Sacramento, Calif., (March 7, 2017) – A lot of variation in the weather across the State as a departing Pacific system exerted its influence onto the State. Monday, heavy rainfall across the southern quarter of the State, with areas along the immediate coast receiving up to two inches of rain. Heavier rainfall fell in the coastal mountains immediately inland of the San Diego area, with locations receiving over five inches. Most of the deserts received a quarter inch of rain. Midweek was mostly dry, expect for light rainfall in a few southern coastal areas. By Friday, the next storm system arrived, with light showers falling on the northwestern mountains. Saturday and Sunday brought heavier precipitation, with up to one to two inches falling in the northern portion of the State, and up to one inch falling in the southern parts of the state outside of the deserts. Light snow was reported in the central Sierras on Monday before warming temperatures mid-week resulted in the first significant snowmelt of the season. Heavy snowfall returned by Saturday with twelve to eighteen inches of snow falling in the central and northern Sierras. Further south, three to six inches of new snowfall occurred, maintaining the pre-week snowpack level there. Mountain snowpacks continued to be very heavy with Lodgepole in the southern Sierras and the Tahoe area reporting snowcover of nearly seven feet.
Temperature highs were in the 30s to 40s in the mountains, 40 to 80s in the desert, 50s to 70s in the valley, and 60s to 70s along the coast. The temperature lows were in the 10s to 20s in the mountains, 20s to 40s in the valley, 30s to 50s in the desert, and 40s to 50s along the coast.
Growers continued to wait for fields to dry out sufficiently to resume planting winter grain and field crops. Reports of lodging in mature wheat fields due to the recent high winds and rain of last week. Alfalfa fields were flooded and recharging underground water.
Pruning, discing, weed control, and pre-bloom spraying continued where dry orchard floor conditions permitted. Olive groves were pruned. Pruning, tying, berm sanitation, and brush shredding continued as vineyard floors dried. Herbicides were applied in some vineyards. Early varieties of stone fruit, including cherries were blooming in Tulare County. Citrus harvest continued. Recent rains impacted the overall quality of the citrus. Orange groves were hedge-rowed and skirted. A few seedless tangerine groves were being netted to prevent cross pollination during the pending bloom.
As field conditions permitted walnut and pistachio orchards were pruned. Where dry enough cleanup of trees toppled by high winds began. Almond bloom was progressing with the southern portion of the state nearing completion. Rain and wind caused some almond petal drop.
Recent rains slowed some harvesting but broccoli, romaine, and red lettuce harvest continued in Imperial County. In Fresno County, winter onion and garlic fields were being fertilized and cultivated. In Tulare County, squash was being planted in hot tunnels. New fields were being prepared for spring planting. Strawberries continued to thrive.
Non-irrigated pasture and rangeland continued to improve with warming temperatures promoting forb and grass growth. Range was reported to be in excellent to fair condition. Supplemental feeding of livestock continued to wane as range conditions improved. Bees were active in almond orchards. Sheep grazed stubble fields, idle cropland, and dormant, alfalfa.
Kate Scow is a professor of soil science and microbial ecology in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources and director of the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility.
Davis, Calif., (March 6, 2017) – Kate Scow, a professor of soil science and soil microbial ecology at UC Davis, keeps plastic bags filled with soil on her desk.
We are meeting in her office in Plant and the Environmental Sciences Building on campus, not out at Russell Ranch, where she’s the director of the university’s unique 300-acre research facility studying the long-term impacts of management practices and climate on agricultural sustainability. California is finally rainy again. “Our soils are sopping wet and it’s kind of hard to move around there right now,” says Scow.
One of the bags is filled with crumbly light-brown earth that holds together in small clumps. It’s from an organically-managed tomato field. Another bag holds an almost solid, gray block of dirt, like a brick of cement.
“It’s because it was tilled when it was wet. The structure has completely broken down.” She grabs the bag and holds it up. “But you might be surprised that even this boulder has some microorganisms in it. They are everywhere.”
