With the annual Summer Conference of the California Association of Winegrape Growers came the announcement and presentation of CAWG’s Leader of the Year award, honoring Lodi wine grower Brad Goehring. Watch this brief presentation honoring Goehring, as delivered by John Duarte of Duarte Nursery at the Awards of Excellence dinner in Sonoma. Read more the grower leaders that make this industry great in American Vineyard Magazine.
Category: Featured Post
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UC Davis Releases 5 New Strawberry Varieties
The Public Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis, has released five new varieties that will help farmers manage diseases, control costs and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. Two of the new varieties could increase yields by almost 30 percent.
Five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas and Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019. “These new varieties are intrinsically different from the ones they replace,” said Steve Knapp, professor and director of the UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program. “After more than three years of field tests, we’re seeing higher yields, greater disease resistance and better quality after harvest.”
The new pedigrees should benefit consumers, as well. “The price and quality of strawberries improve when farmers have access to varieties that help them grow better berries more cost efficiently,” said Dave Murray, a farmer and partner in Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce.
Since its inception in the 1930s, the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program has developed more than 60 patented varieties, turned strawberries into a year-round crop and increased strawberry yield from about 6 tons per acre in the 1950s to more than 30 tons per acre today. The United States is the world’s largest producer of strawberries, and almost 90 percent of them are grown in California’s cool, coastal climates. About 60 percent of the state’s strawberry fields are planted with varieties developed at UC Davis.
UC Davis Victor strawberry variety is one of the five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis that will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019. Each of the new varieties will have its own farming niche — thriving better in certain environments under specific growing conditions. Three of the new varieties — Moxie, Royal Royce and Valiant — will perform well throughout the long, warm days of summer. Two varieties — Victor and Warrior — are bred for cooler climates from Santa Maria south along California’s coast.
A section where the UC Royal Royce strawberries are grown on Monday, July 1, 2019 in Salinas, Calif. Five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. In general, all the new berries are large, flavorful, firm and disease-resistant. Victor and Valiant perform well in organic systems. Moxie and Royal Royce are showing yield increases of as much as 29 percent over previous UC varieties.
You can find full descriptions of each variety on the UC Davis Office of Research website.
Fewer ‘runners,’ less labor
Two new varieties — Moxie and Royal Royce — could save farmers up to $5,000 an acre in labor costs because they sprout fewer runners, the vine-like fingers that strawberries send out that produce roots and develop into duplicate plants. Runners are handy when propagating strawberries, but farmers have to continually cut them back during the growing season to help plants conserve energy for producing big, sweet berries.
“Runners are a huge expense,” explained Greg France, a longtime California Strawberry Commissioner and family farmer from Santa Maria. “We have to hire labor throughout the season just to cut back the runners. These new varieties will be a big deal for us.”
Disease-resistant berries will also reduce production costs and improve environmental sustainability, farmers say.
Strawberries are especially vulnerable to soil-borne pathogens, which can destroy an entire crop. Since the 1960s, many strawberry growers have depended on fumigants like methyl bromide to fight disease, but methyl bromide and other fumigants are being phased out by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Since Knapp took over the strawberry breeding program in 2015, he and his team have been working to develop varieties with genetic resistance to disease to reduce the need for fumigants. All five of the new varieties will be less susceptible to a range of diseases, including Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt and Macrophomina.
Five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas and Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019. More Berries in the Pipeline
To create a beneficial variety, plant breeders cross plants with desired traits and select the best offspring over multiple generations. UC Davis strawberry breeders are continuing that work on test sites and farms along California’s “strawberry belt,” from Ventura to Watsonville, each with its own particular climate and crop management strategies.
“Every farmer has his or her own recipe for growing the berries, which is good,” said Glenn Cole, breeder and field manager with the strawberry breeding program. “It helps us see how the crop performs in different environments.”
The team anticipates releasing one or two additional varieties in early 2020 that can be planted in the summer and harvested in time for the winter holidays.
In the meantime, farmers can buy the newest UC Davis varieties at nurseries starting this fall. Also, detailed data on how each variety performed throughout the breeding trials is available to everyone at the California Strawberry Commission website.
“The great thing about UC Davis strawberry cultivars is they are available to all growers,” said strawberry farmer Dave Murray. “The world-class research on which these varieties are based benefits us all.”
