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Zero Water for West Side Districts

The unprecedented zero water deliveries this year are extremely hard for managers of West Side Water Districts.

Martin McIntyre, General Manager of the San Luis Water District based in Los Banos, is very frustrated about keeping farming operations and employment viable with zero percent water allocation.

Martin McIntyre, General Manager of the San Luis Water District.

“The biggest frustration for us has been the regulations that interfere with water supply deliveries intended to protect a couple of endangered fish species. From our perspective, they are rather misguided,” said McIntyre.

A recent study by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences found that the current drought is responsible for the greatest water loss ever seen in California agriculture. This, in conjunction with federal environmental restrictions on the state, have create some difficult situations.

“There are many causes in the decline of species, and the regulators have seized water flow as the principle cause. There is ample evidence that it’s the declining food supply and the toxic releases into the delta; but the popular, publicized notion remains that water deliveries are endangering the species, and its simply isn’t the case,” said McIntyre.

While the preservation of fish species is an admirable goal, the environmental restrictions that have been put into effect are not the most appropriate solution. Especially during a severe drought when farmers are already struggling.

“We’re allowed to take, depending on the year, approximately 300 smelt, little Minnows, at the major pumping stations that serve the lower two-thirds of the state. That’s a snack for a Striped Bass! It’s estimated that, in some reaches of the delta, 90 percent of salmon smelt are eaten by Striped Bass; and yet, regulations are putting the state’s water supply in jeopardy in a misguided effort to try to recover the species–without addressing the more fundamental problems,” said McIntyre.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:34:11-07:00August 5th, 2014|

Global Food Safety Agreement Signed by China and UC Davis

Officials from China’s Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Shaanxi province, and the University of California, Davis, signed a memorandum of agreement on July 23, 2014 that lays the groundwork for establishing the Sino-U.S. Joint Research Center for Food Safety in China.

The signing ceremony was held in the city of Yingchuan, China, during a meeting between high-level officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

“Today’s agreement is a landmark event for UC Davis and for our World Food Center and serves as yet another indication of our worldwide leadership in food and health,” said UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi. “We are incredibly pleased to join forces with Northwest A&F University and look forward to making discoveries and realizing solutions that will promote food safety in China and around the world.”

Signing the agreement today were Harris Lewin, vice chancellor of research for UC Davis, and Wu Pute, professor and vice president of Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University. Also present were Catherine Woteki, undersecretary for research, education and economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Vice Minister Zhang Laiwu of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

The memorandum of agreement, which will extend over the next five years, calls for the center’s two lead universities to form a joint research team and research platform, carry out collaborative research projects and cooperate on other food safety-related projects. UC Davis’ World Food Center will identify a director to coordinate the research program. The Chinese partners will provide substantial funding for the new center, with details to be announced this fall.

“This is clear evidence that the entire UC system is fully committed to be front and center on the critical issues of food security, sustainability and health,” said UC President Janet Napolitano. She recently launched the UC Global Food Initiative as a systemwide collaboration to put the world on a path to feed itself nutritiously and sustainably.

Both the Sino-U.S. Joint Research Center and the UC Davis World Food Center will contribute to the UC Global Food Initiative.

“With UC Davis’ commitment to food safety research and China’s ever-increasing demand for food, the Joint Research Center is a natural partnership,” said Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. “Food safety will benefit from global scientific collaboration, and new findings will help the food and agriculture sector meet new challenges, improve the health of consumers and maintain the integrity of the global food supply chain.”

Roger Beachy, executive director of the UC Davis World Food Center, noted that the new food safety center is a logical outgrowth of many well-established research collaborations between scientists from UC Davis and China.

“Working closely with Chinese scientists and policymakers, the new center will have significant impacts on food safety in China and elsewhere around the globe,” he said.

Beachy said that the catalyst for the new collaborative effort was a visit to China last fall by Chancellor Katehi. During that visit, Chinese officials and UC Davis alumni identified food safety as a topic of key importance for China. Beachy, who has longstanding ties with China’s research community, became head of the World Food Center in January and has shepherded the collaborative agreement for UC Davis.

About the new food safety center

The Joint Research Center for Food Safety will promote international collaborative research and extension for food safety in China and the U.S. It will conduct research on global food safety-related policies; establish an international, high-level research platform for food safety research; propose solutions for hazards in the food-industry value chain; and develop models for implementation of international food safety standards and risk management. UC Davis and Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University will engage other research faculty from the U.S. and China in the new center.

