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AgMonitor Helps Farmers Save Money Friday Dec 25th, 2020 News Reporter With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich. Well there’s no shortage of data in agriculture, but what many farmers want to know is how can it save them money or make them money in their business. AgMonitor is using artificial intelligence to convert data to useful information for farmers to make management decisions related to crops, water and energy. CEO Olivier Jerphagnon, says it’s not just about facil...

SGMA Land Use Models News Reporter With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich. Some experts estimate that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, could take 10% of agricultural land out of production. UC Merced PhD candidate Vicky Espinoza is asking the questions of where and how this might take place, and who will be affected. Espinoza… “Thats our growers, small scale farmers, our underrepresented communities. A lot of these communities and our growers rely on ...

Livestock Management to Protect Riparian Areas - Part 2 Thursday Dec 24th, 2020 News Reporter With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich. We reported yesterday that rangeland managers can protect riparian areas by offering off-site water. But what if that’s not an option? Cooperative extension specialist Ken Tate says there are some other tools available. Tate… “We can pull livestock to a place with off-site water with perhaps some supplemental feed or salt that they might...

Honey Bee vs Bumble Bee Pollination Thursday Dec 24th, 2020 News Reporter Here with your Southeast Regional Ag Report, I’m Tim Hammerich. Yesterday, we reported on the work being done at the University of Florida and elsewhere to improve blueberry pollination. The berries, of course, rely on bees and other pollinators to produce fruit, and Dr. Rachel Mallinger says this has become a real expense for growers. Mallinger…. “Some growers do manage their own hives, but the vast ma...

Blueberry Pollination News Reporter Here with your Southeast Regional Ag Report, I’m Tim Hammerich. Researchers at the University of Florida are part of a national effort to improve pollination in blueberries. Asst professor of entomology Dr. Rachel Mallinger says they hope to provide better pollination recommendations to growers. Mallinger… “In general recommendations are lacking or theyre very outdated. So growers dont have a good sense for how many hives they should bring ...

Livestock Management to Protect Riparian Areas Wednesday Dec 23rd, 2020 News Reporter With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich. It’s estimated that approximately 60% of California is rangeland. The ecological benefits of well-managed livestock on this land is well-documented. Part of that management is making sure to protect riparian areas. Ken Tate is a professor and cooperative extension specialist in rangeland watershed management at the University of California, Davis. T...

Economics of Cover Crops News Reporter With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich. California leads the nation agriculturally in many things. Adoption of cover crops, however, is not one of them. There are likely a number of barriers to the widespread adoption of cover crops in California - not least of which is our climate and specialty cropping systems. However, researchers are performing a cost-benefit analysis of cover crops in two California crops: tomatoes and almonds. Elle...

Cool Evenings Improve Strawberry Quality Tuesday Dec 22nd, 2020 The Florida winter strawberry season is well underway, and off to a great start. Whitaker… “The season kicked off with the first few fruit around Thanksgiving. The yield has been increasing since then, and it will continue to increase through Valentines Day. And then the season well probably finish up somewhere in late March to early April.” That’s Dr. Vance Whitaker, an associate professor at the University of Florida who...

Food Systems Remain Flexible Through the Pandemic Monday Dec 21st, 2020 News Reporter With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich. Throughout the pandemic we have occasionally been bringing you updates on how our agricultural and food systems are impacted. Here is another update courtesy of the California Farm Bureau Federation. As the food system continues adjusting to changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, marketers say the system has proven resilient so far. Supply chains ha...

New SGMA Resource for Underrepresented Growers Thursday Dec 17th, 2020 News Reporter With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich. Vicky Espinoza is a PhD candidate at UC Merced who is researching the impacts of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act on agricultural land use. She noticed that there weren’t enough resources out there for underrepresented growers about SGMA, especially those who English is not their first language. So she developed a series of bilingual videos ...