and those last long So you can, you know, you've got a hotspot in an area. And as soon as you get that first flight, you know, hang those things out there in the spring, you'll likely, you know, disrupt a couple mating events at that point, you know, I believe they call for a lot of those that last, you know, 90 days or so depending on the weather. I know for a fact they're working on ones that their prototypes at this point, but they are supposed to last quite a bit longer than that. So I mean, we're talking a big chunk of our season at that point, and it goes to the organic versus conventional, right. So the flowable is not organic, certified, the cards are, well, just because you're conventional, doesn't mean you don't use the cards, I think the cards are a big part of that, you know, that meeting disruption process. So if you're conventional, I think, you know, don't look away from the cards just because they're organic. I mean, there's a lot of benefits to those things.   Craig Macmillan  10:47  Absolutely. And I think I've seen that in powdery mildew management to where folks that are not certified organic are putting a lot of Omri approved products in their in their rotation, which is interesting, because that was so that was certainly not the case back in the day. Okay. So this is a great example where we had an invasive pest, we've been trying to figure out what to do now we're trying new things, and it's gonna be constant, right. But what about new invasive pests? There's a couple of things that are out there that I think it's only a matter of time before they show up here in California, or Washington or Oregon or the other direction in your mind, because you're scouting really carefully. You're looking for stuff, all kinds of things. So you obviously you're scouting for pests that you know, but I'm guessing that you're scouting for insects, you don't know, what do you do? What would you recommend as a game plan? If I find something that's new, I don't want to get a toehold.   Kyle McAbee  11:39  Oh, yeah. Well, number one, if it's a new sighting of an invasive species, notifying the Ag Commissioner letting the you know making sure that USDA gets involved and making them aware of it, because a big part of it is it's a big picture. Program. So that's, that's number one. If you're one of the first people to find it, or if it's new to your area, if it's in your area, and it's new to your property or your your vineyard or whatever it may be looking at the States or the country, or countries that that that pest has come from and doing research and looking at what they've done looking at what they're doing there. Is there anything that they've done that is successful to mitigate that pest or deal with it? I think the spotted lantern fly is a good example. I don't think anybody knows exactly what to do with that. With that pest yet. I've obviously I don't have any direct connection with spotted lantern fly being you know, a PCA in California, however, I have done research on it, knowing that it unfortunately isn't inevitably likely to come to California, it's an invasive species from China, it was likely brought in over, you know, cargo ships and things like that. They're, they're very good movers, they lay their egg masses on semi trucks and, you know, see trains and just vehicles and they they can travel across the country that way. That's why I feel inevitably will likely be seeing some of this, you know, in the news or something. In the United States My understanding is it's you know, mostly focused on the East Coast. That's where it came in. I think Pennsylvania might have been first one I know New Jersey and Virginia, I think West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, I think maybe even a couple others have had this issue. And it's a very, it's a very big problem. Not just for the vineyard, it is a problem for the vineyards. But it's a nuisance as well just you know, across communities. And if you have a tasting room next year, your vineyard they pretty good fliers, they're large insect, they're not afraid of humans so they can kind of swarm and just become an issue. But regarding vineyard pest control, they're very, very good feeders. They're aggressive feeders and they will suck a vine dry in in one one to two years and just take all the life out of the vines and that's that's the concern there. The other concern obviously with as goes most invasive species, we don't really have IPM program for them we don't we don't really know what to do we don't have products registered for them. We don't have spotted lantern fly for example written on really any labels that we can use and also bio control, you know, we that's part of an invasive species as well, but it likely didn't bring their you know, their predators with them, you know, their enemies. So I know they're doing work with the native bio control insects in that are in China. Currently, gypsy moth, I believe is one of them. And I believe they're doing some work with some different fungi and things like that. Yeah, I think one big thing to note that I've read is Tree of Heaven is is you know, obviously an invasive species as well from China. That's its host plant in China. So I know we've got it here. I've got areas I've been fighting, you know, Tree of Heaven for a while. So one of the biggest things other than looking for this insect is once it comes here, even now making sure you're controlling that Tree of Heaven, get rid of that stuff and not an easy one to take care of. But that's that's a big part of it, too.   Craig Macmillan  14:52  I live in the city of Paso Robles, and there's a little patch of it like right on the city limit on buying Street. It's spreading come into town. Like it's grown. It's grown up through sidewalks and stuff. And you know, as the biology pages look at, and you're like, oh my god, like, this is just a monster. I'm like, what are you gonna? Do? You know? But yeah, you're absolutely right as if you can identify those plants ahead of time and work on those. That's a great, great idea. Do you have any kind of plan? Not maybe not even for just spotted lantern fly, but let's say we get a report of something.   