The new California Farm Demonstration Network was formally launched in an MOU signing in May at Russ Lester’s orchard in Winters, California. The network is a partnership of several groups including the California Farm Bureau Federation, the USDA NRCS, the California Assn. of Resource Conservation Districts, the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture, UC ANR,…
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Climate scientists from three countries have determined that the carbon reduction goals set at the Paris Agreement in 2015 are not feasible. Regardless of whether the U.S. remains part of the Paris climate accord, scientists at the University of California, Davis, are developing additional agricultural methods to offset increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases, thereby reducing…
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Faculty, students, researchers, educators, and professional organizations are invited to submit posters for the fourth Rustici Rangeland Science Symposium, March 23-24, 2017. The poster submission deadline is Friday, March 17. Symposium highlights are available at http://rangelands.ucdavis.edu/rustici/rangeland-symposium/ The broad focus for the combined mixer and poster session includes any activities related to sustainable rangeland research, management,…
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Sustaining California’s Rangelands Leslie Roche, a new faculty member in the Department of Plant Sciences, is a Cooperative Extension specialist in rangeland management. She also has statewide responsibilities with Cooperative Extension in the UC systemwide Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The overarching theme of her program is looking at rangelands as working landscapes to…
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As noted in the Chair’s Message, the Department of Plant Sciences is undergoing a number of new faculty hires, which will continue in the upcoming years. In this and upcoming issues of The Leaf newsletter, we will share brief profiles of new faculty members, along with their areas of expertise and contact information. In this…
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With California wildfires becoming more frequent and intense, ranchers and other natural resources experts say public policy on livestock grazing as a potential tool to manage fuel and vegetation needs to be reevaluated to allow more flexibility. Despite mounting research that shows well-managed grazing could help reduce wildfire risk and severity, livestock stocking rates on…
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Overhead irrigation systems have revolutionized agriculture across the United States and in other parts of the world, using less water than furrow irrigation and requiring significantly less labor and maintenance than drip systems. But in California — the nation’s No. 1 agriculture state — overhead irrigation hasn’t gotten off the ground. That could be changing,…
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California Rangeland Trust awarded the 2016 Conservation Impact Award to Dr. Kenneth W. Tate, a Cooperative Extension specialist and professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis, and with UC ANR. The Rangeland Trust recognized that it’s not only landowners who make significant contributions to the conservation of California Rangelands and created the Conservation…
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Op-ed by Jeff Mitchell and Randy Southard Reprinted from The Sacramento Bee, October 29, 2015 California’s severe drought has focused attention on the critical role that soils have in agriculture and the economy of the Central Valley. Farmers are investigating a range of practices to get more out of every drop of water, including reduced…
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November 2, 2015 University of California, Davis by Ann Filmer If you allowed your lawn to die this summer to save water, now is the time to replace it with water-wise landscape plants, say landscape specialists from the University of California, Davis. Autumn, with its cooler weather and anticipated winter rains, is the best time…
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