Podcasts about uc cooperative extension

We examine the wildland-urban interface and its growing wildfire risks for homeowners, particularly in fire-prone areas like California and other western states. We talk about the concept of hardening your landscape from the Ember Ignition Zone with insights from Kevin Marini, a UC Defensible Space Advisor. He highlights the importance of maintaining clear spaces around homes and managing vegetation in three defensive zones.Today, it's Episode 361, Defensible Space Landscaping Tips. It's the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. Let's go!Pictured: A Landscape with Defensible Space (Photo: FiresafeMarin.org) Links:Subscribe to the Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter https://gardenbasics.substack.com Smart Pots https://smartpots.com/fred/Dave Wilson Nursery HeirloomRoses.com (with the FRED discount link)Other links mentioned in today's podcast:The Dance of Defensible Space, by Kevin MariniUCANR Fire Network: Creating a Defensible SpaceU. Nevada-Reno: Mulch and FlammabilityCalFire Demonstration Fire VideoIBHS Research Center Ember Storm Test VideoFireSafe MarinCA Native Plant Society list of fire-resistant plantsMore Wildfire Protection Tips :Utah State UniversityUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnVail, Colo.Ashland, OregonMinnesota/WisconsinFort Worth, TXBritish Columbia, CanadaGot a garden question? • Call or text us the question: 916-292-8964. • E-mail: fred@farmerfred.com Create Harmony This is a podcast about setting an intentional rhythm, savoring life's blessings and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifyThank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter.

According to a report produced by a collaborative effort between UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension, RLB symptoms were first noticed in Nonpareil, Monterey, and Fritz almond varieties, characterized by yellow spots and orange to dark red-brown blotches.

According to a report produced by a collaborative effort between UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension, the fungal pathogen red leaf blotch (RLB) was first detected in California almond orchards on the border of Merced and Madera counties in late May 2024. Previously known for its impact on almonds in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, RLB's presence in California has understandably raised alarms. In this episode we are joined by UC ANR Associate Cooperative Extension Specialist, Dr. Florent Trouillas and Almond Board of California (ABC) Senior Specialist in Pest Management, Dr. Lauren Fann. Together they explore the latest on this disease, what impacts it may have on the almond industry and what growers can look for and do about its presence in California.“I'm actually quite surprised by how widespread the disease is already in this first year. The disease is definitely here to stay in California, which unfortunately brings another challenge for the industry here.” - Dr. Florent Trouillas In Today's episode:Meet UC ANR's Dr. Florent Trouillas and ABC's Dr. Lauren FannExplore the pathogenesis and symptoms of Red Leaf Blotch in California almonds and what growers can look out forDiscover the threat of the disease and what is being done to mitigate its risk now that it's hereFor more information, read this article from the Almond Board of California: “A New Threat to California Almonds: Red Leaf Blotch”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.

In this episode, Farmer Fred and Kevin Marini discuss the importance of thinning fruit trees and maintaining their height. Kevin Marini, a certified arborist and community education specialist with UC Cooperative Extension, also talks about the benefits of keeping fruit trees at a manageable height, the process of bringing down the height of a tree, and the different types of pruning cuts.  We're podcasting from Barking Dog Studios here in the beautiful Abutilon Jungle in Suburban Purgatory. It's the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots, Dave Wilson Nursery, and Heirloom Roses. Let's go!Previous episodes, show notes, links, product information, and transcripts at the home site for Garden Basics with Farmer Fred, GardenBasics.net. Audio, transcripts, and episode chapters also available at Buzzsprout.Pictured: Peach trees maintained at a height of six feet at Hodges Nursery, Durham, CALinks: Subscribe to the Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter https://gardenbasics.substack.com Smart Pots https://smartpots.com/fred/Dave Wilson Nursery HeirloomRoses.com (with the FRED discount link)Harvest Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, Saturday, Aug. 3.Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter, Aug. 9: Five Steps for Fruit Tree Care (and more!)Other links mentioned in today's podcast:Nevada County Master Gardener Demonstration GardenBackyard Orchard Culture - Dave Wilson Nursery3-Cut Pruning MethodPruning to Save the Branch CollarHow to Sharpen Hand PrunersGot a garden question? • Leave an audio question without making a phone call via Speakpipe, at https://www.speakpipe.com/gardenbasics• Call or text us the question: 916-292-8964. • Fill out the contact box at GardenBasics.net• E-mail: fred@farmerfred.com All About Farmer Fred: The GardenBasics.net websiteThe Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter, Beyond the Basics https://gardenbasics.substack.comFarmer Fred website The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred" Instagram: farmerfredhoffman Farmer Fred Garden Minute Videos on YouTube As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from possible links mentioned here.Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter.

Incorporating large amounts of woody biomass into soil, such as in whole orchard recycling (WOR), can promote carbon sequestration, nutrient recycling, and ecosystem health in agricultural fields. Yet uncertainty regarding the effects of WOR on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics influences management decisions. Recently, Mae Culumber, Ph.D. with UC Cooperative Extension, Suduan Gao, Ph.D. with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and others performed research to evaluate the effects of woodchip size and interaction with nitrogen fertilization on carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions as well as soil organic carbon change. On this episode of Growing the Valley, they sit down with guest host Cameron Zuber to discuss some of their findings and how this may provide some considerations when implementing WOR. The original article for this research from the Soil Science Society of America Journal can be found here https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/saj2.20650 though payment may be needed to access. Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board for their support of this podcast. Music is by Muriel Gordon.