Kyle McAbee  15:28  Right? And that's how it's gonna happen. I mean, somebody's gonna find it somewhere. And then we're all gonna go, oh, man, what do we do? This is already part of my work anyway, is getting rid of the Tree of Heaven, trying to minimize any reason for that particular pest or other pests? You know, you got you just got to look at their hosts, I mean, their host plants, their host environment, where did they, you know, not just spotted lantern fly, but you know, other invasive species that we're looking at that are making their way into this country? And in figuring out what is their biology? What is their host environment or or plant or whatever it may be? If it it has shown up in other areas, you know, where did it come in, look at what the folks in, you know, country or other area that this invasive pest has come from? What do they do? What what products are they using? And what have they done to control it? Right? Maybe they haven't maybe it's such an aggressive problem. They haven't done it. I think number one, obviously is looking for it. For example, we get a report of spotted lantern fly, like you said in in Napa, or somewhere in California, then okay, well, it's probably here somewhere, just training your folks training your employees, you know, making sure your PCA and his his or her scouts are looking for these pests is important. And it found reporting it you know, not just to not just to the customer, you know, not just to the grower, it needs to be known on a state level or county level, you know, contacting the Ag Commissioner and asking them where, you know, what do we do with this information? Somebody needs to know about it, and making sure the USDA is aware of it. And in that way we they can kind of start tracking, you know, whatever insect it may be. But yeah, on a on a more micro level on on your own operation, looking at what products may be available to try to find it once you have it, looking at what the what they're doing and other maybe other states that have been fighting it for a while, what have they been successful with? And contacting, you know, farm advisors and talking to them about it, you know, Hey, have you guys figured out in the bio control? That's always a tough one. It's not just as simple as Okay, well, lantern fly in China, their main, you know, arch nemesis is the Gypsy Moth, well, let's just bring the Gypsy Moth over well, it's not that simple. Because there's, there's a lot of years of studies that have to go into that to make sure you're not gonna cause that insects. But looking at that, I mean, maybe that's already been done on whatever invasive species may come in, maybe that's already been figured out, and we have access to it. Who knows, you know,   Craig Macmillan  17:53  Or maybe we have an organism already here, that's similar enough that it can do something I think in terms of in terms of like predators, definitely, I think that's an option. And maybe we can do some augmentative biological control or something like that. It does sound like one of our best strategies might be to take cultural approaches initially, and just make it an unfriendly place. And then, and then kind of go from there. And like you said, see what other people have done and kind of go from there. I think that's the tricky thing, mealybug, all kinds of things, bugs and virus. We've learned a lot internationally in the last 10 years, which has been great that we've got folks working on this syndrome, variety of places we can learn from what they do, we're kind of running out of time, I want to ask you, though, in terms of sustainable pest control, and this can be fungi, this can be insect can be nematodes, it could be anything, what one piece of advice, or what one take home idea would you give to a grower if they say hey, I want to manage my vineyard in a sustainable fashion? How do I control my pests?   Kyle McAbee  18:55  Sustainability is, you know, very well correlated with IPM touched on cultural practices and things outside of, of chemical control, trapping, you know, looking looking at mating events, again, like you mentioned, making the environment unfriendly for whatever pest it may be, you know, scouting, making sure that you're aware of what is actually happening out there, what pests are out there, where they're at, in making sure something doesn't get out of control before you know it's there. Because it's really hard. Even on a you know, more aggressive, more conventional program, it's hard to reach back and knock down a population, it's much easier to to get them early on. Right? It just depends on what we're talking about when I say cultural control, looking at you know, hey, are there weeds that are causing the problem on the ground? Is it are you creating a secondary host or environment for X pests, right, keeping those things down and, you know, making sure you're not spreading them mechanically looking at you know, on a sustainable program, rotating different groups if you're on a conventional sustainable program if you're you know, if you're going for the organic products only or your organic certified then looking at those different bio insecticides or organic insecticides that are out there and what your options are, and making sure you're talking to people talking to people that have been doing it, talk to various people get multiple opinions. And one thing I've always heard about PCAs is talked to three, and you'll get three different opinions, which is good, though, because then you can kind of dig through it and see what the best options are, maybe use all three different ideas in in a rotational factor, you know, I've always been an advocate of, you know, communication with with each other. And we're all on this together. And, you know, making sure that we're all learning from one another and figuring out what worked for others and what didn't work for him, and so on and so forth.   Craig Macmillan  20:43  Yeah, exactly. And one thing I want to underline with what you just said is, you know, Scout Scout Scout monitor, monitor, monitor, record, record record, and then go back and look at those and look for those trends. And, and then the second thing being cultural, I think that's a really important idea is that if we can modify the environment, we can do a lot of good. And I think mites is a classic example mites and dust, so where can people find out more about you?   Kyle McAbee  21:06  Honestly, the best way to get a hold of me is either email or phone. I, I'm not very present on social media, with my business. I do have a Facebook, it's, you know, McAbee Ag Consulting. But that said, I think the best way to get a hold of me would be either to call me text me or email me, and I can give you that information.   Craig Macmillan  21:25  And we can put that information in the show notes, folks will be able to find you. This has been great. Thanks so much. I guess today it was Kyle McAbee. He is president of McAbee Ag Consulting, and He is a licensed pest control advisor and certified crop advisor with the sustainability specialization. Thanks so much, Kyle. This has really been a joy. I'm really, really glad you were here.   Kyle McAbee  21:45  Yeah, thank you, Craig. Appreciate it.   Transcribed by https://otter.ai