Microbial ecology is one of Scow’s primary research areas. What she is trying to understand is how we can refocus agricultural practices “below-ground” and enhance the activity of beneficial microorganisms. Just a few of her recent research projects include looking at the sensitivity of bacteria and fungi to tillage and cover crops, and the impacts of mineral fertilizer on managed and nonmanaged agricultural systems.
Even though microbes in soil are essential for life on earth, scientists readily admit they still know relatively little about them. What they do know is that they are very, very plentiful and very, very diverse.
A teaspoon of soil can contain billions of microbes and fungi that are essential to life on Earth. UC Davis researchers are exploring the secrets of soil and how these microbes can improve crops and mitigate climate change.
“A gram of soil — about a quarter of a teaspoon — can easily contain a billion bacterial cells and several miles of fungal filaments,” says Scow.
And how many different types of organisms might be in the soil? “Soil is overwhelmingly diverse, with an estimated 10,000 to 50,000 different taxa in a teaspoon of soil. These numbers are difficult to guess and keep getting adjusted as we learn more about the soil microbiome through sequencing efforts,” says Scow, referencing genomic sequencing, which identifies organisms by their unique genetic traits.
Unlike Scow, when most of us drive by a freshly plowed agricultural field, we see dirt. We might picture the presence of a few bugs, maybe worms, but essentially, most of us see soil as an inanimate substrate into which plants grow.
But soil is actually a living entity, a diverse ecosystem that is one of the most complex on the planet. And it is one that is essential for human life through all the functions it provides — food production, water purification, greenhouse gas reduction, and pollution cleanup, to name a few.
“A lot of processes that are really important in soil, like the decomposition of organic material, goes into building up the soil structure — the aggregates — which are the structural units of soil,” says Scow. “These aggregates determine how well the water drains when it rains, how well it is retained when it gets dry. And the exchange of gases — like the ability to get oxygen to plant roots — is determined by the structure of the soil.”
What you see when you turn over a shovelful of healthy soil isn’t just happenstance. “Microbes are the architects that build that structure,” says Scow. And she points out that how we manage our farm soils can determine whether we help or hinder these microscopic structural engineers.
Gut microbes have received a lot of attention in recent years as researchers continue to unlock the complex relationship between human health and what is living in our intestines.
For humans there are helpful prebiotics and probiotics. It turns out that the Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophiles bacteria in yogurt are good for us. But are there similar “good bacteria” for plants and soils?
I ask Radomir Schmidt, a postdoctoral researcher in Kate Scow’s lab, that question. He laughs. “That’s the million-dollar question. We know there are a lot of soil microbes but we don’t know what a lot of them do. Not yet, anyway.”
He explains that there are helpful microbes in soil, but that researchers don’t yet know how interactions between soil microbes lead to different practical outcomes.
Microbes have incredibly diverse functions in the soil. There are nitrifying microbes that convert ammonium to nitrite, and then nitrate. There are microbes that can metabolize fertilizers and pesticides and even pollutants. But even though the properties of some soil microbes are known, there is a lot still to learn, such as how important teamwork among different organisms is in providing these services.
I had met Schmidt when he was attending a microbiome workshop on campus sponsored by the Office of Research to help UC Davis researchers network about possible interdisciplinary microbiome projects. He was there to brainstorm projects like carbon sequestration.
Soil has become a focus for looking at ways to mitigate climate change. Healthy soil is more resilient in a changing environment. It also nourishes plants, which allows the plants to remove carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas — from the atmosphere.
And the soil itself is also a massive repository for carbon: It houses the carbon compounds of decaying plants and animals, as well as everything that lives within the soil — from microbes to worms to tree roots. And carbon is essential for soil microbes to be able to flourish.
