Backyard Orchard News
It's No Vegetarian
Bee specialists like to point out that the yellowjacket is a carnivore and the honey bee is a...
Western yellowjacket (Vespula penyslvanica) heading toward a red-hot poker (but this variety is yellow). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Western yellowjacket buries its head in a tubular flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Western yellowjacket foraging. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Western yellowjacket assumes the shape of a comma. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bottoms up--western yellowjacket moves away from the camera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kearney featured in latest issue of CA&ES Outlook magazine
The magazine notes that California is the top farm state in the nation in large part because of the agricultural productivity of the great Central Valley.
"The Central Valley is an economic powerhouse for many reasons," wrote Neal Van Alfen, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis. Van Alfen was dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the time of the magazine's publication. "Few places in the world have the combination of fertile and abundant farmland, extensive water storage and conveyance for irrigation, and ideal climate for growing food."
An article in the magazine outlines research projects underway at Kearney that are directed by UC Cooperative Extension specialists affiliated with CA&ES. A full page is devoted to a "farming revolution" building in the Central Valley with growers implementing conservation agriculture practices introduced by UC that reduce inputs, cut costs and have benefits for the soil resource.
The magazine includes profiles of UC Davis alums Bill and Carol Chandler and John Diener, all prominent farmers in the Central Valley.
"What we look for as farmers is a better relationship with the university system so they know what we need to help us in our business," Carol Chandler is quoted.
Diener has collaborated for many years with UCCE advisors and specialists. He expressed high praise for the late UCCE specialist Pete Christiansen, whose research at Kearney on Muscat Blac grapes led to a new clone for the industry.
"Had it not been for Pete's research at the Kearney field station, we'd still be having problems with rot in Muscat Blanc," Diener said.
The complete Outlook magazine can be downloaded from the CA&ES website in pdf format.
A Bug That's Perfect for Halloween
If there ever were a bug just perfect for Halloween, that would be the orange and black Harlequin...
Harlequin cabbage bug feeding on cabbage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Harlequin cabbage bug crawling on cabbage leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Harvest season begins
Mid-autumn in the San Joaquin Valley indicates the beginning of the olive harvest. Lindcove...
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An Important Message
It's Halloween tomorrow (Wednesday) but what's really frightening is Aedes aegypti, a...
Aedes aegypti transmits the deadly dengue. (Photo by James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Professor Sarjeet Gill at a malaria conference at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)