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Hales to Join UC ANR Leadership Team

By Pam Kan-Rice, UCANR

Higher education leader is known for his work with underrepresented communities

Brent Hales will be joining University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources as the new associate vice president for research and Cooperative Extension beginning July 1.

“After a nationwide search, Brent emerged as a proven and respected leader who will help us to strengthen partnerships, build trust, address challenges and define our 2040 strategic vision,” said Glenda Humiston, UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources.

Hales brings over 20 years of higher education research and leadership experience, including at land grant institutions and in Cooperative Extension. He currently serves as an associate dean of Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences and director of Penn State Extension.

“I am very excited to join the UC ANR family,” Hales said. “My grandfather was a 1939 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and both of my parents grew up in California.”

Before joining Penn State in 2019, he served as the senior associate dean and chief financial officer of the University of Minnesota Extension, associate dean for the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality, and the director of the Economic Development Authority Center at University of Minnesota, Crookston.

His research focuses on holistic community and economic development and entrepreneurship. He has spent his career working across the United States and the globe with underrepresented communities. Since 1998, Hales has worked with Native American Nations in asset development and capacity building.

“I am excited to collaborate with California’s Native Nations, urban residents and underinvolved Californians as they seek to achieve their goals,” Hales said. “Some notable areas are tackling climate change, food security and workforce development.”

“What excites me most is to be part of the leadership team for the premier institution of Ag and Natural Resources research and extension in the United States,” Hales said. “The people, the facilities, the opportunities and the engagement with the communities and organizations of California is second to none.”

Hales earned a Ph.D. in rural sociology from Iowa State University, a master’s degree in sociology from Middle Tennessee State University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Brigham Young University in Utah.

He is the father of six children, is the grandfather of six grandchildren and has been married to his best friend Candy for over 30 years.

Deanne Meyer, UC Cooperative Extension livestock specialist, has been serving UC ANR as interim associate vice president for research and Cooperative Extension over the past year and is assisting Hales with the transition.

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings the power of UC to all 58 California counties. Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition, economic and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu and support our work at donate.ucanr.edu.

California Ag Today2023-05-11T11:58:57-07:00May 11th, 2023|

CDFA Now Accepting Research Grant Proposals for California Fruit Tree, Nut Tree, and Grapevine Improvement Advisory Board

By Steve Lyle, CDFA

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting applications for the California Fruit Tree, Nut Tree, and Grapevine Improvement Advisory Board (IAB) research grant proposals.

The IAB funds research to promote the production of fruit tree, nut tree, and grapevines resulting in improved nursery stock. The intended research should address important disease and pest problems or other cultural aspects of fruit tree, nut tree, and grapevine nursery stock production. Funding is made possible from industry assessments.

Projects funded through IAB commonly include elements such as research of diseases and genetic disorders, variety identification, education and outreach, alternative treatment methods, and rootstock advancements as it relates to the production of high-quality tree and grapevine nursery stock.

Applicants should review the research proposal solicitation materials posted on the IAB webpage at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/pe/nsc/iab. The research grant proposals submission window opportunity will end by April 3, 2023 at 5 p.m.

California Ag Today2023-02-08T09:16:48-08:00February 8th, 2023|

Almond Board Announces Exceptional 2023 Almond Leadership Class

By Rick Kushman, Almond Board

The outstanding 14th class of professionals begins a year-long immersion to become the next great leaders of the California almond industry

The Almond Board of California (ABC) is proud to announce the Almond Leadership Program class of 2023, a group of 18 exceptional professionals expected to help lead the industry into the future.

This next generation of leaders was chosen from nearly 50 highly qualified applicants. They come from diverse backgrounds across the full range of the industry, and include growers and processors, sales and real estate representatives, consultants, pest control advisors and more.

The Almond Leadership Program (ALP) began in 2009 and has graduated more than 200 industry members. Dozens now serve on ABC workgroups, committees and even the Board of Directors.