Research has shown that changes to agricultural practices could increase the carbon stored in the soil. A 20-year study at Russell Ranch found that adding compost and cover crops to fields that grew tomatoes in rotation with corn increased the amount of soil carbon by 37 percent.
Kate Scow also took part of a long-term project led by Jeff Mitchell, a University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension specialist, that looked at the impact of conservation agriculture on the amount of carbon in the soil. The eight-year study in the San Joaquin Valley found that conservation agriculture practices could increase the amount of carbon sequestered in the soil by about 45 percent.
The state of California is so interested in the potential of soil to mitigate climate change that the California Department of Food and Agriculture allocated $7.5 million for the Healthy Soils Initiative, which has the goals of building soil carbon and reducing agricultural greenhouse gas.
Schmidt’s Ph.D. is in bacterial genetics. He began in Scow’s lab doing genetic sequencing and gradually transitioned into working more directly with agriculture. He likes getting out of the lab. “The main project I am working on right now are the effects of no-till agriculture and cover cropping on the microbiome. We know pretty well the general effects of not tilling the soil and growing cover crops but we know much less about effects on specific members of the microbial community,” says Schmidt.
For example, he points out that fungi are particularly sensitive to the physical disturbance brought about by tillage, whereas many bacteria are not as affected. For the bacteria, what mattered more was food — whether the cover crop was there are not. There may be tradeoffs with the different practices, which is one of many reasons the research is so important.
And sometimes the research results are unexpected. When Kelly Gravuer, then a Ph.D. student in Scow’s lab, did a study adding poultry compost to to three different types of soil, she was pretty sure the microbial diversity in the nutrient-poor soil would increase. It did not. It went down
“Clearly, we still have a lot to learn about how to translate knowledge gained from plant and animal experiments to the vastly different world of microbes,” says Gravuer.
Lessons from Deforestation and Regeneration in the Amazon
Prof. Jorge L. Mazza Rodrigues found that converting Amazon forest to pasture reduces the diversity of soil microbes. But when pasture is abandoned and recolonized by trees, the microbes return.
Jorge L. Mazza Rodrigues, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, has been studying the impact of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest since 2008.
His first project was in Rondônia, a state close to the Bolivian border and with the distinction of having the highest rate of deforestation in the Amazon. Later, Rodrigues added a second research project, in the state of Pará, on the northern side of the Amazon. “They have big differences in how much rain they get,” says Rodrigues.
He is in the Northern Hemisphere most of the year, and this quarter he is teaching a seminar on methods in microbiome research. We meet in his office in the Plant and Environmental Sciences Building. Dozens of name badge lanyards from the various conferences he has attended dangle from his coat rack below his bicycle helmet.
Rodrigues studies the changes to the soil microbiome when primary forests are converted to pasture. “There are very few primary forests in the United States. So, we have been working with tropical systems these days because that’s the next frontier in agricultural systems.”
About 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been removed — converted into pastures to raise cattle. Brazil ranks among the world’s top four exporters of beef. The fact that the United States has so few primary forests is one reason Rodrigues tries to avoid judgment about the deforestation in the Amazon despite its impact on the environment.
“From my privileged position I’m not going to tell someone not to do what the U.S. did.” He sees his role as assisting with their decisions. “We might help people if we say ‘let’s help you to achieve what you want to achieve.’”
To convert pristine rainforest into pasture, the old-growth trees are removed and sold, and then everything left is burned. He says the burning can go on for weeks.
The changes to ecosystem diversity are obvious and dramatic after the conversion. “You’ve removed all the plants and the trees and then you have maybe one grass. You go from a large number of animal species to maybe one or two species — cows and very few birds,” says Rodrigues.
But what he is there to study is what is not so visible: He wants to know has happened to the microorganisms in the soil.
He gives, as an example, Acidobacteria. Acidobacteria is a large, diverse phylum of bacteria. “As the name suggests, they like more of an acidic environment, lower pH soils like the ones that we find in the Amazon forest,” says Rodrigues.
