California Ag Network

Category: Education

  • Soil Health Institute 5th Annual Meeting

    The Soil Health Institute (SHI), a non-profit organization charged with safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of soil, today released its 5th Annual Meeting Agenda. Registration is open for Soil Health: The Foundation for Regenerative Agriculture, SHI’s first-ever virtual annual meeting. There is no registration fee; however, registration is required to attend. The online meeting will be held July 30 and 31, 2020.

    The annual meeting will host 28 distinguished panelists and speakers, including farmers, soil scientists, food manufacturing leaders, and policy experts. The keynote will be provided by Jay Watson, Sourcing Sustainability Engagement Manager at General Mills, Inc., who leads General Mills, Inc.’s greenhouse gas reduction and regenerative agriculture commitments.

    Among the meeting topics:

    • Comprehensive Strategy for Advancing Soil Health
    • Determining Effective Measurements of Soil Health
    • Dimensions of Adoption
    • Filling the Economics Gap for Farmers
    • Soil Health Policies and Programs in Action

    In addition to the plenary sessions, a virtual Video Poster Session will feature up to 80 3-minute video research presentations.

    “The level of enthusiasm we have received for Soil Health: The Foundation for Regenerative Agriculture is very inspiring,” said Dr. Wayne Honeycutt, SHI president and CEO. “We are excited at the opportunity for reaching a broad, and hopefully global, audience with the latest information for advancing the science and practicality of soil health.”

    For more information and to register for the annual meeting, please visit https://soilhealthinstitute.org/annual-meeting-2020/.

    About the Soil Health Institute

    The Soil Health Institute (www.soilhealthinstitute.org) is a non-profit whose mission is to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soil through scientific research and advancement. The Institute works with its many stakeholders to identify gaps in research and adoption; develop strategies, networks and funding to address those gaps; and ensure beneficial impact of those investments to agriculture, the environment and society.

  • $650,000 Grant to Study Wild Wheat to Help Prevent Diseases

    The 2Blades Foundation and collaborators at the University of Minnesota, Kansas State University, and the John Innes Center will study wild emmer wheat to discover genes that can help farmers combat devastating wheat rust diseases which are estimated to cost farmers and consumers nearly $3 billion each year.

    The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a grant through their Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) for the study of emmer wheat — one of the very first cereals to be cultivated in agriculture — to identify genes that could help make wheat resistant to “rust” diseases.  Wheat rusts have destroyed crops since Roman times, including multiple epidemics in the US in the past century.

    The current project builds on 2Blades’ 12-year effort to source resistance genes from wheat and its domesticated and wild relatives, and to deploy them in finished wheat varieties. It brings together leading scientists in wheat and wheat rusts with key resources.

    The project team includes:  Jesse Poland, a wheat geneticist at Kansas State University’s Wheat Genetics Resource Center, which maintains extensive collections of wild wheat relatives including wild emmer wheat; Brian Steffenson, a plant pathologist at the University of Minnesota, with extensive expertise in cereal rusts and specialized facilities for conducting resistance assays; and Brande Wulff, from the John Innes Centre in the United Kingdom, who has developed the methodology to quickly identify resistance genes through association genetics.

    Wheat provides roughly 20 percent of calories and protein for human nutrition worldwide and is the third largest crop grown in the United States. It is attacked by a number of diseases, among the most damaging being stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis), stem rust (P. graminis), and leaf rust (P. triticina).

    The best and most environmentally sound way to defend against these diseases is through the deployment of resistance genes in wheat varieties. The use of genetic resistance is particularly important in developing countries where fungicides used to combat rust disease may be expensive or unavailable.

    The world wheat harvest is threatened by the recent emergence of new virulent forms of the fungal pathogen Puccinia graminis, which can cause pandemic disease with the rapid and complete destruction of infected crops.

    “In the face of this threat to world food security we are working with our partners in the United States, England, Australia and Japan to develop new wheat lines which are completely and securely disease resistant, and to ensure that these lines are available to farmers everywhere, and freely available to farmers throughout the developing world,” said 2Blades Chairman Roger Freedman.

