Ag Alert July 10, 2024

Ag Alert is the newspaper of the California Farm Bureau Federation, reaching Farm Bureau agricultural and collegiate members. Agricultural members are owners and decision-makers on California farms and ranches. The California Farm Bureau Federation is a non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary membership organization whose purpose is to protect and promote agricultural interests throughout the state of California and to find solutions to the problems of the farm, the farm home and the rural community. Farm Bureau is California's largest farm organization, comprised of 53 county Farm Bureaus. Farm Bureau strives to protect and improve the ability of farmers and ranchers engaged in production agriculture to provide a reliable supply of food and fiber through responsible stewardship of California's resources.

Native plants Farm produces seeds to restore wildlands

Resistant weed Researchers tackle chickweed in grains

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www.cfbf.com • www.agalert.com JULY 10, 2024

Field Crops Vegetables

special reports

By Ching Lee Crops and livestock across the state con- tinue to take a beating as California farm- ers work to reduce impacts of a lingering heat wave that has increased their costs and jeopardized production. With prolonged triple-digit tempera- tures pummeling the state’s key agricultur- al regions—topping 110 degrees in some areas—farmers are irrigating fields more frequently, deploying misters and fans to cool livestock, and shortening daytime work for agricultural employees or work- ing after sundown. Merced County dairy farmer Bob Borba said milk production could drop 15% to 20% when there are consecutive days of high heat as cows eat less. Hot weather also reduces cow fertility and breeding, throw- ing off the dairy’s calving schedule. Cows that calve in sweltering conditions will be more stressed, he added. “Dairy cows have a hard time with heat,” Borba said. Even so, dairy farms have come a long way in the past 20 years in how they pro- tect their animals from extreme weather and keep them more comfortable during heat waves. The barns themselves have changed, with open corrals under roofs to provide shade from the sun. They’re also equipped with fans and misters or soakers that spray cows regularly with water to cool them off. What’s more, dairy nutritionists typical- ly change the herd’s diet to a ration with more calories and fiber to compensate for the animals’ reduced feed intake during sustained high-heat events, said Rubia Branco Lopes, University of California Cooperative Extension dairy advisor for Tulare and Kern counties. Keeping the cow’s diet high in fiber is important, she said, as it reduces the risk of ruminal acidosis, or grain overload, which could lead to increased risk of lameness and mastitis. See HEAT, Page 15 Farmers work to save heat-stressed crops and livestock

Farmers weigh options as burn ban nears Randy Baranek, project manager for the agricultural service provider Fowler Brothers, looks on as foreman Alex Noriega uses an excavator to place discarded grapevines into an air curtain burner last month in Lodi. The device has gained traction on farms as a ban on open agricultural burning nears.

By Caleb Hampton At 4 a.m. in Lodi, Alex Noriega, foreman for the agricultural service provider Fowler Brothers, climbed onto an excavator to rip apart discarded grapevines and drop them into a cement-lined steel box called an air curtain burner for smokeless burning. The disposal method is one of a few options San Joaquin Valley farmers have turned to as the region phases out open agricultural burning. On Jan. 1, farmers in the eight counties in the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District will

be prohibited from nearly all open burning under a state law adopted in 2003. The law aimed to address the health im- pacts of poor air quality on largely Latino farm towns in the San Joaquin Valley, where the air quality is among the worst in the nation. Agricultural burning, which accounts for about 4% of the region’s fine particu- late pollution, has long been the least ex- pensive and easiest way to dispose of or- chard and vineyard removals. Eliminating it poses challenges.

“It’s real difficult when you can’t burn,” said Michael Naito, who grows winegrapes, table grapes, almonds and pistachios in Fresno and Madera counties. Burning materials from crops such as wheat, rice and some fruit trees was al- ready banned. But a lack of affordable al- ternatives for disposing of vines and most tree crops postponed a total ban until the California Air Resources Board in 2021 di- rected the valley air district to end all agri- cultural burning by 2025.

See BURNING, Page 19

n e w s p a p e r

From the Fields........................4-5 Vegetables................................ 6-7 Field Crops..........................10-11 Classifieds........................... 17-19 Inside

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Logging can protect forests, increase water supplies By Edward Ring

of the state’s consumptive water comes in the form of Sierra runoff, and when forest cover is reduced by 40%, total runoff in- creases by an estimated 9%. California’s consumptive use of water, including urban and agricultural use but not including di- versions for ecosystem health, is around 40 million acre-feet per year. That means if California’s forests were thinned appropri- ately, 2.2 million acre-feet of water would be added to California’s water supply in an average year. This is not a trivial increase, particularly because it could be realized at no expense to taxpayers. In fact, reviving California’s timber industry would create thousands of jobs and industry profits, which would increase state tax revenues. Another benefit would be the obvious upside of having an additional 2 million acre-feet of water to deliver to California farmers. That’s enough to irrigate at least a half-million acres, with all the jobs, food and tax revenues this productive farmland would contribute to California. Restoring California’s forests to a healthy density is a win for everyone. It will restore wildlife habitat at the same time as it re- vitalizes California’s logging industry. It will sequester carbon in lumber prod- ucts, generate fuel for biomass energy and prevent super fires. By transforming California’s forested watersheds, it will increase California’s water supply, boost hydroelectric power generation and, most importantly, help maintain California’s status as America’s food basket. What are we waiting for? If you harvest more timber, you can harvest more water. (Edward Ring is a senior fellow with the California Policy Center and author of the “The Abundance Choice: Our Fight for More Water in California.” He may be contacted at ed@edwardring.com.)

