Backyard Orchard News
Gardening for Butterflies
She's only 11 years old, but already she's interested in butterflies. Selah Deuz of the Sherwood...
Selah Deuz of the Sherwood Forest 4-H Club, Vallejo, stands by her butterfly display board at the Solano County 4-H Project Skills Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, nectaring on Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch, Danaus plexippus, foraging on a butterfly bush, Buddleja. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, stops to rest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Jennifer Thaler, UC Davis Alumni Award Recipient, Knows Bugs and Ecology of Fear
She knows bugs. She knows what "bugs" predators and prey. Her research includes fear as a...
A lady beetle, aka ladybug, devouring an aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The South San Joaquin Valley Region Invasive Aedes Workshop was held at Kearney Jan 20, 2017.
First reported in California in June 2013, the invasive mosquito Aedes aegypti can vector four viruses: yellow fever, dengue, Khikungunya and Zika. Moderated by entomologist Anthony Cornel, Ph.D. at Kearney Agricultural Research & Extension Center and the entomology department at UC Davis, the workshop's agenda included
- Programmatic updates and discussion on surveillance, control, public outreach activities, and research efforts in greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District and the Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District of the South San Joaquin Valley Region
- Evaluation and discussion of surveillance techniques and integrated vector management approaches to control invasive Aedes in areas where established and newly invaded
- Public outreach and community involvement
- Response plans: discussion of how plans address the invasion/expansion of invasive Aedes, the mosquito control efforts in response to imported disease cases, and the response to autochthonous transmission of the disease
- Discussion and summary
Many informational posters from the California Department of Health were available. There was also a sample of a screened storm water drain to exclude Aedes from underground egg laying locations.
Is your pesticide safety training in compliance with the new Worker Protection Standard?
We are in the midst of a new and changing era of Worker Protection Standards (WPS). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) recently published the revised WPS, which is meant to increase protections for agricultural fieldworkers and pesticide handlers from pesticide exposure when they're working in farms, forests, nurseries and greenhouses. The changes are already affecting California agriculture!
What major regulatory changes have already gone into effect?
Several changes are required to have been in place as of January 2, 2017. These include:
- All 417,000 fieldworkers in California must attend annual pesticide safety training.
- Records of all fieldworker pesticide safety trainings must be kept on file for 2 years.
- Fields must be posted when the restricted entry interval (REI) exceeds 48 hours.
- “Application-exclusion zones” must be implemented to prevent the entry of anyone into areas up to 100 feet from pesticide application equipment.
- Instructors previously qualified via a DPR-approved Instructor Training programs (Train the Trainer) are qualified to train through 2017. If you wish to be qualified to train fieldworkers and handlers after December 31, 2017 using this qualification, you must complete an updated, DPR-approved Train the Trainer workshop.
Now is the time to make sure these changes are put in place!
What major regulatory changes are still in store for us? When will they happen?
The regulatory changes that must be in place by January 2, 2018 include:
- Additional training topics for fieldworkers and handlers have to be added to the curriculum.
- Handlers have to suspend an application if anyone enters the application exclusion zone.
Who do these changes affect?
Many people who work in the California agricultural community will be impacted by the WPS revisions. These include fieldworkers, pesticide handlers, farm labor contractors, private and in-house safety trainers, growers, farm managers, licensed pesticide applicators (private and commercial), pest control advisors (PCAs), and crop consultants, to name a few.
How do I know if I am qualified to train?
If you attended one of the DPR-approved Train-the-Trainer programs you are qualified through 2017. However, if you wish to continue training after the end of the year, you must complete a DPR-approved Instructor Training Program, which includes the 2018 training topic requirements.
If you maintain certain licenses/government designations, including PAC, QAC, QAL, PCA, and certain County Biologist licenses you are qualified to train. UCCE Advisors are also qualified to train.
How can I get qualified as a trainer?
To become a trainer, take an Instructor Training program that is approved by DPR for 2018 topics. The University of California Pesticide Safety Education Program (part of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, UC IPM), in partnership with AgSafe, will offer multiple workshops this spring that cover the new federal requirements for fieldworker and handler training. You can reserve your spot now. At the end of the training you will be a certified pesticide safety instructor.
If I am currently qualified, how can I make sure I stay up to date on all the new requirements?
If you are currently qualified as a trainer because you maintain a California PAC, QAC, or QAL, or if you are a PCA, you can attend an Instructor Training Program this spring to learn about the new WPS requirements and additional training topics. While a certification may qualify you, an Instructor Training Program will prepare you to train! Register today!
Hear the Buzz? UC Davis Celebration of Mead and Honey Coming Feb. 11
Hear the buzz? It's almost time to celebrate A, B, C (almonds, bees and crop pollination). But did...
This was the scene at the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center's 2016 Feast. At right (glasses, facing camera) is pollinator ecologist Neal Williams, associate professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. In the foreground (in purple and blue) are Extension apiculturist Elina Niño and Bernardo Niño of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Mick’s Magic Moments)
Mead and culinary expert Darrel Corti of the Sacramento area will lead the dessert mead flight at the Honey and Pollination Center's feast. Last year he talked about the history of mead. (Photo by Mick's Magic Moments)