“The industry is seeing the enormous benefits from more than a decade of the leadership program, and while we seem to say this every year, this 2023 class is simply outstanding,” said Rebecca Bailey, the ABC specialist who oversees ALP. “This program helps great people become great leaders. It’s clear that these talented, passionate people will continue to be great assets and advocates for our industry for years.”

Members of this 14th class – while still working at their jobs – will be immersed in every aspect of the industry, including ABC activities in global marketing, production, nutrition research, food safety and more. They’ll sharpen their communication skills and build lasting relationships with industry leaders, ABC staff and each other.

“I’m honored to be joining a group of industry leaders who will be taking both the almond industry and the agriculture community into the future,” said 2023 participant Diane Power, a sixth generation California farmer and sales associate in Modesto with Pearson Realty. “I look forward to all the experiences and opportunities we will have to learn about the almond industry, and to the many relationships we will form through this year.”

Class members will be guided by volunteer mentors – many of them ALP graduates – who will help them develop the skills, knowledge and perspective to improve their industry and their communities.

“We all play unique roles in the almond industry,” said 2023 class member Megan Chicoine, the general manager of U.S. operational support for Manulife Investment Management in Redding. “As young emerging leaders, we have the ability to make significant impacts by actively participating in our industry.”

The leadership program will also offer class members thorough looks at the impacts on the industry of social, economic and environmental issues and the regulatory climate. In addition, participants will take on a yearlong, self-directed project focused on improving the California almond industry. Some past projects have led to important breakthroughs for the industry.

Leadership class members kicked off their training with a two-day orientation a week ago at the ABC offices in Modesto, which included one-on-one talks with their mentors.

“The one thing everyone has in common is they love agriculture,” said mentor Chandler Wilson, a technical sales rep for NutriAg USA. “We all want to be better. The mentors believe in the program and many have been through it. We’re eager to give back to the industry and these new leaders. We’ll share our experiences in and out of ALP, and together, we’ll all learn and grow as individuals and professionals through the whole process.”

Once again, class members will raise money for California FFA, pledging to raise more than $25,000 in scholarships for high school students interested in pursuing agriculture in college. Through the years, ALP has raised more than $225,000 for FFA.

The 2023 Almond Leadership class members are Alana Ambrosino, Ripon Manufacturing Company, Inc.; James Broaddus, BASF Agricultural Solutions; Destiny Camden, BeeHero Inc; Chris Chavez, ofi; Megan Chicoine, Manulife Investment Management; Lincoln Denlinger, Salida Ag; Lauren Dutra, Ceres Imaging; Brian Ganyo, Bayer Crop Science; Robert Gray, Burchell Nursery; Darryl Hadlich, WiseConn Engineering; Thomas Martin, TRÉCÉ Inc.; Erick Mendonca, Miller Chemical; Chris Miller, Blue Diamond Growers; Vance Millwee, Treehouse California Almonds, LLC; Mitchell Moreda, RPAC LLC; Diane Power, Pearson Realty; Matthew Reamer, South Valley Farms; and Tylor Wilbourn, BeeHero Inc.

Bayer Crop Science has sponsored ALP for a number of years and is the sponsor of the 2023 class.

California Ag Today2023-02-08T09:10:03-08:00February 8th, 2023|

New UCCE Advisors Bring Fresh Ideas to Protect Lettuce From INSV, Pythium Wilt

By Mike Hsu, UCANR

Salinas Valley lettuce growers lost about $150 million in 2022 due to diseases

A stormy winter could portend another devastating year for the lettuce industry in the Salinas Valley, which saw approximately $150 million in lost gross revenue in 2022 due to INSV (impatiens necrotic spot virus) and associated diseases. Recent drenching rains might mean more weeds – overwintering “reservoirs” for the tiny insect, the Western flower thrips, that carries INSV.

Or the extreme precipitation could benefit growers, as thrips in the soil – during their intermediate stage of development – might be drowned in the waterlogged fields.

As with so many aspects of the INSV crisis, the ultimate effects of flooded fields on thrips populations remain unknown.

“We don’t know if thrips are just so persistent and so stable in that pupal stage that maybe they will emerge unaffected,” said Kirsten Pearsons, University of California Cooperative Extension integrated pest management farm advisor for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. “There’s just so much about their biology and ecology in the Salinas Valley that we just don’t know.”

