Parlier, Calif., (September 5, 2017) – Please come join us for this year’s Alfalfa and Forage Field Day on Wednesday, September 20, 2017. The event will be held at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, located at – 9240 S. Riverbend Ave., Parlier, CA 93648.
Here is the agenda for your review:
7:30 AM – Registration
8:00 – TRAM LEAVES FOR FIELD TOUR
Alfalfa Varieties for Pest and Disease Management – Shannon Mueller, Agronomy Advisor and County Director, UCCE Fresno
Remote Sensing in Sorghum to Phenotype Drought Stress – Jeffery Dahlberg, Director at Kearney Agriculture Research & Extension Center
Sub-Surface Drip Irrigation Alfalfa Management – Daniel Putnam, CE Agronomy & Forage Specialist, UC Davis
9:15 – TRAM RETURNS
9:20 – Managing Weeds in Agronomic Crop Rotations – Kurt Hembree, Weed Management Farm Advisor, UCCE Fresno
9:40 – Alfalfa Weevil Management – Rachael Long, CE Agronomy & Pest Management Advisor, UCCE Sacramento, Solano, & Yolo Counties
10:00 – Managing Sugarcane Aphid in Forage Sorghum – Nicholas Clark, CE Agronomic Cropping Systems & Nutrient Management Advisor, UCCE Kings, Tulare, & Fresno Counties
10:20 – Irrigation & Nitrogen Fertility Management in Forage Sorghum & Corn – Robert Hutmacher, CE Specialist, UC Davis, & Director of West Side Research & Extension Center
10:40 – Break
11:00 – Irrigation Systems and Salinity Management in Forage Production– Daniel Munk, CE Agronomy & Irrigation Advisor, UCCE Fresno
11:20 – Low Lignin Alfalfa & GMO vs. Conventional Varieties for Export – Dan Putnam, UC Davis
11:40 – Optimizing Surface Irrigation in High Flow Systems – Marsha Campbell-Matthews, CE Agronomy Advisor Emeritus, UCCE Stanislaus
12:00 PM – Lunch
Continuing Education Requested: DPR 1.5 hours of Other
For more information, contact: Nicholas Clark (559) 852-2788 neclark@ucanr.edu
Announcing a Blue Ribbon Brunch at the Farm Fundraiser September 10, 2017
Santa Clara, Calif., (September 5, 2017) – 4-H members in Santa Clara County will work with Google employees to develop computer science technical skills, digital fluency, creativity and problem solving skills in a new 10-week program made possible with a donation from the Silicon Valley internet search giant.
Youth participants, teen leaders and adult volunteers are now being recruited to take part in the 4-H Computer Science Career Pathway, a weekly series that begins Sept. 27. The pathway will translate abstract concepts into practical experiences the participants can use to explore the field of computer science. Fill out an online interest form to get more information.
The 4-H Youth Development Program emphasizes enrichment education through inquiry-based learning. Youth are encouraged to discover their passions, adopt a growth mindset, practice self-reflection and set goals. (Photo: Evett Kilmartin)
“We are thrilled to begin our partnership with Google and prepare our youth for successful careers in any field they choose through this innovative program,” said Fe Moncloa, the UC Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development advisor in Santa Clara County.
The outreach will go beyond the 10 weekly sessions. During the first year, an estimated 700 youth in traditional 4-H community clubs, in after-school programs, and in programs offered by partnering community organizations will be touched by 4-H computer science. Booths will be set up at festivals and fairs to reach still more young people.
“There are many different opportunities for our youth to explore computer science,” Moncloa said.
The Santa Clara program is one of dozens funded through the National 4-H Council, which received a $1.5 million grant from Google to build skills youth need for the future. Santa Clara is the only California county involved.
“We don’t know what the jobs of tomorrow will look like,” said Charlotte Smith of Google.org when the grant was announced. “Some of them might require computer science skills, but it’s much more than that – problem solving, collaboration. We want to give kids as many kinds of tools as we can so they can succeed in any discipline and in any field.”
The 4-H youth development program promotes hands-on, experiential learning. (Photo: Evett Kilmartin)
To reach underserved youth in Santa Clara County, 4-H will partner with two well-established community organizations. Youth Alliance, based in Hollister, provides innovative and culturally relevant services to local youth and families. Youth Alliance offers after-school programs for elementary and junior high school youth to give children a safe place to spend afternoons, get homework help and participate in cultural arts programs.
