California Ag Network

Category: News

  • New $9.7 Million Grant Funds Search for Wheat Yield Genes

    Featured Image Credit: (Karin Higgins/UC Davis photo)

    – Increasing wheat yield rapidly enough to meet population growth has been a challenge for wheat breeders. An international research project, headed by plant geneticist Jorge Dubcovsky, professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, is using new technology to identify the wheat genes that impact yield.

    “Grain yield is one of the most difficult traits to address in wheat,” said Dubcovsky. “Fortunately, we now have more powerful tools, so we’re tackling this important trait even though it is difficult. We need to identify the genes that make the grains bigger, that increase the number of grains per spikelet, and that result in more-productive tillers.” (Tillers are segmented stems found in wheat and other grasses.)

    The importance of wheat – In contrast to crops like maize and soybean, 65 percent of the wheat varieties in the U.S. come from the public sector (in contrast to private-sector plant-breeding companies). The wheat industry in the U.S. therefore relies on public-sector wheat breeders to develop improved wheat varieties.

    Wheat is different from other cereals, in that it has a higher protein content than rice or maize, so it’s important for humans. More than 700 million tons of wheat is produced worldwide each year, and 20 percent of the global caloric and protein intake comes from wheat.

    Public-sector wheat breeders in the U.S. have worked together for many years with the support of USDA Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAP) to characterize agronomically important traits such as disease resistance and quality, but significantly increasing wheat yield has been an elusive goal. This year the Wheat CAP project is joining forces with the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP), a consortium coordinating efforts across the world to accelerate improvements in wheat yield.

    Research support from NIFA – A new five-year $9.7 million grant, from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), will continue to support the coordination of public wheat-breeding programs in the U.S. The research focus is on the identification of genes controlling grain yield and their utilization to improve wheat productivity through breeding research at UC Davis and partnering universities.

    The wheat-breeding program at UC Davis has long-used traditional breeding combined with molecular markers to accelerate the deployment of other traits, but no molecular markers were available for yield. The new molecular markers for genes controlling yield traits will accelerate progress in this area. A wheat yield increase of about 1 percent per year, typical up until now, will not meet the needs of a fast-growing human population.

    According to Dubcovsky, “This new project will allow us to understand the genes that control the different yield components, along with total yield.”

    It sounds straightforward, but it’s extremely difficult to breed for yield components. Yield in wheat consists of the average weight of the grain, the number of grains produced per plant, and the number of spikes produced per unit of growing area—these all contribute to total grain yield.

    Sequencing most wheat genes – In collaboration with a group in the UK, Dubcovsky’s group previously developed a tool called “exome-capture” (or gene capture) that can be used to sequence most of the wheat genes at a low cost, while ignoring the repetitive part of the very large wheat genome.

    “Using this new technology, we’ve had to sequence only 180 megabases, rather than the entire 16,000 megabases of the complete bread-wheat genome,” Dubcovsky said. The researchers used this tool to identify more than 10 million mutations in all the wheat genes.

    Dubcovsky’s lab is working to increase the number of grains in the wheat spike, while other groups in the WheatCAP team and IWYP are focusing on increasing grain size.

    Researchers are already testing a gene that increases grain size by 7 percent in wheat varieties grown in California and the UK. It is not yet clear, however, whether the increased grain size will result in an increase in total yield. As part of this project, breeders will move the large-grain trait into varieties known to have the potential for producing high biomass and high yield.

    The need for future plant breeders

    At least 15 graduate students will be trained in this project at different universities. Each student will be in charge of the identification and deployment of one of the beneficial genes. This training is important because there is an increasing demand for modern plant breeders, and limited places to train them.

    “With fewer active breeding programs in the universities, the wheat industry – breeding companies, growers, millers, bakers, and the National Association of Wheat Growers – strongly supports this program because they desperately need people with technical skills to do the breeding,” Dubcovsky said. “Public breeding programs play an important role in training a new generations of breeders that are critical for our future food security.”

  • Weather Radar Helps Researchers Track Bird Flu

    Featured Image Credit: Getty Images

    The same weather radar technology used to predict rain is now giving UC researchers the ability to track wild birds that could carry the avian influenza virus. Avian influenza, which kills chickens, turkeys and other birds, can take a significant economic toll on the poultry industry. In 2014-15, the United States experienced its worst bird flu outbreak in history, resulting in more than 48 million birds dying in 15 states, including California.