Trying to manage the weeds in your vineyard? John Roncoroni, Weed Science Farm Advisor Emeritus with the University of California Cooperative Extension, Agriculture and Natural Resources covers control practices including biological, mechanical, cultural, chemical, and perhaps in the future, electrocution. Although weeds rarely compete with vines, they can host insect and vertebrate pests and get in the way of pruning crews, increasing labor costs. Listen in for John's number one tip to better manage weeds in your vineyard. Resources:         128: A New Focus on Weed Management (Rebroadcast) 26th IPM Seminar #1: Sustainable Weed Management for Vineyards and Vineyard Ponds Herbicide-resistant weeds challenge some signature cropping systems (Journal article) John Roncoroni MAINTAINING LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT: Herbicide-resistant weeds challenge some signature cropping systems Post-harvest Weed Control with Napa RCD and John Roncoroni (video) Sustainable Winegrowing On-Demand – Western SARE (online courses) University of California Integrated Pest Management Integrated Weed Management Vineyard Floor Management: Steel in the Field (video) 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 Craig Macmillan  0:00  Our guest today is John Roncoroni. He is Weed Science Farm advisor emeritus with UC Cooperative Extension, UC Agriculture Natural Resources, and we're going to talk about cultural control of weeds in vineyards today. Thanks for being on the podcast, John.   John Roncoroni  0:13  Now you bet, Creg, thank you for having me.   Craig Macmillan  0:16  We met with we'll start with kind of a basic foundation, what would you say is the definition of cultural weed control? Maybe How does it differ from other forms of weed management?   John Roncoroni  0:25  cultural weed control as part of an integrated pest management program, you know, we have basically cultural mechanical, sometimes they're put together sometimes they're split, we have biological, which is much more important, I think, in insects than it is in weeds. Now, we talk about biological control of weeds just a little bit to show how it fits in with all this too, is that you know, when you see that rust growing on a malba, or cheese weed plant in California, people say, Well, maybe that can control and you can see sometimes it really weakens the weeds. But the one reason that doesn't work here very well as it does in other places is the same reason why we can grow such great grapes and make great wines in California is because it doesn't rain in the summertime, if it rained in the summertime, like it does. In many other areas, that moisture level would stay up and we probably have a better chance of controlling Malba. We do use biological control of weeds in more landscape like range land type at large areas, but really on any kind of agricultural situation where we're looking at control in one spot, it really doesn't work that well. Even with star thistle we be talking about people wanting to put our application of of weevils for start thistle. Well, they're out there, and they're on a larger scale. So that's biological, much more important in entomology than in Weed Science, a chemical control, obviously, the use of chemicals, either conventional or organic chemicals or control. And then we have mechemical or cultural you know, cultural weed control to me is using the utilizing the plants that are there or sheep in areas of the San Joaquin Valley that used to use ducks or geese to pull out Johnson grass rhizomes, yeah, we're utilizing sheep quite a bit more. Now. Of course, mechanical we're looking at when you look at something like a mower, right, a mower is mechanical and cultural because when you mow, you're leaving some plants. So you're mechanically mowing them down. But culturally, you're leaving plant where something like French flower, maybe a blade or or you know, one of the the weed knives are all the different moving wheels, maybe more considered mechanical.   Craig Macmillan  2:30  Let's talk about mechanical a little bit. There was a book I don't know if it's still in print. And it was a SARE book. And it was called steel in the field. And the author's thesis or premise or idea was if you drive around farm country, no matter what the crop is, there's always a graveyard of old implements, just parked just parked there, you know exactly what I'm talking about.   John Roncoroni  2:51  Oh, god. Yeah.   Craig Macmillan  2:54  And his his point was, all of those things were technologies that someone had come up with. And then the individual farmer, probably then made modifications to those for their site for their crop for their soil, then the herbicide era came on. And that wisdom was lost, basically. And the argument was, hey, maybe we can bring that that idea back. And I mean, this goes back to like the 80s, early 90s. It's happening, it's happened. What are some of your favorite technologies in terms of cultivation, mechanical weed control, and some of the limitations, some of the plants that works well with other situations where it doesn't? What's your experience been?   John Roncoroni  3:39  I love talking about that, Creg, is it you know, talking about using mechanical control, and then and then going into chemicals, and now going back, it's almost like I talked to people about chemical control itself. When I started, Roundup wasn't glyphosate was a new thing. And we used it very judiciously. And I tell people, it's almost like, I learned to drive with a stick shift. I had to learn all these other things. Well, after that people learned to drive automatics. Right, because they knew one way to do it. Well, now that we're back to using stick shift, it's a whole lot easier for me, because I remember now people have to read or write. It's, it's the same thing with the mechanical. And when I started a Davis, you know, in the early 80s, we probably first came to work in vineyards in Napa, close to Davis, about 85, 86. And at that point, there was a lot less drip irrigation, a lot more dry farming, and a lot more French plowed. One of the reasons was we didn't have drip irrigation. I mean, we all want deep roots, but you're going to have more shallow roots with drip irrigation. And that was one of the reasons we moved to chemicals away from this big pasture. We always had a blade, right something like to drop a name a Clemens blade, which we all know what that is. It just cuts. You know, one of the problems with that is if the soil is too moist, then it's going to cut and go right back. And there's been a lot of innovation. My colleague Marcela Moretti, a But Oregon State's done a lot of testing with different kinds of machines. You know, one of the things about mechanical or even like mowers is that so few growers have mowers?   Craig Macmillan  5:11  When you say mower? You mean an in row mower?   John Roncoroni  5:13  Yeah, I mean inrow mower. All right. And I'm sorry, I when I talk about weeds in vineyards, because I tell people I've made my whole career out of about three   Craig Macmillan  5:21  Three to six inches.   John Roncoroni  5:24  I have about a foot and a half. Right? Sometimes I'm up to four feet, right. So that's where my whole career is right there. And that we talk about when we talked about what we're doing in the middle is with cover cropping. That's a whole other podcast and probably, I mean, I've done cover crop work over the years with some large IPM grants. I did quite Elmore and some other things. Zalem and Jim McDonald Yeah, no, I'm talking about just under vine we're thinking. Yeah.   Craig Macmillan  5:53  All right we're under vine.   John Roncoroni  5:54  Talk about being a very specific expert - four feet. At the most.   Craig Macmillan  6:01  I got it. I get it.   John Roncoroni  6:02  You know, very few growers are using mowers we have the big bladed mowers and also we'll have a straight trimmer. I was trying to do some string trimmer work, but just using a little weed eater. My old friend, Mike Anderson, who was the superintendent or basically ran the oppo research station said that I could use a string trimmer in one of their vineyards over his dead body. And I was like, you don't want any girdling in those vines. So I know, there's been a lot of apprehension. There are some other kinds of mowers very, very, very few growers have mowers, from what I've just done some surveys, I've done one because you have to go back over and over and over, right? And then everything has been weighed against, well, we can just spray mowers or one, you know, there's several different and I can't remember all the trade names. But you know, there's some of the basic technology. Yes, there's some that do some stirring of the soils, you know, with blades that are perpendicular to the soil, right. So they're, they're stirring it, there's what we used to call and when I worked in bean weed control, Lilla stuns, which are wheels that turn sort of at a 45 degree angle to stir the soil. There's, you know, power driven machines, there's just ones that ride along and there's blades, there's, you know, there are so many, and it really depends on the kind of soil you have, you know, our rocky is sometimes the place where we put grapes are not a place where you could put tomatoes, right in times, shallow soil, hillsides, kind of cultivation, can you can you do cultivation? Can you do light cultivation without getting you know, soil movement? Can you even do it? Is it allowed by, you know, some rules about land use in those areas. So, there's a lot of things that go into mechanical and again, from my perspective, the weeds you have.   Craig Macmillan  7:54  I like this point here, because I think put to put things into kind of a general sense to guide things. We have blades that basically cut just below the surface. So that's cutting off the top of the plant from the bottom of it for certain kinds of plants that will kill it or control it. Then we have things like a French plow, which is a burying it's a true plow. Yeah, it's flipping soil, picking it up and flip flopping it over. Then we have the sturer. So you mentioned that little stun the central lines and other example, sun flowers. That's what they do. Yeah. Yeah. Things like that. My missing one.   John Roncoroni  8:26  mowers.   Craig Macmillan  8:27  mowers, okay. Yeah.   John Roncoroni  8:29  So that, you know, then there are a lot of variations on those combinations. It just amazing for me, and I follow a few of the manufacturers and get to see like on Twitter X, whatever, to see the videos that they're posting on LinkedIn. You know, it's just amazing to me what they're doing and the innovation that's going into those. One of the things that my again my colleague Marcel HomeReady, up at Dr. Moretti up at Oregon State talks about making sure your tractor is big enough for some of these, you know, hydraulic using, right, but one of the things we always used to talk about was, you know, the use of gas well, I know there's a lot more use and we're moving more into electric tractors, and those sorts of things. But when it comes to mechanical, really doing a good job of mechanical weed control with those some of those, you're going to have to have electric or gas you're going to have to have a big tractor. They're not going to be like a you know, a little ATV with a nifty 50 sprayer spraying herbicides right you're gonna need some hefty equipment in a lot of them not always.   Craig Macmillan  9:33  Let's start with weed knife. That's a very popular technology you see it oh yeah all over the place. What are the kinds of weeds that that's good for controlling and under what conditions it doesn't work well and under what kind of conditions does it not work well?   John Roncoroni  9:47  And I don't know the areas and passive as well as I know Napa I was brought a while but I would tell the growers you know, using a weed knife in Carneros you have about four days from when the soil goes from being too wet to being too dry. I have heavy clay soils, it holds moisture and it just. Yeah, exactly. And I'm sure there are areas like that, you know, and it can't, you can successfully cultivate down there, but it's tough, you need the timing, it's so important. If you're going to wet that soil just goes right back with that blade, right you cut through and the roots are able to tell back in, you know, if it's too dry, it's really going to be a rough ride. Because you're not going to go too deep, it's going to work well on some smaller annual weeds, which, you know, a lot of our weeds are, you know, some of the grasses with their net have a root ball sometimes are harder than just a small annual broadleaf plant, you know, you're going to have some problems, especially with something like malware, cheese weed that that grow very large. And depending on when you doing it something like cheese weed is and rye grass and Fillory, while I mentioned them are the first weeds to germinate in the fall. So by the time you get in a little bit later, they may be too big to really do a very good job on.   Craig Macmillan  10:59  Are their soils where we die for it's particularly well?   John Roncoroni  11:03  I would say you know, in less than heavy clay soil and not complete sand, a sandy loam soil, I think that holds some moisture, you know, it was able to get in anything, I think it's not a complete stand or a real heavy clay, they do a nice job, but the weeds can't be too big. And again, it's that timing and you know, with vineyards, it seems to think everything happens at once right time when you may be in having to do some sort of insect spray or mold spray, the same time you should be out there cultivating so just and it takes a while to do a good cultivation job.   Craig Macmillan  11:35  The speed that you're rolling is really important. You want to be slower ride faster.   John Roncoroni  11:40  Well, and Dr. Moretti has done this work there is an optimum speed. If you go too slow, then you really don't do a good job of cutting. If you go too fast, you miss some. And maybe this is where some of the electric AI technology can help. You don't want to cut the vines. Right, so you have this pull away, that keeps the weeds, the weeds will go right next to the vines, which you know can be a problem. We'll be talking about other situations with little vertebrate pets.   Craig Macmillan  12:06  I'm kind of getting astray here a little bit, but I No, no, but I think this is an important question. So choosing what I do and how I do it, we go back to the other technologies, Why care about weeds? Right? Why care about you know, I had I had a vineyard once that had been an oak field. And it was direct planted own rooted sprinkler system that was planted in 1976 I got the vineyard 1993 out of heavy clay soil, and I would irrigate with sprinklers twice a summer, and that oak grass would grow up into the fruit zone up into the canopy. But it would dry out. And it completely choked out everything else I had, I had no other real issues. And we would mow the middles. And I remember people going oh my god, you got all this issue, you need decent herbicide, you think grass out of the middle because the grass is gonna. And like these vines were super vigorous. They were tons of crop. I mean, I had to crop thinner. And so I started asking myself, well, how much competition? Is this really doing? Are there particular weeds that we should see? And you're like, wow, that's gonna be a competitor for water, nutrients and others where we go, No, I don't really want it there. But I'm probably not going to dig my vines.   John Roncoroni  13:13  So Craig, this is the eternal question when it comes to this. And it really depends on where you grow your grapes, right? If your goal is to get 25 tons of grapes, if you're somewhere near Bakersfield won't offend anybody, but they're looking more for tonnage. Right. And I've gotten a lot of flack for using our premium grape situations, we're not always looking for maximum tonnage. Right. And I don't know that the problem with weeds and if you hear me speak about weeds, I rarely have ever talked about direct competition between weeds and grape vines. Now, there are some exceptions, you know, when we were looking at that balance between irrigation and getting the deficit, irrigation, right, getting those maximum flavors into those grapes. So we may be right and a little low with our water in August or September, near the end. And we see that especially, I don't know so much about about I know, part of the areas where we are with the vineyard team there that they gave, we can get these howling north winds, right? Right. And you can in a very short time, you can turn some very great, expensive grapes into really great expensive raisins, right, getting that water in at that time of year. So having any kind of like flu Velen, which is really just covers the whole area of Napa and Sonoma. I know it's moving around some other areas. But you know, people say well, how much water does it use? And my old friend Rhonda Smith used always asked me well, how much water is it used? I go, we don't have crop coefficients for all the crops. It's hard to know which you know which weeds grow, how much water they use. And then the other thing too, is that if we're looking for consistency in a vineyard, and only half the vineyard is covered with that weeds where we're gonna put two too much water in one area and not enough in the other. Isn't that different? So it's competition for that sort of thing. And of course, young vines, right when we have young vines with big weeds and that that oak grass that you had, if you had young vines, you probably wouldn't have to be worried about being a grape grower very long, right?   Craig Macmillan  15:17  You have seen that young, really healthy barley cover crop?   John Roncoroni  15:21  Oh, yeah, it's it's tough for first three years. But like talking about establishments, it's really important, no matter what you do to keep the grapes sort of weed, not weed free, but really keeping the competition down. And then late in the summertime, but the rest of the time. It's other things that I've talked about these, it's one of those things where you ask people, you know, raise their hand if they have this problem. It's 50%. Yes. 50%. No. And that's voles. And I tell people, I thought that when I was in Napa, I think 30% of the growers do weed control strictly for vole protection. Because those nasty little marmots can they can girdle a grape. And I know one vineyard and Carneros they couldn't get in and do some work. Someone told me that one year they lost one in five vines. Wow. And they're not coming back. Right? That's, that's bad. Yeah. So you know, it can be a problem. We found this when we were working with mow and blow technology years ago, looking at cutting cover crop and throwing it on the vine. The Weed control was fantastic. But in my whole time, working in vines from 1985. And, you know, until today, I've never been in a vineyard, except in this trial, where I saw voles running between the rose in the middle of the day. Right, they were just happy there was so many they kind of had to get out just to get a breath of fresh air, they use those tunnels, you know, just runway so that they were protected from that, you know, the birds of prey, which you know, can help. And I people always ask about that. But again, we have that pest and prey cycle that the voles may come in and do a lot of damage, before they get a chance to be taken. And then it depends on what your neighbors doing and how effected the birds are. This is a question that I our new vertebrate pest person, Brianna Martineco in Napa who she took my office, not my place, right. So we we about a weed scientist. And one of the questions I've asked is, you know, how much of an area around the vines? Do we have to keep clean, so that the birds have a chance and the voles stay scared? You know, that's kind of question, you know, especially as an emeritus, you can ask these questions. And, you know, let the new people answer them. You know, the other thing and I've talked about this is in a rare occasion, you know, one of the things that we do you see people, anytime I'm out in the field later in the season, I talked to a grape grower, while we're out there, they're pulling those leaves off so they can get more air movement. Well, if you get some tall weeds like that, you know, the oak grass that was growing, you know, are you going to have restricted air movement? Are you going to have higher moisture content? Is that going to increase your pathogen pressure it can, doesn't always happen. The other thing too is having, you know, high grass can cause in frost prone areas, you know, if you're not getting that radiation from clean soil, and that's in the middle, not so much under the vines, you know, we can have that and sometimes on young vines near the vine itself, getting that reradiation, but again, you know, as I like to tell people, you're not going to have all these situations, and it's not going to be every year, you know, some years you're doing things you may not need to have weed control that year, but you don't know until after that year, you know, and now and I'm not I'm not a pathologist, I'm not an enthramologist, I'm not a viticulturalist I'm a weed scientist. But you know, there's been some indications that some weeds that are growing and some of the we plant and some of that we don't are having a, you know, an increase in pathogen plant pathogens that are moved by certain insects. tikka pirate likes legumes Well, you know, especially in some of our low nitrogen situations, plants that produce their own nitrogen, like Bird Clover really tend to like that situation because they have a, they have a built in advantage by making their own nitrogen. So we can in some vineyards, we can see a high population of bird clover, which may or may not cause an increase in tikka, which could cause an increase in red blotch. So, you know, when you think of weeds just specifically for competition, like when I talked to master gardeners, I say, you know, if you're growing carrot, you know why you do weed control because you want a carrot. But when it comes to a mature, you know, a 10 year old vineyard, really hard to see that weeds are going to compete on an everyday basis like they would with an annual crop, but there are other reasons why we do it. Ease of harvest, and I talked about, you know, in talking with some pruning crews, right, you know, if you have weeds growing in when you're pruning, and I tell people, if you have an area that takes an hour for let's clean, takes a pruning crew an hour to prune, if there's a bunch of weeds that they have to move around and get around, and it takes them an hour and a half. So your labor costs have gone up 50% Yeah, these are the kinds of things that as a weed scientist, I think about I tell people I really want to know two things. And when we're when we're taping this, it's the right time of year. I only know weeds in college. Basketball. So these are the only things I really know. So, you know, and I've had other I've had, you know, some people sit down and say I should have known that you have to worry about, you know, disease pressure, and getting labor contractors. And I just think about weeds.   Craig Macmillan  20:16  And let's go back to another technology that we touched on snow plows, French plow, that's a very old technology. And, you know, we just mentioned that what a plow does is it turns the soil over, so it buries the weed plants, especially when you get into the right time, what conditions are appropriate for using a French plow? What conditions maybe it's not gonna work so great.   John Roncoroni  20:41  French plow, I mean, you know, the USDA says that, you know, doing something like that the soil is never good, and you're going to mess up the microbes, especially if you're working on that lower area. But as far as just from a weed perspective, if you're dry farming, a French blot works fantastic, right? You're not looking for, in fact, you're trying to discourage as many roots at the top as you can. So doing using a French plow when you're dry farming, it's fantastic. We don't have you know, a lot of dry farms where we are looking at trying to have more consistent harvest and looking at consistent income, where you know, dry farming were at, at the will of the of the weather, that's another talk for another day with people who are doing marketing and know viticulture are better than I do. But see, I've seen more French plows as people have gone back to mechanical in the last few years, and I have in the past think there's a lot more viable options, when you're actually looking at doing some drip irrigation, then they're just by number a lot more viable options. Just by new having new machines coming out then the French plow but I was a dry farmer, my weed control would be French plow under the vines and disk in the middle because everything's you know, maybe having a little cover crop to get more penetration. But, you know, the farther north I lived, the more water penetration I would have. So I'd get more rain.   Craig Macmillan  22:00  So let's talk about drip irrigated vineyards. And you mentioned there's a suite of technologies, some are new, some are old, what are some of those technologies that have worked well in a drip irrigated vineyard?   John Roncoroni  22:12  When I got to Napa in 2007, sustainable at that point meant post emergent only and for those kind of funny now is roundup on the right no preemergent no cultivation and we were drip irrigating, we were keeping those roots at the top so we can drip irrigate. So that's where a lot of that came from. Now, you know, using something like a blade using a little Dustin with those moving things, anything that's sort of like you don't want routine, right? Again, I don't I'm not a vitaculturalist. But roots at the very top are not great, right, you're not probably irrigating correctly, if you're getting a lot of roots at the top, but you don't want to get too deep, where you're getting some of those main roots with cultivation. You know, that's one of the reasons that we do have drip irrigation. At that level. You know, I've talked to people who weren't using cultivation and ask them why their drip irrigation lines weren't closer to the soil so they're gonna have less evaporation. One of the things that we get into with grape growing or anything is that you do things because you've always done them that way, we are cultivating that we do need to keep that drip irrigation at at a higher at a high level. But I think any of those anything that's not just completely disrupting the soil. One of the things that I would like to see with with mechanical like a blade is using some electric eye, AI technologies to get closer to the vines. But right now we have to really, you know, it's all mechanical, right? If we can have these machines down in Salinas, that are taking weeds out from in between lettuce, we don't have to be nearly that technological, to get weeds right around the vine without hurting them. And we have a little bit more leeway with the vine than we do with lettuce. Even though you lose a lettuce plant here or there. You're okay. You don't want to lose too many vines. You know, I think that that's where one of the reasons that we could use more technology. One of the things again, my doctor Moretti up at Oregon State and also lenses masky. Back in Cornell, who they were both at Davis at the same time, Lynn as a postdoc, and, and Marcelo as a as a graduate student, they're working with electrocution of weeds, I think it's what they call it. And it's not just burning them off, like you would use electric light with a flamer. It actually sends electricity down into the roots. So it's, he's working on it mostly in blueberries. But the technology I just I saw his presentation at the Western society Weed Science meeting just a couple of weeks ago in Denver. It's an interesting technology. If you're like having a transformer on the back of your tractor. It's pretty cool.   Craig Macmillan  24:35  There's a there's a lot of potential here in the future for improving what we're doing now.   John Roncoroni  24:40  Oh, yeah. And I don't know how like electric is going to fit into this. But and this is the problem. We ran into herbicides. Anytime you use one technology over and over and over and over and over, you're going to choose for weeds. If you constantly mow under the vines or anywhere, right without some soil disturbance or application of herbicide, something Like Melva, low growing weeds, they'll adapt, right nature will find a way. So the biggest thing we have to do is whatever we do just don't do it all the time. That it's the right message. One of the things that I think we want to talk about was under vine cover crop. It is something for me, I've been trying to push under vine cover cropping for so long. And the problem is, is that because the seeds are expensive, I tell people that one of the one of the plants that I pushed, just because I liked the way it worked, and what I've seen is Zorro fescue. That's a brand name, it's it's rat tail fescue, you see it growing as a weed a lot of places, one of the things I like about it is that about the time we start irrigating, it's dead, it's the nest, and you can discover you can turn it over, because once it's gone to seed, you can mow it all those things. It's a it's a self receding cover crop problem is that because the seeds are fairly expensive, we planted at about eight to 10 pounds per acre and sometimes mixed with Blendo broam, which grows a little higher and stays a little greener longer than I like, because it can be some competition for water. But that's oftentimes keeps it down. But the problem is, is that first of all, how do we get it on the vines, I find people putting it out by hand, because we haven't adapted for the cedar under the vine. Second of all, it starts to reseed itself at a fairly high rate, sometimes 50 or 100 pounds the next year and the third year. So I tell people, if you can't give me three years to make it look good, then let's not start because oftentimes, you know, we started and it looks like it's not doing a very good job the first year, and it doesn't look very good. And some people who don't ask people who make decisions about vineyards who maybe work other places, then the vineyard don't like the way it looks. Right? Right, and we move to something else and they end up spraying it out or cultivating it out.   Craig Macmillan  26:55  Then this is an example of modifying the environment to address this problem and modifications to the environment take time.   Speaker 1  27:03   And this is what intrigues me about regenerative agriculture. I know this is a whole nother subject for someone who probably but as a we, as a plant biologist, and ecologist, you know, actually choosing plants that we want to be there without causing problems. Again, the voles, the legumes with maybe some other virus problems can be, but I think choosing these plants is going to be so important. But you know, it's interesting, I had someone call me and they wanted to start using regenerative agriculture. And I told them, you know, your first three years are going to be really hard I go, you have to choose the right plants, you're going to probably maybe even have some reduced yields. And they said, Well, why John, because my friend has been doing it 25 years, and he's doing great, because his soil knows what to do. So anytime we make that transition and transitioning to this under vine cover cropping. And there has been places in the past where we've tried to use a listen. But listen, because of insects and some other things. The problem with alyssum is after about three or four years, it gets to be about four feet thick. It's one of these things, it's good for a while, but after it kind of takes over, it can cause some holding in moisture and doing some other things. I mean, some people again, depending on how fertile your soil is, you know, some places it may not be a problem, but we have to look at it on a vineyard by vineyard scale. And that's been the thing about herbicides is you don't have to think about the basically the vineyard by vineyard,   Craig Macmillan  28:24  We're basically at a time but don't ask your boys. Is there one particular thing that you would say to grape growers on this topic of let's just say mechanical?   John Roncoroni  28:34  On the whole subject of weeds, Craig, I just want to say that they need to know their weeds better. Right? I know it sounds like I always have a chip on my shoulder. And now that we have to right thing about glyphosate is they really didn't have to think about didn't have to think about their weeds. So there's there's two things I want to know we're almost out of time, but we are out of time. But there's two things I want to say about this real quickly. And I know it's mechanical, but those people who are still using chemicals, they could do a better job. Right new nozzle shielding timing, think more about put as much time and effort into thinking about the weeds as you do about insects and pathogens. Know your plants. Don't just say I'm going to do this. It doesn't matter what the weeds are, know your weeds, know their biology. Know the timing, no matter what kind of control you're doing. And then once you do, get the best tool, like if you are still spraying in certain situations in certain vineyards, use new drip reducing nozzles, use shielded sprayers when you do mechanical, you know, don't just get that old thing that like you said, that's been sitting out in the back, right? Look at the kind of machine that you want to use what we do have, I think when it comes to weed control, the whole industry could do a much better job. Okay, one of the things that I put a slide up one time and I said look, I understand pathogens first and then insects, and then weeds and someone got up and corrected me and they said John, that's wrong. I said Oh really? They go? Yeah, it's pathogens, insects, fertilizers and weeds. Right so weeds and when it comes to weeds being third weeds are not just third weeds or a distant third. They only think for me about all the cons Diversity that's happened is that people have to think about weeds again, they have to go back to knowing what we knew before that before they all started using chemicals.   Craig Macmillan  30:07  So that makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Our guest today has been John Ron crony. He is Weed Science firm advisor emeritus with UC Cooperative Extension, UC Agriculture Natural Resources. I followed you from afar for a long time. And I'm very excited to get you on the podcast. This has been a great conversation. Yeah, there's so much more to talk about, and I'm sure that we will, we will reconvene at some point.   Nearly perfect transcription by https://otter.ai