    Read More at 2Blades.org

  • BASF Files Motion to Intervene in Ninth Circuit Case that Vacated Dicamba Registrations

    BASF has filed an emergency motion to intervene following the decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to vacate the federal registrations of three dicamba-based herbicides, including BASF’s Engenia® herbicide. The Court’s June 3, 2020 decision brought BASF’s product into the case for the first time. BASF has now made the request to intervene after careful consideration of the sudden and severe financial impact vacating the registration has had on farmers during this critical application time, when farmers now have less than a month to protect millions of acres under threat from resistant weeds. The Ninth Circuit’s decision has caused immediate chaos among the agricultural community and threatens the livelihood of countless U.S. farmers. Seeking to make matters worse, the challengers have now asked the Ninth Circuit to undo the EPA’s order which implemented the panel’s decision and addressed the uncertainty it caused. BASF must act to protect its interests and those of its customers.

    “Taking this action during the height of the application season gives no regard to the significant investments farmers have made in their businesses and leaves them without viable options for the growing season,” said Paul Rea, Senior Vice President, BASF Agricultural Solutions North America. “Farming is difficult even in the best of times and remains challenging. Making this decision now, when weed resistance continues to threaten farming operations, is disastrous for our customers. Farmers have counted on applications of dicamba-based products to control troublesome weeds for decades, and they continue to need these tools now and in the future.”

    Since its original registration with the EPA in 2016, on-target applications of Engenia herbicide have helped farmers produce clean fields and robust yields of dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. And because of BASF’s commitment to stewardship, the company provides customers with a range of practices, equipment, and trainings to make sure they have the tools to get the most out of BASF products, while protecting the environment.

    “I have been using Engenia for three years, and it is a critical part of my operation to reduce the threat of resistant weeds and ensure a successful yield each season,” said Brad Kallenbach, a soybean farmer from Jamestown, North Dakota. “My livelihood depends on tools like Engenia to tackle these challenges, and those of us that use it have dedicated a tremendous amount of time to ensure that we are doing it responsibly. The Court’s decision to vacate the Engenia registration leaves me with no good options for this year. It’s a steep cost that no grower under these circumstances was ready to bear.”

    The EPA’s approval process for crop protection products is science-based and data-driven. BASF invests in and uses the best science and testing protocols to develop next-generation innovations like Engenia herbicide. BASF scientists have over 50 years of experience in developing and improving dicamba for effective and safe applications.

    “Engenia and other dicamba-based herbicides are critical in ensuring the long-term sustainability of agriculture and crop protection products,” continued Rea. “Not only do they play a role in protecting crops, but also in ensuring an abundant, safe and affordable food supply. Continued innovation in crop protection and weed management must continue and be supported to sustain this industry.”

    BASF remains committed to meeting the needs of its customers and will continue to work on new dicamba-based innovations to assist farmers with weed control. In addition, BASF will also continue to pursue EPA re-registration of Engenia for the coming seasons.

    Engenia herbicide is a U.S. EPA Restricted Use Pesticide.

     Always read and follow label directions.

  • New Virtual Offerings for Women in Agribusiness Event Series

    In a pivotal move to ensure event excellence during the changing business climate, the Women in Agribusiness (WIA) Summit series has announced virtual attendance options for its 2020 U.S. and international conferences.

    Its WIA Summit Europe, July 2-3, originally scheduled to take place in Paris, will now be held completely virtual, and its flagship Women in Agribusiness Summit U.S. has added a remote attendance choice for the September 16-18 event in Nashville, Tenn. Planning is now underway to ensure these virtual experiences mirror the benefits of networking, intelligence gathering and interactivity that have come to be the hallmarks of WIA events.

    “Our robust virtual platform will supercharge attendees’ experience,” said Joy O’Shaughnessy, WIA event director and COO at HighQuest, parent company of WIA. “Speaker presentations will be brought to life with embedded live-streaming video, interactive Q&A sessions and engaging polling options, not to mention networking that includes instant messaging and real-time chat, and connecting with attendees via private group video discussions as well access to a multi-tiered database of information about fellow delegates.”

