Backyard Orchard News
Honey Bee Biology
The newly revised book, Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, by Dewey Caron with Lawrence (Larry) John...
Apiculturist Dewey Caron at a Western Apicultural Society meeting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Citrus Trees in Residential Dinuba infested with Asian Citrus Psyllid
Following finds of several adults in yellow sticky cards in a residential area of Dinuba, young trees infested with all stages of psyllids were discovered nearby. The fact that all stages were found and the trees were young, suggests that the trees could have been infested when they were planted and the trees possibly came from outside the San Joaquin Valley or the infestation got started near these young trees a while ago (this is being investigated). This situation points out the need to educate everyone that they must never move plant material from ACP-infested areas that are under quarantine to areas such as the San Joaquin Valley where the pest has not yet established. Treatments of residences and commercial orchards in the area of the Dinuba finds have been initiated. See www.ucanr.edu/sites/acp for more information on where psyllids are found statewide and what to do to manage ACP from the grower and homeowner perspective.
Press Release from Tulare County Ag Commissioners office
NEW TULARE COUNTY ASIAN CITRUS PSYLLID DETECTIONS IN DINUBA
TULARE, September 11, 2013 – The Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner, in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture are conducting an extensive survey and treatment program in response to new detections of Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) within the City of Dinuba in Tulare County.
Numerous ACP adults and nymphs (young ACPs) have been confirmed in the area. Treatment has begun and will be carried out on all citrus plants within 800 meters surrounding the site where the insects were trapped. Residents in the treatment area will be notified in advance.
The ACP is an invasive species of grave concern because it can carry the disease huanglongbing (HLB). All citrus and closely related species are susceptible hosts for both the insect and the disease. There is no cure once a tree becomes infected. The diseased tree will decline in health and produce bitter, misshaped fruit until it dies. To date, HLB has only been detected on one property in the Hacienda Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles County.
“We want to emphasize citrus fruit is safe to eat and the disease is not harmful to human health,” said Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita. “The Asian citrus psyllid is another example of the many invasive species that enter our state every year.”
Residents in the area who think they may have seen the pest are urged to call the Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899 or the Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner. For more information on the Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing disease visit: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp/.
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What the Heck is Rock Snot?
This icky sounding aquatic invader threatens tourism, fisheries and even hydropower facilities that depend on our streams and rivers. Why? Rock snot, aka didymo (Didymosphaenia geminata), is a one-celled alga or diatom. Each tiny didymo grows a gelatin-like stalk it uses to attach itself to rocks, plants and just about any available surface under the water. Didymos reproduce by dividing and so do their stalks, eventually creating a branching network that feels like wet cotton or wool. Thus,...Dr. Kris Tollerup has accepted an appointment as Kearney’s new Cooperative Extension Advisor for Integrated Pest Management.
Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center has provided a strong research presence to meet the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources strategic vision of helping ensure that California has healthy food systems, healthy environments, healthy communities and healthy Californians.
As part of that continued commitment, research and extension programs will be strengthened in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) through the appointment of Dr. Kris Tollerup. Dr. Tollerup was recruited to develop and deliver IPM strategies and practices to nut, fruit and vine growers and pest control advisers in the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding areas. This position, located at Kearney, will build on the excellent work of Bill Barnett and Walt Bentley and is dedicated to the 30 year mission of Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM) . Kris will start his new position at Kearney on October 15, 2013.
Dr.Tollerup earned a B.A. in Pomology, Tree and Vine Culture from California Polytechnic State University and an M.S. in Entomology, Integrated Pest Management and a PhD in Entomology, IPM and Insect Behavior from UC Riverside.