In this Episode we speak with Dr Stephanie Larson, County Director and Livestock Range Management Advisor and Director of University of California Cooperative Extension, Sonoma County about fires in Sonoma county, rangeland management and how cattle can help.Match Graze

Ron Finley grew up in the Harvard Park area of South Los Angeles, the middle child in a large family. Everyday, school was a battle. Toward the end of high school, he was diagnosed with dyslexia and finally learned to read.When Ron was a teenager, he felt frustrated because “I wanted to have the kind of clothes you see in the movies, but nothing fit right.” With $15 he went to a tailor and got his pants altered. They fit great, but he couldn't afford to keep going to a tailor. When he was 15, he used the family sewing machine to make his own clothes.At 16, he was making clothes for family and friends; when he was 17 he got a scholarship to enroll in the Los Angeles Trade Technical College fashion design program. He bought his first power sewing machine, and in 1984, created DropDead Collecxions, tailored clothes in natural fabrics for men and women that were sold in high-end stores. By 1998 he had completed a 12-week entrepreneurial training class at USC to grow his business, but in 2008 when the recession came, the sales stopped.During that time he Went to the store and saw a tomato with a sign that said “may be coated with shellac” and started noticing a pattern.Ron Got tired of seeing people dying of curable diseases. Got tired of seeing the obesity rate in his neighborhood 5x that of beverly hills, only 8-10 miles awayFinley, who studied gardening in a UC Cooperative Extension class taught by Florence Nishida, later hooked up with Nishida and a couple of other folks to address what they call the food desert in South Los Angeles, where healthful options are in short supply. The group is called L.A. Green Grounds.So he Planted food in the parkway in front of his house, 10ft x 150ftIts owned by the city, but you maintain itSomeone complained. City issued a citation. Then a warrant followed. Because he grew some food in his yard. Think about that.Someone started a petition and got 900 signatures. Issue was dropped and the law changed.In 2017, The house that Ron rents and has established this jam packed garden had gone up for auction and the new owner had tried to evict him. There was a fundraising campaign and over $500,000 was donated for the Ron Finley Project to own the home outrightIn his 2013 TED talk, he explains thatOver 20 million people in the US have to travel more than 3 miles to get fresh food, something not from a canIt's unclear if he started the phrase “Growing your own food is like printing your own money”But I'm pretty sure he Coined the term “plant some shit”So ron started a “plant some money” campaignHe and his group marched a planned route, 3 miles and stopped in front of the Federal Reserve building, and planted some custom made dollars with ron finley's face on itAt plantsomemoney.com you can get your own kit to grow your food at homeTheres a little shovel on one side that has seeds attached to it.Probably what he's known best for is turning an old dresser drawer into a small garden. Got lots of replies and pictures on instagram and facebookHe can't afford to fill the swimming pool in his backyard, so instead of it sitting empty, it's used for growing more plants, teaching classes, hosting presentations, and even some lunches and dinners.He doesn't like using the term guerilla gardening because that implies secrecy and neglect. He wants to garden out in the open and care for itRon tells a story of a mother and her child taking food from his garden around 10:30 at night. He talks with the lady saying that he purposely put it on the street for people to come take and eatThat's the kind of community he's building by making gardening sexy. Becoming a Gangsta Gardener. Not drive thrus and drive bysRon has traveled the world encouraging people to grow their own food that's healthy and free of harmful chemicals.He still resides in Los AngelesFarmHopLife websiteFarmHopLife #20x23projectFarmHopLife Linktreesource 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, source 7, source 8image credit: Theo Jemison