But after the forest has been burned, all the ashes fertilize the soil and increase the pH, making it more alkaline. “Those guys don’t like that,” he says. The Acidobacteria that had been in the forest are not found in the pasture. “They are gone because the environment has changed.”
Rodrigues has published numerous studies on the microbiome. One looked at the loss of fungal diversity in the Amazon. Another recent paper looked at the nitrogen-methane cycle in the Amazon based on the microbial communities associated with it. In another, he worked with microbiome researchers from China, which is going through the same type of deforestation happening in the Amazon.
And he’s also involved in projects closer to home, including a project in California with Kate Scow measuring the microbial emission rates of methane that are being released at farms using dairy manure for compost. “What we learned to do in the Amazon we are applying to California dairy farms,” says Rodrigues.
Because the converted pastures in the Amazon are not fertilized, they end up with poor-quality soil and are usually abandoned after seven to 10 years. One hopeful sign he sees for environmental recovery in the Amazon is what happens next.
“If you still have forest surrounding this pasture, the forest will start to colonize again. It starts as a dirty pasture — a few bushes, trees here and there — then it takes over again. It’s not as beautiful and big as the primary because of the size of the trees — it takes 350 years for a big tree to grow — but it’s returning to that system. And we have seen that the microbial functions return as well,” says Rodrigues.
He points out that a secondary forest is growing and can capture more carbon than the primary forest that had been in climax was able to capture.
“As long as we maintain corridors and maintain the areas of primary forest, it can reseed that area. Animals can move in and out. We can maintain the biodiversity, and the structure of the environment.”
When we talk about the ability of microbes to survive in such different environments, he describes how he had helped a colleague isolate microbes that had been living deep underground in the frozen permafrost in Siberia. Living in ice.
“They were alive, but they were just waiting to get a certain amount of nutrients.” He describes how a different colleague isolated viable microbes from the frozen remains of a mammoth from the last ice age. “They came back to life. They were still viable,” says Rodrigues.
“There are estimates that microbes have been here for 3.8 billion years on the planet. The planet around 4.8 billion years and the first indications of microbial life around 3.8 billion years,” says Rodrigues.
Rodrigues’ work with microbes has given him tremendous respect for the organisms. “I admire them.” He smiles. “Those guys can survive.”
Modesto, Calif., (February 28, 2017) – The California dairy industry lost one of its top legal minds and advocates last week. John Vlahos, who had been an integral part of the California milk pricing world since 1964 –defending California dairy farmers at the state appellate court level all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, has passed away. Mr. Vlahos has recently been a vocal advocate for dairy farmers on the litigation team to include California dairy producers into a Federal Milk Marketing Order. His guiding light and deep background of the California dairy industry will be greatly missed.
The son of Greek immigrants, Dimitrios and Eleni Vlahos, John grew up in Tracy and Oakland. He attended the University of California, graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in economics in 1957, and was the sports editor of The Daily Cal. “Every Cal sports fan knows the meaning of suffering,” John would say, and he certainly suffered a lot. From 1948 through 2015, John personally attended all but seven Cal football games; for five decades, he served as the internal press box announcer at Memorial Stadium. In 2007, backed by fundraising from the Class of 1957, he edited and produced a new Cal Songbook.
After earning a law degree from Hastings, John clerked for Justice Raymond Sullivan at the California Court of Appeal. In 1962, he was the eighth person hired at the firm that became Hanson Bridgett. In the early years he represented everyone from a bank robber to the maker of “Star Trek”-themed wine bottles. As the firm grew, he became the managing partner and also represented the Golden Gate Bridge District, the League of California Milk Producers, SamTrans, and BART. On multiple occasions John announced his retirement, but it never quite took, and he finished his last major case in 2016.
John died in his sleep from lung cancer, at home, with his family around. He is survived by his wife, Martha; his sisters Betty Christian and Marie Petris; his children, Jennifer, James, and Jonathan; and seven grandchildren.