A second community partner is Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, which assists families with a wide variety of needs, including after-school programs, housing, food, nutrition education, citizenship classes and English-as-a-second-language training.
Santa Clara County UC Cooperative Extension 4-H has formed a team to launch the 4-H Computer Science Career Pathway.
UCCE 4-H program representative Claudia Damiani will train college students to offer the computer science curriculum to young people in Youth Alliance and Sacred Heart Community Service programs.
Google employee and 4-H volunteer Curtis Ullerichwill will teach the computer science curriculum to other volunteers in Santa Clara County.
“Some people think computer science is limited to coding,” Moncloa said. “Curtis, the way he teaches, he presents computer science in a different way. Sure, coding is one element, but there is so much more.”
Fiona Reyes and Santiago Piva are 4-H Teen Leaders in this project. They will teach and mentor youth, and collaborate with Ullerichwill to extend the curricula to 4-H volunteers.
Sacramento, Calif., (September 5, 2017) – The Kaiser Permanente Farm at Cal Expo K-6th Grade Farm Tours start September 12th. The Kaiser Permanente Farm presented by Save Mart is a jewel of the California State Fair. The 3.5 acre farm is a living, growing exhibit that provides a snapshot of California’s massive agriculture and food production industries. The Farm grows over 90 varieties of fruits and vegetables from squash, eggplant, kiwi, cotton, chili peppers, corn, melons to pumpkins.
The Farm is an essential part of educating young minds about healthy foods, how foods get from the farm to the table and opens their minds to possible careers in agriculture.
Funds raised for the Farm will go towards program materials for the year-round farm tours, new fruit trees, tools and supplies. The Friends of the California State Fair hosts this major fundraiser and tickets and donations are tax deductible.
California State Fair Blue Ribbon Brunch
Sunday, September 10
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Who: Enjoy a three-course farm-to-fork feast prepared by:
Official California State Fair Chef Keith Breedlove- owner of the Culinerdy Crüzer food truck. Chef Keith’s creations are unique and delicious. He constantly challenges himself to bring out the flavor of local ingredients.
Santana Diaz Executive Chef at Legends, Golden 1 Center- Most recently, Chef Diaz joined the Legends Hospitality team from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. He was the Executive Chef for Super Bowl 50 in 2016 where he and his team executed the first true Farm-to-Fork NFL experience.
Pro Chef Champion Jill Campbell- Former California State Fair Pro Chef Challenge winner, she runs her own Custom Cakes and Catering business from her home called Our Kitchen Table. She is always learning and testing new techniques to create exciting, beautiful, and delicious works of art.
Featuring local ingredients plus award-winning wine and beer and recipes made from the best of show desserts from the California State Fair competitions.
For Tickets:CAStateFair.org/Brunch or call (916) 263-3276. $100.00 PER TICKET I $750.00 PER TABLE OF 8
Help Friends of the California State Fair, a non-profit organization, raise funds for year-round K-6th Grade Farm Tours.
Where: California Stat Fair Kaiser Permanente Farm presented by Save Mart at Cal Expo.
Fresno, Calif., (August 31, 2017) – Thomas Montgomery, an award-winning winemaker and Fresno State alumnus, is the Fresno State Winery’s new winemaker.
The Sanger native, who honed a reputation for award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Bordeaux varieties as a winemaker for well-known wineries in Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, began his Fresno State assignment July 31. His career began at E&J Gallo Winery in Fresno and at United Vintners in Reedley upon graduation from Fresno State in 1979.
“Fresno State offers a unique opportunity to teach students how to create world-class wines in a place that’s near and dear to me,” said Montgomery. “I feel very fortunate to be able to return to the Central Valley and give back to the program that first fostered my love for the profession. Fresno State was a national leader in the field of enology when I was a student, and its winery facilities make it an even better training ground for students to produce an outstanding assortment of wines. I look forward to partnering with valley producers and growers to help train our future winemakers to be the best.”
Montgomery most recently served as the winemaker at Vine Cliff Winery in Napa and as the director of winemaking at Papagni Wines in Madera since 2015. This past year at international wine competitions, his 2014 Monte Smith Cabernet Sauvignon won a San Francisco Chronicle double gold medal, and the 2014 Barbera was a Wine Enthusiast magazine editor’s choice recipient.