The Board of Supervisors heard an update last week on the non-lethal wildlife exclusionary program. They also proceeded with the development of a pilot program that would ask voters to approve the creation of a benefit zone to assess residents of Brooktrails and surrounding areas to maintain evacuation routes on private roads. And, while supervisors concluded that the county is not in a position to craft an ordinance to protect riparian areas and wetlands, they agreed to have Supervisor Glenn McGourty work with relevant agencies to collect maps of Mendocino County to organize the information about those areas. The county no longer has a contract with USDA's Wildlife Services, which offered non-lethal as well as lethal solutions to problems people have with wild animals. Citizens groups complained that Wildlife Services killed hundreds of animals that did not present a problem, while the agency itself insisted that the majority of its calls resulted in non-lethal assistance. Acting Ag Commissioner Andrew Smith told the Board that members of the public can contact either his department or county Animal Services for small wildlife nuisance animals. California Fish and Wildlife deals with larger nuisance animals or sick, injured, or orphaned wild animals. CDFW is the only agency that can issue a depredation permit for wildlife conflicts. The UC Cooperative Extension offers education and surveys about non-lethal wildlife control. Maps were key to the next two discussions. Residents in Brooktrails have already used the private FirCo road to evacuate during the Oak Fire. There are memorandums of understanding in place to continue using that road as well as the sewer easement road, but Department of Transportation Director Howard Dashiell said that LAFCO, the Local Agency Formation Commission, was seeking a durable written recorded right, plus a district boundary map to form a community services district. He confessed that his figures were “spitball numbers,” but he estimated that the cost of that would be about $100,000. Ongoing maintenance, he estimated, would be $45-50,000 a year. The aim is to cover the costs by assessing each parcel that would use the evacuation route a certain fee, perhaps $30 a year. Keith Rutledge, of Sherwood Firewise communities, told the Board he's confident that residents would vote to approve the benefit zone to maintain the evacuation routes. “These access routes can be used by CalFire or the sheriff or any emergency personnel, with or without maintenance, with or without access agreements for public emergency purposes,” he said. “We're not talking about permission for use for emergency access. We're talking about permission to maintain the vegetation along those routes so they can be used for evacuation. When CalFire comes through and bulldozes through an area to get access to something they don't currently have, they will come back and repair that. Typically, they'll come back and do the wattling and the stream restoration. It takes a long time, but they do take responsibility for the damages they cause. So if there were some terrible situation where there were damages caused, that would be the case. However, what we're trying to do is create a road surface that can be used by emergency vehicles that has the clearings and turnouts and all the safety features so that there won't be those damages, and they can quickly respond, like they did during the Oak incident.” The Board voted to send Dashiell back to LAFCO with a revocable license for the project, and to proceed with a ballot. In environmental policy, the Board heard from senior CDFW scientist Jennifer Garrison about the need to establish protections for riparian, stream and wetland areas. She began by summing up their fragility, and their role in the ecosystem. “California has lost 91% of its wetlands,” she said. “And in CDFW's northern region, which induces Mendocino County, it is estimated that only 25% of riparian habitats remain, due to land conversion and development…wetlands and riparian corridors benefit us all, humans, wildlife, and the environment. They contribute to the scenic value of Mendocino County and are host to many recreational activities. They store floodwater, protect land and structures against erosion, storm surges and flooding. Wetlands recharge groundwater and riparian corridors, trap sediment, and filter pollutants, preventing those substances from entering streams. Wetlands are habitat for over half of the listed threatened and endangered species in California. These areas are vital habitat for the majority of wildlife species as they provide water, food, and movement corridors. They are also the primary habitat for many mammal, bird, and amphibian species.” Garrison said CDFW supports setbacks from waterways, but that would reduce the amount of usable land on riparian or streamside parcels. Supervisor John Haschak siad the proposal was to seek a grant to hire a consultant who could figure out how to balance environmental and developmental interests. Interim assistant planning and building services director Nash Gonzalez said the earliest the county would be able to start crafting a protection policy would be 2026. “For an ordinance like this, the function is, you have to develop a scope of what it is that you want to achieve,” he told the Board. “You have to look at the big picture. And the big picture is, the protection of riparian resources. Well, you have to do the mapping. You have to look at someone to manage the project. Obviously, the Executive Office can work with the grants writer to look for a grant. But once you find the grant, who's going to manage the project? Because there's no free grant money out there. Somehow you have to bring some money, and that match might be from the General Fund…The other thing, too, is, it's been my understanding from this Board and previous Boards, is that the county's priority right now is housing. As you start limiting development on parcels, you are also going to start limiting the availability of housing in those areas. At what point do you say, this works, or this doesn't work. And that's part of the scope.” In light of funding and staffing shortages to proceed with a robust policy at this time, the Board tapped McGourty to identify what kinds of high-quality LIDAR and GIS maps already exist for Mendocino County.

Dan joins UC Cooperative Extension wildlife experts Dr. Carolyn Whitesell and Breanna Martinico to talk about all things critters - predators, beneficial (and potentially problematic) birds, and livestock protection tools.

November 7, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution proclaiming a local emergency related to tree mortality last week. The Board also agreed to prioritize one water project per district and hire a consultant to organize what it will take to carry out the projects. Supervisor John Haschak noted that trees are dying off at an alarming rate in all the county's ecosystems, due in large part to increased aridity and bark beetles. The bark beetles, which have long plagued fir trees, are now also making inroads in redwood and hardwood forests, which haven't been stressed by the infestation until recently. He summed up what he hoped to accomplish with the resolution. “Not only do we need to replant trees, but we also need to create healthy forests,” he said. “That's one of the critical issues in combating this tree mortality, is that our forests are stressed, not only from the aridity, the drought, but also from overcrowding and some of those other issues. So we need to look at the holistic approach of how do we manage these forests, and how do we create healthy forests? So if we can get grant funding to do that and focus on those kinds of issues, that's what we're trying to get.” Haschak added that he expects the resolution will bring the county in line with neighboring jurisdictions and the rest of the state, which in 2014 declared a tree mortality emergency. The declaration eight years ago stated that “the scale of this tree die-off is unprecedented in modern history;” and predicted that it will contribute to wildfires that will release thousands of tons of pollutants and be beyond the capacities of the firefighting systems in place. Supervisor Ted Williams had a provocative and still unanswered question about dead standing trees. “Supervisor Haschak, do you think it's a good idea to continue poisoning trees, given that we already have so many dead from natural causes?” he asked. “Are you talking about Measure V?” Haschak asked. Williams clarified that he was, and Haschak replied, “Well, we weren't looking at that issue in this. We were looking at this global tree die-off that's happening, whether they're poisoned or not.” Elizabeth Salamone, the general manager of the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District, offered a comment on how forest health is connected to water quality. “We need surface water and groundwater sustainability in order to support the forests,” she declared. “And there will be, and is, grant funding that supports nature-based solutions, which need to happen across many sectors, across many agencies, a lot of collaboration in that, so that water-based issues can work hand-in-hand with the reforestation.” Salamone was on hand to offer her services to help collect data from the county's 42 water agencies, after Supervisor Glenn McGourty presented on the five top priority water projects for a consultant to take up with a water agency, once the consultant is hired and the agency is up and running. An exact price tag for the agency remains elusive, but the county is working on a draft memorandum of understanding with the UC Cooperative Extension office, in hopes of taking some of the burden off of county staff. The extension plans to start recruiting for a hydrology and climate change advisor starting early next year. McGourty started with the first district, where he reported that a joint powers authority is working to consolidate the water districts of the Ukiah Valley. This is in keeping with the goals of the state water agencies, which he says have funding available for the purpose. In the second district, he cited groundwater recharge, which would divert some of the Russian River's overflow onto a flood plain, where, theoretically, it would infiltrate the water table. He suggested Riverside Park on the eastern end of Ukiah for a pilot project. He said the priority for the third district was mapping the groundwater basins, and reported that Round Valley has already received funding to start the task. He suggested more reservoirs for the fourth district, including floating solar panels to reduce evaporation and provide some power. For the fifth district, he said the top priority is the long-wished-for modernization or replacement of the wastewater treatment plant, which has a price tag of $4 million and is still in the conceptual design phase. Williams said the projects were not the final list, but that the Board asked for it to make sure that any funds for water projects were spread equally around the county. “Glenn came to us with a request for money,” he recalled; “and I think we said, it looks like it could all go to, say, the Potter Valley Project, and we need to make sure there's improvements all throughout the county. There's water problems everywhere, and the request was that Supervisor McGourty come back with a plan that provided a project in each district.” The Potter Valley Project, while not forgotten, remains uncertain. “You think we have trouble figuring our budget out,” McGourty said, after recapping the current state of affairs. ”This is something that's a much bigger puzzle.” Chantal Simonpietri, a private environmental consultant, had a process question. “I participated in the advisory group that was to form the water agency,” she said. “I don't know where that ended up. We spent a lot of time on calls with a very well-paid outside hired consulting group to facilitate that process. What I appreciated about that, though, was that it was truly a stakeholder-driven process and full stakeholder input. And my concern with this is…where is the stakeholder process that went into informing that these are the five priorities, like one per district?” McGourty acknowledged her points, saying, “Remember, this isn't a total list. These are just things that were kind of prioritized that I picked up from numerous drought ad hoc meetings that Supervisor Haschak and I convened last year and this year, and also involvement with the Ukiah Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency and the Mendocino Inland Water and Power Commission. So it is stakeholder driven, but just not in an organized way.” The Board voted unanimously to approve the five proposed projects, hire a consultant, and outline the staff time needed for each project. Haschak expressed reservations before the vote. “We spent $307,000 on a consultant who should have done this work that we're talking about now,” he recalled. “That's why I'm hesitant to go the consultant route. But if that's what we need to do, that's what we need to do. We need a water agency. We have needs. And we need to be active in this grant game with the state.”