By Diane Nelson -
EPA Registers Long-Term Use of Sulfoxaflor While Ensuring Pollinator Protection
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a long-term approval for the insecticide sulfoxaflor— an effective tool to control challenging pests with fewer environmental impacts. After conducting an extensive risk analysis, including the review of one of the agency’s largest datasets on the effects of a pesticide on bees, EPA is approving the use of sulfoxaflor on alfalfa, corn, cacao, grains (millet, oats), pineapple, sorghum, teff, teosinte, tree plantations, citrus, cotton, cucurbits (squash, cucumbers, watermelons, some gourds), soybeans, and strawberries.
“EPA is providing long-term certainty for U.S. growers to use an important tool to protect crops and avoid potentially significant economic losses, while maintaining strong protection for pollinators,” said Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Today’s decision shows the agency’s commitment to making decisions that are based on a sound science.”
“Today’s action ensures reduced risk to pollinators and the environment through crop-specific label restrictions and provides farmers with a critical pest-management tool needed to protect crops from invasive sugarcane aphids, plant bugs and other pests,” said Jim Gulliford, Regional Administrator for EPA Region 7. “Here in Region 7, the registration of sulfoxaflor will help prevent significant hardship for producers of sorghum, corn, cotton and other commodities attacked by devastating insects.”
Sulfoxaflor is an important and highly effective tool for growers that targets difficult pests such as sugarcane aphids and tarnished plant bugs, also known as lygus. These pests can damage crops and cause significant economic loss. Additionally, there are few viable alternatives for sulfoxaflor for these pests. In many cases, alternative insecticides may be effective only if applied repeatedly or in a tank mix, whereas sulfoxaflor often requires fewer applications, resulting in less risk to aquatic and terrestrial wildlife.
EPA’s registration also includes updated requirements for product labels, which will include crop-specific restrictions and pollinator protection language.
Background
Sulfoxaflor is an important and highly effective tool for growers that targets difficult pests such as aphids and tarnished plant bugs (lygus). These pests can cause significant economic loss leading several states to request emergency exemptions in recent years. There are few viable alternatives for sulfoxaflor. In many cases, alternative insecticides may be effective only if applied repeatedly, whereas sulfoxaflor typically requires fewer applications resulting in less risk to non-target pests and plants.
In 2016, following a 2015 decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacating the registration of sulfoxaflor citing inadequate data on the effects on bees, EPA reevaluated the data and approved registration that did not include crops that attract bees. The 2016 registration allowed fewer uses than the initial registration and included additional interim restrictions on application while new data on bees were being obtained. Today’s action, adding new uses, restoring previous uses, and removing certain application restrictions is backed by substantial data supporting the use of sulfoxaflor.
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UC Riverside Scientists Decode DNA of Black-eyed Peas
UC Riverside scientists have decoded the genome of black-eyed peas, offering hope for feeding Earth’s expanding population, especially as the climate changes.
Understanding the genes responsible for the peas’ drought and heat tolerance eventually could help make other crops tougher too.
Black-eyed peas are small beans with dark midsections. They’ve been a global dietary staple for centuries due to their environmental toughness and exceptional nutritional qualities, such as high protein and low fat. In sub-Saharan Africa they remain the number one source of protein in the human diet.
A genome is the full collection of genetic codes that determine characteristics like color, height, and predisposition to diseases. All genomes contain highly repetitive sequences of DNA that UCR Professor of Computer Science and project co-leader Stefano Lonardi likens to “hundreds of thousands of identical jigsaw puzzle pieces.”
Lonardi described the process of figuring out how the jigsaw puzzle sequences fit together as “computationally challenging.” In order to do so, Lonardi’s team assembled the genome many times with different software tools and parameters. Then they created new software capable of merging these various genome solutions into a single, complete picture.
With the success of this project, the black-eyed pea joins only a handful of other major crops whose genomes have been fully sequenced. The team’s work on the project was published in the June issue of The Plant Journal, where it was featured as the cover story, and Lonardi’s free software can be downloaded online.
Research on black-eyed peas, a legume also known as cowpea, started at UC Riverside more than 40 years ago. But cowpeas’ presence in Riverside predates the university by about 200 years.
“The cowpea has been here supporting people since early colonial times,” said project co-leader Timothy Close, a UCR professor of botany and plant sciences. ‘It’s nice that we’ve brought this plant with so much local history up to state of the art for scientific research.”