    “We use the existing network of weather radar stations in the U.S. in the same way that radar is used to track rain, except that we process the data to allow us to interpret the radar signal bouncing off birds instead of raindrops,” said Maurice Pitesky, UC Cooperative Extension poultry specialist. “The data can be interpreted to track birds.”

    NEXRAD, or next-generation radar, is a network of 160 high-resolution S-band Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service. The technology works best for tracking birds in the winter during feeding. When waterfowl leave their roosting locations in concert to feed, their bodies produce reflectivity of the radar beam.

    “By tracking mass bird movements remotely in real time, we hope to gain novel strategic insights with respect to surveillance and prevention of avian influenza transmission to domestic poultry,” said Todd Kelman, a veterinarian and engineer who co-leads the project with Pitesky, who is also in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. They are exploring how the information might be used to prevent an outbreak.

    In California, waterfowl migrate by the millions from September through March via the Pacific Flyway, where they winter in wetlands, rice and corn fields. The Central Valley alone is home to 3 million waterfowl at the height of migration.

    “Using NEXRAD and various other approaches, we hope to be able to produce monthly or quarterly maps that will alert poultry producers as to the locations of waterfowl in the Central Valley of California,” Pitesky said.

    “Waterfowl populations can have different habitat based on the amount of precipitation in a given year,” said Pitesky. “Therefore, we need to use these types of monitoring tools to understand where waterfowl are located. Landsat, or satellite-based land imagery, and NEXRAD are two remote tools that may be very useful, as opposed to flyovers and banding, which are more expensive and not practical for large geographical areas.”

    The project — funded by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources — is a collaboration between UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and Jeff Buler, University of Delaware wildlife ecologist whose team first developed the NEXRAD approach in the Central Valley of California. They also are working with the U.S. Geological Survey, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Poultry Federation, the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association and Point Blue, an organization that focuses on conservation science.

  • Cost of Raising a Child Born In 2015: $233,610

    The USDA has released the 2015 Expenditures on Children by Families report, also known as “The Cost of Raising a Child.” The report, developed by economists at USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), estimates that for a child born in 2015, a middle-income* married-couple family will spend between $12,350 and $13,900 annually (in 2015 dollars) – or $233,610 from birth through age 17 – on child-rearing expenses. Families with lower incomes are expected to spend $174,690 and families with higher incomes are expected to spend $372,210 from birth through age 17. Many state governments use this annual report, first issued in 1960, as a resource in determining child support and foster care guidelines.

    The report details spending by married-couple and single-parent households; for married-couple households, spending in various regions of the country are examined. Housing (29 percent) and food (18 percent) account for the largest share of child-rearing expenses for middle-income, married-couple families, followed by childcare/education (16 percent), transportation (15 percent), and health care (9 percent). Clothing was the smallest expense, at 6 percent, and other miscellaneous child-rearing necessities from birth to age 18 accounted for 7 percent. This report does not include costs related to pregnancy or college costs.

    “When CNPP first issued this report in 1960, housing and food were the two highest expenses, just as they are today,” said CNPP Executive Director Angie Tagtow. “But while housing costs have increased over time, changes in American agriculture have resulted in lower food costs, and family food budgets now represent a lower percentage of household income.”

    Across the country, costs were highest in the urban Northeast, urban West, and urban South; while lowest in the urban Midwest and rural areas. Much of the regional variation in expenses was related to housing. Differences in child care and education expenses also contributed to regional variation. Overall, child-rearing expenses in rural areas were 24 percent lower than those in the region with the highest expenses, the urban Northeast.

    It is important to note that child-rearing costs vary greatly depending on the number and ages of children in a household. As family size increases, costs per child generally decrease.

  • Fresno County Department of Agriculture Crop Report

    The recent rains have fueled good growth in the barley, oats, and wheat plantings. Planting of these grains continued and herbicides were applied to control weeds as needed. Straw shipments were on going.

    With the cold weather alfalfa fields have gone dormant, and have either had herbicides applied or sheep added to graze. All cotton growers have completed the shredding and cultivation to comply with the cotton plow down regulations; growers have started to cultivate and add soil amendments to make beds ready for spring. Alfalfa seed was exported to Algeria, Bolivia, Italy and Saudi Arabia.

    Winter is the time for cleaning and all around the county that’s exactly what’s happening. Stone fruit and nut orchards were mostly done being pruned and shredding was underway. Dormant sprays and herbicides to control weeds were being applied. Vineyards were also being pruned and the vines tied. The trend is continuing of pulling out vineyards and switching to nut crops. Asian pears, almonds, pistachios, dried fruits (blueberry, cherries, fig, peaches, and pears), grapes, kiwi, pecans, persimmons, plums, prunes, and walnuts were exported to: Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, India, Japan, Korea, Republic of, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Viet Nam.