Join Lata Murti as she speaks with guests Jeff Wade, co-chair of San Luis Obispo (SLO) Food System Coalition (FSC) and Executive Director of Slow Money SLO, Shannon Klisch, co-chair of the SLO Food System Coalition and Academic Coordinator with UC Cooperative Extension in SLO and Santa Barbara Counties and Brent Burchett, Executive Director of San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau, SLOFood System Coalition Steering Committee Member. They will discuss the health and economic importance of building and maintaining a strong, sustainable local food system.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 10/13/2022Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi, known as AMF, has an interesting an important relationship with plants, grapevines included. AMF helps vines take up mineral nutrients, creates a layer of protection from pathogens by occupying plant cells, and seems to improve soil structure and water movement.  In turn, grapevines supply carbohydrates to the fungus. Scientists believe the pant calculates the value of giving carbon in exchange for nutrients provided by the AMF. Tian Tian, Viticulture Farm Advisor, Cooperative Extension Kern County, UC Cooperative Extension studies this super host relationship between grapevines and AMF to determine how farmers can cultivate this natural alliance. She also covers how different Nitrogen applications impact wine flavor. A winemaker can create tropical notes or clean flavors in Chardonnay through soil, foliar or winery applications of Nitrogen. References: 28: Understanding Soil Health 72: Soil Microbes and Nutrient Availability Appropriate Time to Measure Leaf and Stem Water Potential (Abstract only) Dr. Tian Tian, Cooperative Extension Kern County Impact of Nitrogen Fertilizer or Nitrogen Wine Additions on Productivity and Sensory Outcomes (Abstract only) Managing Nitrogen in the Vineyard and the Winery Efficiently SIP Certified Sustainable Ag Expo November 14-16, 2022 | Use code PODCAST for $50 off The Effect of Soil Nitrogen Enrichment on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (Video) 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   Today is Dr. Tian Tian Viticultural Farm Advisor with Corporate Extension, Kern County, part of the UC Corporate Extension system. Dr. Tian, thank you for being with us today.   Dr Tian Tian  0:11  Thanks for having me.   Craig Macmillan  0:12  Can you tell us a little bit what's your role as a Viticulture Farm Advisor? That's a term that we hear but we don't always know kind of what it means.   Dr Tian Tian  0:19  My title is a Viticulture Farm Advisor. So there's a three components involved in my job extension, research and education. So a lot of times what we do is we help growers to solve problems, through farm calls and to find better solutions for their problems through a research project. And if they are something, knowledge have been obtained through research or other sources, we communicate with growers and to inform them the availability of those knowledge. And the meanwhile, education is occurred during this process. Specifically for Kern County, this is a big area for grape production. So 60% of the grape in the county are table grapes, and close to 30% are wine grapes, and 10% is a rasin grapes. The nature of my work, I work close with table grape growers, then to help them to solve the production issues they may have. And they're teaching me a lot of things along the way.   Craig Macmillan  1:20  I'm sure. I'm sure. So you have a role directly with farmers.   Dr Tian Tian  1:25  Yeah, yeah, it's way, a lot of times we find those research questions in the vineyard and a grower call us to say, for example, last year, was it delayed, the spring grows, a lot of them are observed. Stunted growth, and they're just wondering what's happened. And then that is actually as a start off me to look into what it is the reasons lead to the problem. And next year, what can we do better. And then, early this year, when we have our annual meeting and a rower come and they just say, Okay, now we know how there's some practice we can use to avoid the problem again, and how to adjust our practice based on the weather we got in certain years. And what other things we should taking, taking consideration when making management practices. All of those has been a really beneficial for both sides. I learned a lot from them, and then they actually benefited from the extension work were doing.   Craig Macmillan  2:25  That's really great. And I'm glad that that exists. And I'm glad you're on the job there in Kern. And prior to that you have done a lot of research in the area of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. And also in terms of the effects of nitrogen, either as fertilizer or natural uptake, into vines and impacts on buying productivity and also on wine quality and all of that. Mycorrhizal fungi are something that a lot of us hear about. We're aware of. We know they're important. It's part of the soil biome, but I think a lot of us can use at least a refresher course. What exactly are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi? What is the role that they play in the soil microbiome?   Dr Tian Tian  3:05  That's a really good question. Actually. I feel arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is probably a one group of the fungus were no more than a lot of other groups. The reason for that is arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi actually form the fungal structure inside of the critical cell of grapevine roots. And it's probably something happened million years ago that grapevine just decided they really liked this a friend. So for a lot of roots, we have looking at 80, let me say 60 to 95% of the root cells are a critical cells are colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. And so it's kind of a reflection about how how tight those association is. So in terms of what does the fungus do, there's a main, the three main roles we know. The top is to help the plants to take mineral nutrients from the soil. So especially those fully mobile ones and the ones we know more than others is a phosphorus. So it's in the vineyard where you have low phosphorus availability, the day you fumigat it and then just kill that AMF inoculum and your ends up with a stunted vine because phosphorus deficiency and it has been observed in the past. But once you innoculate with AMSF they're improving the efficiency of obtain those fully mobile nutrients. And the second thing we believe or it needs more research into the area is because they have a lot of fungal structure is a high fast growing in the soil. So they improve the aggregation of the soil and then improve the water movement in the soil. So that is, that is a new area where or kind of the newer research or dive into it is maybe the grapevines are also say creating a lot of the, let's say sugar or other compounds a carbohydrate compounds through AMF hyphae. And so it's influencing the soil microbial community in that way. So it is a really interesting fungus where they have part leaving the plants and apart out of the plants, and also there have a critical contribution to grapes. But it's a fair trade when the AMF is working hard to grow the hyphae through to explore the soil for those mineral nutrients. And the grapevines are supply carbohydrate to those fungus as well. So what they caught is a fair trade market. In other crop, what they find is actually the plants were reward the AMF be able to deliver the more resources they need.   Craig Macmillan  5:54  So are AMF actually do they play the role of kind of an extension of the roots? They're bringing resources to the root?   Dr Tian Tian  6:03  Yeah, kind of you can understand that way they consider the the high face or extension of the roots. But there's other arguments is a hybrid much stronger as compared to a roots. So what is probably not a really close analogy. So what we find is the root length off a grapevine is kind of the distance your walk your dog in a day, but the length of the hyphae the vine can hold is the probably the lens you can kind of make a circle around the earth for at least one circle. So yeah, because there's lower construction cost, if you have thinner hyphae compare with grapevine roots, which is thicker as compared to grass and as a crop. But that data is only opt in to from our greenhouse trial. It's does not necessarily mena its representing what happened in the natural environment.   Craig Macmillan  7:03  How do you study the stuff in the natural environment? This seems really hard. You're talking about things that are finer and sounds like very fragile, even compared to roots. And if you're growing things in like a clay, clay loam soil, it seems like it'd be hard to tease these little bits out or to study how things moved or anything. How do you do it in the field?   Dr Tian Tian  7:22  Yeah, so in the field, what our focus is we focus on the roots, it is really difficult to get even in the greenhouse where the vines growing in a confined space, but those hyphae are really hard to pick up from the soil. And then to find them to isolate them and to evaluate them is really difficult. But there's a certain protocol can be used to study that area. It's just not that what I did for my PhD. My PhD advisor was left with all those. So what my my PhD work focused is I'm looking into arbusbular actually living in the roots, they were formed a tree like a beautiful structure called arbusbular actually living in the roots, they were formed a tree like a beautiful structure called el bosque, you're the frequency of those albacore show up and the intensity of their basket or, or even the size of them are a reflection of the nutrient exchange between the two partners. So what I did is we're we're collecting rock samples, both in the field and also in the greenhouse to clean it up, and then to stain the roots and a molded glass plate, and then to look under scope. So we could say how different treatment has effect, basically, the association of grapevines and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. But in addition to that, we'll look into plant grows, plant nutrient status and to track it during the season. And so in our list work, give us some idea about what happening. It's a big complicated puzzle and a wedge, I find it's really fascinating, but may allow it to make it a different area to study albacore. The frequency of those arbuscular show up and the intensity of their arbuscular or, or even the size of them are a reflection of the nutrient exchange between the two partners. So what I did is we're we're collecting root samples, both in the field and also in the greenhouse to clean it up, and then to stain the roots and mount it on a glass plate, and then to look under scope. So we could say how different treatment has effect, basically, the association of grapevines and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. But in addition to that, we'll look into plant grows, plant nutrient status and to track it during the season. And so in our list work, give us some idea about what happening. It's a big complicated puzzle and a which, I find it's really fascinating, but may allow it to make it a different area to study.   Craig Macmillan  9:01  Right, right. Right, right. This is a silly question, I guess. But there's no silly questions. So is it fair to say that more AMF is better for crop?   Dr Tian Tian  9:12  That's actually a really good question. We're trying to find the answer is not an optimal level. It's like wow, what my wines are 80% of the fine roots of my vine our colonized and away call it good. It's more complicated than that. If we're thinking about a question like this is first if you like you're in your vineyard, and you do your leaf petiol or leaf blade and nutrient test your phosphorus or has never been really a problem. So for us, that's an indication that the vines, the association between mycorrhizal and the grapevines are working and then so if that does not really work, and the way you're using the test you say a phosphorus is a probably mineral nutrient or tell you how good the bond is. And another thing is grapevine we consider it as a super host. They love AMF. So listen, it's how it happened is glorified probably pretty efficient in terms of fixed cover so they can afford to allocate those were like to contribute to the AMF to you know, to establish a good relationship. And another thing for plants is they need to consider if I give the carbon to the it's not that smart of the process, but that's how we think that's happened is the grapevine so will have a way to semi calculate how much carbon you get or how much things like nutrient you can get from that. So what they find is with the amount of carbohydrate they supply, and it's more efficient to allow the fungus to do the job to get the bio nutrients. And then there's other benefits off AMF is there whilst they occupied the cells and a lot of time the the pathogens are hard to get into the into the roots and to serve as a layer of protection. That is area more research is dive into under to say how good it works. So in general, I would think not exactly more AMF is better. Its the plant make it's a choice that based on the situation. But for other samples I have a look at in Oregon and the roots are colonized really well. With that being said, Oregon is an area where we have more radical soil where the availablity is relatively low. And so that's maybe why we say a really high colonization rate. I'm curious to see what happened California.   Yeah, absolutely. And that was leads to my next question is as far as we know right now what are the conditions that promote AMF populations?   Well we find is in general adding AMF is a different story if you're have you have no fumigation going on your vineyard is relatively healthy on a you don't run into other issues it is really not clear to us if you're inoculated certain you wouls day more beneficial AMF will lead to a better growth. That part of the data or is to your liking because if you apply to to the greenhouse it does not representing what happened in the field if you put in the field it is just really hard to do that you probably need to mix your soil with also inoculum right and and now there's a some product say you can mix it in the liquid and then there were significantly increase the amount of colonization but there's so many different ways to look at the fungus so it's added to a lot of vague area what we're gonna be doing. So but in general, what we're finding is if you have have legume as your cover crop legume is a host for AMF and so they're able to increase kind of both of the AMF population. So if you are thinking about to grow a new you establish a new vineyards and the you have the history nutrient limitation, I will just say use legume would be a good choice. And on the other hand mustard is not AMF host but it has been using cover crop some people were saying it's were released some of the compounds that were feter nemotodes so that's a totally different story. Yeah, so for me the best way it's not really add more AMF and the vine will bemore healthy. A lot of time what happened is in the vineyard there the vines and afff are both pretty happy and they have a good relationship. Actually we tried really hard to to increase nitrogen fertilization rate and able to shake that relationship a little bit so they're bonds are pretty tight and then it's if you are not running into a huge issue that is maybe it's the AMF inoculation and potential is low or that's a certain things in the vineyard and welcome to discuss that was me however interested know. And then the last thinkg that happens, you really it's I want to say most of the time, the AMF in your soil will be sufficient to help your vines to get the fully mobile nutrients like phosphorus, Zinc, copper from the soil.   Craig Macmillan  14:31  Are there ways that I can test to see whether I've hit that threshold?   Dr Tian Tian  14:37  There's a test you can run to see the inoculum potential and then just to say feel filled is a safe, but generally that is happens normally in a research lab. Yeah, there's not any commercial lab I know of there were collector root, route samples, because that's a tedious process. You're collecting the routes and the unit to pick only the fine routes, not all the woody roots you can, the AMF does not live there. Then you need to clean them really well, stain it at a look at it under the scope and evolve in like way, we have a great system and then to great how much the roots got colonized. So while the way we're used mostly to say where a problem occurred is look at leaf petiol and leaf blade, phosphorous status and I felt that's the most easiest way you can now if there's a problem. But the threshold if a nutrient is deficient or sufficient, that's another another topic.   Craig Macmillan  15:36  There's kind of a proxy variable there that I can actually look at my soil phosphorus, it's maybe not mobile, then I can then look at what the what the deficiencies are, sufficiency are in the vine and say, hey, you know, I'm guessing that I don't have a lot of mycorrhizal activity here. arbuscular mycorrhizal activity here because I'm not seeing that phosphorus moving, there's plenty there, but it's not moving into the plant. So that seems like a good kind of guide. What things can go or do if anything to encourage AMF in their soil? Assume its there, relationship with the grapevine. Maybe I'm not seeing the kind of transport that I think I would like to see which would make sense what can I do to help move that process along recurs as populations?   Dr Tian Tian  16:18  Okay, so that's kind of a dive into a really good question. So a lot of times, people weill think AMF is able to assess a different pool of phosphorus as compared to grapevine, that's really not true for AMF or they're assessing all the inorganic phosphorus in the soil. So a lot of times the availability of phosphorus in the soil is changing based on the soil pH if you have a really low pH soil you're probably outline prior to planting to bring up the pH and a like that. But there's no really a particular thinkg you're really do in the vineyard to bolster up the AMF population as long as you have a good canopy growth canopy create a couple of hydrate without carbohydrate AMF wont. It's it's a kind of both it's a fair market trade thing. If the grapevine is because in some of the experimental way wrong and the way keep the nitrogen rate really low so the vines are not really growing and we have say the arbuscular frequency in the fine roots are decreasing. Our understanding of that is so the grapevine says I tried really hard but I just cannot supply the carbohydrate you be happy with. So AMF just said okay, you know what I will do what I can do I'm not as happy as when you give me more but I will do what the job I can possibly offer right. Well you have a decent Canopy Growth and your nitrogen is kind of in the middle they reach you know a happy relationship is, yeah, you know what I am ready to share with my carbohydrate and AMF say okay, I'll give you the maximum benefits. But if you are in the vineyard you have really high nitrogen status which mainly happens in research not really I've noticed that you weren't dump a lot of nitrogen if that happens. And so the vines say maybe I have you know enough ability to grow the roots I think our be less dependent on AMF or the nitrogen you add in actually is regulating some part of AMF and AMF is okay, I feel my function our association our relationship is affected the cell that I decided to colonize les. So actually there's quite a bit of research going on to tease this apart out but so far we don't know which is a key part that is playing in terms of how AMF and the plants out there are regulating each other.   Craig Macmillan  18:44  So we know a little bit but we don't know if mentioned Oregon soils and so at this point, what do we know about AMF and soil and other particular soil that seems to do well and you find it more frequently here there's others were really shows up at all.   Dr Tian Tian  18:57  Yeah, well I was thinking about this question because when we're thinking about soil type that's including a lot of things the texture the pH the organic matter the so so I'm am still really learning about California to the soil here and then I haven't got to dive into the roots yet. So what happened in Oregon is there some more clay and loam soil there generally with AMF of the hyphae of the fungus are pretty powerful in terms of explore the soil and a few have little pore and the roots cannot grow and lead and the hyphae. So when we grow plants in the greenhouse where we have have soil and have sand and the AMF of colonization is about 75 to 95 even 100. And that is a similar to what we got from field where we have more clay loam soil. So I would say soil texture or soil type may have some effects, but I'm not so clear on how big the impact is. In terms of the lifecycle, or the impact of AMF I found the plants.   Craig Macmillan  20:04  So moving to California, welcome, very glad to have you as a farmer advisor in Kern County, and you've been doing some research here recently. That's kind of exciting. Would you want to tell us a little bit a little bit about that things related to nitrogen fertilization and things related to wind quality and nitrogen uptake? You've done some interesting stuff on that.   Dr Tian Tian  20:23  My Nitrogen work is also work I did in in Oregon, and my colleague, Dr. Matthew, Fidelibus in Cardiac Center, and he's doing more work in table grapes. Than they have a bigger project to find a more efficient way and easier way to look into plant to vine nutrient need and how you're going to fertilize. So for my work in Oregon, is to start with a simple question. If you want to add in nitrogen, should you add it in the vineyard or in the winery. Because nitrogen is a essential nutrient for the grapevines but also essential nutrients for the yeast, you can either adding nitrogen to the soil or to the foliage in the vineyard, or you can just keep the nitrogen low in the vineyard and then the added in the winery. And in the winery you can have a two form of nitrogen you can add a one is diammonium phosphate, and then or you can add organic and supplements like those those products and have a lot of people are selling. At the beginning of the research is we want to find a which one relates to about her wine quality in chardonnay and also in Pinot Noir. What previous work in Oregon what my PhD advisor Dr. Paul Schreiner did is he find that maintaining a low nitrogen status in Oregon vineyard is not a bad idea. The yield is less responsive to nitrogen status as compared to the canopy grows the vegetative growth, if you're changing nitrogen application rate, you're saying the response pretty significantly. And then so that is one benefits. And second is from the wines they made they point to the low nitrogen wise actually gave more floral aromas. And then the color is darker. So it's related to a better quality in the sense of you know, sensory and appearance of the wine and all those things. They think lower nitrogen may be the way to go. But that research is did in our research farm where they have put the device in 50 gallon big pots, so they can control the fertilization. It's not really a commercial production setting. So my PhD work is to focus on okay, let's think about that were to add in nitrogen and water to relate to. So what we actually find is adding nitrogen to the soil in the vineyard affected the wine sensory quality more than other treatments, where you've highlighted in the trial, and we say a more clear in fact, in shadow neck than Pinot Noir. The reason is not really a varietals, only varieties are different. It's also because the Chardonnay block where you'd have lower nitrogen depth status to start with. Yeah, so what we're finding is if you're adding nitrogen to the soil, and then the finish wine, the Chardonnay, we're have more tropical aroma, the pashion fruit trait that is a famous for sauvignon blanc producing New Zealand. So a lot of people like those more fruity drink wine, but if you wanted to Oak Chardonnay, and then to maintain a more, the winemaker calls it clean characteristics, and then data where bring more potential during the aging process. We say the soil aliance brings more the rather fruit characters, like a berry, like the cherry, and the plum, or it's kind of in that category, I need to go back to dive into my own notes. But what what generally we find is soil nitrogen application in the bigger cause and effect on the wine thatn foliar application in the vineyard or adding nitrogen in the winery.   Craig Macmillan  24:10  In a positive way?   Dr Tian Tian  24:11  Well, we were considered as winemaker can use it as a tool to make wines in a different style. So if you want your wines to be more fruity or have these and that characters, there's a something you could do just kind of just other just a practice you're already using in the vineyard and to achieve that.   Craig Macmillan  24:31  You talked about two topics here. And so I'm gonna ask the same question regarding the kind of both of them is it what is the one thing that you would advise or would recommend to a grape grower regarding AMF and maybe soil health just kind of in general?   Dr Tian Tian  24:46  Wow. Theres so many things. But in general what I, I have been thinking about this question a lot because now soil health is a big topic, no matter whichever area would dive into and not only grower, consumer wants to have a fruit a coming from, a vineyard that is more sustainable operated. One advice I would have is adding organic matter back to this compost is good. There's a lot of things, it does not need to be so fancy. And it'll work kind of increase the if organic matter basically adding food to the soil microbe microbial community, right, there's different parts, and each of them are playing a role. And we do a lot of bio genome kind of study, who is there, but what they're doing is a series of things we don't know. And so that is a good thing. And the second is, so I'm only allowed to say one thing?   Craig Macmillan  25:47  Go ahead and say a second thing.   Dr Tian Tian  25:51  Okay. So the second thing I always think is just look at do your leaf petiol or blade, nutrient. The threshold stablished by research. That's a lot of work into it, but it is representing a limited number of vineayrd. If you have a record for your own vineyard, you want to feel more comfortable about how you manage the nutrition.   Craig Macmillan  26:15  Now that said, just do one thing I'm going to now I have to ask a follow up question. What's your recommendation for how to add organic matter? What do you think are the best ways to do that?   Dr Tian Tian  26:24  Well, a good question. Actually, I was thinking about I would dive more into that as a research trial. So a lot of growers in our region do, they were just lay on the compost kind of on the surface around the vine. So there's a benefit is actually like, yeah, slowly releasing fertilizer. But some people will say add the planting, you can incorporate it into the soil a little bit, or even after planting, you can incorporate it into the soil. Yes, you're improve part of the roots, but you're also adding nutrients back to the soil where the roots can easily access. The answer is I'm not so sure what is a best idea. And also, now they have a liquid for an organic fertilizer on the market and so there is another way other than to use a compost, there's another form of fertilizer you can add and that is organic certified and then provide organic matter to the soil.   Craig Macmillan  27:16  Now going back to nitrogen, what is one thing that you would recommend to grape grower regarding their nitrogen management?   Dr Tian Tian  27:23  Oh, okay, monitored closely, and they don't fertilize too much. But as of this year, the fertilizer price is increased to 30 to 40%. I think over fertilization is really not an option. But it's more like I feel growers like to take care of babies, you'll you look at their needs, and then you you know, you do the physical exam, to understand what's happening, and then you'll fertilize it based on that. Block to block may be different. And the variety to a variety can be different. And then the more you know about them, and then the more you can help them to gather to the level of of canopy growth and the fruit quality you're shooting for.   Craig Macmillan  28:05  And that's gonna have everything to do with taking those petiol and leaf blade samples and keeping records and then comparing them to what your outcomes are.   Dr Tian Tian  28:13  Not only that, it's also including looking at the vineyard and to walk through to to look at the canopy. If you're thinking about a petiol nutrient test, they're testing concentration, right, and then the threshold established our concentration. But how the concentration of those nutrients is decided by the canopy size. Okay, the vine grows, have some ideas on aware, research are looking into easier ways to monitor in vine rows so you can compare a year to a year. And a lot of times it catches the onset of the problem is really important. And then we're always learning I feel agriculture is a learning business. Every year we'll learn something new and next year we're doing something better.   Craig Macmillan  28:58  That is very wise. Where can people find out more about you and your work?   Dr Tian Tian  29:02  Welcome to visit the UCC Kern website and then also feel free you can find my email my phone there and then feel free to call or email and I'm happy to help if there's any anything I could do to make your life happier and you will be happier.   Craig Macmillan  29:18  And then we will have links to those things in the show notes. I want to thank our guest today Dr. Tian Tian Viticulture Farm Advisor, Cooperative Extension, Kern County UC Cooperative Extension, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. And thank you for sharing your knowledge. I think you're gonna be a real benefit to the region. And we really appreciate you having this job.   Dr Tian Tian  29:35  Thank you. That is a so fun to chat about my research work and all those interesting things. The grape world is happening.   Craig Macmillan  29:44  It is a really, really fun and I think that's why people like this podcast, especially me, this is so much fun for me. Anyway, enough about that, you know, thank you so much.   Dr Tian Tian  29:55  Thanks for having me.   Transcribed by https://otter.ai