He served the previous 20 years as a winemaker at B.R. Cohn Winery, Conn Creek Winery and Villa Mt. Eden Winery where he produced 25 to 30 wines annually that ranged from small lots to 70,000 cases. He managed all aspects of processing from crush through bottling, product development, staff, sales support, events, and marketing and promotion. His experience also includes work with growers and grapes from California’s more than 107 recognized wine-growing regions, otherwise known as appellations.
Earlier in his career, Montgomery served as an associate winemaker at Cosentino Winery and a winemaker and vineyard manager at Mission View Vineyards in Paso Robles.
“Tom’s vast winemaking experience and knowledge is an excellent fit for our enology program and will enable Fresno State to build upon its reputation of training the best winemakers for today’s global wine industry,” said Sandra Witte, dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at Fresno State. “The Fresno State Winery also looks forward to expanding grower and industry partnerships under his leadership.”
Montgomery graduated with a bachelor’s degree in enology and viticulture and studied under the department’s legendary founder, Vincent E. Petrucci. Montgomery also conducted undergraduate research in spore formation and germination of Botrytis Cinerea, a wine grape fungus, and its initiation of bunch rot complex.
His father, Richard Montgomery, was a Fresno State geography department chairperson and faculty member from 1966 to 1986.
Tom Montgomery is currently a master’s in business administration candidate at Humboldt State with a thesis in progress on qualitative problems in contracting grape and bulk wine sales in the California wine industry.
He replaces Matt Brain who served as the campus winemaker and campus lecturer since July 2015.
Fresno State houses the nation’s first commercial winery on a university campus. Founded in 1997, it has won more than 600 wine competition honors.
Sacramento, Calif., (August 31, 2017) – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have established a 94-square mile quarantine in portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties following the detection of the citrus disease huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening, in a single citrus tree in the city of Riverside. HLB is a deadly disease of citrus plants and closely related species, and can be transmitted from tree to tree by the Asian citrus psyllid.
The quarantine boundaries are on the north, Interstate 10; on the east, Box Springs Mountain Reserve; on the west, Riverside Municipal Airport; and on the south, East Alessandro Boulevard. HLB quarantine maps for Riverside and San Bernardino counties are available online at:www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/pe/InteriorExclusion/hlb_quarantine.html. Please check this link for future quarantine expansions in these counties, should they occur. Quarantines are already in place for HLB in portions of Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The quarantine will prohibit the movement of all citrus nursery stock out of the area, while maintaining existing provisions allowing the movement of only commercially cleaned and packed citrus fruit. Any fruit that is not commercially cleaned and packed, including residential citrus, must not be removed from the property on which it is grown, although it may be processed and/or consumed on the premises.
Residents are urged to take several steps to help protect citrus trees:
Do not move citrus plants, leaves or foliage into or out of the quarantine area, or across state or international borders. Keep it local.
Cooperate with agricultural crews placing traps, inspecting trees and treating for the pest.
If you no longer wish to care for your citrus tree, consider removing it so it does not become a host to the pest and disease.
DFA crews have already removed the infected tree and are in the midst of a treatment program for citrus trees to knock down Asian citrus psyllid infestations within 800 meters of the find site. By taking these steps, a critical reservoir of the disease and its vectors will be removed, which is essential to protect the surrounding citrus from this deadly disease.
HLB is a bacterial disease that attacks the vascular system of plants. It does not pose a threat to humans or animals. The Asian citrus psyllid can spread the bacteria as the pest feeds on citrus trees and other plants. Once a tree is infected, there is no cure; it typically declines and dies within a few years.
CDFA, in partnership with the USDA, local county agricultural commissioners and the citrus industry, continues to pursue a strategy of controlling the spread of the Asian citrus psyllids while researchers work to find a cure for the disease.
Santa Rosa, Calif., (September 1, 2017) – In August, in lieu of a general meeting, the Sonoma-Marin Young Farmers and Ranchers attended an educational ag tour. The group toured the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB), Bear Republic Brewery and Oak Ridge Angus to learn about the local food system and the Range to Table Program.
The day started with a tour of REFB. Jean Larson, Chief Operating Officer, brought the group around the warehouse showcasing the dry food storage, cold food storage, commercial kitchen, staging areas and the Value Market. Larson informed participants that the three pillars of REFB are food, funds and volunteers; without any of the three, the Food Bank would not function.
The group learned that in 2016, REFB received 1.2 million pounds of food donations from local growers, retailers and distributed 15.1 million pounds of healthy food that went to help 82,000 people in our community. Participants also learned about Kitchen Collective, a program through REFB which helps create meals with fresh produce that won’t be distributed before its expiration. The entrees made are then flash frozen to extend the shelf life and help teach those accepting the meals how to cook with the items available.