On today's episode, we hear information about Crop Consultant Connect, an upcoming event in June that will give independent PCAs and CCAs a unique opportunity to participate in direct business discussions with some of the industry's top product suppliers. Learn more at progressivecrop.com/crop-consultant-connect.   Supporting the People who Support Agriculture Thank you to this month's exclusive sponsor who makes it possible to get you your daily news. Please feel free to visit their website. AgroPlantae Inc. - https://www.agroplantae.com/

Taylor Chalstrom sits down with Jesse Roseman, Almond Board of California principal analyst, to discuss connecting neighboring growers and PCAs interested in or currently using mating disruption to combat navel orangeworm. Almond Board's online tool for connecting orchards using mating disruption can be found at agneighbors.com. The passcode for access is nowmd.

On this week's Walnut Wednesday episode, growers and PCAs are reminded to keep a lookout and identify spotted lanternfly in order to slow the infiltration of this pest into California.   Supporting the People who Support Agriculture Thank you to our sponsors who make it possible to get you your daily news. Please feel free to visit their websites. The California Walnut Board - https://walnuts.org/ PhycoTerra® - https://phycoterra.com/ Verdesian - https://vlsci.com/ BeeHero - https://www.beehero.io/

T. Kyle and Bradley discuss Nicole Scherzinger coming to terrorize Australia's Bondi Beach and threatening to release solo music, Celine Dion sharing some very upsetting news, High Fashion Editorial! featuring Tove Lo and Troye Sivan for Paper Magazine, ‘New York' Magazine featuring Julia Fox, Ziwe, Beaujangles, and many more icons, Hilary Duff for ‘Women's Health,' SZA's ‘SOS' album cover and the royal family, Shania Twain's ‘PCAs' bodysuit and medley, @tamannathelabel's Rihanna recreation, TikTok Talk featuring T. Kyle's bottle of Khloe & Lamar, Lady Gaga finally doing the “Bloody Mary” dance, a squad of M3GAN's dancing, Camila Cabello is pissed about quismois, Charli XCX calling Addison Rae a legend, new music from Lana Del Rey and SZA, and the year coming to an end.We have merch! http://merch.legendsonlypodcast.com Listen to bonus episodes & join our Discord: http://patreon.com/legendsonly Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richies, you know we love award shows. Those nights when Hollywood A-listers get all glammed up just so they can congratulate each other and pat themselves on the back. But at the People's Choice Awards on Tuesday, it was the fans who got to pick the winners. And thanks to them, we saw some buzzy show-stopping moments. With moments like Kathy Hilton and her lip gloss upstaging Mariska Hargitay, a surprise Ryan Reynolds shout-out, and Lizzo's powerful speech honoring activists, this year's PCAs proved that some celebs still know how to make the most of their platform. They did impress us much!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Morgan welcomes Lindsay Hubbard of Winter House and Summer House to clear the air on Jason Cameron's comments. Plus, the Pop 3, and a deep dive on the GMA affair timeline.0:00 - On this episode1:24 - Pop 3 starting with the Royal drama5:21 - The spectacle at the PCAs (an overview)8:51 - Casey Anthony documentary controversy15:06 - Deep Dive: GMA affair timeline23:53 - Lindsay Hubbard of Summer House and Winter House clears the air on her relationship with Jason, and opens up about her miscarriagePlease follow, rate and review the podcast!Follow Morgan on social @morganptalksA Hurrdat Media Production. Hurrdat Media is a digital media and commercial video production company based in Omaha, NE. Find more podcasts on the Hurrdat Media Network and learn more about our other services today on HurrdatMedia.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Keke Palmer is clapping back at haters on social media after announcing her pregnancy on 'SNL' earlier this week. Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster. Shania Twain, Lizzo and Kelly Clarkson all won big at the 2022 PCAs and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out all the coverage from the 2022 People's Choice Awards. Hear your favorite stars like Ryan Reynolds, Kyle Richards, Shania Twain, Ellen Pompeo and more chat us up on the PCAs red carpet. Plus, celebrity stylist Melissa Chataigne breaks down the fashion to keep an eye out for. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kirstie Alley receives tributes from her children and John Travolta after the "Cheers" actress passes at 71. Then, Justin and Adrienne talk Keke Palmer's Saturday Night reveal, Margot Robbie drops a surprising Brad Pitt story, Paris Hilton discusses her upcoming memoir and more! Later, Kenan Thompson shares that he's ready to fan out over Lizzo and Ryan Reynolds at the 2022 People's Choice Awards. Plus, the SNL star weighs in on Pete Davidson's prolific love life!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, pest control adviser (PCA) Robert Sylvester joins the journey. Sylvester has worked for Wilbur Ellis for over 12 years focused on almonds he grew up working in almond orchards with his father. While at Cal Poly, Sylvester interned with Wilbur Ellis which led to a full time position and a PCA license. This background has greatly influenced the way he approaches his almond producer clients.“I work with the grower and I say, this is where I see the issues and this is where I think we can improve with this program or with this material I think we can do better. If I wouldn't do it for Dad, I'm not doing it for them.” - Robert Sylvester In Today's episode:Meet Robert Sylvester who has worked as a PCA in almond orchards for over 12 yearsHear how pest management strategies have evolved over the years, and what issues he and his farmer customers dealt with this past seasonDiscover how Sylvester and other PCAs work as critical team members for California almond growersABC UpdateA few years ago, the Almond Board of California looked for opportunities to provide tangible tools that would help growers and PCAs. This led to a family of identification booklets with pictures and descriptions to reference throughout the year. Almond Board of California Senior Manager of Industry Relations and Communications Jenny Nicolau announces that there is a new tool that will be available for the first time ever next week at The Almond Conference – the Almond Disease and Nutrient Deficiency Identification Cards.“It empowers the farm managers and the laborers in the orchard to really learn and really start to have a better idea of what they're seeing, like they're part of it when they can work with their PCA thanks to these identification booklets…I'm really excited about this. third ID set because it rounds out the family.” - Jenny Nicolau Register now to attend The Almond Conference at www.almonds.com/conference. The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry. ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

On this episode of Walnut Wednesday, growers and PCAs are reminded to not forget about the impending threat of spotted lanternfly for the industry.   Supporting the People who Support Agriculture Thank you to our sponsors who make it possible to get you your daily news. Please feel free to visit their websites. The California Walnut Board - https://walnuts.org/ PhycoTerra® - https://phycoterra.com/ Verdesian - https://vlsci.com/ BeeHero - https://www.beehero.io/

In today's episode,  Greta Harman shares vulnerable parts of her healing journey and what telling the truth has looked like for her.You can find more about Greta on Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@truegreta?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pcAs mentioned, for the next 10 days, make sure to try Magic Mind with your 40% off the subscription at:https://www.magicmind.co/liftFor the 20% of trial use my discount codeLIFTRemember the strongest thing you can do for yourself is to ask for help.We are slowly developing, feedback and encouragement are welcomed to help us thrive.Please help us grow by subscribing to the Lift OneSelf podcast and sharing it out with others.My intention is to dissolve the stigmas around Mental Health and create spaces of healing.I appreciate you, the listener, for tuning in and my guest for sharing.Find more conversations on our Social Media pagesLiftoneselfwww.instagram.com/liftoneselfOur websitewww.LiftOneself.comMusic by  ItsWatRRemember to be kind to yourself.