The mystery of thrips, INSV and soilborne diseases (namely Pythium wilt) is why UC Agriculture and Natural Resources assigned Pearsons to the area last November and hired Yu-Chen Wang in October as UCCE plant pathology advisor for the three counties.

“They’re stepping in at a critical moment,” said Richard Smith, the region’s UCCE vegetable crop production and weed science advisor who retired in January after a 37-year career. “They’ve gotten grants funded already – and that’s just incredible. They’re hitting the ground running.”

Experienced in disease diagnosis and collaboration with growers and industry partners, Wang said her pathology background – paired with Pearsons’ entomology expertise – will be crucial in addressing INSV and other diseases.

“It is important for Kirsten and me to work together and provide different insights for the vector and the pathogen, respectively,” Wang said.

‘It’s going to take everything to get a crop’

One priority is untangling the dynamics of INSV and Pythium wilt co-occurrence – the subject of ongoing research by JP Dundore-Arias, a plant pathologist at California State University, Monterey Bay. While the vegetables may tolerate one disease or the other, their one-two punch often deals the lethal blow.

“The challenge is – which is why it’s great to have Yu-Chen and Kirsten – is that we have so many problems now, whether it’s Fusarium (wilt), or Verticillium (wilt), or Pythium, or INSV,” said Mark Mason, pest control adviser for Nature’s Reward, which primarily grows lettuces on 5,000 acres across the Salinas Valley.

Mason said that co-infections on his crops (sometimes with three or four diagnosed diseases) make it difficult to assign monetary damages to a specific pathogen, but he noted he has seen fields with “100% loss.” According to the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, about 11,500 acres were deemed not harvestable in 2022, representing 12% of lettuce industry acreage.

Given the gravity and complexity of the disease dilemma, Pearsons said she has been fielding calls from growers seeking new and better solutions – ways to improve existing tools, techniques borrowed from other crop systems, and additional biological or chemical means of control.

And although there are a couple of pesticides that manage the disease-carrying thrips reasonably well, growers and researchers are worried about their diminishing efficacy due to overuse. Plus, they only constitute a short-term fix.

“Managing the thrips will only reduce the amount of INSV that can get transmitted,” Pearsons explained. “You can kill 99.9% of the thrips, but you get one thrips that has INSV that enters a field, and now you have an infected lettuce plant. All of the thrips are going to come and they can spread it from there; pesticide slows things down, but it’s not going to eliminate it.”

Finding disease-tolerant lettuce cultivars is a more sustainable approach. Trials conducted last year by Smith, Wang and others identified several varieties that appeared to hold up well to Pythium and INSV. While additional research could maximize their potential benefit, Wang said even the hardier cultivars will lose their resistance over time, and a multi-layered INSV strategy with “integrated management tools” is crucial.

“We realized, when this thing started happening, that we cannot spray our way out of this problem,” Mason said. “We need varieties; we need management practices; we need pesticides…it just seems like it’s going to take everything to get a crop.”

Weeds key to disease control

An all-hands-on-deck approach helped control thrips-harboring weeds last winter. With fields drying out from January storms, Smith said communities must get back to weed management – with a focus on prominent weed hosts for INSV and neglected areas adjacent to farms. Hotspots of infection last year were traced to industrial lots that were overlooked during the weeding process.

“People can’t lose sight of the fact that we still need to be controlling the weeds in key areas, because that’s the reservoir of the virus during the winter,” Smith said. “We have to stay on task with that.”

Yet despite the diligent weed abatement, crop damage from INSV and Pythium was widespread in 2022, and Smith said it’s “very possible” that high heat during the summer was a contributing factor to especially prevalent disease in fall. Thrips populations tend to thrive in warmer weather, Smith said, but much more research needs to be done to understand the basic biology of the insect, including how they acquire the virus and how they spread it.

High hopes for future

Pearsons cited the work of Daniel Hasegawa, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who leads teams in monitoring thrips populations in several locations across the Salinas Valley. Currently the counting of thrips on sticky card traps is done manually, but Pearsons and Mason mentioned the possibility of using AI and machine learning to expedite that process.