Students from both UC Davis and China will be offered opportunities to study and train in each other’s countries. UC Davis faculty members currently have extensive collaborations with several Chinese universities, and the new joint research center is intended to expand these and initiate new activities.

On the September 12, 2014 celebration of the 80-year anniversary of the founding of China’s Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University, working details for the new center will be laid out.

“The food industry has become the largest industry in China; and food safety is a critical area for China and the U.S. to have creative cooperation and learn from each other,” said Zhang Laiwu, China’s vice minister of science and technology. “It not only involves technologies, but also policies and management. The fruitful cooperation will also be important to ensure food security.”

He added that the new cooperative agreement among UC Davis, Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University, Yangling National Agricultural High Tech Demonstration Zone, and Zhuhai Municipality of China is a creative platform for cooperation in improving food safety.

World Food Center at UC Davis and the UC Global Food Initiative

The World Food Center at UC Davis was established in 2013 to increase the economic benefit from campus research; influence national and international policy; and convene teams of scientists and innovators from industry, academia, government and nongovernmental organizations to tackle food-related challenges in California and around the world.

The UC Global Food Initiative is building on existing efforts such as the World Food Center and other endeavors at UC Davis, while creating new collaborations among the 10 UC campuses, affiliated national laboratories and the systemwide division of Agriculture and Natural Resources to support healthy eating, sustainable agriculture and food security. More information about the UC Global Food Initiative.

Other food-related collaborations with China

UC Davis faculty are currently involved in numerous collaborative research projects in China, including four food-safety efforts that specialize in the genomics of food-borne diseases, dairy safety, waterborne diseases and livestock, and environmental chemicals.

Additionally, the campus hosts the BGI@UC Davis Partnership, which focuses on genome sequencing, and the Confucius Institute, a cultural outreach program emphasizing food and beverages.

Graphic Source: Food Safety News

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:34:13-07:00July 27th, 2014|

Can Pathogens Be Taken Up by Roots?

Research at UC Davis is looking at whether or not human pathogens, such as E-coli or Samonella could be transferred to roots and eventually into our produce.

“This is still a controversial topic, but it has to do whether the roots of the plants can uptake human pathogens if you have contaminated irrigation water. In a study done in California in our field production conditions their conclusion is that is highly unlikely to occur,” said Marita Cantwell, CE Vegetable and Postharvest Specialist at UC Davis.

Cantwell explained that the debate on the potential transmission of human pathogens is due to the many different conditions under which produce could be grown.

“The details matter. Earlier research was in protected greenhouses and more artificial conditions, so this was a very good test in real field conditions, and this is why it’s an important study,” said Cantwell.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:34:14-07:00July 25th, 2014|

Global agricultural research council appoints UC Davis sustainability leader

Thomas Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis, has been appointed a scientific adviser to the world’s preeminent agricultural research system, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

CGIAR is a publicly funded research consortium working in more than 100 developing countries to eliminate hunger and poverty, improve food and nutritional security, and sustainably manage natural resources. CGIAR programs around the globe focus on topics as diverse as increasing profitability for small-scale rice farmers in the Philippines and global efforts to adapt to climate change.

Tomich will be a member of CGIAR’s Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC), providing expert scientific advice to improve the quality, relevance, and impact of CGIAR’s research portfolio of over $1.1 billion per year.

“With this council appointment, I will stay at the cutting edge of global science on food systems and sustainable agricultural development, and bring that back to ASI and my research and teaching at UC Davis,” said Tomich, a UC Davis professor and W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems. “I hope this effort contributes to maintaining California’s leadership in agricultural science and innovation.”

Seven scientific advisers compose the Independent Science and Partnership Council representing disciplines in agriculture, environmental sciences, ecology, and economics. Council members are from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Kenya, and the United Kingdom. Tomich is the only U.S.-based member of the council.

“For half a century, CGIAR has been the single most effective use of development aid funding,” said Howard-Yana Shapiro, Chief Agricultural Officer at Mars Inc. and Chair of ASI’s External Advisory Board. “This indispensable institution has grown rapidly and is in the midst of reforming to meet huge 21^st century challenges.” Shapiro currently serves on CGIAR’s midterm review panel, guiding its reform process.