In this episode, we discuss everything you need to know about insurance and how it can protect your real estate assets. Sharing his expertise is Micah Mattox, Director of Commercial Insurance/Multifamily at realprotect, a national insurance broker that provides innovative and custom policies for all types of real estate investors.   Micah talks about the complexities around insurance and the creative ways to navigate them. He also gives advice on how to look for options around your insurance and how to ensure a smooth closing process.   [00:01 - 05:01]  From Personal to Commercial Insurance Micah on falling in love at first sight with real estate For him, there is more complexity and challenges in commercial insurance Insurance is a reactive business and it is changing as the market is changing Breaking down what is happening in Florida and how insurance carriers are operating at a 200% loss ratio Carriers are constantly trying to find ways to make their products more affordable and accessible to consumers   [05:02 - 10:13] The Importance of Quality and Availability Not all insurance is created equal It's about the components of the coverage, how much coverage, and how it applies The availability of that coverage can get a bit scarce, depending on the capacity There are a lot of creative options to overcome the complexities of insurance   [10:14 - 16:58] Takeaways from Case Studies With the right controls and team, it's possible to have a smooth closing process Availability of information is key Insurers have a limited number of accounts they are willing to work with at any given time, but you can make your account a priority by way of information Having an agent who is knowledgeable about the insurance industry can help increase the chances of a successful closing Micah's thoughts on independent adjusters   [16:57 - 18:34] Closing Segment Reach out to Micah!  Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes   “A lot of carriers are actually very, very willing to help. At the end of the day, if somebody can't afford their insurance, well, they just put themselves out of business.” - Micah Mattox “I'm huge on options because there just are so many creative ways to approach insurance. And if you don't explore, you just won't know.” - Micah Mattox   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------   Connect with Micah through LinkedIn! Call him at 770-718-5105 or send an email to mmattox@realprotect.com.   Connect with me:   I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns.     Facebook   LinkedIn   Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on.  Thank you for tuning in!   Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below:   [00:00:00] Micah Mattox: One creative way that we can do is you can buy just the standard term of insurance, you know, typically a 12-month policy. And then if it's in the standard market, there's typically no penalty or very little penalty. And then if it's in an excess or surplus market, sometimes there's a minimum earned premium. Really just, you know, an amount of premium you have to get over, that the carrier's going to retain if you do cancel.  [00:00:30] Sam Wilson: Micah Mattox provides real estate investors with value add insurance programs across their portfolios. Micah, welcome to the show.  [00:00:36] Micah Mattox: Thank you so much for having me. Great to be here.  [00:00:38] Sam Wilson: Hey, Micah, there are three questions I ask every person who comes in the show. Can you tell me, in 90 seconds or less, where did you start? Where are you now, and how did you get there?  [00:00:46] Micah Mattox: Absolutely. So I started about 10 years ago doing personal insurance. About eight years ago, I started working at an independent agency and got into the world of commercial insurance and from there got really, really heavy into the real estate world. And for me, it's been one of those things once I started working with real estate, really, really nothing else was attractive to me. You know, that there's a lot of great industries out there and everybody needs insurance, but real estate's just one of those things that makes sense. So like I said, it was kinda one of those classic, you know, love at first sight stories you know. [00:01:13] Sam Wilson: Was it challenging to jump from the personal insurance side to commercial insurance?  [00:01:19] Micah Mattox: The components are the same, so there's a lot of similarity, but for me, there was much more complexity on this side of things, you know, in commercial insurance and, you know, real estate insurance and that was a good thing. It provided, you know, those puzzle pieces to kind of put together and it created the challenge, you know, just something to kinda work on. You know, personal insurance is pretty similar. If you've done one house, you've done a lot of houses, and if you've done one car, you've done all of them. [00:01:39] Sam Wilson: Right, right. Now insurance is an eat what you kill business, right?  [00:01:45] Micah Mattox: That's true. Yeah.  [00:01:46] Sam Wilson: Was that a hard leap where you're like, Okay, cool, I've got to go from underwriting, you know, your house, or, you know, writing a policy on your house to now I got to go find an apartment complex worth 30 million bucks and actually write a policy on it? What was that transition like?  [00:01:59] Micah Mattox: Well, I mean, just like anything, you know, just like any entrepreneur who has a business or you know, anybody who goes that direction, I think it really comes down to just that business sense, and that fire in the belly, like, I'm going to make this work. And, you know, that really accelerated my learning path. You know, I said, Hey, I've got to learn this. You know, it's putting food on the table, you know, so to speak. So for me, I know that was a really big helper, actually. I think if I had 10 years to learn it all, and just everything was, you know, was all good to go, then I wouldn't have gotten to where I am as fast as I am. [00:02:26] Sam Wilson: Well, what would you say is the most surprising thing that you've learned 10 years in the business that you didn't expect?  [00:02:34] Micah Mattox: Ooh, that is a really good question that I did not expect. The markets to change like they have. I guess that is overwhelmingly just in an overarching, you know, decade since the market. You kind of think of insurance as one of those things. You know, a lot of people don't know what goes in on the back end. You know, you walk over to the shelf and you get the piece of insurance and you pull it down and sit down the box, and there you have it. But it, it's so much more of a complex product that there's so many things. You know, for example, we're, you know, right now looking through different white papers that industry partners put out on things like, you know, the cat season, you know, hurricane season in Florida, and cat exposed areas and things like that. And just what impact that has, not only over a year-over-year basis but even years into the future. This is just the complexity and the intricacy, frankly, of the market has been really surprising to me. And there there's always some new factor that just plays some kind of nuance in it. So I think that's the thing I didn't expect most. [00:03:21] Sam Wilson: And do you feel like that complexity comes from the assets that are being insured or does that come from the companies that are doing the ensuring?  [00:03:31] Micah Mattox: It's all over the board. So the assets themselves, I don't know that the assets necessarily are changing, but you know, you're having bigger and better and more beautiful and more expensive assets coming on the market, you know, new class A properties. So that there's just more, you know, more structure there sometimes to have to work with and, you know, maybe more technology integrated, new building styles and things like that. But at the same time, it's very much heavy on the carriers, you know, and insurance is such a reactive business. It's something that they're doing the best to predict what they think is going to happen, but ultimately you kind of have to go through it to know where it's going to land. You know, one thing that's interesting right now is, I'll take Florida for example. Every insurance carrier operating in Florida is it's operating at nearly a 200% loss ratio. And really in layman's terms, all that means is for every dollar they're bringing in, they're paying $2 out. And for all of our entrepreneurs out there, that of course is a very bad business model. So it's just not something that's sustainable long term. You know, so all these carriers constantly have to figure out new ways, okay, how do we, you know, upgrade the ship? How do we stay on course and just even remain a business, not even remain profitable, but how do we even just stay on the board? So I think it's been really interesting to watch all the strategies that carriers employ. And a lot of carriers are actually very, very willing to help. I mean, at the end of the day, if somebody can't afford their insurance, well, they just put themselves out of business at the end of the day. So they're constantly coming up with new ways to say, okay, how can we make this more affordable? How can we help our insurances? You know, how can we do those things? And it doesn't seem like that always, you know, if the rates are going up, it just seems like, okay, they don't care. But a lot of carriers are taking extra steps and really, really working over time to try to go in that direction. [00:05:06] Sam Wilson: Yeah. I can't believe that, I mean, I can believe it. But a 200% loss ratio in Florida. So you're saying that I can't draw investors in if that were my sole business model, was hey, invest with me and you'll lose a dollar.  [00:05:21] Micah Mattox: Well, and you know that's been complex. They've had to try to operate around it. So, yeah.  [00:05:26] Sam Wilson: That's really, really interesting. You know, it's a topic that nobody really thinks about. You know, for us being the ones that are writing the check, you just go, yeah, you kind of think about it as, like you said, you walk up to the shelf, you pull it off, say, okay, that's my insurance product. Okay, it does X, Y, Z, and then we hope that we never have to call you or talk to you again. Like for us, it's an expense and we want to leave it that way, but obviously, that's not the case. Can you tell me, you know, when I say these two words, can you define 'em for me and why are they important in the insurance industry? When I say quality and availability, what does that mean to you? [00:06:00] Micah Mattox: So when it comes to something like quality, you know, and, and this could go for any product, but insurance specific, not all insurance is created equally, and it's all the small components of the coverage and how much coverage and how it applies that they really build the policy. And you know, it's one of those things, just like you said with this just being a cost, an expense that you all have, you know, in the industry. You know, it's one of those things that you say, okay, how can I get this down? And that there are ways to get it down. You can get it really, really, really inexpensive. But again, you're getting a really, really, really inexpensive insurance program when you do that. You know, so so again, from a quality standpoint, and it takes some people going through something and, heaven forbid something bad happens, you know, that's nobody's favorite day. But if something does happen, they go through it and they're able to see the efficacy of an insurance program that is a quality program that they're sold. You know, that they don't take any more convincing. But I think for some people that just haven't really watched it play out or, you know, or even worse, people that haven't had a great experience, whether it's, you know, an agent or whether it's a carrier that, you know, just something didn't go quite right, you know, that that they really don't see the value in it. And then when I say availability, that can mean different things too. That can mean the carriers that somebody's going to. And then there's something called capacity in insurance. So if you think of insurance, kinda like a line, you know, zero to a hundred percent, you know that that's our availability of insurance. Well, different agents, different carriers, different brokers, the way that they allot that amount of insurance and even how they allot it through the year can be a complex process and without getting really far in the weeds on that process, that there's sometimes where work capacity, you know, the availability of that coverage can get a bit scarce. And that just, you know, reduces the overall market. Instead of having more carriers to go to, you're operating with less and you're just kind of having to make dues sometimes. So, just like anything else, it can be a numbers game. If I have access to more carriers and, you know, if I have those relationships and, you know, in this instance, then that's something where we can often render a much better product at the end of the day. [00:07:49] Sam Wilson: That's something I've never thought about is that there are probably buckets or you know, percentages that an insurance company will say, okay, you know what, we're going to devote whatever it is, making up numbers here, 20% to multifamily. And once we're done, you know, whatever the dollar amount or percentage is for the year, we've filled that. We're no longer ensuring that asset type. Does that sound about right?  [00:08:11] Micah Mattox: Along the right lines and it can even trip from there. So the capacity operates off of a principle called reserve. So basically just the money they have in reserve, two pay claims should they arise and a lot of this is, you know, extremely heavily- regulated as I'm sure you'd imagine. But with that, you know, they have to have certain balances and, you know, remain within certain brackets. And again, it just, it gets to be a really complex process. But even understanding that kind of helps us to realize like, okay, like, you know, when I buy my insurance can be important and where and how. And you know, all of those things, you know, can play a role into that.  [00:08:42] Sam Wilson: I mean, so we're buying a property, I need insurance. I don't have a choice when I buy insurance.  [00:08:47] Micah Mattox: Yeah.  [00:08:48] Sam Wilson: So I guess how does that affect us as the end user? And then how do we effectively navigate that in a meaningful way?  [00:08:55] Micah Mattox: And that can be kind of hard. So so there's a couple options that we've used to combat that. So one option is, like you said, you're closing on a property, you know, you're in the diligence period. You're locked in, you know, there's not a whole lot you can do. One option that you can do, you can buy the standard term and different policies if it's in the standard market. Typically there's not a penalty or at least not a lot of penalty associated with it. If it's in a surplus market, sometimes there is a thing called a minimum earned premium, just basically a kind of a hump you have to get over if you were to cancel of monies that are earned. And there's a couple of creative ways to do that and then long-term even. You know, a lot of people are taking advantage of master policies. You know, if they have a lot of similar assets and in different areas or, you know, even sometimes within the same area. You know, aggregating all of that stuff allows you to buy down the rate. You keep everything on one renewal. It's one policy. And for some people, that ends up being a much better program than a policy here, policy there. Again, options. Options is is a really big thing. I'm huge on options because there just are so many creative ways to approach insurance that, you know, if you take that additional option, well, maybe that was the one thing that you had to do to really help out. And if you don't explore, you just won't know. [00:09:56] Sam Wilson: That's exactly right. And that's why we need people such as yourself on our team because I'm not going to figure this out. I'm just not, you know, our heads and hands are full of lots of other things besides worrying about the best way to establish our policies across all of our different properties. So what are some nuances or some, you know, case studies, anything comes to mind where you'll say, hey, this is something really unique, I think our listeners could learn a few lessons from?  [00:10:23] Micah Mattox: Absolutely. And I guess the first thing I'd like to mention is, a case study of a smooth closing process. And I think that's something that a lot of people are probably familiar with, but some are probably familiar with a much different process that is maybe a little bit more drug out, maybe isn't quite as smooth, unfortunately. And you know, one thing that, you know, having your ducks in a row and just kind of knowing you know what to do, where, and, you know, so realprotect who I'm with, you know, that that's all we do is realprotect and investor related insurances. That's a hundred percent of it. So that allows us to, you know, we're in it every single day. It's not a part-time hobby or, you know, something we touch once a year or quarterly. It's something all day, every day that we're doing. So if we can come to the table, if we know what documents to ask for, we know what process to take, we know how to put things in sequence. And then just how to how to, you know, relay that to the carriers. This is the deal. Here's the importance of it. And you know, especially, I mean, there there was a deal not long ago where we had to meet a, I think, it was a 12:00 PM closing and it's something that I think we got maybe 48 hours notice on. It was very quick. But we can still help in scenarios like that. But I think we got 48 hours notice and by that Friday at 12:00 PM, if they weren't closed it was a