One thing often overlooked is students that receive free and discounted lunches during the school year don’t have access to these during the summer; the Food Bank helps collect and distribute meals to students during the summer.
Last year, as part of the Range to Table program, REFB received 31 head of cattle for harvesting which equated to 15,886 pounds of animal protein. The mission of the program is to provide protein in the form of meat to those in need in our community. The only costs to the Food Bank are the processing fees. Last year 22 cattle ranchers, local businesses and organizations partnered to make the Range to Table program possible.
The next stop on the tour was feed source for many of the animals in the Range to Table program. Clay Grosskopf, Marketing Manager for Bear Republic Brewery, brought the group around the Cloverdale facility. Each year, Bear Republic brews approximately 81,000 barrels or 2,511,000 gallons of beer, most of which is their Racer 5 IPA.
Bear Republic reserves their spent brewers’ grain for Oak Ridge Angus to pick up and feed to the cows. Oak Ridge Angus picks up approximately 25,000 pounds of grain six days a week. Cheryl LaFranchi, owner of Oak Ridge Angus, has been working with the Bear Republic to pick up their brewers’ grain since they opened their Healdsburg brewery in 1996. As the brewery has grown exponentially, LaFranchi has adjusted her business practices to be able to feed all the grain.
The partnership works well because Bear Republic needed somewhere to dispose of the grain to keep it out of the city septic system in turn Oak Ridge Angus can feed more animals making the donation to REFB possible.
Cheryl LaFranchi, owner of Oak Ridge Angus has been instrumental in developing the Range to Table Program. She started the program in 2012 with the help of Stephanie Larson at UCCE Sonoma and David Goodman, Executive Director of REFB.
The third stop on the tour was at Oak Ridge Angus where the group had lunch and then toured the Angus cattle ranch. LaFranchi gave the group a history of the ranch which has been in the family for more than 100 years. LaFranchi told the group how the ranch has grown over the years to accommodate the brewers’ grain from the Bear Republic Brewery. In addition to raising more cattle, LaFranchi has built more infrastructure and invested in more equipment to be able to feed the amount of brewers’ grain the ranch currently receives. Sonoma-Marin Young Farmers and Ranchers would like to thank everyone who provided a tour and arranged for it to happen. A special thank you to Sonoma County Airport Express for donating transportation for the day.
If you would like to contribute by donating a calf to be raised for the program please contact Cheryl LaFranchi at (707) 292-1013 or cheryl@lafranchi.com. If you have cattle that you would like to donate to the program please contact Stephanie Larson at (707) 565-3442 or slarson@ucdavis.edu. If you would like to volunteer with the Redwood Empire Food Bank or would like to make a cash donation please go to www.refb.org. To make a donation click on the donate tab. When making a donation be sure to indicate that it is for the Range to Table program.
By Michelle McClure, YF&R Public Relations Officer – Sonoma County Farm Bureau
Santa Rosa, Calif., (September 1, 2017) – The Sonoma County Department of Agriculture presented the 2016 Crop Report at the Board of Supervisors Meeting on Tuesday August 1st. The theme of this year’s crop report was “Growing Winegrapes, Sustainably”.
2016 Crop Report Presentation at the Board of Supervisors meeting on August 1st. Photo by Emily Janowski.
The total reported value of agricultural products in Sonoma County was $898,125,200, a 17% increase from 2015. The increase in value was attributed to an increase in rain over 2015 and an increase in both tons crushed and price per ton of winegrapes.
Sonoma County’s apple yield increased significantly over 2016 while the value of livestock and poultry products decreased 6%. The 2016 apple yield increased significantly over 2015, which Ag Commissioner Tony Linegar referred to as “the worst apple crop in recent history”. The 2016 apple crop grossed $5,466,800, up 42% from 2015’s value of $3,752,400.
Sonoma County’s 60,000 acres of winegrapes accounted for more than 50% of Sonoma County’s crop value totaling $586,517,700. This was up significantly from the 2015 value of $446,538,900. Chardonnay was the top producing varietal with 16,000 acres values more than $162 million. Chardonnay was followed by Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon which each have more than 13,000 planted acres have values over $100 million.