“The Independent Science and Partnership Council plays a key role in ensuring scientific quality and integrity for the whole research system,” said Shapiro. “Tom is committed to the highest standards of science, and has the deep understanding of sustainability required to make transformative change at a global level. His appointment is a great opportunity to help shape the future of food on the planet and also to better link UC Davis to global agricultural research.”

Prior to his service at UC Davis, Tomich worked for the World Agroforestry Center, a CGIAR center, as principal economist and global coordinator of the ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins. He has worked in a dozen countries, including significant periods based in Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, and now in his home state of California.

The Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis promotes the vitality of California agriculture through multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach. Formed in 2006, ASI was pivotal in developing UC Davis’ new undergraduate major in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, and houses five programs, each dedicated to emerging issues in sustainability.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:34:14-07:00July 23rd, 2014|

UC Davis Drought Study Assesses Current Losses and Potential Future Impacts

Source: CDFA

A new report from the University of California, Davis, shows that California agriculture is weathering its worst drought in decades due to groundwater reserves, but the nation’s produce basket may come up dry in the future if it continues to treat those reserves like an unlimited savings account.

The UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences study, released today at a press briefing in Washington, D.C., updates estimates on the drought’s effects on Central Valley farm production, presents new data on the state’s coastal and southern farm areas, and forecasts the drought’s economic fallout through 2016.

The study found that the drought — the third most severe on record — is responsible for the greatest water loss ever seen in California agriculture, with river water for Central Valley farms reduced by roughly one-third. Groundwater pumping is expected to replace most river water losses, with some areas more than doubling their pumping rate over the previous year, the study said. More than 80 percent of this replacement pumping occurs in the San Joaquin Valley and Tulare Basin.

The results highlight California agriculture’s economic resilience and vulnerabilities to drought and underscore the state’s reliance on groundwater to cope with droughts. “California’s agricultural economy overall is doing remarkably well, thanks mostly to groundwater reserves,” said Jay Lund, a co-author of the study and director of the university’s Center for Watershed Sciences. “But we expect substantial local and regional economic and employment impacts. We need to treat that groundwater well so it will be there for future droughts.”

Other key findings of the drought’s effects in 2014:

Direct costs to agriculture total $1.5 billion (revenue losses of $1 billion and $0.5 billion in additional pumping costs). This net revenue loss is about 3 percent of the state’s total agricultural value.
The total statewide economic cost of the 2014 drought is $2.2 billion.
The loss of 17,100 seasonal and part-time jobs related to agriculture represents 3.8 percent of farm unemployment.
428,000 acres, or 5 percent, of irrigated cropland is going out of production in the Central Valley, Central Coast and Southern California due to the drought.
The Central Valley is hardest hit, particularly the Tulare Basin, with projected losses of $810 million, or 2.3 percent, in crop revenue; $203 million in dairy and livestock value; and $453 million in additional well-pumping costs.
Agriculture on the Central Coast and in Southern California will be less affected by this year’s drought, with about 19,150 acres fallowed, $10 million in lost crop revenue and $6.3 million in additional pumping costs.
Overdraft of groundwater is expected to cause additional wells in the Tulare Basin to run dry if the drought continues.
The drought is likely to continue through 2015, regardless of El Niño conditions.
Consumer food prices will be largely unaffected. Higher prices at the grocery store of high-value California crops like nuts, wine grapes and dairy foods are driven more by market demand than by the drought.

If the drought continues for two more years, groundwater reserves will continue to be used to replace surface water losses, the study said. Pumping ability will slowly decrease, while costs and losses will slowly increase due to groundwater depletion. California is the only state without a framework for groundwater management.

“We have to do a better job of managing groundwater basins to secure the future of agriculture in California,” said Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which largely funded the UC Davis study. “That’s why we’ve developed the California Water Action Plan and a proposal for local, sustainable groundwater management.”

Failure to replenish groundwater in wet years continues to reduce groundwater availability to sustain agriculture during drought — particularly more profitable permanent crops, like almonds and grapes — a situation lead author Richard Howitt of UC Davis called a “slow-moving train wreck.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:34:15-07:00July 22nd, 2014|

Fresno State Plant Science Students Earn top Honors at UC Davis Weed Day

A team of four Fresno State plant science students took first place in the weed identification category at the 58th annual Weed Day seminar hosted by University of California, Davis.

Seniors Sarah Parry of Sonora, Isaac Giron of Terra Bella and Mala Tu of Cambodia and graduate student Rama Paudel of Nepal correctly identified 17 of 20 weeds to win the contest among almost 200 students on July 10.