    Not to miss speakers and topics for WIA Summit Europe, July 2-3, include:

    • Keynote: Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, who will speak on “Building Back Better” after COVID-19.
    • Panel: Experts from Matador Ventures Lt, Syngenta, CapAgro and AgriSat will talk to “Farming 4.0: Ushering in the Digital Age in Agriculture” and address: How are those that collect this data using it? Who actually owns the data? Who is benefitting from this and how?
    • Presentation: Carol Heil, associate at Ernst & Young, will speak to “Agricultural Trade After COVID-19”.
    • Short Pitch Series: From biotechnology advances in ag to upcycling and eco-extraction, and robots in the poultry sector, these ingenious women will provide a glimpse into the future of ag during this always lively Ag Innovation Hour.

    The Women in Agribusiness Summit U.S., now in its ninth year, is heading to Nashville for the first time (COVID-19 restrictions permitting), offering in-person and virtual attendance. During this interactive, engaging conference – which brought together nearly 900 attendees last year – delegates will be immersed in discussions that will help them know their business better, through session titles such as: “Fortifying Agriculture’s Resiliency”, “Reducing Litigation Exposure for Ag Companies”, and “Leveraging Liquidity to Thrive in Business”. Learn more at womeninageurope.com or womeninag.com or follow us at @Womeninagri, on Facebook and LinkedIn.

    About Women in Agribusiness

    Women in Agribusiness (WIA) is a business unit of HighQuest Group, a global agribusiness consulting, events and media firm, based north of Boston, Mass., USA. The first Women in Agribusiness Summit was held in 2012 in Minneapolis, Minn. Since that time, WIA initiatives have grown to include the WIA Membership, WIA Demeter Award of Excellence, Student Scholarships, and the WIA Today blog. Learn more at womeninag.com

  • Crop Residue Decisions Affect Soil Life

    In some ways, farming is like cooking. Cooking would be much easier if we could leave the kitchen after eating and not come back until we make the next meal. But someone needs to put away the leftovers, do the dishes, and clean up the table.

    Similarly, there’s work to do in farm fields after harvest and before planting the next spring.

    After harvest in the fall, farmers take the harvested crops to market or store them on their farm. They don’t take the whole plant from the field, though.

    The leftover parts of the plant, like the stalk and leaves from corn, remain in the field. This debris is called crop residue.

    Using no-till and prescribed fire management are two potential ways to manage crop residue. Both practices help keep organic matter and nitrogen in the soil. However, research was needed to understand how these two practices can affect long-term soil health.

    Lisa Fultz and her team want to help farmers determine the best way to manage their residue between growing seasons. To do this, her team decided to learn more about how no-till and prescribed fire management affect nutrients and microbes in the soil. Fultz is a researcher at Louisiana State University AgCenter.

    No-till is a practice where farmers plant directly into the crop debris from the previous year. Prescribed fires are used to purposely burn off the previous crop debris with controlled fire. “Both of these practices have minimal physical disturbance to the soil,” says Fultz.

    Both of these practices also come with drawbacks. No-till can cause poor conditions for crop growth like low spring temperatures and increased moisture, which promotes disease. Prescribed fire can leave bare soil vulnerable to erosion.

    The team focused the research on wheat and soybean rotations and continuous corn production systems. “These are common practices not only in the mid-south, but across many areas of the world,” explains Fultz.

    “Wheat and corn production leave behind residue,” she says. “Common practices, like conventional tillage, are highly disruptive. The need to identify viable conservation practices is growing in importance.”

    Crop residue and its degradation by soil microbes is an important part of the carbon cycle. Plants store carbon during the growing season, then microbes use the plant residue for food. The carbon then gets stored in the soil in a chemically stable form.

    “Fresh, green material in no-till fields is easy to breakdown and provides rich nutrients for soil microbes,” says Fultz. “Ash from burned residue is more chemically stable, but it doesn’t provide a nutrient source for microbes.”

    The team found that impacts from crop management practices, like crop rotation or fertilization, outweighed the influence of prescribed fire for residue management. Researchers found some decreases in microbial activity after yearly prescribed burns.

    Findings show prescribed fire had some possible short-term benefits for soil nutrient availability, but timing is crucial. Prescribed burning of wheat residue provided an increase of nitrogen for about 7 days. These benefits should be weighed against other possible impacts, like carbon dioxide production and crop yield.

    We still need to learn the long-term influence of prescribed fire on the soil biological community,” says Fultz. “While short-term impacts were measured, the long-term influence on soil nutrients, biological cycles and soil health are not known.”

