UC Blog
Calaveras County considers consolidation
The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors expressed some concerns on Tuesday about plans to reorganize the UC Cooperative Extension service on a regional basis, reported the Calaveras Enterprise. The board took no action, but the issue is expected to be brought forward for a vote in June.
Under the plan, UC Cooperative Extension in Calaveras, El Dorado and Amador counties would be consolidated. Satellite offices would be maintained in each county and the main office located in the El Dorado County community of Placerville.
“The UC system has been hammered with budget cuts, we know you’re getting hammered with budget cuts and we’re looking at ways to keep the programs that we have,” the director of ANR Strategic Advocacy and UC-County Partnerships Don Klingborg told the board. By making administration more efficient, the consolidation could save each county about 10 percent of their contribution to the program.
Supervisor Steve Wilensky took issue with the Placerville location, the newspaper reported.
“I’m not interested in an unequal partnership,” Wilensky was quoted.
The board was also concerned with the possible job loss for clerical staff.
Exotic stink bug threatens nearly nationwide damage
"All that we do know for certain is that a tremendously large population went into overwintering in fall 2010. So, if they survived, there could be a very large population emerging in the spring," the story quoted Tracy Leskey, a research entomologist at the U.S. Agriculture Department's Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va.
The stink bug will feed on almost anything, including cherries, tomatoes, grapes, lima beans, soybeans, green peppers, apples and peaches. When it feeds, it leaves behind an ugly spot that renders the fruit or vegetable unmarketable.
UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Stephen Vasquez and viticulture specialist Matt Fidelibus warned of the new pest's potential to harm California grape crops in a post to their new Viticulture blog. They wrote that damage can be substantial when BMSB populations are not identified early and managed appropriately. Growers and wineries are also concerned that the “stink” from any bugs accidentally crushed in wine or juice grapes could taint the product with off flavors.
"One might define this thing as the bug from hell," U.S. Congressman Roscoe Bartlett told the Chron. "If I was a mad scientist doing gene splicing and putting together a bug that would really be nasty and I was turning it loose on my enemy, I probably couldn't do a better job."
The Chronicle said the best hope for farmers that have brown marmorated stink bugs is the insecticide dinotefuran, the active ingredient in the commercial products Venom and Scorpion. The chemical compound is labeled by the Environmental Protection Agency for use on vegetables, grapes and cotton, but not in orchards, as it is in Japan and other Asian countries.
More information about the BMSB and current research is available in a streamed PowerPoint presentation by USDA's Lesky posted on the web.
Methyl iodide applied on a Sanger farm
Even as controversy continues to swirl about the use of methyl iodide in agriculture, the fumigant was used for the first time in California when it was applied to a one-acre Sanger chile pepper farm this month, the Fresno Bee reported.
The story, written by Robert Rodriguez, said the farm, northwest of DeWolf and North avenues, is owned by Sarkis Sarabian.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation approved the use of methyl iodide in December and created restrictions that include buffer zones, special training and tarps to contain the chemical.
"These are the strictest conditions in the nation," Fresno agricultural commissioner Carol Hafner was quoted in the story. "And we made sure they were followed. Everything went fine."
The article generated numerous outraged comments.
"Our government is now in the business of feeding poison to people and telling us that it's good for us," said one.
"It's the biggest disgrace of our time. Killing a nation as well as the rest of the world with this garbage. Feeding people empty foods with little nutritional value. Nice to fatten your wallet while the world withers to dust," wrote another.
UC Riverside emeritus professor Jim Sims also posted a comment on the Fresno Bee website, pointing readers to a DPR document that explains DPR's decision to register methyl iodide. Sims is the patent-holder for methyl iodide as a soil fumigant. He spent more than 30 years researching the chemical in the lab and in the field.
Sims recently penned the "pro" view of a "point/counter point" op-ed piece about methyl iodide for The Salinas Californian.
He said that:
- Methyl iodide doesn't make the cancer-causing-chemical lists of the world's leading agencies for cancer research.