Students were asked to identify different types of weeds during a tour of current weed research plots at UC Davis. The plots involved herbicide research in annual fruit and vegetables crops, crop safety and herbicide symptomology demonstrations, aquatic weeds and grassland weed invasion and restoration research.

The students were invited to a dinner after the seminar for one-on-one interaction with UC Davis weed science graduate and post-doctoral students, extension specialists and professors.

“It was a great experience that opened my eyes to new opportunities in weed science and it has encouraged me to pursue my master’s degree,” Perry said. “I’m excited to see what the future has in store.”

Each year, Weed Day brings together pest control advisors, farm advisors, chemical company cooperators, college faculty and students and regulatory officials to learn about current weed science research at UC Davis.

For more information, contact Steve Wright, farm advisor at sdwright@ucdavis.edu or 559.684.3315.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:34:15-07:00July 19th, 2014|

UC Research on Effects of Herbicide Milestone

Milestone, a herbicide from Dow AgroSciences, was registered about 9 years ago in California for mainly cattle ranged applications, targeting problem weeds.

Guy Kyser with the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis looked at how the herbicide was affecting good perennial grasses.

“Its used mostly for broadleaf weeds, its been a real help with the Yellow Starthistle. There was some concern about whether it might affect seedling grasses, especially the perennial native plants that we want to replant after controlling yellow star thistle, because it got a little bit of soil residual, which is good for thistles but we wanna make sure it wasn’t hurting our grasses, and that’s what this trial is. We treated several rates of Milestone, and replanted with several species of native California perennial grasses, to see if there was any impact on the seedlings.

Kyser found out that the important grass species are more tolerant to Milestone applied at the time of planting, then when milestone is applied to young seedlings. He noted that California Brome is the most tolerant grass to Milestone.

Kyser’s research was featured at the recent 58th annual UC Davis Weed Day.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:34:17-07:00July 14th, 2014|

$9 Per Hour Minimum Wage Starts Next Week

By Christine Souza; Ag Alert

Starting July 1, the California state minimum wage increases to $9 per hour, a hike that growers say will result in more challenges on the farm and higher costs overall.

Monterey County strawberry grower Ed Ortega said, “In agriculture, nobody can pay just minimum wage.

“People will find a job doing something else that is much easier work than working in agriculture for minimum wage. They’d rather go and flip burgers for nine bucks,” Ortega said. “Our work demands more than a minimum wage employee, so every time the minimum wage goes up, the whole ladder in our entire pay structure goes up. There’s no such thing as paying the bottom guy more and not the top guy. The whole ladder rises.”

California’s minimum wage increase to $9 per hour is a result of the passage of Assembly Bill 10 by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, in 2013. AB 10 also provided for a second hike in the California minimum wage to $10 per hour on Jan. 1, 2016.

Bryan Little, California Farm Bureau Federation director of labor affairs and chief operating officer of the Farm Employers Labor Service, said raising California’s minimum wage might have happened through a ballot initiative had AB 10 not become law last year.

Proponents of increasing the minimum wage argue it is needed to reduce poverty, while business groups and those opposed believe raising the hourly minimum wage would increase business costs and jeopardize California’s economic recovery.

“The majority of farmers already pay their employees much higher than minimum wage, so when these changes occur, employees making more than minimum wage expect to stay that much ahead of the increased rate,” Little said. “In the short term, it will increase costs to employers, but the labor supply is tight right now, so workers are already able to demand fairly high wages, but the increase still impacts operating costs and business profitability.”

Phil Martin, professor of Agriculture Economics at the University of California, Davis, confirmed that higher minimum wages affect some employers and workers more than others.

“Most farm employers have a wage structure, with some employees earning the minimum wage and others more. If the minimum wage rises by $1 an hour, workers earning more than the minimum wage normally expect a similar increase in order to keep their status in the wage hierarchy,” Martin said. “Employers often respond to higher wages with productivity increasing steps, from providing tools that enable workers to work faster to harvesting fields and orchards less often.”

Martin added that fewer new immigrants have already put upward pressure on farm wages and encouraged more use of labor-saving and productivity-increasing machines.

The new minimum wage has triggered other wage concerns for agriculture employers, Little said.