Practical solutions to California’s ener- gy and water shortages will always have a better chance of being implement- ed if they adhere to the limitations placed upon them by those concerned about climate change. A solution that should work for everyone is for- est thinning. It will save our forests, with the added benefit of increasing our water supply. Edward Ring Wildfires have become catastrophic because the California Legislature funds fire suppression at the same time as it has regulated timber harvesting nearly out of existence. We are very good at squelching wildfires before they get started. But if ig- nited, our overgrown forests can now fuel infernos that were once unfathomable. California’s forests today have tree den- sities that are many times what is histor- ically normal, and conditions are more dangerous because we’ve reduced our annual timber harvest from 6 billion board feet per year in the 1990s to around 1.5 bil- lion board feet today. In past millennia, fires caused by light- ning strikes routinely burned off under- growth and a high percentage of small trees, leaving the larger trees to survive. Today, trees and undergrowth are so crowded that everything is stressed. Light, soil nutrients and water are shared by any- where between two and six times as many trees and plants as these ecosystems nat- urally evolved to support. Observations of excessive tree density are corroborated by numerous studies, testimony and journal- istic investigations.

The forest is thinned at the Valentine Camp research center in the Sierra Nevada to reduce wildfire risk. Such efforts can enhance forest resiliency, benefit wildlife and increase water supplies.

This is why fires have gotten so bad. Anyone concerned about climate resilien- cy who cares about the health of our forests should be demanding forest thinning. Examples of success with forest thinning are readily available. When the Creek Fire tore through the forests of Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa counties in 2020, 20,000 acres around Shaver Lake were spared. The fire engulfed an estimated 380,000 acres but inflicted almost no damage in these 20,000 acres of managed forests. For decades, Southern California Edison protected the watershed feeding into the 135,000 acre-foot Shaver Lake reservoir by forest thinning via selective logging and controlled burns. Significantly, the wildlife counts in these managed forests were con- sistently higher than average. That forests subject to responsible log- ging actually report more robust popula- tions of wildlife, including the endangered spotted owl, is rarely acknowledged. But comparisons between commercially man- aged forests in California’s Northern Sierra

and adjacent national forests that are off limits to logging confirm this assertion. Even clear cuts, when implemented on a multi-decade rotation and with each cut limited in area, are beneficial to wildlife. They temporarily create meadows that cre- ate forage for deer, in turn creating food for mountain lions. These open areas also help owls and other raptors spot prey. When the slash is furrowed along level contours, run- off is contained and percolates. Logging has come a long way. It’s time to bring it back to save the forests. But what about water? It turns out that forest thinning also reduces the amount of water that is immediately taken up by the roots of overcrowded trees and undergrowth and transpired into the atmosphere. Instead, more of this water can run off into tributar- ies or percolate to recharge springs. How much water? A 2011 study by experts from the University of California, Merced, and UC Berkeley provides enough data to begin to answer that question. It reports that 60%

VOL. 51, NO. 25

July 10, 2024

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2 Ag Alert July 10, 2024

Yolo County farm cultivates seeds, ecological restoration

Julia Michaels, restoration specialist at Hedgerow Farms, stands in a field of milkweed grown for seed at the Yolo County farm. The operation produces some 400 varieties of native grasses and wildflowers. Many are used for ecological restoration, including after wildfires.

By Caleb Hampton In Yolo County, nestled among sprawl- ing orchards and field crops, is a one-of- a-kind farm. Each spring and summer, Hedgerow Farms turns into a patchwork of yellows, greens and violets as its fields of native wildflowers come into bloom. For more than three decades, the farm has cultivat- ed native plants for seed production, sup- plying land managers working to restore wildlife preserves and other nature areas. “We basically create our own super- bloom,” said Julia Michaels, restoration ecologist at Hedgerow Farms. “We go out into the wild and, with permission, find big blooms of native wildflowers and collect a small amount of the seed.” Hedgerow Farms uses the wild seed to plant a field of the native species at its 300-acre farm near Winters, “turning a handful of wild-collect- ed seed into thousands of pounds of seed.” The farm was founded in the 1980s by John Anderson, a veterinarian, environ- mentalist and farmer credited with pio- neering sustainable agriculture methods such as hedgerows, rows of native trees and shrubs planted between fields. “He just started planting natives be- cause he saw a need for it, learning along the way, and it became so valuable for the restoration community,” Michaels said. Anderson died in 2020 at the age of 77. Hedgerow Farms produces around 400 species of native grasses and wildflowers, which it sells to government agencies and other land managers for use in ecological restoration projects, often after wildfires, floods or other disasters. “What we’re doing is amplifying the amount of seed that eventually goes back into the wild,” Michaels said. She likens the farm to captive breeding programs that help endangered animal species reproduce in captivity before re- leasing them back into nature. The farm harvests plants for seed from April through October, using machines similar to wheat or rice harvesters. The plants are then dried on tarps and put through combines to separate the seeds from the plant material. The seeds are cleaned and shipped to a warehouse in San Joaquin County. Native plants grown at the farm include blue-eyed grass, poppies, lupine, sage and many others. Over the years, the farm has built an inventory of millions of pounds of native seeds. Hedgerow also has a farm in Santa Barbara County, where it grows plants better suited to coastal climates and soil types. Because the farm is so unique in what it grows, “there’s lots of trial and error and learning from mistakes and experiences,” said farm manager Jeff Quiter. “There’s not a lot of research on stuff that we grow.” A handful of farms have adopted Hedgerow’s model. But for years, accord- ing to land managers, Hedgerow Farms was on its own in producing native plant seed in California, and it continues to lead the way.