    Spring preparation has started with many fields undergoing weeding disking and irrigation repair. Fields were being fumigated for next season’s eggplant, carrots, tomatoes and strawberry crops. As the temperatures dropped, fall broccoli harvest came to an end. Broccoli fields planted for seed production was showing good growth. Asparagus fields where topped and shredded to prepare for spring harvest. Onion and garlic fields have showed good growth; while bokchoy, carrots, daikon and Napa cabbage continued to be harvested. Lettuce seed was exported to Greece, Korea, and Netherlands and garlic was exported to Mexico.

    Oranges and mandarins were showing good color, the harvest continued. In Sanger district, harvest was approximately one third complete. Some freezing temperatures occurred early in the month but so far no widespread freeze damage has been reported. Growers have been running wind machines and burning small fires to protect the fruit. Although the rains have slowed entry into the fields for harvest, the moisture has helped with fruit protection. Cara Cara, grapefruit, lemon, mandarins, navels, pummelos, and tangerines have been exported to Australia, Chile, China, Dominican Republic, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Tonga. Exports had slowed do to glut in the markets in the middle of the month, but picked towards the end due to Chinese New Year. Olive groves were being disked and sprayed with herbicides to control weeds

    The rains had made the rangeland grasses germinate, providing favorable grazing conditions. Sheep have been moved to alfalfa and fallow fields for weed control and pregnant Ewes are welcoming new lambs. Beehives have been arriving from other states and were being stored in local yards to be ready for spring bloom. Beekeepers were feeding their hives due to lack of blooming vegetation this time of year.

     

     

  • Hill-Climbing Cows May Help Rangeland Sustainability

    Most of the 5 million cattle that graze on California’s rangelands like to dine in the valleys and hang out by creeks. This can lead to overgrazing in riparian areas and let perfectly good forage on hillsides go to waste.

    But some cows are different. They prefer to climb hills and mountains and eat along the way. If more cattle followed the road less traveled, rangelands would be more productive and sustainable throughout California and the West.

    That is why a team of researchers, including University of California, Davis, animal geneticist Juan Medrano, is working to develop an easy, inexpensive genetic test to help ranchers improve cattle distribution by breeding hill-climbing cows.

    “It’s very exciting research,” said Medrano, a professor with the Department of Animal Science who is collaborating with scientists throughout the West. “DNA technology makes it relatively easy to test and breed for production traits like milk yield and growth rate. But it’s brand new to identify genetic markers linked to animal behavior. This could have a huge impact on food security and rangeland management.”

    Nature and Nurture

    One third of California — 38 million acres — is rangeland. Most of it is mountainous or hilly and managed for livestock production. Grazing on rangeland feeds livestock, but also offers many environmental benefits such as keeping weeds and other invasive species in check, providing water storage and carbon sequestration, and supporting habitat for animals and plants found nowhere else in the world.

    Problems arise, though, when rangeland is overgrazed and cattle spend too much time near running water, where manure and calving can create water-quality risks for people downstream. That is especially true in California. Some 80 percent of the state’s drinking and irrigation water is stored on or passes through rangeland.

    Researchers at UC Davis and beyond have been working for decades with ranchers to keep cattle from overgrazing and congregating by creeks. They build strategic fencing, for example, and provide water and salt licks on ridgetops away from running water. Cowhands often herd cattle from low-lying pastures, but that is labor-intensive and only a temporary fix.

    A few years ago, Derek Bailey, a professor of range science at New Mexico State University and a colleague of Medrano, had an intriguing thought: What if we combine nature and nurture?

    “I’ve been watching cattle for years, and there are always some cows that just take off for the hills, like they didn’t know they weren’t elk,” Bailey said. “They could be belly-deep in green grass, and just bolt for the hills. They like it up there. We can breed for other traits. Why not select for hill climbing?”

    Bailey joined forces with Medrano and a team of researchers including animal genetics expert Milton Thomas at Colorado State University. Funded by a grant from Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, the group is close to developing a genetic test for whether a bull is likely to sire daughters who like to climb hills.