August 8, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors agreed in a narrow vote last week to approve the idea of a water agency. During budgeting in June, the board agreed to allocate $250,000 from the PG&E settlement to form the agency. And, to comply with a new law, SB 552, which requires drought planning, the board agreed unanimously to formalize the drought task force into a standing committee, consisting of Supervisors Glenn McGourty and John Haschak. At the moment, the Department of Transportation is in charge of water issues, but McGourty told the board that he thinks the county should create a water resources team consisting of the drought committee and county staff collaborating with experts at the U.C. Davis Cooperative Extension. Some of them, including McGourty himself, have already done water studies in Mendocino County. In 2012, McGourty led a study on ag water use in the Navarro River watershed. CEO Darcie Antle offered a quick calculation of how much she thinks it will cost to hire a consultant for a quarter million dollars. “If you are going to be payin ga consultant $200 an hour for roughly a thousand hours, our staff would be required to attend the meetings as well to stay current,” she said. “I believe that happened last year, where I had Sara Pierce on most of the meetings, and also Judy Morris or Steve Dunnicliff, as well as Brent, who helped coordinate all the calls with CalOES. So for every consultant hour you're probably looking at two or three hours of staff time…if we're going to do the grant writing, and I don't believe we want to pay a consultant that amount of money to help write our grants. We have another contract out for grant writing. Typically, for every grant, it's costing us anywhere from six to ten thousand dollars per grant, so it's going to add up quickly. I would estimate roughly, with the staffing level that we're out, we would be doubling the amount.” Haschak favored another proposal, by Department of Transportation Director Howard Dashiell, to use internal staff. “I just don't think that we need this consultant, who's going to be working 58% of the time at $200 an hour to do these things,” he said. “I think that we can do it internally. The long term is, we need to put it out there to get a person who can learn the ropes and learn the business and provide that over a long term. Because this is a one-shot deal, and we don't even need it.” But McGourty argued that the subject matter is too complex not to bring in experts who are already connected at the state level and are alert to funding opportunities for local projects. “Mr. Chairman, I'm wondering if you could pull up the MCWA implementation plan and go to page 14,” he remarked. “There is a task list that has been identified, based on stakeholder comments. I think this might be helpful to Supervisor Haschak, about the complexity of what he's expecting to sort of spontaneously happen.” Supervisor Dan Gjerde reminded the board of his position on the use of public money for water districts. “I'm not convinced of this allocation at this time,” he said. “Supervisor McGourty, I heard you say that very little has been done since the water agency was disbanded. I actually think that's not accurate. It may accurately describe some of the inaction of some of the water districts in our county. I don't think it accurately describes some of the action of many of our water districts in this county, during the time that the county water agency was going. And I think the unevenness of leadership by the water districts throughout the county, some failing to do their job, looking for a handout but not willing to charge their customers enough to help themselves, other water districts in the county asking their ratepayers to pay what I would say are the state rates for water so they would have the resources to solve their problems and aggressively seek state grants. You know, there's a disparity of leadership between the different water districts in this county, and I don't want to reward the lack of leadership by some of the water districts with county funds.” Devon Boer, the Executive Director of the Mendocino County Farm Bureau, invited Gjerde to a meeting to discuss the complexities. “We do have some of our residents who live outside of an actual organized district,” she pointed out. “And some of the unknowns that have been discussed, such as the water hauling extraction ordinance, which is going to the Planning Commission. We've got the Governor's Executive ORder N722, which is being punted over to Environmental Health…those are the questions I've been receiving from individuals with wells outside of districts, who are now looking at various county departments that might be providing them with various directions, lack of oversight, and perhaps not having qualifications for looking at hydrogeology…that's been the downturn of our county, is we don't have any sort of specific level of expertise. We've got different staff in different departments that get punted…it makes it complicated for the applicant, whoever they may be, to get through the process…you know, I'm not going to get into a dispute with Supervisor Gjerde. I think that what I'm going to do is work with our local water districts, and invite him to come over to a meeting.” The board voted 3-2, with Gjerde and Haschak dissenting, to approve the concept of working with the UC Cooperative Extension using up to $250,000, to create a water agency, contingent on a list of projects that will appear before the full board before moving forward. The list will have to be countywide, and any consultant who is hired will have to include objectives, milestones, outcomes, and staff time. The drought standing committee is scheduled to meet next Monday at 9:00 am. The meeting is currently listed as the Public Health, Safety, and Resource Committee.

July 19, 2022-- Chad Swimmer and Paul Schulman interview Abeja Hummel and Tom Shaver of Emerald Earth Sanctuary in Anderson Valley about the prescribed burns they've been doing, and Kyle Farmer of Potter Valley, a co-founder of the Mendocino County Prescribed Burn Association and a Community Education Specialist for UC Cooperative Extension in Hopland.