Friends and family are invited to a celebration of John’s life, which will take place at 3pm on March 12, 2017 at the Mira Vista Golf & Country Club in El Cerrito.
Sacramento, Calif., (February 28, 2017) – Another wet week, with temperatures staying steady. Widespread freezes were reported Thursday through Saturday across the State.
Rainfall followed a similar pattern Monday through Wednesday, with the heaviest rains falling in the northwestern mountains, and the northern and central Sierra foothills. Four to five inches of rain fell in these places, with two to three inches in the northern and central valley. Rainfall tapered off to the south, with up to one inch in the southern valley and along the coast down to the Los Angeles area. Additional light rains fell on most of the State for the rest of the week and into the weekend. Most areas outside of the far southern coast and deserts received an additional quarter inch to half inch of rain. Cold temperatures and an active weather pattern led to yet more snow in the mountains, with up to two feet falling in parts of the central and northern Sierras. The northern mountains received another foot of snow, with the southern Sierras receiving under six inches. Temperatures were cold enough for an overall increase of the snowpack in the central and northern mountains, while a slight decrease of the snowpack was seen in the southern Sierras.
Temperature highs were in the 20s to 50s in the mountains, 40s to 60s along the coast, 50s to 60s in the valley, and 50s to 70s in the desert. The temperature lows were in the 10s to 30s in the mountains, 20s to 30s in the valley, 20s to 40s in the desert, and 40s to 50s along the coast.
The planted grains and field crops continued to mature, reaping the benefit from all the recent rain, and a few sunny days. Growers waiting for excess water to dry up in the fields.
Pruning, discing, weed control, and pre-bloom spraying continued where drying orchard floor conditions permitted. Olive groves were pruned. Pruning, tying, berm sanitation, and brush shredding continued in the drier vineyards. The standing water in vineyards and orchards continued to cause concern for the health of the trees and vines. Herbicides were applied in some vineyards. Early varieties of nectarine and peach were blooming in Fresno County. Cherry bloom began in Tulare County. The Navel orange harvest resumed. Recent rains impacted the overall quality of the citrus. Zutano avocados harvest was ongoing. Tangelo harvest continued. Date trees were planted in Imperial County.
As field conditions permitted walnut and pistachio orchards were pruned. Saturated soils and high winds toppled some walnut and almond trees in the San Joaquin Valley. Almond bloom was progressing well across the State. Rain and wind caused some almond petal drop. As flooded orchards dried and conditions permitted, beehives were moved in to facilitate almond pollination.
Drying conditions allowed for fields to be prepared for cultivation in Madera, Fresno, and Tulare County. Ground was being prepped for planting tomatoes. Herbicide was being applied to onions. Strawberry fields continued to thrive. Carrots continued to be harvested.
Non-irrigated pasture and rangeland continued to improve due to the winter’s precipitation and warming temperatures. Range was reported to be in excellent to fair condition. Supplemental feeding of livestock was waning as range conditions improved. Bees were active in the blooming almond orchards. Sheep grazed retired pasture, harvested broccoli fields, and dormant alfalfa.
For the first time in recorded history, California is suffering from both an emergency state of drought and flood simultaneously. Watch this video interview with California Ag Network and Aubrey Bettencourt from the California Water Alliance as she describes the current water crisis at hand.
Visalia, Calif., (February 24, 2017) – Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner released the current status today of Major crops in the most valued county in the California Ag portfolio. They report that Growers continue to wait for fields to dry out sufficiently so that they can resume planting winter grain and field crops. The planted grains and field crops continue to mature at an excellent rate, reaping the benefit from all the recent rain, and a few sunny days.