Mason said that the grower community is excited about the new technologies and ideas that Pearsons and Wang are bringing to the region. As a participant in the search for candidates to fill the advisor positions, Mason said “they were, in my opinion, by far the best fit for what we were looking for.”

“I hope they stay here for 30 years,” he added.

The new advisors both noted the palpable energy and cooperative spirit in the Salinas Valley to proactively meet the challenge.

“Looking to the past, there have been other outbreaks and diseases that they’ve managed to overcome,” Pearsons said. “These farmers are resilient and creative and I fully believe that lettuce will still be growing here for years to come – it might look a little different, and it might take a little bit of a painful period to get to that point, but I think that we’re going to be able to come up with some solutions.”

And while there are concerns that some lettuce growers might decide to leave the region, Wang said she also believes in the industry’s strong roots and rich history.

“Salinas Valley has had a beautiful climate for lettuce for so many years; there are some undeniable advantages here,” she said. “This is still the best place in the United States – and maybe the world – to grow lettuce.”

California Ag Today2023-02-03T16:01:34-08:00February 3rd, 2023|

Caltrans Seeks Rural, Tribal Volunteers for Latest ‘Road Charge’ Study

Source: Caltrans

Participants can earn up to $250 for 7-month pilot

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is recruiting volunteers who reside and travel in rural and tribal communities to participate in the latest testing phase of a “road charge” pilot. Up to 500 volunteers will participate in a seven-month simulated road charge system, which charges drivers based on the number of miles they travel rather than the amount of gas they use to support the state’s critical transportation infrastructure. There will be no cost to participate, and upon completion, volunteers will be eligible to receive an incentive of up to $250.

“Rural and tribal communities have unique travel needs and may interact with a road charge system in different ways,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “It is essential that Caltrans understands their needs as it develops an equitable and convenient alternative to the gas tax.”

Starting in March 2023, the California Road Charge Public-Private Roads Project will explore the technical aspects of reporting mileage, as well as engage rural and tribal communities in a conversation about their communities’ priorities in a potential road charge system to fund road and highway maintenance.

This pilot will simulate how participants interact with a road charge system by reporting mileage and “paying” mock invoices. The pilot will conduct surveys to gauge participants’ preferences and experience.

As vehicles become more fuel-efficient and the state’s transition to zero-emission vehicles accelerates, Caltrans is researching possible alternatives to the state gas tax, which California has historically relied on to build and maintain the state’s transportation system. Volatile oil prices and California’s phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 add increased urgency to research ways to bring long-term stability to transportation funding. For that reason, Caltrans is testing various methods to collect per-mile rather than per-gallon fees.

This demonstration is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives Program and will build on Caltrans’ previous road charge pilots: California’s Road Charge Pilot in 2017, which introduced the road charge concept to Californians, and California’s Four-Phase

Demonstration, which tested the road charge concept across several platforms including pay-at-the-pump and electric vehicle charging station systems, usage-based insurance, transportation network company fleets, and automated vehicles.

Volunteers interested in participating in the pilot – and the incentive of up to $250 – may visit http://www.caroadcharge.com/projects/public-private-roads-project/ and complete the participant recruitment survey. Participants must be California residents over the age of 18. The pilot is employing the highest standards in data protection and safeguarding, ensuring that Caltrans will not receive any sensitive information from participants.

To learn more about the California Road Charge Project and the Road Charge Program, please visit www.caroadcharge.com.

California Ag Today2023-02-03T09:22:56-08:00February 3rd, 2023|

WPH Supports DPR Commitment to Reforming the CA Pesticide Registration Process and Bringing More Sustainable Alternative Products to Farmers

By Western Plant Health

Western Plant Health (WPH) released the following statement in response to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (DPR) Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap. Please attribute to Renee Pinel, President & CEO of WPH.

Today, DPR released its Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap which will continue California’s commitment to lead the country in progressive agricultural systems.