    No two farm management systems are the same, and their success is defined by the user. Scientists continue to examine possible scenarios to provide accurate and sustainable recommendations to farmers.

    “I have always been interested in soil conservation and the potential it has to impact many facets of life,” says Fultz. “By improving soil health, we can improve air and water quality, store carbon, and provide stable resources for food production.”

    Read more about this work in Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. This research is supported by the Soybean and Forage Grain Research and Promotion Board.

    American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America, Crop Science Society of America: Collectively, these Societies represent more than 12,000 individual members around the world. The scientists’ memberships build collaborating partnerships in the agronomy, crops, and soils science fields for the advancement of knowledge.

  • Winery Employs New Strategy, Promotions to Adjust to Shifting Consumer Needs

    Fresno State Winery business and marketing manager Kevin Smith knows student-produced products have a special place in the hearts of Central Valley consumers, and he is finding ways to continue to serve the community during the national economic downturn.

    Since the COVID-19 pandemic’s changes to restaurant and store access, Smith sensed consumer needs were quickly changing so he created a host of new winery promotions. Shoppers have enjoyed $5 in-state shipping for any size purchase since then, as well as sales of up to 30% off on many favorite wines.

    While his wholesale wine sales have dropped by about 30%, direct sales have increased by about 500% as consumers have turned to shopping online. Not surprisingly, both promotions will continue indefinitely while supplies last.

    That shift has meant that about 90% of sales in recent months have come from direct orders over the phone or via the winery website, compared to the past, when 90% came from wholesale orders from stores and restaurants.

    “If you’re a wine consumer this is a great time,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of competition to deliver wine to your doorstep, or to other people as gifts, which is a big part of the market. We have spent much more attention on our website, social media and wine clubs to make it easier to shop and relate what makes us special.”

    The campus winery has previously relied largely on in-person sales on campus at the Gibson Farm Market; nearby off-campus outlets Save Mart Supermarket, Trader Joe’s, Costco and the Meat Market in Clovis; and other large wine and alcohol industry stores like BevMo and Total Wine. However, those off-campus relationships take time to nurture and order sizes can fluctuate based on space availability and competition.

    “The past few months can help smaller wineries that have strong ties to their customers and can ship directly to them, affordably,” Smith said. “The wine business has always been competitive, but we’re starting to see fewer buying channels, and retailers are a little more anxious to see their product move quicker. Some have turned to the larger conglomerates to fill larger parts of their selection, and rely less on smaller businesses, just like other parts of the economy.”

    The pandemic has not slowed production at the campus winery this spring, which has added new personal safety and social distancing measures. Students from the Viticulture and Enology Department have helped bottle 6,000 cases of 24 different varieties of wine over the course of four bottling dates this spring.

    Later this summer, the winery expects to do its first-ever canning of its Tailgate Red, White and Rosé series. The 12.6-ounce cans (375 milliliters) are about half the size of most bottles of wine, and will be available at the Gibson Farm Market and at Fresno State athletic events when they resume.

    The campus winery’s recent adaptations are also a credit to the arrival of Fresno State alumnus Tom Montgomery as its winemaker in August 2017. Thanks to his nearly 40 years of experience and connections with nationally-respected vineyards, the winery has expanded its line with vintages featuring grapes from other high-profile growing regions.

    Recent noteworthy Fresno State bottlings have included its Zinfandel from Napa Valley, Chardonnay from the Sonoma area, Sauvignon Blanc from the Russian River Valley, Sergeant Zinfandel from the Amador Valley and Petit Verdot and Petite Syrah from Contra Costa County.

    The remaining varieties of the 22 wines currently available are largely familiar. Nearly 60 percent of the winery’s fruit is sourced from the 120-acre campus vineyard, as well as from nearby Papagni, Saviez and Toca Madera vineyards.

    The Fresno State Winery, which opened in 1999, is a labor of love for students, staff, faculty and alumni who take pride in being a part of the first winery on a college campus, and still the largest.

    Its main mission is to encourage students to get hands-on training in all phases of processing, sales and marketing through classes and volunteer opportunities. A full-time intern, senior enology student Brenna Pratt is assisting Montgomery, and other part-time students like enology senior John Skrip help throughout the year.