Field work in vineyards and orchards continues with: pruning, tying, berm sanitation, and brush shredding. Some early varieties of stone fruit are beginning to bloom. Cherries are beginning to bloom. Kiwifruit are being exported to El Salvador, Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan. Some almond orchards are beginning to bloom, and bee colonies are being moved in for pollination. Almonds are being exported China, Colombia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, South Africa, and Russian Federation. Pistachios are being sent to Belgium, Spain, and Vietnam. In drier locations the removal of older orchards and vineyards continues in preparation for replanting with new varieties.
The citrus harvest is continuing. All the recent rains are having some impact on overall quality. Navel oranges and Mandarins are being shipped to Australia, China, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Minneola tangelos are sent to Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore. Grapefruit and pomelos are being exported to Japan. Lemons are being exported to Hong Kong, Japan, and Mexico. Removal of older orchards continues in preparation for replanting to new varieties this spring. The domestic market for citrus fruit remains steady at a good price. Olive groves are still being pruned. Surprise avocados are having the last of the fruit picked. Zutano avocados are still being picked, with a large crop reported.
New fields are being prepared for spring planting. Strawberries fields continue to thrive.
Rangeland and dryland pasture quality continue to improve with all the recent rainfall. Condition is excellent due to continued rainfall and warmer weather. The fed cattle price is currently at $120 per hundredweight.
Bare root rose nursery stock continues to be received, processed, and shipped out. Shipments of wholesale nursery stock are picking up as spring sales begin in earnest. Local bare root nurseries are busy digging stock as weather and soil conditions allow. Some mature olive trees continue to be dug for landscape purposes.
Sacramento, Calif., (February 23, 2017) – Strong storms during the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend flooded farm fields, caused several dairy farms to relocate their animals and brought other impacts on California farms and ranches. The storms also added more water to an already overtaxed system, and led to renewed calls to modernize the system.
“In the long term, the surge of storms should bring an improved water outlook,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger said, “but it has definitely brought worries to farmers and ranchers whose land is inundated or whose crops may be at risk. We remain hopeful that weather in coming days will minimize any problems.”
Wenger noted that many reservoirs have filled and have had to release water, which underlines the need to enhance California’s water storage capacity.
“Believe it or not, there are people who think we don’t need more water storage, and that we should even tear down many of the facilities we now have,” he said. “These activists don’t care how many people suffer from devastating floods in winters like this. They don’t care how many people suffer from water shortages during droughts.”
Wenger said California must move as quickly as possible to allocate money from the 2014 water bond, Proposition 1, to create more storage both aboveground and underground.
“Environmentalists say we can solve water problems by conserving more water and storing more underground. But we’re not able to conserve most of the water flowing through the system now—we have had to let it go. And moving water into the ground takes time. You can’t replenish groundwater if you don’t have aboveground reservoirs and canals to hold and move water to where it can effectively filter underground,” Wenger said.
Farm Bureau said farmers of a number of crops and commodities will be assessing the impact from the weekend storms, including:
Almonds—The storms hit just as almond trees were blooming. Bees that pollinate almond blossoms don’t fly in the rain and prefer temperatures higher than 55 degrees. In addition, a number of almond trees were blown down by strong winds during the weekend. But farmers said the tree losses weren’t as bad as feared, and expressed hope pollination would still be successful.
Berries—The rains delayed strawberry harvest along the Central and Southern California coast. Production may be temporarily reduced as farmers wait for waterlogged fields to dry and discard rain-damaged berries.
Dairy farms—Several dairy farms located near the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers needed to move their animals to higher ground as river levels rose. Other farmers are watching river levels carefully and preparing to move their animals if needed.
Field crops—Fall-planted grain crops that have germinated could take on too much water, which could ultimately reduce yields. Hay fields have also flooded. Soggy or flooded fields will delay planting for a number of crops.
Grapes—Vineyards in various grape-growing regions have been flooded. Farmers say that could leave vines vulnerable to root-rot damage if they remain flooded for too long.
Vegetables—Rains and muddy fields slowed vegetable harvest in Southern California and delayed planting in the Salinas Valley. Rain generally benefited vegetable crops in the Imperial Valley.