Sonoma County produced 14 million dollar crops in 2016. In millions these were: Winegrapes ($586), Market Milk ($146), Misc Poultry ($40), Misc Livestock and Poultry Products ($31), Cattle and Calves ($20), Nursery – Ornamentals ($14), Nursery – Misc ($13), Vegetables ($9.9), Sheep and Lambs ($8.4), Oat and Rye Silage Crops ($4.0), Nursery – Cut Flowers ($3.9), Apples – Late Varieties ($3.9), Apples – Gravenstein ($1.6) and Nursery – Bedding Plants ($1.2).
Visalia, Calif., (September 1, 2017, 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 Alfalfa fields continue to be irrigated, cut, and baled. Sorghum for silage is in various stages of development, with some fields close to maturity. Corn silage continues to be harvested. Cotton is still being irrigated and bolls continue to develop. Cotton is blooming and forming bolls. Black-eyed beans are drying and nearing harvest.
Peaches, nectarines, and plums continue to be picked and shipped to both domestic and export markets. Stone fruit is being exported to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, and Taiwan. Pistachio harvest has begun. Almond harvest is continues throughout the county. Almonds are being exported to Chile, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates. Pears are being exported to Mexico. Table grape harvest continues, with exports going to Australia, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. Pomegranate harvest is now underway, with exports going to Brazil. All permanent plantings are being irrigated.
Valencia orange harvest continues, primarily for the domestic market. Valencia oranges are being exported to China, Korea, and Mexico. Valencia oranges and Meyer lemons are being bagged for export to Mexico. Finger limes are being harvested and exported to France, Japan, and the Netherlands. Olives continue to develop.
Certified producers are picking tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and peppers for sale at the local Farmer’s Markets. Yellow squash, Zucchini, eggplant, Bell peppers, green Chili peppers, and cucumbers are being harvested and shipped domestically. Fall vegetables have been planted and are developing well.
Low elevation rangeland continues to dry and conditions are fair to good, but quality is continuing to decrease. Cattle are still being moved to higher elevations. The higher elevations are providing more grass than previous years. Feed costs for cattle remains high. The fed cattle market price is down to $110.00 per hundred weight. Harvested grain fields continue to be sheeped-off in the southern portions of the county.
Nursery shipments are slowing overall. Wholesale nursery shipments to Canada and domestic markets have decreased due to the hot summer temperatures. Small amounts of citrus nursery stock continue to be sold. Kiwi pollen is being exported to Chile, Japan, and South Africa. New wells continue to be drilled, with many existing wells showing higher levels due to increases in the water table.
Stockton, Calif., (August 31, 2017) – With a little care and planning, anyone can make their little corner of the earth safe and friendly for bees.
UC Master Gardener volunteer Clare Bhakta of San Joaquin County shared bee-friendly strategies during a community workshop in August, extending the reach of research information developed by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“Lure bees in,” Bhakta said. “If you make it comfy, they will come.”
Bhakta is a newly minted Master Gardener, having graduated in June from the intensive training program presented by UC advisors and specialists. She is part of the San Joaquin County MG speakers bureau; the “Buzz about Bees” was her inaugural engagement.
“We want bees in our gardens,” Bhakta said. “Ninety percent of flowering plants and 75 percent of human crops depend on pollinators, including bees. Bee pollination makes about $15 billion in human food in the United States each year.”
What’s good for bees also attracts other pollinators. Here a yellow butterfly lands on lantana in the San Joaquin County demonstration garden, 2101 E. Earhart Ave., Stockton.
About 1,600 species of bees are found in California, many of them natives. Most of the bee species live independently, occupying holes in trees trunks or branches, or in the ground. Their sizes range from inch-long metallic black bumble bees to tiny sweat bees 3 millimeters in length. These species rarely sting since they don’t have hives to protect.
California’s most recognizable bee is the European honeybee, imported from the Old Country by settlers in the 1600s. The insects serve as efficient pollinators and produce more honey than they can use themselves – offering humans an abundance of natural golden sweetener with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
Bees work hard to produce honey. It takes 2 million flower visits – about 55,000 flight miles – to make a pound of honey. An individual worker bee lives just six weeks and produces about one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
Sharon Butler, president of the Ripon Community Garden, attended the free workshop. The 2.5-acre garden at the corner of Vera and Doak avenues has dozens of raised garden plots. The community just added several bee hives. Butler asked at the workshop about an unexplained phenomenon in their first honey harvest.
“A couple of racks had dark spots with honey that had a cinnamon taste,” she said.