Western Plant Health appreciates DPR’s commitment to implement reforms that will expedite the registration of new products, which DPR acknowledges in the report are all more sustainable. The recommendations also seek to assure greater departmental accountability to the registration process.

WPH supports these reforms, which we have recommended for years. We look forward to not only reading about needed reforms but seeing these reforms occur, and are committed to working with DPR to fulfill the recommendations that will implement a system that expedites the registration of all new products, and provide accountability to the registration program.

WPH also agrees that preventing the introduction of pests and advancing research for new pest control systems is important to all Californians. We support the administration’s commitment to these areas by increasing general fund allocations to not only fully funding CDFA’s Pest Prevention Division and the University of California’s Extension Services, but to expanding those services.

California Ag Today2023-01-27T11:09:38-08:00January 27th, 2023|

State Water Deliveries to Surge — Highest in 6 Years

By Alastair Bland, Cal Matters

State officials announced today that water deliveries from the state’s aqueduct will be increased to 30%, the highest amount for January that growers and Southern California cities have received in six years.

Less than two months ago, amid forecasts of a third consecutive drought year, the California Department of Water Resources announced an initial allocation of just 5% of the supplies requested from its State Water Project, which transports Northern California water south.

But recent storms have boosted the reservoirs, snowpack and river flows that feed the state aqueduct. Never in the 27 years of records has such a poor initial estimate been followed by such a rapid, dramatic jump.

About 27 million people, mostly in Southern California, and 750,000 acres of farmland depend on water provided by the State Water Project.

“Thanks to the water captured and stored from recent storms, the state is increasing deliveries to local agencies that support two-thirds of Californians – good news for communities and farms in the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “We’ll keep pushing to modernize our water infrastructure to take advantage of these winter storms and prepare communities for the climate-driven extremes of wet and dry ahead.”

The first projection for 2023 water deliveries came on Dec. 1, when things looked very different in the dynamic interplay between California drought, water supplies and weather forecasting. At the time, Lake Oroville — the project’s largest reservoir — was 27% full, containing less than a million acre-feet of water. Weather experts were meanwhile predicting another winter of predominantly blue skies and light precipitation.

Things quickly changed when a series of powerful storms soaked the state for weeks early this year. The wet weather has boosted Oroville to 63% of its total capacity and 110% of its historical average for this date. The reservoir contained 2.19 million acre-feet of water as of Jan. 26, and, like others throughout the state, it continues to rise.

Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth said the increased deliveries don’t mean the state will see a wet year.

“We are still early in the season,” she said, adding that “things have turned dry again.” She also said the increased deliveries are a result of more reservoir storage and doesn’t fully take into account increases in Sierra Nevada snowpack, which is now more than double its historic average for January.

Allocations for January often are revised up or down later in the year, after spring runoff is measured. Usually, the final allocation increases. For instance, in June 2019, water deliveries reached 75% after starting the year at 15%.

The last time that water deliveries so early in the year exceeded the 30% was before the current drought, back in 2017 — when a record-breaking, 5-year drought ended, rainfall almost broke state records, and deliveries reached 60%. The last three years were dismal, with allocations between 5 and 20%. The last time the local agencies got 100% was in 2006.

For the Las Virgenes Water District, which serves about 75,000 people in northern Los Angeles County and gets all of its water from the state aqueduct, the new allocation recasts what was a very grim outlook on water supplies for 2023.

“Mother Nature is giving us a chance to catch our breath,” said Mike McNutt, a Las Virgenes spokesman.

The district enforced stiff regulations on outdoor watering last year, including the use of restrictors, which are small washers inserted into pipes, into the homes of repeat violators of water conservation rules.

Dave Pedersen, the district’s general manager, said the increased deliveries will “soften some of the harshest water restrictions.” But he added that water conservation will remain a long-term goal, with a focus on replacing lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping.