Walnuts—Flooded orchards that remain waterlogged for too long could be vulnerable to root diseases that can kill trees.
Miscellaneous—Heavy rains in foothill regions have washed out privately maintained roads, making it hard for cattle ranchers to reach their animals, and muddy pastures limit ranchers’ ability to reach herds on horseback. Pear orchards in Lake County have been flooded. Citrus fruit harvest was temporarily delayed. The storms brought large amounts of rain to Santa Barbara County farmers who have remained in severe drought. One farmer there reported losing about half an acre of avocado trees to a mudslide.
Mark your calendars for Western United Dairymen’s Annual Convention on March 29, 2017 in Modesto. Watch this video with Paul Sousa as he talks about this year’s program, and read California Dairy Magazine Digital for more information.
Thanks to gene editing, this calf pictured with Van Eenennaam will not grow horns and will not have to go through the dehorning process. (Karin Higgins/UC Davis)
By Pat Bailey
Quick Summary
Gene editing builds on traditional breeding successes
The technology enhances sustainability plus animal health and welfare
Questions remain about regulatory issues
Gene editing— one of the newest and most promising tools of biotechnology — enables animal breeders to make beneficial genetic changes, without bringing along unwanted genetic changes.
And, following in the footsteps of traditional breeding, gene editing has tremendous potential to boost the sustainability of livestock production, while also enhancing food-animal health and welfare, argues UC Davis animal scientist Alison Van Eenennaam.
She examines the potential benefits of genome editing today, Feb. 17, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Boston’s Hynes Convention Center. Her presentation is part of a session titled “The Potential of Gene Editing to Revolutionize Agriculture,” moderated by acclaimed molecular biologist Nina Federoff.
Van Eenennaam also will participate in a news briefing on this topic at noon EST on Saturday, Feb. 18, in Room 103 of the convention center.
Lessons from the dairy industry
Thanks to improvements made in the dairy industry through traditional breeding, a glass of milk today is associated with just one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions linked to producing a glass of milk in the 1940s, says Van Eenennaam, a UC Cooperative Extension biotechnology specialist in the UC Davis Department of Animal Science.
That was accomplished as traditional selective breeding improved the productivity of dairy cows so much that the number of dairy cows in the United States dropped from a high of 25.6 million in 1944 to about 9 million today, even as the country experienced a 1.6-fold increase in total milk production, she says.
Potential of gene editing for food animals
“A number of breeding methods, including artificial insemination, embryo transfer, crossbreeding and, more recently, genomic selection, have been used to achieve these improvements,” Van Eenennaam says. “Now, genome editing promises to complement traditional breeding programs by precisely introducing desirable genetic variations into livestock breeding programs.”
She notes that genome editing has already been used to prevent livestock disease, including making pigs resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory virus, and to improve animal welfare by developing dairy cows that don’t require horn removal.
Additionally, research is underway to extend applications of gene editing in the future. Gene editing might, for example, make it possible to produce offspring of only one gender, such as only hens for egg-laying operations.
Regulatory process key for gene-edited food animals
The potential for applying gene-editing techniques to make improvements in food-animal production largely hinges on future regulatory processes, according to Van Eenennaam.
“It’s not yet clear what regulatory status food-animals produced with gene editing will have,” Van Eenennaam says, noting that gene editing does not transfer novel DNA into an animal, but can be used to make changes within the animal’s own genes.
“The resulting DNA sequence may be identical to existing, naturally occurring DNA sequences,” she says. “The prospect that gene-edited animals would be subject to the same type of regulations that apply to an animal drug — even though their genetic modifications might be indistinguishable from those obtained through conventional breeding — is a concern for animal breeders who are eager to employ genome editing to complement traditional genetic improvement programs.”