This is the first high-quality reference genome for the cowpea. Work on it began three years ago, made possible mainly by a $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation, or NSF. An additional $500,000 NSF grant also supported the computational efforts.
A clue to the complexity of the project is the size of the research team. In addition to Close and Lonardi, the many other UCR scientists on the team included María Muñoz-Amatrían, Qihua Liang, Steve Wanamaker, Sassoum Lo, Hind Alhakami, Rachid Ounit, Philip Roberts, Jansen Santos, Arsenio Ndeve, and Abid Md. Hasan. Additional team members inside the U.S. came from UC Davis, the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute in California, the National Center for Genome Resources in New Mexico, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Iowa. International team members came from Finland, France, Brazil, and the Czech Republic.
As with humans, there are differences between individual cowpeas. Knowing which genes are responsible for qualities in individuals such as color, size, or pathogen resistance will help breeders develop new varieties even better able to withstand external challenges.
“Having the genome sequence helps scientists make decisions about the choice of parent plants to crossbreed in order to produce their desired progeny,” Close said.
One of the cowpea traits that scientists are now trying to understand is its remarkable ability to recover from drought stress.
“We’re trying to figure out why cowpeas are so resilient to harsh conditions,” said Close. “As we move into a world with less water available to agriculture, it will be important to capitalize on this ability and expand on it, taking the lead from cowpeas to guide improvements in other crops that are vulnerable to climate change.”
By Jules Bernstein, UCR
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Three Ways the Farm Bill Can Assist Dairy Producers
There are multiple ways the 2018 Farm Bill is assisting the dairy industry through some difficult times, but watch this brief interview with Dana Coale from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, as she explains three of the provisions dairy producers should know about. Read more in California Dairy Magazine.
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Student Ambassadors Share California Dairy Message with International Audiences
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) has selected four students to serve as interns in the second year of the international dairy leadership program. Jessica Brown, Stefani Christieson, KayCee Hartwig-Dittman and Makayla Toste will serve as dairy representatives working with marketing teams representing CMAB during the summer in Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan.
The interns, selected from students enrolled in agriculture-related programs at colleges and universities throughout the state, were chosen based on academic achievement, connection to the dairy industry and a willingness to travel abroad and learn more about international dairy sales and marketing as well as a plan to work in the California dairy industry in the future.
Over the six-week period, each intern will spend time with in-country CMAB marketing organizations – Brown in Taiwan, Christieson and Hartwig-Dittman in South Korea and Toste in Mexico – to gain a better understanding of these markets, consumer buying habits and promotional efforts on behalf of California’s dairy industry.
Jessica Brown Brown is currently enrolled at California State University, Fresno majoring in agriculture business. Jessica was raised on her family’s vineyard in Tracy and has always had a passion for agriculture. Her desire to learn about agriculture outside of the U.S. has provided her with opportunities to study abroad, most recently in Spain. Because of her love of travel and learning about other cultures, Jessica is focusing on international marketing at college with plans to work in this field of study upon graduation in 2020. Brown is a member of the agriculture marketing team at Fresno State and will be working with Steven Chu and Associates in Taipei, Taiwan.
Stefani Christieson Christieson is a recent graduate of University of California, Davis where she received her B.S. in Political Science and minors in economics and French. She will be attending graduate school in the fall at Sciences Po in Paris, France for a year and then complete the program at Fudan University in Shanghai, China in year two. Christieson plans to complete her master’s degree in international economic policy and pursue a career as agriculture economic policy advisor for an agriculture export market organization to help California farmers continue to expand into emerging and established markets overseas. Christieson will be working with Sohn’s Market Makers, Ltd. in S. Korea.
KayCee Hartwig-Dittman KayCee Hartwig-Dittman is currently enrolled at California State University, Fresno where she is majoring in dairy science and is employed at the dairy unit on campus. She has a culinary arts degree from Diablo Valley Community College and has experience working in the restaurant industry in California. Her love of travel and food has allowed her to travel outside of the U.S. where she has learned to use dairy products in new and creative ways with hopes to find innovative ways to introduce dairy to consumers around the world. Hartwig-Dittman will also be working with Sohn’s Market Makers, Ltd. in S. Korea.