From 2010 until joining UCCE, Kris Tollerup worked as a postdoctoral fellow at UC Davis. Through October of 2012, Kris collaborated with Dr. Larry Godfrey, specialist in the Department of Entomology, Rob Wilson, Farm Advisor and Director of Intermountain Research and Extension Center, and Dr. Dan Marcum, Farm Advisor in Shasta County on a project to develop arthropod IPM programs for peppermint in California. From November 2012 to October 2013, Kris and this same group of collaborators continued working on peppermint to integrate the use of biopesticides into arthropod IPM programs. Prior to coming to UC Davis, Kris worked with Dr. Peter Shearer (currently at Oregon State University, Hood River Experiment Station) to develop effective mating disruption strategies to manage oriental fruit moth on peaches and apples in New Jersey. He served on an inter-agency committee that worked with chemical companies, researchers, growers, and the Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4) to promote the development and registration of ant baits for use in California agriculture.
Looking through a hand lens for thrips insects.
Annual sustainable agriculture event at West Side expanded to include farm tours.
Free Twilight Field Day and bus tour 1 to 8 p.m. Sept 12, 1 pm to 8 pm September 12.
Sustainable agricultural systems involving precision irrigation and conservation tillage will be featured at the University of California Cooperative Extension's annual "Twilight Field Day," which will feature a new farm tour.
"We want to introduce more farmers to these proven technologies," said field day coordinator Jeff Mitchell, UCCE specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis and Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. "We've done research here, and there's a lot of work from other areas showing that these systems work and they save water, reduce dust, store carbon in the soil and save farmers money."
Specific innovative technologies that will be presented include:
- Proper irrigation application package selection for specific soil types and conditions
- Salinity and irrigation management to avoid penetration and surface sealing problems
- ‘Innovative Boomback’ technologies for maintaining dry wheel tracks with ‘tire-to-tire’ production
- Economic comparisons of irrigation systems
- Innovative soil and crop residue management practices to improve long-term soil properties and function
The program focuses on both the potential benefits of combining these practices to achieve greater profits and resource conservation as well as specific strategies for avoiding problems.
This year, the event has been expanded to include an afternoon bus tour to three San Joaquin Valley farms where conservation agriculture systems are already being successfully implemented. Registrants will gather at 1 p.m. at the UC Westside Research and Extension Center, 17353 West Oakland Ave., Five Points, to load the buses.
The farm tour visits include:
- Johnny and Joann Tacharra Dairy in Burrel. The Tacharras will explain their plans to apply dairy waste water through an overhead irrigation system to grow forage crops.
- Armando Galvan of Five Points Ranch. Galvan will show how he refined his irrigation system to apply water to vegetable and row crops. Galvan installs special nozzles and boom configurations on his overhead irrigation drop lines that are designed to improve water infiltration and avoid ponding and crusting on the soil surface.
- Scott Schmidt of Farming 'D' Ranch in Five Points. Schmidt will discuss the new management strategies that must be applied to successfully implement new agricultural systems.
Following the tour, the participants reconvene at 4 p.m. at the UC Westside REC for a workshop on the economic and environmental benefits of conservation agriculture systems. The event continues with a free barbecue dinner, entertainment by the Wheelhouse Country Band and a keynote address by Suat Irmak, director of the Nebraska Water Center and professor of biological systems engineering. The Water Center was established at the University of Nebraska by congressional mandate in 1964. Nebraska farms currently lead the nation in adopting precision irrigation systems.
Following Irmak's presentation and discussion, Mitchell will name the 2013 Conservation Tillage Farmer Innovator of the Year award winner.
The expanded event coincides with a concerted effort by the Conservation Agricultural Systems Innovation (CASI) Center to grow the conservation agriculture movement in California. CASI is a diverse group of UC researchers, farmers, public and private industry and environmental groups formed to develop and exchange information on sustainable agricultural systems for California row crops.
"In each century, there are just a handful of times when agriculture can transform itself in revolutionary ways," Mitchell said. "There is growing evidence that today presents one of those rare chances for agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley to reinvent itself."
University of Nebraska's Suat Irmak, facing camera, explains how a high-technology weather station in Nebraska continuously monitors crop evapotraspiration and crop coefficients during the growing season. Irmak presents the keynote address to California farmers Sept. 12.