    On the sales and marketing side, recent agricultural business graduate Natasha Milanez just finished her third year as a student assistant. Her lengthy job description includes helping manage orders and shipping; overseeing the website and wine club; confirming inventory; coordinating other clerical work and logistics; and assisting on wine processing days.

    Virtual classes have kept most other students at home since late March, but the Dinuba resident has still made the hour-long drive to work on campus every weekday. She plans on working full-time through mid-August to help manage the increased sales and keep the operation running smoothly.

    Among the recent promotions, she noted that many customers have taken advantage of the curbside pick-up option with their online orders. She also created and coordinated a multi-case delivery to her hometown through a local Facebook group page post.

    “I didn’t know much about wineries before I started,” Milanez said, “but I’ve picked up a lot of great skills, and I hope to do something similar for a career. One of the most enjoyable parts of the job is customer service. I know it’s not the favorite part of the job for some people, yet that’s how you develop your professionalism. Just like our customers, I’ve created a lot of friendships that are tied to our products, the campus and our staff. I want to leave a legacy that people will remember.”

    Smith, now in his seventh year with the winery, also enjoys that personal connection with customers and students, and is a three-time Fresno State graduate himself, with an MBA degree, a linguistics master’s degree and an economics bachelor’s degree.

    When the economy eventually improves, he anticipates recent consumer behavior might remain. Closer customer relationships can be maintained through social media and websites, while the winery would also have more direct data to better understand buyer preferences for future planning.

    “When you visit a website you can be drawn into the storytelling process, learn about the winery’s history and take in images of the vineyards and its operation,” Smith said. “Those aren’t things you see in a crowded store aisle when customers are more focused on prices and label designs. In the end, all businesses have to be ready to change, sometimes drastically during market disruptions, and how quickly you can adjust separates the leaders from the followers. Besides preparing tomorrow’s winemakers, our other main goal is to better connect with our customers and make the purchasing process easier and more fulfilling.”

  • NIFA Invests $4.8 Million to Train Ag Workforce Through Community Colleges

    Today, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced an investment of $4.8 million to support 12 projects that will offer workforce training by community colleges. These awards are made possible through the Agricultural and Food Research Initiative’s (AFRI) Agricultural Workforce Training program priority area. This is the first time that the NIFA has specifically targeted community colleges to increase training opportunities for the food and agricultural workforce sector.

    “Community colleges provide substantial workforce development throughout the nation,” said NIFA Director Scott Angle. “These awards will lead to workers earning a two-year degree or an industry-accepted credential, which will open better job opportunities in the food and agricultural sector.”

    The 12 awardees were selected from over 30 applications after and evaluated by a peer panel knowledgeable about both community colleges and workforce training. “The community colleges and cooperating Institutions range geographically from Rhode Island to Hawaii,” said Angle. “Training subject areas include improving worker skills in nursery production, pesticide application, aquaponics, hydraulic systems, leadership for workers in rural areas, and more.” While diverse in geography and subject matter, the successful projects have three things in common:

    1. Projects must result in needed workforce training at community colleges;
    2. Projects must provide experiential learning opportunities that allow students more time working in job simulation or ‘on-the-job’ training environments; and
    3. Trainees must either receive a two-year degree or an industry recognized credential that will improve their skillset and employability.

    The twelve organizations receiving the awards are:

    West Hills Community College; Coalinga, California – $500,000
    Dakota College at Bottineau; Bottineau, North Dakota – $500,000
    Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech University; Blacksburg, Virginia – $500,000
    Michigan State University; East Lansing, Michigan – $499,999
    South Central College; North Mankato, Minnesota – $499,657
    Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Institute; Kingston; Rhode Island – $499,654
    University of Hawaii Systems; Kahului, Hawaii – $498,759
    Cornell University; Ithaca, New York – $495,799
    Bismarck State College; Bismarck, North Dakota – $458,839
    Chemeketa Community College; Salem, Oregon – $273,295
    Pittsburg State University; Pittsburg, Kansas – $95,254
    Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Green Bay, Wisconsin – $24,897

    Award grant details can be found on NIFA’s website.

    NIFA’s mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension to solve societal challenges. NIFA’s investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture. To learn more about NIFA’s impact on agricultural science, visit https://nifa.usda.gov/impacts, sign up for email updates or follow us on Twitter @USDA_NIFA, #NIFAimpacts.