Sacramento, Calif., (February 15, 2017) – This month the Planting Seeds blog is featuring stories on food security, nutrition, and efforts to reduce food waste. CDFA’s Office of Farm to Fork is committed to helping all Californians access healthy and nutritious California-grown food by connecting consumers, school districts, and others directly with California’s farmers and ranchers.
The USDA estimates that 30 percent of the food supply is lost or wasted at the retail and consumer levels. One source is of this consumers or retailers throwing away wholesome food because of confusion about the meaning of dates displayed on the label.
What is Food Product Dating? – Two types of product dating may be shown on a product label. “Open Dating” is a calendar date applied to a food product by the manufacturer or retailer. The calendar date provides consumers with information on the estimated period of time for which the product will be of best quality and to help the store determine how long to display the product for sale. “Closed Dating” is a code that consists of a series of letters and/or numbers applied by manufacturers to identify the date and time of production.
Does Federal Law Require Dating? Except for infant formula, product dating is not required by federal regulations. For meat, poultry, and egg products under the jurisdiction of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), dates may be voluntarily applied provided they are labeled in a manner that is truthful and not misleading and in compliance with FSIS regulations1. To comply, a calendar date must express both the month and day of the month. In the case of shelf-stable and frozen products, the year must also be displayed. Additionally, immediately adjacent to the date must be a phrase explaining the meaning of that date such as “Best if Used By.”
Are Dates for Food Safety or Quality? – Manufacturers provide dating to help consumers and retailers decide when food is of best quality. Except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product’s safety and are not required by Federal law.
How do Manufacturers Determine Quality Dates? Factors including the length of time and the temperature at which a food is held during distribution and offered for sale, the characteristics of the food, and the type of packaging will affect how long a product will be of optimum quality. Manufacturers and retailers will consider these factors when determining the date for which the product will be of best quality.
For example, sausage formulated with certain ingredients used to preserve the quality of the product or fresh beef packaged in a modified atmosphere packaging system that helps ensure that the product will stay fresh for as long as possible. These products will typically maintain product quality for a longer period of time because of how the products are formulated or packaged.
The quality of perishable products may deteriorate after the date passes, however, such products should still be safe if handled properly. Consumers must evaluate the quality of the product prior to its consumption to determine if the product shows signs of spoilage.
What Date-Labeling Phrases are Used? – There are no uniform or universally accepted descriptions used on food labels for open dating in the United States. As a result, there are a wide variety of phrases used on labels to describe quality dates.
Examples of commonly used phrases:
A “Best if Used By/Before” indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
A “Sell-By” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. It is not a safety date.
A “Use-By” date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It is not a safety date except for when used on infant formula as described below.
What Date-Labeling Phrase does FSIS Recommend? – USDA estimates food loss and waste at 30 percent of the food supply lost or wasted at the retail and consumer levels. One source of food waste arises from consumers or retailers throwing away wholesome food because of confusion about the meaning of dates displayed on the label. To reduce consumer confusion and wasted food, FSIS recommends that food manufacturers and retailers that apply product dating use a “Best if Used By” date. Research shows that this phrase conveys to consumers that the product will be of best quality if used by the calendar date shown. Foods not exhibiting signs of spoilage should be wholesome and may be sold, purchased, donated and consumed beyond the labeled “Best if Used By” date.
Safety After Date Passes – With an exception of infant formula (described below), if the date passes during home storage, a product should still be safe and wholesome if handled properly until the time spoilage is evident. Spoiled foods will develop an off odor, flavor or texture due to naturally occurring spoilage bacteria. If a food has developed such spoilage characteristics, it should not be eaten.
Can Food be Donated After the Date Passes? – Yes. The quality of perishable products may deteriorate after the date passes but the products should still be wholesome if not exhibiting signs of spoilage. Food banks, other charitable organizations, and consumers should evaluate the quality of the product prior to its distribution and consumption to determine whether there are noticeable changes in wholesomeness (Food Donation Safety Tips).
