From the UC Blogosphere...

California nut harvest winding down

Nut harvests in California are winding down, and growers of almonds, walnuts and pistachios are mostly happy with their yields, reported Tim Hearden in Capital Press.

• Almond growers expect to meet an early estimate of 1.95 billion pounds statewide, which would be a record


• Pistachio growers in the San Joaquin Valley are enjoying their second-largest crop ever after last year's record yield


• Walnut growers expect this year's yield to be 485,000 tons, slightly lower than last year's 503,000 tons

"The rumors I've heard is that guys are still complaining about the quality" of walnuts, said Rick Buchner, a University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Red Bluff. "We're getting a lot of black husks on them, so there's a suggestion that we may have some husk breakdown and husk fly problems. It's probably too soon to tell yet."

UC ag assistant's friendship is the secret to farmer's success

The Los Angeles Times ran a profile today of Fresno County farmer Pang Chang, an immigrant from Laos who grows mangoes, papayas, 20 varieties of guava and jujubes. The article said the secret to Chang's incongruous crops is his friendship with UC Cooperative Extension Hmong agricultural assistant Michael Yang.

Yang told reporter Diana Marcum he grew up helping his family raise vegetables — and hated it. But as an adult he circled back, studying agriculture and landing a job with the University of California's Cooperative Extension, a program that uses scientific research to solve community needs.

Yolo, Solano counties look at boosting ag industry
Capital Public Radio

UC is a sponsor of the Solano and Yolo Counties Joint Economic Summit, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center at UC Davis. Yolo and Solano counties want to develop a food chain cluster network to connect growers with local packing and processing facilities. In addition to UC Davis, the summit is sponsored by Solano County, Yolo County, Solano Economic Development Corporation and First Northern Bank.

Yolo County supervisor Don Saylor said local farmers are shipping about 98 percent of their agricultural products out of the area for processing and then bringing it back for purchase in local outlets. Saylor says another challenge is the ability to quickly ship farm products. He says government money for roads is typically based on population. So rural areas often get left out when it comes to new road construction.

Some International Publicity

The Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, and its adjacent honey bee garden, the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee...

The sign at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. . (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The sign at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The colorful bee boxes (background) were shown on the TV program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The colorful bee boxes (background) were shown on the TV program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tulare County childhood obesity rates rise

A 30-year trend in increasing childhood obesity rates in California may be leveling off, but rates are still three times higher among 12- to 19-year-olds and four times higher among 6- to 11-year-olds than they were in the 1970s, according to a report released Nov. 9 by the California Center of Public Health Advocacy and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. At the same time, improvements are not being seen evenly throughout the state, with 31 of California’s 58 counties experiencing an increase in childhood overweight over the five-year period from 2005 to 2010.

Tulare County was one of the 31 to see obesity and overweight rates climb in the last five years, according to an article in the Visalia Times-Delta. The rate of childhood obesity in Tulare County is close to 44 percent. Cathi Lamp, a nutritionist with UC Cooperative Extension, outlined UCCE's efforts to turn the tide. She said UC works with local school districts on curriculum for teachers that encourages healthful eating and obesity prevention.

"We reach thousands of families each year," Lamp said.

Riverside officials spray for Asian citrus psyllid
Janet Zimmerman, Riverside Press-Enterprise

Recent discoveries in Riverside of Asian citrus psyllids - which can carry bacteria that have devastated crops in Florida, Mexico and other countries - prompted a round of residential spraying that could be expanded, officials with the California Department of Food and Agriculture said.

The spraying started in October and is expected to continue through Nov. 17. State crews applied insecticide to residential citrus trees in an area bounded by Chicago Avenue on the west, Chapala Drive on the east, La Conte Drive near UC Riverside on the north and Central Avenue to the south.

A Gathering of Beekeepers

Let it bee.But the California State Beekeepers’ Association (CSBA) certainly won't.When the beekeepers and their affiliates...

Newly emerged worker bee from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis.

Newly emerged worker bee from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis.

A newly emerged worker bee (front) and a drone (male). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A newly emerged worker bee (front) and a drone (male). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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