  • Western Plant Materials Centers Working for Butterfly Conservation

    June is national pollinator month and a great time to recognize the importance of pollinators.  NRCS has numerous programs and conservation practices to benefit habitat for many pollinators, including honeybees, native bees, butterflies and other pollinators.  To best support the creation and management of butterfly habitat, it’s important to understand the special needs of butterflies. Plant Materials Centers (PMCs) in western states are actively studying butterfly habitat development practices and producing useful tools for NRCS field offices regarding butterfly conservation.

    Instead of having bee mouth parts, adult butterflies feed on nectar using a long straw-like tube called a proboscis.  For this reason, any pollinator habitat created with butterflies in mind, needs to include a suite of flowers known to produce nectar and not just pollen.  Western PMCs have developed a number of resources to help guide field offices in butterfly habitat design such as Idaho Plant Materials Technical Note 71: Monarch Butterfly Habitat: Development and Maintenance and Idaho Plant Materials Technical Note 73: Creation and Management of Utah Butterfly Habitat.

    Numerous butterfly species may soon warrant listing as a threatened or endangered species not only because plants for adults are less available, but also because host plant populations for larvae (caterpillars) are diminishing.  NRCS PMCs are directing their expertise to better understanding the production, establishment, and promotion of those plants critical to all stages in the life cycles of western butterflies.

    Monarch butterflies, for example, are perhaps the most iconic insect in North America; however, this species faces severe challenges.  Experts predict that Western monarch numbers have been steadily and dramatically decreasing since the 1980’s.  One of the factors linked to monarch declines is the reduction of available milkweed (Asclepias spp.) populations.  Adult monarchs will only lay eggs on milkweed plants, which comprise the sole food source for the developing larva.


    PMCs in California, Oregon, Montana and Idaho have been studying milkweed to determine best practices for habitat restoration and management.  The Aberdeen PMC in Idaho is investigating the propagation of milkweed via root or rhizome cuttings.  They have found that root cuttings of showy milkweed (A. speciosa) as small as 1/8” diameter can produce new plants.  This technique may provide an effective method to establish milkweed in native habitats as well as, home flower gardens.  Aberdeen PMC staff are conducting field burning treatments as part of a study investigating milkweed management for monarch butterfly habitat. Likewise, the Corvallis, Oregon and Lockeford, California PMCs are studying practices to establish and manage milkweed species in seed mixtures to produce optimum monarch habitat.  In Montana, the Bridger PMC worked collaboratively with the Teller Wildlife Refuge, Pheasants Forever, NRCS Hamilton Field Office, and the Montana State University Ag Experimental Station to establish a milkweed and pollinator planting to evaluate different milkweed planting methods.


    A further group of western butterflies that are threatened due to host plant population losses are the silverspots or fritillaries.  These beautiful checkered butterflies rely on violets (Viola spp.) to produce their offspring.  The Corvallis and Aberdeen PMCs are studying methods of violet seed and plant production to aid conservation efforts in critical habitats. In Corvallis, they published findings on practical solutions for seed production of early blue violet (V. adunca), while scientists at Aberdeen have begun investigating propagation and seed production of northern bog violet (V. nephrophylla).

    In addition to these specific activities, PMCs have developed several publications outlining management practices and species appropriate for butterfly habitat in the many ecoregions of the western states.  For more information, visit the website of the PMC in your area.

  • Bringing the Next Generation of Avocados to Market

    UC Riverside has entered into a $2.25 million partnership with Spain-based Eurosemillas S.A., a global leader in the commercialization of agriculture innovations, to help the university bring to market the most promising and advanced avocado scions and rootstocks in its collection.

    If successful, these varieties would meet diverse regional growing requirements, exhibit better post-harvest characteristics, increase yields, provide resistance against disease, and expand consumer market diversity.

    “Eurosemillas has successfully commercialized citrus varieties developed at UC Riverside in the past. They have the global network and expertise to do the same with the next generation of avocados,” said Brian Suh, director of technology commercialization in the Office of Technology Partnerships at UC Riverside, who worked with a team on this initiative for the past four years.

    Eurosemillas will obtain access to a small subset of the overall university avocado variety and rootstock collection for evaluation and testing on various continents to see if they perform as well as they do in California. At the same time, they will forge partnerships for commercialization that could lead to global market penetration of some of these selections.