seven-figure loss that, you know, that that the syndicator was going to take. And we were able to relay that to the carriers and the underwriters who then even ran that up the ladder to their, you know, management. And were able to pull a few strings and make that happen. So, you know, and again, that's just that's an extremely tight closing process. You know, we like a little bit longer if we can, you know, where it's possible. But even in a scenario like that, there are things that we can do to, you know, to still be successful. But like I said, one of the big ones is just knowing how to manage that process. And I think for a lot of agents, it's a passive process. I think they're kind of sitting in the back seat, waiting to be told what to do. But if you get an agent who can really describe it by the horns and say, Okay, here's what we're going to do, here's the process, you know, lender, here's exactly what you want to see, and here's how I'm going to make it happen, that makes everybody's lives easier. It gets you closed. It is just the smoothest thing in the world. And sometimes there are things that pop up out of everyone's control where that just isn't a possibility. But more often than not, I think people would be surprised how smoothly it can go with the right controls. [00:12:23] Sam Wilson: What are some things that we should be doing on this side of the table to make sure that that process does go smoothly?  [00:12:31] Micah Mattox: So for an insured, I would say a couple of big things are, and and and sometimes, you know, once you've been through it a couple of times, you know, oftentimes the process is pretty similar. You know, it's not like we're reinventing the wheel each time oftentimes. So the availability of information. You know, insurance, these carriers, and underwriters, you know, some of them are operating with 200 accounts. You know, 200 closings effectively is how you could look at it, on their desk at any one time. So the biggest thing that you can think of, you know, if you're in that position, is, okay, how do I get to the top? How do I make myself and effectively my account, my property, how do I make it attractive? Well, oftentimes that's by way of information. Underwriters aren't going to fly out there and go tour the property, you know, much the same you all do, you know, that they're going to say, okay, what information can I find? Am I looking online? Am I looking at, you know, OMs and PCAs and PSAs and, you know, appraisals And just, just anything else, you know, data, how much data can I get a hold of to make myself and my company comfortable with the insurance on this. And I guess to that point, to come full circle on that question, you know, that's something that that you could do or any insured could do is say, hey, you know, I'm going to take an active role in and gather information just as fast as we can, because that oftentimes is, unfortunately, a hold up. If we say, hey, we've got to have these documents to do something. And then it's, you know, seven days or 14 days or 21 days later before we get them, which, and sometimes again, there's no way around it. It just is what it is, and you have to roll with the punches. But if there's any way to expedite that, again, sometimes that's just not something we can do, you know? But if the insured can do that, that often helps out massively. And just like I said, really smooths along the process. And the smoothest closings I've been a part of have, you know, just acted in symphony. You know, you've got, you know, the insured, you've got the syndicator that's just, you know, doing all the right things and assisting. You've got the agent that's, you know, in the driver's seat making things happen. The lender is responsive, you know, just, again, it just, it goes so smoothly and just acts like a symphony, you know? [00:14:16] Sam Wilson: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. It's just, yeah, being prepared and getting information back to you in a timely fashion will keep your file at the top of the stack. Any other examples or situations that you can think of that are scenarios that we can learn some things from? [00:14:31] Micah Mattox: Well, in that regard, there's no shortage. You know, we have seen all kinds of different things happen. You know, both from, I mean from claims to closings, to just, you know, different things. And probably a little bit further than we have time to get into today, but just also having somebody who is a resource. You know, one of the things I commonly hear from people is, you know, hey, I try to call my agent and maybe don't get a lot of response or, you know, I just, I don't feel like I'm getting options. You know, I feel like they can do it but maybe I'm not getting the options, and maybe I don't understand, you know, at at least a macro level really what I'm doing and what I'm paying for. So, you know, just being able to go through those scenarios and that there's an insurance commercial, you know, we know a thing or too, cause we've seen a thing or two, which, not to piggyback on that, but it is very true. You know, that the more experience you have, especially in the related industry, the more stories you can tell, the more case studies you have., And also the more pitfalls we can say, hey, you know, the reason why we probably don't want to do this is X, Y, Z. We've seen this happen and we want you to avoid that. You know, and again, that's just, that's a value add that we can throw into the scenario as well. [00:15:28] Sam Wilson: All right. Last and final question here for you, Micah, and this might put you on the spot and I'm sorry if it does. If so, we'll cut it out. But what is your thought or what are your feelings towards independent adjusters?  [00:15:42] Micah Mattox: So, independent adjusters can play a very important role actually. So, you know, earlier in the conversation we talked about there are some agents or some carriers, you know, who don't always maybe have all the facts. And I like to always assume the bright side, you know, so we'll assume they don't have all the facts and they just, you know, they need some, uncovering. But there are some, and again, this is where it gets complicated and you know that there are some people who maybe just don't operate in the right way and that could be a carrier, that could be an agent, it could be whoever. And independent adjusters play a vital role because they're there on behalf of the insured. You know, their fiduciary is to the insured. That's who they're there for. And, you know, just just like an agent should be. And they are at the end of the day, you know, that that they play a vital role because, you know, they can come out there in a scenario where something hasn't gone right, or sometimes, you know, just where it hasn't been fast enough and they can assist because again, that's what they do all day long. So it's one of those things that, you know, are there times where it's abused? Perhaps, you know, that that I'm sure does happen from time to time where, you know, somebody gets a fair assessment and just says, oh, that's, you know, there's no way that's enough, or I just don't like it, you know. But, but then there are times where you, where people don't get what, you know, a fair shake of things. And that's a much-needed thing. And I think they kinda get a bad rap just for, you know, not being there on behalf of the carrier and just, you know, because of their role. But like I said, there are certain scenarios where they're needed.  [00:16:58] Sam Wilson: No, that's great. I appreciate that answer. That That's awesome. I generally get a feeling one way or another depending on which side of the table you're on that equation where it's like, you know, no to independent adjusters or like yes to independent adjusters. So I think that's, you've given us a very clear answer on that. Thanks for doing that. Certainly appreciate it. Micah, if our listeners want to get in touch with you, learn more about you or the services that you offer, what is the best way to do that?  [00:17:22] Micah Mattox: So by email, phone, or I'm actually really big on LinkedIn. I'd like to be on there a lot and just interact with people and network and things like that. So I'm very big into using that platform. So, you know, a direct message or a comment or anything like that. I'm extremely responsive.  [00:17:36] Sam Wilson: Awesome. Fantastic. And we'll make sure we include all of those items there in the show notes. But for those of us who are just listening, if you don't mind, what is either an email or a phone, whichever one you feel comfortable sharing here on the show?  [00:17:49] Micah Mattox: Absolutely. So phone is going to be 770-718-5105, and then my email is first initial, last name, so M followed by my last name, Mattox, M A T T O X, T as in Tom, T as in Tom. And that's @realprotect.com. [00:18:05] Sam Wilson: Awesome. Fantastic. Micah, thank you again for your time today. Do appreciate it. 