Makayla Toste Makayla Toste, a second-generation dairy farmer from Newman, received her B.S. degree in Animal Science with an emphasis in dairy science. During her last year at Fresno State, Toste served as the assistant herdsman for the Fresno State dairy unit where she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the dairy and an officer for the Fresno State Dairy Club. After the internship, she plans to work in the California dairy industry in promotion and marketing to help keep the industry viable for the next generation of farmers. Toste will serve as an intern with the team at Imalinx in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
“California accounts for more than 33 percent of all U.S. dairy exports so international trade is essential for our continued growth. Over the last decade, the CMAB has worked closely with partners in Asia and Mexico to develop markets for California dairy products. This program is focused on providing insight into international dairy marketing for future leaders like Jessica, Stefani, KayCee and Makayla, who will work in the dairy business and one day serve on dairy industry boards and lead industry groups,” said Glenn Millar, Director of International Business Development for the CMAB.
The goal of the CMAB International Internship program is to provide agriculture/dairy college students an opportunity to learn about dairy foods and marketing in the international marketplace. The program looks to develop leaders who will serve on dairy industry boards, work in dairy foods production, processing or sales/marketing.
About Real California Milk/California Milk Advisory Board
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state’s dairy farm families and is one of the largest agricultural marketing boards in the United States. With a mission to increase demand for products made with Real California Milk, the CMAB is celebrating 50 years in 2019 promoting California’s sustainable dairy products in the state, across the U.S. and around the world through advertising, public relations, research, and retail and foodservice promotional programs. For more information and to connect with the CMAB, visitRealCaliforniaMilk.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
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California Dairies, Inc. and Dairy Farmers of America Create Agency to Ensure Market Stability
California Dairies, Inc. (CDI) and Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) today announced the creation of a marketing agency in common to benefit and bring efficiency to both cooperatives’ customers and members.“Given the significant marketing and regulatory challenges that we’ve seen in California over the last few years, there was a mutual desire to reduce supply chain costs and create additional value and stability for our customers,” said Andrei Mikhalevsky, President and CEO California Dairies, Inc. “We would also like to help preserve the existing processing asset base in the State.”
With the establishment of a marketing agency in common, DFA and CDI will combine the raw milk marketing and transportation efforts for both cooperatives in California. The marketing agency in common also will allow both cooperatives to create market stability, milk balancing and enhanced customer service as part of short- and long-term strategies.
“Our organizations have worked closely over the past decade as the dairy industry in California, the U.S. and the world has become increasingly dynamic,” said Dennis Rodenbaugh, executive vice president of DFA and president of Council Operations. “We have similar goals and see tremendous opportunities with our two cooperatives working together in an increasingly close partnership.”
About California Dairies, Inc:California Dairies, Inc. is the largest member-owned milk marketing and processing cooperative in California producing 40 percent of California’s milk. Co-owned by nearly 400 dairy producers who ship 16 billion pounds of Real California Milk annually, California Dairies, Inc. is a manufacturer of quality butter, fluid milk products and milk powders. In addition, California Dairies, Inc. is the home of two leading and well-respected brands of butter – Challenge and Danish Creamery. California Dairies’ quality dairy products are available in all 50 United States and in more than 50 foreign countries.
About Dairy Farmers of America:
Dairy Farmers of America is a national, farmer-owned dairy cooperative focusing on quality, innovation and the future of family dairies. While supporting and serving 14,000 family farmers, DFA works with some of the world’s largest food companies to develop ingredients that satisfy their customers’ cravings while staying committed to social responsibility and ethical farming. For more information, please visit dfamilk.com.
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New Olive Oil Commission of California Chairman
Brady Whitlow of Corto Olive Company was elected by the OOCC Board to serve as its new Chairman. Whitlow formerly served as the OOCC’s Secretary/Treasurer and he replaces Jeff Colombini, Lodi Farming Company, who has served as Chairman since the OOCC’s inception in 2014. Colombini will continue to serve on the Board and Executive Committee as the Board’s Treasurer/Secretary. Meanwhile, Adam Englehardt, of Boundary Bend Olives/Cobram Estate, will serve as the Board’s Vice Chairman.
Remaining open seats on the OOCC Board were also filled with Joe Kidd, Executive Vice President of Operations at California Olive Ranch appointed to serve as the District 1 Handler representative and Deborah Rogers, McEvoy Ranch, appointed as the alternate Producer member in District 2.