“A number of other costs associated with employing people are tied to employee earnings, like Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment Insurance; the increase in the minimum wage will directly and immediately impact employers’ costs for that. Also, if farm employers augment their workforces by bringing in farm labor contractors, the farm labor contractor is likely to increase the price of the workers they provide to cover that minimum wage increase and related costs.”

Farm labor contractors can be more efficient, and employ people year-round and spread their employment costs across more jobs than a farmer who employs a small number of people can, Little added.

“Farmers face several challenges in 2014, including implementing the Affordable Care Act and dealing with the effects of the drought,” Martin said.

This season, when it comes to the availability of employees, Ortega said, he is again experiencing a shortage of workers.

“We are experiencing the normal shortage that we experienced last year, which is a pretty extreme shortage of labor. Those who have less of a crop to harvest have a more severe labor shortage than those who have a crop to harvest,” Ortega said.

Whether a farm will attract the workers that are needed, Ortega said, depends on the size of the ranch and whether there is enough work to keep employees working. Smaller farms will have more limited opportunities.

“Any farmer who is experiencing a decrease in the water supply will also be experiencing extreme pest pressures, and if you have increased pest pressure, it means higher cost to the farmer,” Ortega said. “It’s an exponential factor. It’s not just raise the minimum wage a dollar; the associated costs go a lot higher than that.”

California is one of 18 states and the District of Columbia that have minimum wages above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour and California’s $10 minimum is likely to be among the highest in the nation in 2016. Washington currently has the nation’s highest state minimum wage at $9.19 an hour.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:34:22-07:00June 25th, 2014|

UC Davis Soil Symposium Showcases California Innovation

A big soil health symposium was held at UC Davis last week, and there was lot to learn for everyone in the industry.

Brian Leahy is Chief of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation in Sacramento, which hosted the one day event. Leahy noted those in attendance were innovative and pioneering.

“In the room I think we had some of the most creative farmers, creative researchers, and creative private companies on the planet. These people are some the most amazing farmers that only California produces, and they were here I think as problem solvers. We know we need to understand soil better. What’s going on in the soil? And how do we work with it? said Leahy. “What we heard was a lot of amazing activities that are taking place right now. Lot of great questions asked, its unbelievable the kind of research is going on. I think it was a very productive day.” he added.

Brian Leahy (left) speaking with Malcolm Ricci, of Bolthouse Farms of Bakersfield.

In those attending the symposium, also learned some things they didn’t know.

“And that was the goal, we were trying to figure out, how do we build the support to get long term sustainable funding to better understand soil health. You know understanding soil and what’s going on in soil life, its one of the last frontiers in how were going to make incredible progress in how we feed people, how we take care of the planet, and how we take care of each other. Just layering all the other amazing research going on right in plant genetics. and plants on top of soil its going to be another revolution. I heard Warren Buffett’s son called it the “Brown Revolution”. said Leahy.

And think of that really important topsoil, 1 and half feet around the planet, that supports us all.

“We heard from the Noble Foundation and the soil renaissance, its a national movement as well, where people are realizing that we have to take care of the soil and work with soil, to really take care of the human race, to feed us, clothed us, all of that. So there is a lot of promise here.” said Leahy.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:23-07:00June 23rd, 2014|

Good Almond Branch Structure Leads to Healthier Trees

At the recent San Joaquin Valley Almond Symposium in the Fresno County town of Kerman, one speaker was Roger Duncan, a UC Cooperative Extension Farmer Advisor from Stanislaus County. Duncan talked about the very important training phase in Almond Tree structuring.

“It’s during the first one or two maybe three years and this is when we select the scaffolds in order to build the structure of the tree and make sure that we don’t have branches that break later in the life or are in the way of other operations.” said Duncan.

Main branches coming from the trunk of the tree are known as “scaffolds”.

“When we select scaffolds we want to make sure that they are staggered up and down the tree as well around the tree. Also want to choose scaffolds that are not too flat and not too vertical, Essentially we want to have good attachment so that we have good solid architecture of the tree.” said Duncan.

Duncan talks about a common mistake made by growers.

“I think probably the biggest mistake that growers make when their select scaffolds they like to choose the largest scaffolds which typically are right at the top of the tree, the problem is if we have all the scaffolds originating from the same vertical plane then they are very weak. So we eventually those scaffolds will split. We just have to make sure we stagger those scaffold up and down the tree as well as all away around.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:26-07:00June 11th, 2014|