The hosts speak with Bruce O'Neil and Bruce Harrington about their experiences as a pastor and an elder and how they got there. They dish out some delicious advice. We don't talk about other PCAs. Bruce Harrington will publish a book - Grace-Centered Economics, so be looking for that. We didn't get to talk about it unfortunately.

It's a beautiful day for a podcast as the squad discusses jobs on campus, the definition of work-study, and the application process to be a PCA!Career Services Home:https://careerservices.upenn.edu/Opportunities:WorkdayHandshakePCA:Previous PCA conversations:AutumnSadiePeer Career AdvisorsCome Pop-In!Natty Leach's Email: nleach@upenn.eduDeadline to Apply: May 2nd at 8 am ET===Follow us on Twitter!https://twitter.com/PennCareerServOur theme music is “The Strip” by Mala, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license.Created byA. Mylene Kerschner & J. Michael DeAngelisProduced and Hosted byJ. Michael DeAngelis & Natty LeachEdited and Mixed bySam Pasco

Welcome to PICU Doc On Call, a podcast dedicated to current and aspiring intensivists. My name is Pradip Kamat. My name is Rahul Damania and we come to you from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta-Emory University School of Medicine. Today's episode Is part two of our pediatric post-cardiac arrest care syndrome If you have not yet listened to part one, I would highly encourage you to visit that episode prior to delving into this one. Part 1 addressed the epidemiology, causes, and pathophysiology of POST CARDIAC ARREST SYNDROME. Part 2 Today will discuss management and complications related to post-cardiac arrest syndrome in the ICU. To revisit our index case we had a: 11 yo previously healthy M who was admitted to the PICU after cardiac arrest. After stabilization: The patient was taken to head CT which showed diffuse cerebral edema and diffusely diminished grey-white differentiation most pronounced in the basal ganglia. He is now 18-24 hours post-cardiac arrest and the team is dealing with hemodynamic changes, arrhythmias, and difficulty with ventilation. The patient's neurological exam still remains poor with fixed 5 mm pupils and upper motor neuron signs in the lower extremities. Let's get right into it: What are some of the principles in management of patients with post cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS)? Where do we keep the patients blood pressure? Hypotension after ROSC is commonly encountered in children with PCAS. Early hypotension occurred in 27% of children after cardiac arrest is associated with lower survival to hospital discharge and unfavorable neurological outcome. When post-cardiac arrest hypotension is present, it is not clear whether increasing the blood pressure through administration of fluids and inotropes/vasopressors can mitigate harm, despite this 41% of patients under 18 receive vasopressor therapy within the first 6 hours after ROSC. Currently, there is no high-quality evidence to support any single specific strategy for post-cardiac arrest hemodynamic optimization in children. Treatment of post-cardiac arrest hypotension and myocardial dysfunction may be assisted by monitoring and evaluating arterial lactate and central venous oxygen saturation. Parenteral fluids, inotropes, and vasoactive drugs are to be used as needed to maintain a systolic blood pressure greater than the fifth percentile for age. Appropriate vasoactive drug therapies should be tailored to each patient and adjusted as needed. What about cardiac arrhythmia's such as Vtach seen in our patient? The rhythm disturbances observed during the post-cardiac arrest period include premature atrial and ventricular contractions, supraventricular tachycardias, and ventricular tachycardias. Heart block is unusual but can be observed as a manifestation of myocarditis. There is inadequate evidence in adults and no published studies in children to support the routine administration of prophylactic antiarrhythmics after ROSC, but rhythm disturbances during this period may warrant therapy. Treatment depends on the cause and hemodynamic consequences of the arrhythmias. Premature depolarizations, both atrial and ventricular, usually do not require therapy other than maintenance of adequate perfusion and normal fluid and electrolyte balance. Ventricular arrhythmias may signify more serious myocardial dysfunction. QT prolonging agents must be avoided. Many of the vasoactive agents used to support myocardial function can increase myocardial irritability and risk of arrhythmias. Premature atrial or ventricular depolarizations are frequently observed and can be controlled by optimizing the dose of the vasoactive drugs. Bradycardia is frequently seen in TTM and typically requires no therapy. During PCAC, mechanical circulatory support (ECMO) may be considered if significant cardiorespiratory instability persists despite appropriate volume expansion and administration of inotropes, vasopressors, and, if indicated,http://antiarrhythmics.in (...

