UC Blog
UC helps small scale farmers ensure food safety
Bee reporter Robert Rodriguez spoke to the owner of an eight-acre Fresno County farm.
"We have been farming for 40 years and have never had a problem, but now we have to document, document, document. I almost burned out my copy machine," the farmer was quoted.
To help growers develop written food safety plans, UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Richard Molinar is holding training seminars in English, Spanish and Hmong.
"We knew that the retailers were asking the packinghouses and wholesalers for the food-safety documents and they were beginning to start asking it from the farmers," Molinar was quoted. "They wanted to see written policies in place."
Toad invasion no cause for alarm
This time of year, Jimenez said, toads are on the move.
“If they stay together, they will take out all of the food source, so they have to spread out,” he said.
Though the homeowners seemed concerned, Jimenez said they were lucky.
“(Toads) eat a lot of bugs," Jimenez was quoted.
Jimenez said the rush of toads at the Porterville home will not last forever as snakes and birds will begin to snatch them up. If residents wish to reduce their numbers, the toads can be collected and released elsewhere.
Curiously, the story said the family purchased a 5-horsepower garage vacuum to help mitigate the problem.
Register for HFC conference by May 11
If you plan to attend UC ANR’s Healthy Families and Communities Strategic Initiative Conference and haven't registered, please do so by tomorrow, Wednesday, May 11. The organizers need a headcount for meals and logistics.
The theme of the conference is “Broadening and Deepening our Policy Relevance,” and it will be held May 17-19 at the ARC at UC Davis. Diana Dooley, Secretary of California Department of Health and Human Services, will be the keynote speaker.
During the registration process, academics may submit a poster title, which will be displayed during the Tuesday night reception.
Three relevant program teams will meet Wednesday night. Workgroups wishing to meet can do so after the program teams meet on Wednesday evening or on Thursday afternoon after the conference ends.
To register or view the full conference agenda, go to http://ucanr.org/sites/HFC.
View or leave comments for the Executive Working Group
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
Citizen scientists to help track brown widow spiders
Media reports now have residents around the state on the lookout for brown widow spiders, which will help a UC Riverside scientist who is trying to track its rapidly expanding range.
"Wanted dead or alive," announced an article in the Redding Record Searchlight. Reporter Laura Christman tempered the ominous lead with a succinct quote from UC Riverside staff research associate Rick Vetter, "Chill."
"It's nothing to be overly concerned about. I'm more interested from an academic standpoint," Vetter told the reporter.
A native of Africa, brown widows were established in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties as of 2009, and in 2010 made their way to Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. There have been a few finds in areas further north.
Southern California Public Radio KPCC ran an interview with Vetter about brown widows on Sunday. He said the brown widow seems to be displacing black widows - a fact that has benefits and disadvantages.
The brown widow is more likely to play dead than strike out aggressively, however, they tend to congregate in larger numbers and will hang out in places black widows ignore.
"(Brown widows will) be underneath a wrought iron railing or underneath those solar powered lights that you stick in the ground on your walkway. You would never find a black widow in that much of an exposed area," Vetter told the reporter. "It just goes from people having five or six black widows to having 50 to 100 brown widows. And that’s something that you typically would not ignore."
One of Vetter's greatest concerns is a resident's tendency to use more pesticides when confronted with more spiders.
"The spiders are responsible for increasing pesticide load," Vetter said.
For more information and links to Vetter's website, see the UC ANR news release about brown widow spiders. In the 90-second video below, Vetter gives tips for identifying brown widows.
BrownWidows
Farmers and fisherman unite to restore delta
Family farmers and fishermen, California Indian tribes and grass roots environmentalists are working together to preserve the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the fish and communities that depend on it for their livelihoods, according to a commentary by Dan Bacher published on Calitics.com.
Calitics is a "progressive online community" that provides individual Californians a platform for discussing state issues and campaigning. Anyone can sign in and contribute to the blog.
Bacher reported on the "Farms & Salmon Summit," held last month in Atwater. During the forum, farmers and fishermen urged political leaders to stop the construction of the peripheral canal, take action to restore salmon, striped bass and other runs, and protect delta and Sacramento Valley agriculture, Bacher wrote. U.S. Representatives in attendence highlighted the importance of keeping the agricultural and fisheries industries healthy.
Ideas and commentary shared at the summit:
- U.S. Rep. John Garamendi said there is a symbiotic relationship between the agricultural community and aquatic interests. "We have to work together to protect the Delta - the solution is not to export more water out of the Delta."
- Rep. Jackier Speier noted that salmon fishing and agriculture are both integral components of the California economy.
- Congressmen Mike Thompson said decisions regarding the Delta and salmon populations should be based on good science. "When science goes out the window, everything goes out the window," Thompson was quoted.
- Vineyard owner Mark Wilson suggested the state start dredging delta river channels. "This would provide material for rebuilding levees, along with restoring the capacity of the delta channels to move water," he was quoted.
- Cathy Hemley from Greene & Hemley Farms in Courtland concluded, "We need to think like a fisherman. We need to think like a farmer. We need to make California sustainable."