Bhatka said the variation was probably the result of nectar from different plants.
“I wish I knew what plant it is, I’d plant a lot more,” Butler said.
Creating a bee friendly garden may go against the grain for tidy gardeners. Bees don’t prefer the well-trimmed plants and homogeneous color scheme of a formal outdoor space.
“Bees love herbs,” Bhakta said. “I let my sage go crazy this year and I couldn’t believe how tall they got.”
Bees like a wide variety of plants that bloom from early spring to late fall planted in clumps to minimize their travel time. Sweetly aromatic blooms, particularly blues and yellows, will attract the most bees.
For best results, don’t over garden. Follow these five tips from the UC Master Gardener program:
Rather than cover all soil with mulch, leave open areas for ground nesting bees.
Keep a few dead tree stumps or branches. Particularly if it has holes, it makes an ideal nesting site for solitary bees.
Let plants “go to seed,” even when they begin to look overgrown and leggy.
Provide a shallow water source. Filling it with pebbles or marbles allows the bees access to the water.
Avoid using pesticides. Visit the UC Integeted Pest Management website for environmentally sound methods of controlling pests and weeds.
Davis, Calif., (August 30, 2017) – The Public Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis, and colleagues in California and Florida have received a $4.5 million grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve the disease resistance and sustainable production of strawberries throughout the nation.
The collaborative grant is good news for strawberry farmers and consumers everywhere, according to Rick Tomlinson, president of the California Strawberry Commission. To signal its own support, the strawberry commission pledged an additional $1.8 million to the UC Davis program.
“An investment in the UC Davis strawberry breeding program is an investment in the future of strawberries,” Tomlinson said. “Thanks to their groundbreaking research and strong partnerships, Director Steve Knapp and his colleagues are developing improved strawberry varieties publicly available to farmers.”
Professor Steve Knapp, director of the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program, in a breeding greenhouse. The US Department of Agriculture has awarded a grant of $4.5 million to the UC Davis program and its partners to help come up with new varieties for farmers. The California Strawberry Commission is contributing an additional $1.8 million to support the effort. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)
Improving genetic resistance to disease -Strawberries constitute a $4.4 billion-dollar industry in the United States, and 94 percent of the nation’s strawberry fruit and nursery plants are grown in California and Florida.
Strawberries are especially vulnerable to soil-borne pathogens, which destroy plants and greatly reduce yield. Since the 1960s, strawberry growers have depended on fumigants like methyl bromide to treat soils before planting berries in an effort to control disease. But methyl bromide has been phased out by the Environmental Protection Agency and will no longer be available after 2017.
“Following the elimination of methyl bromide fumigation, strawberry growers are under greater economic pressures, and there is an urgent need for improved, disease-resistant strawberry varieties that will thrive without fumigation,” Knapp said.
Knapp will head a team of scientists from UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the University of Florida.
Together, researchers will identify and manage pathogen threats, mine elite and wild genetic resources to find natural sources of resistance to pathogens, and accelerate the development of public varieties resistant to a broad spectrum of disease and other pests.
“Strawberry growers are faced with the need to deliver high-quality fruit to consumers year-round, while protecting the environment, fostering economic growth in their communities and coping with profound changes in production practices,” Knapp said. “We look forward to collaborating with our industry partners through research, agricultural extension and education to help them reach those goals.”
UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program – During six decades, the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program has developed more than 30 patented varieties, made strawberries a year-round crop in California and boosted strawberry yield from just 6 tons per acre in the 1950s to 30 tons per acre today.
Knapp took over directorship of the program in 2015. He and his team are working to develop short-day and day-neutral strawberry varieties; studying the genetics of disease-resistance, fruit quality and photoperiod response; and applying genomic techniques to make traditional strawberry breeding more efficient. They have 10 public varieties in the pipeline and plan to release one or two new strawberry varieties later this year.
Initiative collaborators
The grant is funded by USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative. Collaborators from UC Davis include agricultural economist Rachael Goodhue, plant pathologist Thomas Gordon, and plant scientists Julia Harshman and Thomas Poorten.
Other key collaborators are Oleg Daugovish with UC Agricultural and Natural Resources; Alexander Putman at UC Riverside; Julie Guthman at UC Santa Cruz; Gerald Holmes and Kelly Ivors, both at Cal Poly; and Seonghee Lee, Natália Peres and Vance Whitaker, all of the University of Florida.