    Locomotion, Motivation and Spatial Learning

    To identify hill-climbing cattle, Bailey and his crew put GPS collars on 180 cows on seven ranches in three western states and took measurements every 10 minutes for months at a time. They tracked the cattle’s slope use, elevation gain and distance traveled from water. They also took blood samples that Medrano and his team analyzed for chromosomal commonalities. Medrano found overlap in genes linked to locomotion, motivation and spatial learning.

    “Results so far are very encouraging,” Medrano said. “Soon we will be able to test and breed for hill-climbing behavior.”

    With both plants and animals, breeding for one trait can sometimes produce unintended consequences like predisposition to disease or low calf weight. Researchers are looking closely at that possibility, and have so far found no correlation between hill-climbing behavior and undesired traits.

    “We’ve looked at calf-weaning weights, pregnancy rates, blood pressure, even disposition,” Bailey said. “We had one theory that hill-climbing cows tended toward the meaner end of the scale, but that’s not the case.

    “Some cows just prefer to climb more than other cows,” Bailey said. “And if breeding can move the bell curve in that direction, management tools like fencing and herding will be much more effective.”

    California ranchers are intrigued by the possibility.

    “I can see many ecological and economic benefits to breeding for cows who like to travel,” said Clayton Koopmann, a rancher and rangeland-management consultant who runs cattle on hilly ground throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. “Forage would be consumed more evenly, and that’s good for livestock production and for the environment.”

  • Tulare County Reports on Current Crop Status

    Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner released the current status today of major crops in the second most valued county in the California Ag portfolio. They report that Fields continue to be prepared and planted to winter wheat and barley forage. The growth of planted grains and field crops continue grow at an excellent rate, reaping the benefit from this past week’s ongoing precipitation. The forecast for optimal returns continues to look good. Sorghum seed continues to be received for future planting.

    Table grapes from cold storage continue to be exported to Canada, China, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Vineyards continue being pruned. Pistachios are being exported Belgium, China, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Vietnam. Almonds are being exported to Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. Pecans are being shipped to Australia, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. Pomegranates are primarily being exported to Mexico. Deciduous fruit and nut orchards continue to be pruned and the brush shredded as weather conditions allow. Tree fruit, nut orchards, and vineyards have halted most post-harvest field activities due to the recent rain. In drier locations the removal of older orchards continues in preparation for replanting new varieties.

    Wet weather continues to slow citrus harvest. Navel and Mandarin oranges are being harvested as conditions allow. Exports of citrus fruit have slightly slowed down between Christmas and New Year. However, navel oranges continue to be exported to Australia, China, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and Singapore. Melogold grapefruit are being exported to Japan and Korea regularly. Lemons are being exported to Australia, China, Korea, and New Zealand. Growers continue to implement frost protection measures for new plantings. Removal of older orchards continues in preparation for replanting to new varieties in drier locations.

    Winter vegetables continue to mature ideally. Strawberries fields continue to thrive. Blueberries continue to be planted, weather permitting.

    Rangeland continues to improve with the recent rainfall. Rangeland quality is benefiting from this week’s rain at the lower elevations. The fed cattle market price held steady at about $112.00 per hundredweight.

    Bare root rose nursery stock continues to be received, processed and shipped out. Potted roses are currently being shipped. Shipments of wholesale nursery stock have remained slow due to winter weather and a lack of demand.

  • Pesticides Results for Managing Beet Curly Top Virus in Tomatoes

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    Fresno County Farm Advisor Tom Turini gathered growers at the Research Station at Five Points for a vegetable crop Seminar, where he shared the latest results of his pesticide trials for managing beet curly top virus in tomato fields. Watch his brief interview and read more in Vegetables West Magazine.

  • New Methods to Control Nematodes in the Field

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    Joe Nunez shared the importance of controlling nematodes in the field at a recent grower meeting in the Central Valley. Watch Joe’s interview as he provides an update on the progress of his biological and chemical treatment trials for nematodes in the field. Read more in Vegetables West Magazine.

  • New Ways to Repel Beet Leafhoppers in the Field

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    At a vegetable crop pest meeting in Five Points, beet curly top virus in tomatoes was a key topic of discussion. In order to stop the spread of this disease, Farm Advisor Joe Nunez is going after the vector, beet leafhopper. Watch his video interview as he shares his approach to repel the pests by coloring the soil, and read more in Vegetables West Magazine.

  • Advances & Struggles with Disease Resistance in Tomatoes

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    Robert Gilbertson, plant pathologist at UC Davis, had some some good news and bad news to share with growers at a recent industry meeting at Five Points regarding disease resistance in tomato fields. Watch this video and read more in Vegetables West Magazine.