Welcome to PICU Doc On Call, a podcast dedicated to current and aspiring intensivists. My name is Pradip Kamat. My name is Rahul Damania, a current 2nd-year pediatric critical care fellow. We come to you from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta-Emory University School of Medicine. Today's episode is dedicated to pediatric post-cardiac arrest care. We are going to split this topic into two episodes, part one of pediatric post-cardiac arrest syndrome will address the epidemiology, causes, and pathophysiology. I will turn it over to Rahul to start with our patient case... 11 yo previously healthy M who is admitted to the PICU after cardiac arrest. The patient was noted to be found unresponsive and submerged in a neighborhood pool. He was pulled out by bystanders and CPR was started for 5 minutes with two rounds of epinephrine prior to achieving ROSC. During transport to the OSH, the patient developed hypotension requiring a continuous epinephrine infusion. His initial blood gas was notable for a mixed respiratory and metabolic acidosis: 7.0/60/-20 His initial serum lactate was 6.8 mmol/L. He presents to the PICU with a temperature of 36.6, HR 130s, MAPs 50s on Epinephrine infusion at 0.03mcg/kg/min He is mechanically ventilated with notable settings PEEP of 10, FiO2 65%. The patient is taken to head CT which shows diffuse cerebral edema and diffusely diminished grey-white differentiation most pronounced in the basal ganglia. Great Rahul, can you please comment on his physical exam & PMH? Important physical exam findings include an unresponsive intubated patient with a cervical collar and bilateral non-reactive pupils at 4mm. The patient received mechanical ventilation with coarse breath sounds. A heart exam revealed tachycardia with no murmur or gallop. The patient does not respond to stimuli, intermittent jerking movements of arms and legs were observed. There was no evidence of rash or trauma. No past medical history of seizures or any heart disease. No home medications or toxic ingestions are suspected. So now he is transferred to the ICU, what did we do? An arterial line, central venous line, urinary catheter, esophageal temperature probe was placed. The patient was ventilated using a TV of 6cc/kg and a PEEP of 10 (FIO2 ~65%) to keep SPO2 >94%. The patient initially had runs of ventricular tachycardia for which lidocaine was used. Although the initial EKG showed mild QTc prolongation, it subsequently normalized and was considered to be due to his cardiac arrest and resuscitation. An echocardiogram revealed normal biventricular systolic function (on epinephrine) and also showed normal origins of the coronary arteries. Comprehensive Arrhythmia Panel did not identify a specific genetic cause for the patient's sudden cardiac arrest. The patient was placed on continuous EEG, which demonstrated severe diffuse encephalopathy with myoclonic status likely from anoxic brain injury Patient was also started on Levetiracetam and valproic acid. Initial portable CT scan done on day # of admission showed diffuse cerebral edema and diffusely diminished gray-white differentiation (most pronounced in the basal ganglia). MRI was deferred due to patient instability. The case we talked about highlights a patient who had a trigger that then resulted in cardiac arrest is common is one of the common reasons for admission to the PICU at Children's hospitals whether from submersion injury, trauma, ingestion, cardiac arrhythmia, sepsis, etc. Can we start by defining post-cardiac arrest syndrome? Successful resuscitation from cardiac arrest results in a post-cardiac arrest syndrome, which can evolve in the days to weeks after the return of spontaneous circulation. The components of post-cardiac arrest syndrome are brain injury, myocardial dysfunction, systemic ischemia/reperfusion response, and persistent precipitating pathophysiology. Prior to 2008, the AHA pediatric advanced life support (PALS) guidelines...

Welcome to another episode of the Momming Autism podcast! This week we are tackling advocacy and current events all in one episode. Lindsey Althaus from the Althaus Life joins us as we discuss Paralympian Becca Meyers being denied her personal care attendant at the upcoming Tokyo Games, resulting in her dropping out of the competition. Lindsey Althaus is a mom, wife, and blogger at The Althaus Life. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two children, and is inspired every single day by her son Whitman, which makes her a strong advocate for our community. Join us as we discuss the heartbreaking realities and decisions this brave athlete had to make due to the USOPC staff reduction in PCAs for the Paralympic Swimming Team for the upcoming games . You can read more heartfelt pieces from Lindsey on her website thealthauslife.com or on Facebook and Instagram at The Althaus Life. The Momming Autism podcast is a place to provide a positive platform for parents to share their stories about raising special needs children. Momming Autism is hosted by Amanda DeLuca and Katie Emde. Find Katie between episodes on Facebook at A Journey for Avery. Find Amanda on Facebook between episodes at Jackson's Journey, Jackson's Voice and Advocate.Out.Loud- Amanda DeLuca.

To be perfectly frank - PCAs are intimidating. Let's make them a little more approachable. Listen in to learn some tips and tricks from future PICU doc Dr. Nadine Najjar.

The management of pain, especially in nonverbal and very young patients, requires practice and skill.  In this episode, we discuss our options for acute pain management with Dr. Nadine Najjar, future pediatric intensivist. Also - tune in next week for a follow up discussion on PCAs.

We are doing something a little different with today's episode and we took time to talk with some CNAs. These are the conversations that we hope you find informative and inspirational.  A lot of times we tend as nursing professionals and healthcare professionals to assume what others want as appreciation. I've learned that the best way to know how someone feels appreciated is by asking them directly. Take the time to sincerely listen to your coworkers and employees. Validation is also appreciation. To all the PCAs, NAs, CNAs thank you for all you do!!   www.thenursingpostpodcast.com 

Javier chats with Bly and Mo about their lives as PCAs and OnlyFans. @blyharper @poisonoustongueee

TBASH loses the PCAs to AFB, and immediately sells out to FREE CORPORATE BEER and CHEF WILLIAM HOT SAUCES. We talk Podcast Awards, Birthdays, cold brew follow-ups, and only your voicemails and Fuego Box can warm the cockles of our cold, heavy hearts.