    Niwala Abeysekara uses a leaf sensor on avocado plants in the Manosalva lab at UC Riverside. (UCR/Stan Lim)

    “After 31 years of working with UC on many other crops, we are delighted to partner with UCR again in a new product like avocado,” said Javier Cano Pecci, Chief Executive and Development Officer of Eurosemillas. “The avocado market is growing and is currently dominated by the Hass variety. This is a great opportunity for growers, marketers, retailers, and consumers to have options and diversify to include better avocado varieties and rootstocks adapted to their regions.”

    UC Riverside’s 70-year old avocado breeding programs house one of the most elite germplasm collections of scion and rootstock breeding material in the world. The University of California has partnered with California avocado growers since the inception of the industry a century ago and has had several plant breeders developing new varieties and rootstocks for the industry.

    Bob Bergh headed the variety improvement program for nearly 40 years, which released among other varieties, the ‘Lamb Hass’ and ‘GEM.’  This program is under the leadership of Mary Lu Arpaia, an extension horticulturist. The goal of the variety breeding program is to develop trees with high eating and market quality while increasing yield efficiency.

    Arpaia said for the California industry to remain viable, growers must have new varieties that yield more than Hass, are more tolerant to environmental stress, and can be produced reliably under high-density planting systems.

    “I am delighted by this partnership with Eurosemillas since it will help UC take this vision for the future toward reality,” Arpaia said.

    Mary Lu Arpaia, UC Riverside Extension Horticulturist

    The variety improvement program has four selections being readied for release that can augment the ‘Hass’ variety in terms of seasonality and have potential for expanded environmental adaptation within California.

    The rootstock breeding program was started in the 1940s by George Zentmyer and is currently directed by Patricia Manosalva, an assistant professor of plant pathology at UCR. The UCR Rootstock Breeding Program is one of the few well-recognized rootstock breeding programs worldwide and has been historically funded by the California industry through the California Avocado Commission. The main goal of the rootstock program is to develop and release the next generation of rootstocks that meet the most pressing needs of growers using traditional breeding complemented with genomic-assisted breeding approaches.

    The program is selecting rootstocks that can resist Phytophthora root rot, the most common avocado disease worldwide, as well as salinity, drought, and heat, all of which are expected to become worse as the climate warms. In collaboration with the California Avocado Commission, five UC Riverside advanced rootstocks exhibiting resistance to these major challenges are being evaluated by growers throughout California.

    “This partnership with Eurosemillas will allow us to test our five advanced rootstocks in combination with ‘Hass’ and local scions in other countries to determine their potential outside California,” Manosalva said.

    Peggy Mauk, director of agricultural operations and cooperative extension horticulture specialist, has been active in avocado research and extension for more than two decades. Over the past 25 years, avocado production in California and worldwide has been challenged by declining water quality. Avocado is the most salinity sensitive tree crop and ‘Hass’ is very susceptible to damage caused by salts. She initiated a program to find rootstocks tolerant to saline water.

    “Our UCR team in partnership with Eurosemillas is focused on finding rootstock/scion combinations that increase salinity tolerance,” Mauk said.

    Over the last 30 years, the avocado market has increased 2.5-fold and per capita consumption has quadrupled, generating interest in avocado production in many other countries, Manosalva said. But diseases, climate change, and the worldwide market’s dependence on the Hass variety threaten this burgeoning market.

    “The funding from Eurosemillas will allow UC Riverside to maintain the plant material and support and complement the current California Avocado Commission funding of the avocado scion and rootstock breeding programs, respectively, which have significant value given their uniqueness,” said Kathryn Uhrich, dean of UC Riverside’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. — By Holly Ober, UC Riverside

    For more information on this avocado program contact Joyce Patrona: joyce.patrona@ucr.edu

  • California Walnuts Bright Spots During COVID-19

    California Walnut Board — Although it has been a challenging time in many ways since COVID-19 began, we want to draw your attention to some “bright spots” for California Walnuts. Over the last few months, we’ve seen significant growth in trends in baking, snacking, simple meals, and interest in plant-based eating. Walnuts are increasingly being recognized by consumers as one of the most versatile “pantry” staples, having stocked up on them during the initial weeks of COVID-19 especially. Nationwide stay-at-home orders have allowed more time for experimentation in the kitchen. Consumers are indulging, but also being mindful of nutrition and their consumption of nutritious, immune-boosting foods, and walnuts are well positioned to provide both.