Handler representatives in District 2 were also appointed with Ciriaco Chavez, Boundary Bend Olives/Cobram Estates serving as the member and Jim Etters, Seka Hills Olive Mill, as the alternate member.
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2019 California Almond Forecast Down 3.5 Percent
The California Almond Objective Measurement Report, published today by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service – Pacific Regional Office (NASS/PRO), estimates that the 2019 crop will be 2.20 billion pounds, down 3.5% from the 2018 crop production of 2.28 billion pounds. The California Almond Objective Measurement Report is the official industry crop estimate.
This year’s Objective Report projects an almond crop down 12% from the May 2019 California Almond Subjective Forecast of 2.5 billion pounds. The Objective Report collects data later in the growing season, closer to harvest, and is based on an actual count of nuts on the trees versus phone interviews with farmers, the method used for the Subjective Forecast.
According to the Objective Report, the average nut set per tree is 4,667, down 17.8% from the 2018 almond crop. The Nonpareil average nut set per tree is 4,429, down 10.1% from last year’s set. The average kernel weight for all varieties sampled was 1.54 grams, unchanged from the 2018 average weight.
“While the industry experienced less than ideal weather conditions this spring, California remains the best place in the world to grow almonds,” said Holly A. King, Kern County almond farmer and Chair of the Almond Board of California (ABC) Board of Directors. “As leaders in California agriculture and producers of 82 percent of the world’s almonds, we have made a public commitment to grow almonds in better, safer and healthier ways, protecting our communities and the environment. We feel a great sense of obligation to responsibly produce a healthy food accessible to people around the world.”
Last year, the Almond Board of California’s Board of Directors announced the Almond Orchard 2025 Goals to focus on areas that define the California almond industry’s journey towards continuous improvement and commitment to sustainability.
The amount of almond coproducts – hulls, shells and woody biomass – correlates with crop size, and the California almond industry is more committed than ever to finding new uses for these valuable products. In fact, achieving zero waste in California almond orchards by putting everything the industry grows to optimal use is one of the four goals established by the Board of Directors. The Almond Board is committed to finding high-value uses for almond coproducts that support California by creating a genuine bioeconomy where every coproduct is an input for another valuable product. ABC will continue to fund research to investigate how components of almond hulls and shells can be transformed to provide increased value for farmers as well as other industries such as food, pharmaceuticals and automotive.
“California almond farmers produce the vast majority of the world’s almonds, and for every pound of kernels there are nearly three pounds of hulls and shells. With size comes great responsibility and the resources to continue to meet steadily growing demand for almonds and fund research into ways to grow almonds more sustainably,” said Richard Waycott, ABC president and CEO. “Our vision is to make life better by what we grow and how we grow.”
Since 1973, almond farmers and processors have invested $80 million in research through the Almond Board. These funds have propelled the industry to make significant advancements in the areas of water, nutrient management, air quality, honey bee health and more, increasing farming efficiencies while minimizing environmental impacts.
SAMPLING PROCEDURESTo determine tree set, nuts are counted along a path within a randomly selected tree. Work begins at the trunk and progresses to the end of the terminal branch. Using a random number table, one branch is selected at each forking to continue the path. A branch’s probability of selection is directly proportional to its cross-sectional area. This methodology is used because of its statistical efficiency. The method also makes it possible to end up at any one of the tree’s numerous terminal branches.
Since the selected path has a probability of selection associated with it, this probability is used to expand nut counts arriving at an estimated set for the entire tree.
Along intermediate stages (i.e., the bearing surface between forkings), every fifth nut is picked. All nuts on the terminal branch are picked. These nuts are used to determine size and weight measurements.
FIELD SAMPLING ACTIVITIES
The survey began May 30 and sampling was completed by June 27. There were 1,634 trees sampled for the 2019 survey in 817 orchards. Additional orchards were not sampled for one of the following reasons:
1) Orchard had been sprayed.
2) Orchard had been recently irrigated and was wet.
3) Orchard had been pulled.
4) Grower would not grant permission or could not be contacted.
The Objective Measurement Survey is funded by the Almond Board of California.
DATA RELIABILITY
The 80 percent confidence interval is from 2,050 million meat pounds to 2,350 million meat pounds. This means that the results of our sampling procedures will encompass the true mean 80 percent of the time.