- Methyl iodide is a naturally occurring compound present in the sea and air and on land.
- Research demonstrates that methyl iodide does not get into groundwater supplies.
- Methyl iodide has been used on thousands of acres in the United States without a single negative impact to human health or the environment.
The "con" view was written by Pesticide Watch Education Fund director Paul S. Towers.
He said that:
- Methyl iodide is so reliably carcinogenic that it is used in the lab to create cancer cells.
- Washington state denied the use of methyl iodide based on California's scientific review.
For more on methyl iodide, see Hanson's December 2010 blog post.
ANR assigned $6.2 million reduction; budget committee formed
Senior UC leaders have established budget targets to absorb a $500 million reduction in state funding for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The Office of the President has assigned ANR a $6.2 million reduction for FY 2011-12. With the state budget still uncertain, they hope to present a final budget for regental approval in July.
To develop a well-considered budget reduction plan for ANR, VP Dooley has appointed a budget committee to develop scenarios for accommodating the $6.2 million reduction.
The committee is composed of Jennifer Bunge, associate director of ANR Budget Office; Morgan Doran, UCCE advisor in Solano County; Cheryl Gould, UC IPM administrative coordinator; Beth Grafton-Cardwell, Lindcove Research and Extension Center director and UCCE specialist; Rose Hayden-Smith, ANR Sustainable Food Systems Strategic Initiative Leader and UCCE advisor in Ventura County; Darren Haver, South Coast Research and Extension director and UCCE advisor in Orange County; Neil McDougald, UCCE county director in Madera County and UCCE advisor; Larry Schwankl, UCCE specialist located at Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center; and Jim Sullins, UCCE county director in Tulare County and UCCE advisor. Co-chairs are Kay Harrison Taber, ANR associate vice president-Business Operations, and Bill Frost, associate director of Research and Extension Centers. Donna Jones, ANR budget director, and Peggy Michel, deputy to the AVP-Business Operations, serve as resource staff.
The committee initially met May 16 and reviewed work conducted in previous budget analyses. They will discuss the reduction level and prepare budget scenarios to be presented to Program Council at the June 8 meeting. Program Council will discuss the scenarios and provide comments and recommendations to the ANR Executive Working Group.
View or leave comments for the Executive Working Group
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
eXtension helps small-scale meat producers find processors
A national network for niche meat processors is being developed by eXtension to connect small-scale meat producers across the country with information, tools and each other, reported Food Safety News.
The Niche Meat Processors Assistance Network (NMPAN) was launched three years ago by co-coordinators Lauren Gwin of Oregon State University and Arion Thiboumery of Lorentz Meats of Minnesota.
"I was working for University of California Cooperative Extension, and processing kept coming up as an issue," Gwin was quoted in the story. "I found myself being the person keeping track of what different people in different parts of the state were doing on the processing question, how they could get access to processing, the venues needed. I realized it would be very valuable to have a network (of people) around the country who were also looking at this."
NMPAN hosts webinars and extends resources online via email updates. The network already includes affiliates in 40 states.
"One of the things we talk about is we need more processors and in some parts of the country that's actually true. But in some parts of the country small processors are struggling just to stay afloat because it's a very difficult industry to be in," Gwin said.
The NMPAN website includes case studies, such as one about a small USDA-inspected, family-owned slaughtering plant in Pennsylvania that handles about 45 head of cattle, 5 bison, 5 to 10 hogs and occasionally sheep and goats each week.
A detailed portrait of the company offers information about its services, prices and experiences as an example to others who might want to expand their own operations or start a facility from scratch. A Q&A conversation with the owners illustrates how farmers and the facilities they rely upon can best help each other and coordinate their efforts.
"We're just trying to keep putting together tools and get them out there that will help small processors do what they do, and will help producers find and work with existing processors and, when necessary, help them build facilities," Gwin said.
A major challenge for small-scale meat producers is finding processors.