California Ag Today2023-01-27T11:00:06-08:00January 27th, 2023|

Biden-Harris Administration Launches New Efforts to Address the Wildfire Crisis

By USDA

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced expanded efforts to reduce wildfire risk across the western U.S. These investments, made possible through President Biden’s landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will directly protect at-risk communities and critical infrastructure across 11 additional landscapes in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

“It is no longer a matter of if a wildfire will threaten many western communities in these landscapes, it is a matter of when,” said Secretary Vilsack. “The need to invest more and to move quickly is apparent. This is a crisis and President Biden is treating it as one. Today’s announcement will bring more than $490 million to 11 key landscapes across the western United States, and will be used to restore our national forests, including the restoration of resilient old-growth forest conditions.”

The Forest Service announced their original 10 landscape project areas last year as part of the agency’s broader strategy to protect communities, critical infrastructure and forest resources from catastrophic wildfire. Combined with these initial landscape investments, the additional efforts being announced today represent a total USDA investment of $930 million across 45 million acres.

This work spans 134 of the 250 high-risk “firesheds” identified in the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and will mitigate wildfire risk to around 200 communities in the western U.S. Firesheds are areas where wildfire is likely to pose the greatest risk to communities and resources.

The landscapes for these additional investments were selected based on the potential for wildfire to affect nearby communities and buildings, with a focus on protecting underserved communities, critical infrastructure, public water sources and Tribal lands. USDA also considered more than 3,000 comments from 11 roundtable meetings held in the first half of 2022, which included partners, industry, Tribes and other stakeholders.

“We are building on the investments announced last year and by expanding the Forest Service effort to cover 21 landscapes where communities, critical infrastructure and our natural resources are most in need of protection from the growing threat of wildfires,” said USDA Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE), Dr. Homer Wilkes. “This is part of our agency wide focus to reduce wildfire risk across the country. We will use every tool we have to address this crisis and make your communities safer.”

Secretary Vilsack is also directing the Forest Service to use and prioritize a suite of provisions authorized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to more quickly apply targeted treatments to the high-risk firesheds identified in the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, while opening up additional opportunities to pursue science-based reforestation, restoration of old growth forests and recovery of other areas impacted by wildfire.

These treatments are required to be ecologically appropriate, maximize the retention of large trees, protect old growth, and to consider possible effects on historically underserved communities and Tribes. Treatments are also to be carried out collaboratively alongside participating communities and partners.

“Doing this work in the right place, at the right time, and at the right scale, combined with the use of emergency authorities, will accelerate our planning, consultation, contracting, hiring and project work to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health and resilience,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “Collaboration with Tribes, communities and partners will remain a priority, and we will continue to use the best available science when carrying out this important work.”

Background: The Forest Service Wildfire Crisis Strategy

This announcement comes on the anniversary of the launch of the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy, which debuted Jan. 18, 2022. A few months later, the agency introduced the initial 10 fire-prone landscapes that are now funded for the next five years through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds. In addition, President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act will commit $1.8 billion to hazardous fuels reduction projects on national forests and grasslands.

Since releasing its Wildfire Crisis Strategy one year ago, the Forest Service and its partners have used the best available science and data to identify the highest risk landscapes for treatment projects. The Forest Service found that around 80% of the wildfire risk to communities is concentrated in less than 10% of firesheds. These targeted investments focus on firesheds of the highest risk, where projects are ready to begin or to expand.

The 10-year strategy calls for treating up to 20 million acres on national forests and grasslands and up to 30 million acres on other federal, state, Tribal, private and family lands to assure our forests are more resilient to wildfire and other effects of climate change, safer for communities, and remain key refuges for plants, fish and wildlife.

Over the past 20 years, many states have had record catastrophic wildfires, devastating communities, lives and livelihoods, and causing billions of dollars in damage. More than 10 million acres – more than twice the size of New Jersey – burned each year across the U.S. in 2020, 2017 and 2015.

The Wildfire Crisis Strategy builds on current work by leveraging congressional authorities and partnerships to support the department’s work to mitigate wildfire risk, and restores forest health over the next decade. In addition to State Forest Action Plans, the strategy also aligns with the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, Tribal Forest Protection Act, Good Neighbor Authority, Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership and Shared Stewardship agreements.