I'm excited to invite you to my conversation with Molly Nakahara. Molly is a farmer and the farm institute director at the nonprofit Sierra Harvest, she has also worked to support farmers through the UC Cooperative Extension and as a member of the EcoFarm Board of Directors. Molly grew up in the Bay Area but moved with her partner to Grass Valley in 2010 to build Dinner Bell Farm, which offers certified organic flowers and pasture-raised pork. Molly's paternal grandparents farmed lettuce and green onions in Salinas, before they were imprisoned at a Japanese internment camp during WWII and their land was confiscated. After the war, her family continued to grow for themselves on a small city allotment and this nurtured her passion for growing food and flowers.  For Molly, farming has been a radical act of connecting with her ancestors and continuing her family's farming legacy that was previously cut short by racism and xenophobia.Like many growers, when Molly first forayed into farming, she committed to only growing "pragmatic" crops, meaning food. She believed flowers to be impractical, and chose not to plant them at first. However, as time went on, she opened up to the magic and possibility that flowers provide. Molly learned that her grandmother was an immensely talented ikebana artist. Ikebana is the ancient Japanese art of arranging flowers, or in translation, "making flowers alive." She began her own practice of creating art and beauty through arranging flowers. Early into her flower farming journey, Molly's husband had the idea that they donate extra flowers to the local hospice center. She found the experience of bringing  joy to people in their final days to be immensely moving. She grew the practice even more, and has allowed customers to help pitch in so that she may be able to give back even more to the hospice community. Growing flowers has also allowed Molly to appreciate their value in new ways. Paraphrasing her sentiments, flowers are how we express emotion. They are a part of the most important events in our lives. People buy flowers for weddings, births, funerals, and other special occasions. They are how we express affection to one another.  Through her work, she now feels like she is helping to connect with, and heal, her ancestral line. In our conversation we speak about the difficulties small scale farmers face when it comes to land access and climate uncertainty, reconnecting with ancestral legacy, the tremendous power of small radical acts of kindness, raising children on a farm, the value of specializing, and so much more.This is a story about healing through the soil, being a good neighbor, the emotional value of philanthropy, and embracing beauty for its own sake. To read her full feature, see photos from her farm now (and from our visit back in 2018), visit the blog: www.urbanexodus.com/blogSupport the show

This week we're talking to Gabe Verduzco from the UC Cooperative Extension. He's taken to social media to raise awarness about invasive beetles that could destroy native forests. Gabe also dropped some great advice for anyone that is thinking about starting their first garden, but isnt quite sure where to start. In the news we're talking tiny T-Rex arms, laternfly labels, and bendy batteries. Your Hosts] James Reed (https://twitter.com/James_Reed3) Steffi Diem (https://twitter.com/SteffiDiem) Jason Organ (https://twitter.com/OrganJM) Our Guest: Gabe (https://twitter.com/gabev23?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) is a surfer, self-described "garden bro", and research associate that has taken it upon himself to make sure the public is aware of the affect some invasive species could have on our environment. He's been featured in the SF Chronicle, and was recently highlighted as one of the LA Times' "Plant PPL". Gabe's social media presence show the speed and voracity with which invasives can alter the environment, but also takes care to feature the natural beauty of his world to show that it's worth protecting. He's also full of great advice for gardeners at every stage, and anyone that wants to know more about the plants that make our green places beautiful. Credits Editing-James Reed Mastering- Chris Goulet Music: Intro and Outro- Wolf Moon by Unicorn Heads | https://unicornheads.com/ | Standard YouTube License Additional Sounds- Inside a Computer Chip by Doug Maxwell |https://www.mediarightproductions.com/ | Standard YouTube License Steffi Remix music by James Reed lyrics by Steffi Diem The Science Night Podcast is a member of the Riverpower Podcast Mill (https://riverpower.xyz/) family

California remains in the midst of a lengthy drought and it looks like we're going to stay there, with a historically dry rainy season all but done and no more significant precipitation in sight. That could mean another devastating wildfire season, so Governor Newsom has just announced a new strategic plan to use more prescribed burns--what's known as "beneficial fire"--to reduce the fuel load and therefore the risk of catastrophic wildfires like the ones we've seen over the last five years. This plan comes from the governor's special task force on wildfire and forest resilience. For more, KCBS Radio political analyst and The State of California host Doug Sovern spoke with Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Area Fire Advisor of the UC Cooperative Extension, and part of the task force.

Get the latest agriculture news in today's AgNet News Hour, hosted by Danielle Leal. Today's show covers the consideration to take in order to keep the winegrape industry in balance, UC ANR to hire 48 more UC Cooperative Extension advisors and a simple solution to decrease Cal/OSHA violations. Tune in to the show for these news stories, interviews, features and more.

Even if you don't have a green thumb, you can learn how to grow your own healthy and nutritious fruits and vegetables.  And here to help you is master gardener, David King. With more than 50 years of garden soil under his nails, David approaches growing food with the perspective of a man who is intimately acquainted with growing food, herbs, and medicine. He has taught at UCLA and UC Cooperative Extension for many years.  He is the creator of the Learning Garden at Venice High school and founder of SLOLA, The Seed Library of Los Angeles. He gives us many tips and tricks on today's show for growing food and herbs, especially in the Mediterranean climate. Info: www.lagardenblog.com

For Mendocino County Public Broadcasting, this is the KZYX News for Friday, Oct. 15. I'm Sonia Waraich. It's a Wednesday afternoon in late September and technicians from San Diego are installing a desalination unit at the Fort Bragg water plant. Heath Daniels works for the city and will be responsible for operating the desalination system when the Noyo River's water becomes too salty. The river water can become salty during king tides, which happen when the moon's gravitational pull causes water levels to rise several inches. That's been an issue because the river hasn't provided enough fresh water to dilute the saltwater that gets into it during those events, which prevented the city from being able to pump water from the river. For the moment, the rain's eliminated the need for the city to use the desalination system.Daniels says the desalination system is standing ready for when the streamflow in the Noyo does get too low again. City Manager Tabatha Miller told the Fort Bragg City Council on Tuesday that they did end up using it recently for a few days.The rain and the arrival of the desalination system have left the city in a secure enough position to downgrade its drought emergency from a Stage 4 water crisis to a Stage 2 water alert. Miller says the drought isn't over yet, but people in the city don't have to conserve as much as they were during the summertime.There's no need to get water trucked in from Ukiah anymore either. The city put a stop to that last week.On top of all of that, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting Mendocino County has a pretty good chance of getting its usual amount of rainfall through the rest of the year.The impacts of the drought might be less severe for the moment, but catastrophic wildfires are still raging across the state. Scientists say the solution is to fight fire with fire and now the state agrees. Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law the last of three bills that are going to make it easier to conduct a prescribed burn on private land. Lenya Quinn Davidson is with the UC Cooperative Extension and an authority on prescribed fires.Experts recognize we need more of these fires on the landscape in California, so the state decided to make it easier for tribes and private landowners to conduct burns without having to worry about paying the firefighting costs if the fire got out of control. Twenty million dollars was also set aside in the state wildfire budget for a prescribed fire claims fund.Quinn-Davidson says the fact that you couldn't get insurance made it really difficult to do a prescribed burn even with increased investment from the state. But she says the benefits of conducting prescribed fires can't be overstated. A prescribed fire project in Sequoia National Park was able to change the behavior of the wildfire there and protect the General Sherman Tree, which is the largest tree on Earth.For KZYX News, I'm Sonia Waraich, a Report For America corps member. For all our local coverage, with photos and more, visit KZYX.org. You can also subscribe to the KZYX News podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. 

In today's show, we get a preview of an upcoming session at the Crop Consultant Conference. Sabrina Halvorson talks with Surendra Dara PhD, DAIT, Entomology & Biologicals Advisor with UC Cooperative Extension about his session on using biostimulants in integrated pest management. You can register for the Crop Consultant Conference by clicking here. 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.   Agromillora – https://www.agromillora.com/ California Citrus Mutual – https://www.cacitrusmutual.com/ The California Walnut Board – https://walnuts.org/ Soil and Crop – https://mysoilandcrop.com/  For advertising inquiries, please contact us at 559-352-4456 or jay@jcsmarketinginc.com

Get the latest agriculture news in today’s Farm City Newsday, hosted by Danielle Leal. Today's show is filled with stories including Capitol Ag Day providing an opportunity to talk about the importance of funding UC Cooperative Extension programs with legislators, the latest Prop 65 decision a win for food producers and find out about the state's role is in the California Pollinator Coalition. Tune in to the show for these news stories, recipes, features and more.

A study on the costs and returns of producing lemons in Ventura County was released by UC Cooperative Extension

Is your home prepared to survive a wildfire? There is a lot you can do to get it ready and increase your odds. On this edition of Mendocino Fire Safe Council Radio, learn what your top priorities should be with UC Cooperative Extension's Yana Valachovic, as she introduces their new Home Hardening video series. Hosted by Scott Cratty and Cob. Aired Novemeber 24, 2020 at 9am on KZYX and Z.

Today, 40% of the California wine industry does not have a Farm Advisor. Four industry veterans discuss retirements and recruitment for UC Cooperative Extension. Larry Bettiga, long time UCCE Farm Advisor Monterey County, discusses how reduction in staff looks from the perspective of a Farm Advisor. Chris Storm, Viticulturist of Vino Farms covers his experience with Farm Advisors and their import to the industry to assist smaller growers and facilitate research. Dr. Wendy Powers, Associate Vice President, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Cliff Ohmart facilitate a brainstorming session on how the industry can fill this void through PCAs, consultants and organizations like the Vineyard Team and Lodi Winegrowers. This discussion is an excerpt from the 2020 virtual Sustainable Ag Expo course on Current Status of UC Cooperative Extension - Retirements and Recruitment. Use the link below to register for the course and hear the full discussion between November 9 and December 4, 2020. References: 52: The Long View on Sustainable Winegrowing with Cliff Ohmart (podcast) Dr. Wendy Powers, Associate Vice President, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Larry Bettiga, UCCE Farm Advisor Monterey County Lodi Wine Growers UC Cooperative Extension Sustainable Ag Expo SIP Certified Vineyard Team Get More Subscribe on Google Play, iHeartRADIO, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or 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.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist, Sara follows up with Yana Valachovic, UC Cooperative Extension forest advisor and director for Humboldt and Del Norte counties, talk more about forest resilience and fire management. She tells us about fire frequency, using fire management as a tool to preserve forests, and evaluating management outcomes.

Since 1980, the University of California Master Gardener Program has been extending UC research-based information about home horticulture and pest management to the public. The UC Master Gardener Program is a public service and outreach program under the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, administered locally by participating UC Cooperative Extension county offices. The UC Master Gardener Program is an example of an effective partnership between the University of California and passionate volunteers. In exchange for training from the University, UC Master Gardeners offer volunteer services and outreach to the general public in more than 1,286 demonstration, community and school gardens across 52 California counties. Last year 6,154 active UC Master Gardener volunteers donated 446,237 hours, and 6.8+ million hours have been donated since the program’s inception. The program impacts communities by enhancing local, sustainable, healthy food systems for families, neighborhoods and communities. It also supports healthy plants and healthy environments with sustainable landscaping practices, water conservation, green waste reduction and wildlife enhancement. During this session you will learn: What makes the Master Gardener Program so respected What it takes to become a Master Gardener How the Healthy Garden Healthy Home program drives sustainability in your communities How Master Gardeners support and promote sustainable landscaping practices, water conservation, and green waste reduction. Special Guest: Scott Parker.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist, Sara talks with Yana Valachovic, who is the UC Cooperative Extension forest advisor and director for Humboldt and Del Norte counties, to help us understand the ecological effects of forest fires. She describes what happens to the ecological community of a forest after a fire, and the process of renewal afterwards.

UC Cooperative Extension is offering a virtual workshop on Thursday, September 17th from 9am to noon.

Jason Scott talks with Jhalendra Rijal, Area IPM Advisor for the North San Joaquin Valley, about UC Cooperative Extension research involving the walnut husk fly. The walnut husk fly is a small, colorful fly that lays its eggs in the husk of a walnut where its larvae soon hatch. Jhalendra explains how these hatching larvae create issues for the processing and marketing of walnuts. He theorizes how populations of walnut husk flies may be on the rise due to increased walnut acreages throughout the valley. Additionally, Jhalendra cites insufficient winter chill due to rising temperatures as a cause for increased issues, causing walnut husk flies to emerge over a longer period of time. He encourages growers to visit www2.ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/walnut/ for more information about walnut husk flies and other walnut pests.

Just before departing to Oregon State University, I got the chance to sit down with Dani Lightle and discuss olive fruit fly. As a UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor based in Glenn County, Dani worked on some new approaches to manage the fly.Mention of a pesticide does not constitute a pesticide recommendation. Always follow the pesticide label.Thanks to the Pistachio Board of California and Almond Board of California for their generous financial support. Music by Muriel Gordon.This is a UC ANR educational podcast. Any opinions or positions taken are those of the hosts and not the University of California. Use of this platform for and any advertisements connected with this podcast do not imply endorsement.