    We have been monitoring the evolving landscape from a marketing perspective, and continue to pivot to ensure we are leaning into appropriate trends. Consumers have been searching for keywords such as “food”, “recipes”, and “simple cookie recipes” at higher-than-normal rates. With digital partner Allrecipes, recipes using walnuts as an ingredient grew to an all-time record in April, up by 169% compared to April 2019, even beating historic numbers typically seen around the Thanksgiving holiday season.

    Consumers also engaged at historic levels with promoted Baking, Meal Prep, and Kid Friendly recipes, our “How To” content series, and blog content, resulting in increases in website traffic, with users up by 40%, sessions up by 34% and pageviews up by 18% since this time last year. This performance confirms the shift in consumer online behavior due to COVID-19, and validates that our content is resonating in a very meaningful way.

    Leaning into On-trend Baking Inspiration

    With consumers spending more time at home, baking has made a resurgence as a way to pass time, and as a source of comfort. In turn, we highlighted some of the trending baked goods by featuring our own recipes, including homemade sourdough bread and banana bread.

    On walnuts.org, we curated a special recipe collection inspired by this nostalgia to include our top banana bread and baking inspired recipes, called “Bananas, Bread, and More” and promoted it on our home page and native advertising channels.

    Resharing Famous Recipes for Consumers to Make at Home

    Companies such as The DoubleTree Hilton have been sharing their beloved recipes for fans to make at home. We shared their famous DoubleTree Cookie recipe which includes walnuts, on California Walnut social media channels

    Blog Content Repurposed for Native Channels and Instagram Stories

    At the end of March, we went into the archives of our past blogs to reshare articles that we felt would make the lives of our audience easier right now. This included articles such as Meal Prep Ideas and How To Start Your Own Herb Garden. These articles were promoted on digital and social channels. Most notably, we utilized our newly-earned swipe up feature on Instagram to drive directly to our website.

    Major Media Hits featuring California Walnuts

    In the past few months, walnuts have been mentioned in a number of stories and recipes by major media outlets. This included Wendy Bazilian’s virtual appearance on Live with Kelly & Ryan where she discussed how to properly store walnuts. Walnuts were also mentioned in People Magazine’s article featuring Cat Cora’s favorite parfait recipe. This particular recipe was shared with the intent of providing a treat option for consumers to make without having to visit a grocery store.

    All of this buzz on social media resulted in an increase in impressions by 55.5%, audience growth by 3%, and engagements by 2.7% since March 15. From a public relations perspective, the stay-at-home mandates also provided an opportunity for the team to connect with many of our regular media contacts on a more personal level, by checking in and sending walnut samples to them at their homes.

    Food Professionals

    The Foodservice community is keeping the innovation pipeline alive during this time, from new menu ideas to improved take-out and delivery platforms, along with product development in the plant-based, nutrient dense space. Walnuts have a prime opportunity, as consumer interest in plant-based eating increases, and we see new issues with the meat supply chain. California Walnuts was recently featured in FSR Magazine with a strong plant-based center-of-the-plate message.

    In the Food Manufacturing space, the evolution toward healthful indulgence has rapidly advanced since the onset of COVID-19 as more consumers seek products that are indulgent, but made with whole ingredients. To take advantage of the banana bread trend, we recently published an article called Classic Pairing of Bananas, Walnuts Thrives Through Evolution in which we highlighted the trend and all of the interesting products being made with walnuts and bananas.

    Although new product launches have slowed for now, we anticipate a wave of innovation to occur later this year, with walnuts playing a key role in many of these products. We especially see potential in the growing number of consumers who are turning to plant-based foods due to nutritional preferences and shortages in the meat supply. Ready and primed to capture food manufacturers who are interested in including walnuts in their future products, this month we published a white paper 5 Reasons Food & Beverage Manufacturers Should Use California Walnuts.

    To put it simply, California walnuts are innovating and evolving to a new norm, while setting the tone for a more impactful food future with sustainability, menu efficiencies, and food safety measures in mind.