In June 2022, USDA released the Secretary’s Memorandum on Climate Resilience and Carbon Stewardship of America’s National Forests and Grasslands. The Secretary’s memo builds on previous actions on climate change, equity, and forest resilience, and provides more specific and time-bound actions to integrate into agency programs. The Forest Service used the guidance in the Secretary’s memo to better inform the selection criteria for projects under the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, including equity, source water protection, community infrastructure and wildlife corridors. Recognizing that insects, disease, and wildfire are among the most significant threats to mature and old growth forests, in alignment with the Biden-Harris Administration, the Forest Service will be targeting hazardous fuels reduction projects to address these threats to promote the protection and restoration of mature or old-growth forests.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, promoting competition and fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

California Ag Today2023-01-26T08:10:26-08:00January 26th, 2023|

Porse Named Director of California Institute for Water Resources

By Pam Kan-Rice, UCANR

Erik Porse joined the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources on Jan. 11 as director of the California Institute for Water Resources.

Porse has built an outstanding career in water as a research engineer with the Office of Water Programs at California State University, Sacramento and an assistant adjunct professor with UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. His research focuses on urban and water resources management. He specializes in bringing together interdisciplinary teams to investigate complex environmental management questions.

Porse earned a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering (water resources) from UC Davis and a master’s degree in public policy (science and technology) from George Mason University. His professional experience includes international work and teaching in Mexico, Europe, Japan and East Africa. He has authored over 50 reports and peer-reviewed articles.

“UC ANR is fortunate to have a director with broad professional experience in science and policy at the United Nations, the U.S. government, private sector firms and research laboratories,” said Deanne Meyer, UC ANR interim associate vice president for programs and strategic initiatives. “Erik’s recent research has collaborated with scientists and projects addressing priority areas in the California Water Resilience Portfolio, including safe drinking water, efficient urban water use, sustainable groundwater management, water reuse, beneficial uses of stormwater, and environmental finance.”

The CIWR is the California hub of the national network of water research institutes supported by the federal Water Resources Research Act of 1964 and provides and communicates solutions to complex water issues and will serve a critical role to support applied water research that tackles large problems with systems approaches, including groundwater recharge, water rights, irrigation management, water finance, and drinking water access. The CIWR works with scientists throughout California as well as through the national network to bring defensible solutions and alternatives to California’s water management community.

“Water is a necessity for life and management of water is essential for California’s economy and prosperity,” Meyer said. “Porse’s leadership with multidisciplinary research teams, water policy research, and integrated systems modeling will serve the CIWR and ANR for years to come.”

Porse succeeds Doug Parker, who retired in 2022 after 11 years as CIWR director.

California Ag Today2023-01-11T14:22:57-08:00January 11th, 2023|

Update on Citrus Yellow Vein Clearing Virus

By Citrus Insider

Two new detections of citrus yellow vein clearing virus (CYVCV) have been confirmed in rural residential citrus trees in the city of Visalia in Tulare County. The detections resulted from an ongoing survey and sampling activities conducted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). CYVCV had previously been confirmed in the city of Tulare, also in Tulare County.

CDFA staff have been conducting survey and sampling activities of CYVCV host plants in Tulare County on residential properties throughout the area to determine the extent of the disease and potential impacts, and surveys will be ongoing for the near future. Survey results – along with CDFA’s robust pest prevention system that focuses on exclusion and monitoring, as well as CDFA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) experience responding to other vectored disease threats – will be critical in developing an appropriate joint regulatory response.

CYVCV can be spread by vectors as they move from tree to tree, feeding on foliage. The vectors include citrus whitefly, green citrus aphid, melon or cotton aphid, and cowpea aphid, which are all known to be present in California. CYVCV can also be spread through the grafting and movement of infected propagative materials, rootstocks, or contaminated tools and equipment.

While there is no treatment for this disease, as of now, the best mitigation measure is to control the vector and sanitize tools and equipment. To the greatest extent possible, growers are encouraged to urge their field crews to clean and sanitize all their equipment thoroughly between jobs or when moving between groves.

For questions about CYVCV, please call the CDFA Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899 or contact your local Grower Liaison.

California Ag Today2023-01-10T10:04:26-08:00January 10th, 2023|