UC Blog
UC Davis researchers to receive $40 million from USDA
UC Davis agricultural researchers will receive $40 million in new federal funding to support research projects aimed at helping farmers deal with climate change and developing sustainable bio-energy sources.
Roger Beachy, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will announce the grant awards along with UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and Neal Van Alfen, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, at a 10 a.m. press conference tomorrow at UC Davis.
The two research awards are being made through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, a flagship competitive grant program established by the 2008 Farm Bill, according to a media advisory produced by UC Davis news service public information representative Pat Bailey.
The grant program provides support in the following priority areas:
- Plant health and production and plant products
- Animal health and production and animal products
- Food safety, nutrition and health
- Agricultural economics and rural communities
King cotton begins a comeback in California
Rising cotton futures are spurring farmers to plant more cotton in California this year, according to an Associated Press report.
Commodity futures for cotton rose to $1.50 per pound in August, triple the price in 2008. Long-term cotton futures are now around $1, but extra-long-fiber Pima cotton prices are closer to $1.30.
"Those are kind of unheard of prices, and people are saying they could be conservative," Kern County farmer Jim Crettol was quoted in the story. He expanded his Pima cotton crop 60 percent to 600 acres and would plant more if he hadn't converted land to grapes and almonds when cotton prices fell.
Known in the 70s as "King Cotton," when acreage in the Golden State peaked at 1.6 million, cotton planting tumbled to a low of 200,000 acres two years ago. In 2011, forecasters believe 400,000 California acres will be planted to cotton, primarily Pima varieties. Pima cotton is used in luxury products, such as high-end sheets, towels and clothing.
Director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center at UC Davis, Dan Sumner, told AP reporter Jeff Nachtigal that consumers probably won't notice the price difference.
"Consumers will see a modest increase in prices when they buy a shirt or sheets. But it won't be a big change, because most of the cost is in processing and marketing," Sumner was quoted.
Renewed interest in cotton is trickling down to tractor sales and repair businesses, Nachtigal reported.
Thomason Tractor Co. of Firebaugh has sold five new John Deere cotton pickers after selling none for three years. Kern Tractor Supply in McFarland has seen a 5 to 10 percent increase orders for parts for equipment to plant and harvest cotton.
Last year, farmers sold used John Deere cotton pickers to scrap iron yards for as little as $1,400. One of the same models was listed on eBay last week for $6,000, the story said.
Short supply and stronger demand globally are driving a cotton resurgence.
Ag radio welcomes new Kearney director
Ag radio personality Sean Michael Lisle of KMJ 580 am based in Fresno welcomed the new director of the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center, Jeff Dahlberg, back to California on this morning's ag radio show.
The program is broadcast from 5 to 6 a.m.; for later risers it can also be downloaded or heard on Californiaagnet.com.
Lisle caught up with Dahlberg at the San Joaquin Valley Grape Symposium in Easton on Wednesday.
Dahlberg told the reporter he is originally from the California Bay Area and spent a lot of time in the Sacramento Valley on his uncles' farms. Most recently, he served as director of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program in Lubbock, Tex."I haven't seen fog like this in a long time," he said.
Dahlberg said one idea he brings to Kearney is establishment of centers of excellence.
"I would like to start a center for on-farm green technologies," he said. "How can we bring greener technologies to farmers' fields? How can we use solar (energy) to impact electric costs?"
Dahlberg, a sorghum expert, said he is also interested in studying the crop's potential as a renewable energy crop in California.
"Sorghum is one of the few crops that span all the different renewable fuel options," he said. "You can use the grain to convert into ethanol. We have sweet sorghum, a specialty sorghum which is very similar to sugar cane. You can press the juice out and convert it into ethanol. And, we can produce a lot of biomass."
Sorghum could also be a potential water-saving forage crop, he said.
"Last time I checked, there are still a lot of dairies in this part of the world," Dahlberg said.
Dahlberg told Lisle he sees Kearney as first and foremost a resource to help keep farmers profitable.
"That's a real struggle right now," he said. "We're getting less and less farmers in the country. We need to make sure we keep those numbers up, encourage kids to get into farming. It's a good life and you can make some money doing it."
Should added sulfites be allowed in organic wines?
Some leading environmentalists in the wine industry are asking the federal government to allow sulfites to be added to wines labeled organic, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.
Currently, for a wine to be labeled "USDA organic," it may not contain added sulfites. The chemical occurs in small amounts naturally in wines but is considered by many vintners to be an indispensable preservative.
Sulfites arrest fermentation at the desired time, and may also be added to prevent spoilage and oxidation at several stages of winemaking.
"It's extremely difficult to make high-quality wine without adding sulfites," the story quoted Andy Waterhouse, chair of the UC Davis department of viticulture and enology. "The smallest amount of mold on the grapes would cause the flavor to be different."
As a result, other eco-friendly wine labels, which may have weak or even no official standards, have filled the void - including biodynamic, sustainable and "natural" wine.
"Wine drinkers looking for a healthful, green product face confusing choices, and wineries can claim they're eco-friendly without anyone really checking," the story said.
Writer W. Blake Gray noted that several winemakers who are marketing USDA organic wines are campaigning to maintain the current standards.
"Most of the 8,000-year history of winemaking appears to be from naturally farmed, organically grown grapes without sulfites added," the story quoted winemaker Paul Frey.
Brian Fitzpatrick sells organic wines and vinegars. (Photo: B. Dawson)
Scientists don't know why four bumblebee species are in decline
Research by scientists in Illinois show that four U.S. bumblebee species are in steep decline, though they were unable to provide the reason, according to National Geographic News.
The study, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois; the decline of a fifth species - which is being monitored by UC Davis professor emeritus Robbin Thorp - is also mentioned in the NatGeo story.
The new research was based on an analysis of more than 73,000 museum collections of bumblebees and focused on 8 of the 50 known bumblebee species in North America.
The bee die-off seen in the study "look[s] very much like a pattern you'd find with a newly introduced disease," the article quoted Thorp. Thorp has been studying pollinators for decades and first noticed the decline of bumblebee species, B. franklini, in the late 1990s.
Thorp told NatGeo reporter Rachel Kaufman he will soon be working with Illinois entomologist Sydney Cameron to see if they can pick up the fingerprint of a fungus, Nosema bombii, which in the study was found to be in greater quantities on the dying bumblebees than on healthy species.
Climate change, pesticides or disease could be behind bumblebee decline. (Photo: K. Garvey)