On her second to last day with UC Cooperative Extension before heading to Oregon State University, Dr. Dani Lightle reflects on a perplexing series of farm calls with ants and 1st leaf almond orchards.Thanks to the Pistachio Board of California and Almond Board of California for their generous financial support. Music by Muriel Gordon.This is a UC ANR educational podcast. Any opinions or positions taken are those of the hosts and not the University of California. Use of this platform for and any advertisements connected with this podcast do not imply endorsement.

On one of her last days with UC Cooperative Extension before heading to Oregon State University, Dr. Dani Lightle reflects on her diagnosis process when called out on farm calls. Dani Lightle was masterful at methodically working through difficult orchard diagnoses.UC IPM is always a good place to start gathering information: ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/You can find a list of laboratories at: ucanr.edu/lablistSteps following diagnosis can be found at: sacvalleyorchards.com/ and thealmonddoctor.com/ and from the UCCE production manuals and pest management guides available at: anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Items.aspx?hierId=1400Thanks to the Pistachio Board of California and Almond Board of California for their generous financial support. Music by Muriel Gordon.This is a UC ANR educational podcast. Any opinions or positions taken are those of the hosts and not the University of California. Use of this platform for and any advertisements connected with this podcast do not imply endorsement.

James Schaeffer is a second-year grad student at California State University Fresno and a Staff Research Associate with UC Cooperative Extension. He is deep in research on a plant called Alkali weed, that could be a serious problem in California agriculture.

The 2018 Cotton Crop is progressing well, however, some late-season pest must be controlled to maintain cotton lint quality.

The long California drought forced many growers to pump groundwater to irrigate their crops. With the establishment of California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act replenishment of California's groundwater supplies is of utmost importance. To develop replenishment strategies, Professor Helen Dahlke joins fellow UC Davis researchers, UC Cooperative Extension and California farmers to test the impacts of irrigating almond orchards in the winter to recharge groundwater aquifers and to help manage water resources sustainably. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 32526]

The long California drought forced many growers to pump groundwater to irrigate their crops. With the establishment of California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act replenishment of California's groundwater supplies is of utmost importance. To develop replenishment strategies, Professor Helen Dahlke joins fellow UC Davis researchers, UC Cooperative Extension and California farmers to test the impacts of irrigating almond orchards in the winter to recharge groundwater aquifers and to help manage water resources sustainably. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 32526]

The long California drought forced many growers to pump groundwater to irrigate their crops. With the establishment of California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act replenishment of California's groundwater supplies is of utmost importance. To develop replenishment strategies, Professor Helen Dahlke joins fellow UC Davis researchers, UC Cooperative Extension and California farmers to test the impacts of irrigating almond orchards in the winter to recharge groundwater aquifers and to help manage water resources sustainably. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 32526]

The long California drought forced many growers to pump groundwater to irrigate their crops. With the establishment of California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act replenishment of California's groundwater supplies is of utmost importance. To develop replenishment strategies, Professor Helen Dahlke joins fellow UC Davis researchers, UC Cooperative Extension and California farmers to test the impacts of irrigating almond orchards in the winter to recharge groundwater aquifers and to help manage water resources sustainably. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 32526]

Almond Blossoms of Central California The Not Old Better Show Travel Series I'm here in Northern California, specifically Modesto, where I grew up, visiting my parents, who are both pretty ill.  But, I couldn't leave Modesto without giving you a glimpse into what is probably one the most beautiful sights in all of agriculture: almond blossoms. After the first rains of the winter season, the California foothills start to turn green.  By late March, wildflower displays are common, usually lasting into May.  In the high elevation subalpine and alpine zones of the Sierra, the wildflower displays arrive in June and last through July or August. Fall brings vibrant leaf displays especially in the aspen groves.This transformation starts in late September and lasts through much of October.  All of these are sights well worth seeing at some point in your life and returning to again and again if possible. But, for me, ranking right up there with the cherry blossoms in DC, closer to my parents home in Modesto, California , the orchards of the Central Valley put on their own extraordinary blossom show from the end of February through the beginning of March. The best website available for blossom information, biking, bus and driving tours (you can ride your bike along these routes) is offered by the UC Cooperative Extension at:http://cemerced.ucanr.edu/Blossom_Tours_262/. These tours are a great way to enjoy the beauty of our local outdoors in the early spring.  Click HERE for more information.   Enjoy.

Based in California, Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne is an international olive oil consultant and educator focusing on olive oil sensory education, communication, and quality improvement. She is cofounder of Extra Virgin Alliance (EVA), an international non-profit trade association with members in fourteen countries that is dedicated to promoting quality authentic extra virgin olive oil. Starting with research and outreach at UC Cooperative Extension, she has written on many aspects of olive oil for both popular and scholarly publications, and is the author of the pocket reference book Olive Oil: A Field Guide. She is a member of the American Oil Chemists’ Society expert committee on olive oil, and cooperates with AOCS and others in the USA and abroad on olive oil research projects. An official taste panel member since 2003, she has taught olive oil tasting classes at numerous venues, including international conferences, Olive Oil Sommeliers of Japan, California State Fair, Culinary Institute of America, LA County Fair and UC Davis. She serves as a judge and advisor for various California and international olive oil competitions and is chair of the Napa Valley Olive Oil Competition.

Yvonne Savio is the Master Gardener Coordinator for UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County. In this episode of the podcast we pick her brain about: Why you should grow your own food. Favorite vegetables. How to harvest vegetables. How to prepare a vegetable garden. Making compost. The problems with municipal compost. Raised beds vs. […]

This is an overview of sustainable agriculture generally and of agricultural activity in Ventura County specifically. Dr. Hayden-Smith from UC Cooperative Extension gives us a wonderful overview of the concepts underlying a sustainable food system. She covers a wide variety of agricultural production including new crops now being grown here in Ventura County, the 10th most productive agricultural county in the United States.

Scenic Marin County in California is home to two thriving industries that were once in conflict – oyster farming and dairy farming. In order to grow healthy and marketable oysters, the farmers depended on clean water in Tomales Bay. But regulations meant to protect the bay from cattle runoff were so strict that dairy farmers feared they could no longer stay in business. Now, with help from scientists at UC Cooperative Extension, these two communities have found creative solutions that allow both kinds of farmers to share this beautiful and fertile region. Series: "UCTV Prime cuts" [Agriculture] [Show ID: 23978]

Scenic Marin County in California is home to two thriving industries that were once in conflict – oyster farming and dairy farming. In order to grow healthy and marketable oysters, the farmers depended on clean water in Tomales Bay. But regulations meant to protect the bay from cattle runoff were so strict that dairy farmers feared they could no longer stay in business. Now, with help from scientists at UC Cooperative Extension, these two communities have found creative solutions that allow both kinds of farmers to share this beautiful and fertile region. Series: "UCTV Prime cuts" [Agriculture] [Show ID: 23978]

Lecture 07: Darren Haver, director of the South Coast Research and Extension Center and Water Resources and a water quality advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension in Orange County speaks on designing residential landscapes to conserve and protect water resources.

Lecture 03: Susan Kocher, a natural resources Advisor with UC Cooperative Extension in El Dorado County speaks on the impacts of development on fish habitat and local solutions to mitigate and restore habitat.

La Flor del Sin Nombre The story of a rural town in California where everybody can be a Champion for Change. La Flor del Sin Nombre is an hour-long telenovela that promotes improved nutrition and educates about food stamp access.  Targeted to Spanish-speaking farmworkers and other Hispanic immigrants, it touches on three nutrition themes: increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, cutting fat intake, and reducing high-sugar beverage consumption.  In the story, Sin Nombre (literally, “No Name”) is a small San Joaquin Valley town in California predominantly occupied by farmworker families. Xochitl Sandoval, a daughter of farmworkers and community organizer is the main protagonist. Xochitl is committed to improving the diet and nutrition of community members, particularly since she lost both of her parents to complications from type 2 diabetes. The nutrition education and food stamp access themes are interwoven in this traditional telenovela story, complete with suspense, drama, love and betrayal. A project of UC Berkeley & UC Cooperative Extension’s Building Food Security Workgroup, in collaboration with the California Institute for Rural Studies and Fotonovelas del Valle, this production was funded in part by the Food Stamp Program of the United States Department of Agriculture, an equal opportunity employer. For more information or to obtain copies of the DVD, please contact Christy Getz Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management cgetz@nature.berekeley.edu 510-642-8681 ____________________   La Flor del Sin Nombre La historia de una comunidad rural de California donde todos pueden ser Campeones del Cambio. La Flor del Sin Nombre es una telenovela de una hora de duración que promueve una mejor nutrición y educa sobre el acceso de cupones de alimentos. Dirigidos a trabajadores agrícolas de habla hispana y otros inmigrantes hispanos, esta telenovela promueve tres temas de la nutrición: el aumento de consumo de frutas y verduras, cortar la ingesta de grasas, y la reducción de azúcar en las bebidas. En la historia, Sin Nombre es una pequeña ciudad del Valle de San Joaquín en California predominantemente ocupadas por trabajadores agrícolas y sus familias. Xochitl Sandoval, hija de trabajadores agrícolas y organizador de la comunidad, es el principal protagonista. Xochitl se ha comprometido a mejorar la dieta y la nutrición de los miembros de la comunidad, sobre todo desde que perdió a sus padres a las complicaciones de la diabetes tipo 2. Las temas de la educación sobre nutrición y cupones de alimentos se entrelazan en esta historia tradicional, con suspenso, drama, el amor y la traición. Un proyecto de UC Berkeley y UC Cooperative Extension’s Building Food Security Workgroup, en colaboración con la California Institute for Rural Studies y Fotonovelas del Valle, esta producción ha sido financiado en parte por el Programa de Cupones para Alimentos del Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos, un proveedor y empleador que ofrece oportunidades equitativas. Para mas información o para obtener una copia de este DVD, favor de comunicarse con Christy Getz Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management cgetz@nature.berekeley.edu 510-642-8681  

La Flor del Sin Nombre The story of a rural town in California where everybody can be a Champion for Change. La Flor del Sin Nombre is an hour-long telenovela that promotes improved nutrition and educates about food stamp access.  Targeted to Spanish-speaking farmworkers and other Hispanic immigrants, it touches on three nutrition themes: increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, cutting fat intake, and reducing high-sugar beverage consumption.  In the story, Sin Nombre (literally, “No Name”) is a small San Joaquin Valley town in California predominantly occupied by farmworker families. Xochitl Sandoval, a daughter of farmworkers and community organizer is the main protagonist. Xochitl is committed to improving the diet and nutrition of community members, particularly since she lost both of her parents to complications from type 2 diabetes. The nutrition education and food stamp access themes are interwoven in this traditional telenovela story, complete with suspense, drama, love and betrayal. A project of UC Berkeley & UC Cooperative Extension’s Building Food Security Workgroup, in collaboration with the California Institute for Rural Studies and Fotonovelas del Valle, this production was funded in part by the Food Stamp Program of the United States Department of Agriculture, an equal opportunity employer. For more information or to obtain copies of the DVD, please contact Christy Getz Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management cgetz@nature.berekeley.edu 510-642-8681 ____________________   La Flor del Sin Nombre La historia de una comunidad rural de California donde todos pueden ser Campeones del Cambio. La Flor del Sin Nombre es una telenovela de una hora de duración que promueve una mejor nutrición y educa sobre el acceso de cupones de alimentos. Dirigidos a trabajadores agrícolas de habla hispana y otros inmigrantes hispanos, esta telenovela promueve tres temas de la nutrición: el aumento de consumo de frutas y verduras, cortar la ingesta de grasas, y la reducción de azúcar en las bebidas. En la historia, Sin Nombre es una pequeña ciudad del Valle de San Joaquín en California predominantemente ocupadas por trabajadores agrícolas y sus familias. Xochitl Sandoval, hija de trabajadores agrícolas y organizador de la comunidad, es el principal protagonista. Xochitl se ha comprometido a mejorar la dieta y la nutrición de los miembros de la comunidad, sobre todo desde que perdió a sus padres a las complicaciones de la diabetes tipo 2. Las temas de la educación sobre nutrición y cupones de alimentos se entrelazan en esta historia tradicional, con suspenso, drama, el amor y la traición. Un proyecto de UC Berkeley y UC Cooperative Extension’s Building Food Security Workgroup, en colaboración con la California Institute for Rural Studies y Fotonovelas del Valle, esta producción ha sido financiado en parte por el Programa de Cupones para Alimentos del Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos, un proveedor y empleador que ofrece oportunidades equitativas. Para mas información o para obtener una copia de este DVD, favor de comunicarse con Christy Getz Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management cgetz@nature.berekeley.edu 510-642-8681