“They were out there alone forging the way for restoration,” said Stacy Martinelli, environmental scientist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The department, which must go through a bidding process before making purchases, had to write special contracts

See SEEDS, Page 8

July 10, 2024 Ag Alert 3

From the Fields ®

To contribute to From the Fields, submit your name, county of membership and contact information to agalert@cfbf.com.

George Hollister Mendocino County forester My harvest this year is small. I’m continuing to focus on removing Douglas fir from redwood stands. The lumber market is in the tank due to the state of the economy. With high interest rates, people can’t afford to buy new homes or even to remodel. The interest rates have everything to do with the lumber market and the housing industry. The trades are the first to get hit due to the high interest rates. It affects the log market, the mills and everything. I’ve always managed to sell redwood during these times. Right now, I’m not going to be selling much redwood, but I have a commitment on fir logs. It’s not a great price. I get a big economic benefit from getting these trees out of the woods where my redwoods are growing, so that’s a good thing. The Douglas fir prices remain low. It is due to a combination of there not being enough mills and an oversupply of Douglas fir logs. In the Sierra, there’s an oversupply of pine and fir. My wife and I have a diversified income, so we’re going to do OK. With the hot spell, I’m a little concerned about the fire weather that we could get. The tree mortality from a few years ago during the drought took care of the overstocking problem for us to some extent. Mostly all the stands that I operate in, we didn’t end up with a severe situation with the drought. But we certainly had dry weather and dry vegetation. Couple that with low humidity and wind, it’s really a problem. I have good defensible space around my house, but I still need to do a little more work. Every single year it’s a major effort to make sure we’ve got a really good defensible space and we’re prepared for wildfire because we’re surrounded by grass. It is always a concern.

Joe Valente San Joaquin County winegrape and almond grower We grow winegrapes and almonds in San Joaquin County, Sacramento County and Calaveras County. With the hot weather, we want to make sure everything gets irrigated to keep the vines and trees happy. It is hard to predict what outcome the hot weather will have on the crops. In almonds, we’re always concerned about how high tem- peratures may stress the trees. With vines, we tend to irrigate to prepare for the heat. Once it cools down, the vines want to grow, so the heat slows them down maybe a little bit as far as timing of harvest. Last year, there was some heat damage because we had cool weather, and then it spiked to 105 degrees overnight. With the grapes last year, there was some pretty good burn, not only to the fruit but to the leaves. This year, we’ve already had some periods of warmer weather, so hopefully they’re tough enough to get through it. Sometimes, forecasters overpredict the high temperatures, but you’ve got to be prepared for it. Typically, when you hit the high heat, there could be more of a chance for mites to populate. That’s one of the reasons why you want to have enough moisture in the ground to prevent that tree or vine from stressing and then creating mite prob- lems. Like with everything, we have to watch costs. Prevention is a good tool, but if it’s an added cost and you may or may not need it, you have to weigh the benefits. As for our employees, when the temperature reaches 95 degrees, we send people home. For the market, there are a lot of unknowns. You’re not hearing a lot of move- ment about grapes that don’t have a contract or wineries purchasing them. Everything is really quiet, so if you have uncontracted fruit, it’s a waiting game to see if someone will come to the table to buy your product.

Daryn Miller Monterey County vineyard manager and San Luis Obispo County citrus and avocado farmer

It has been hot in southern Monterey County, where some of our vineyards are. It’s not any- thing we haven’t seen, just a little earlier than we usually get with the heat. We started increasing irrigation frequency and durations last week. I think everybody is scrambling to get some longer irrigation events in as we are expecting high evaporative losses through the heat wave. The heat is likely going to have some impact on the size of the crop. The crop is already look- ing lighter, and this might impact that a bit. It will cause more stress on the vines earlier in the season. It will likely speed up ripening for an earlier harvest than last year. Normally, when we get this much heat, it pushes our schedule up. Last year, we didn’t get too many 90- to 95-degree days until maybe August. This year is definitely warmer so far. We have harvested about 40% of our avocado crop. We’re continuing to up our irrigation vol- umes and duration and trying to irrigate more frequently. Main limiting factor is how much water production we have from our wells. We try to get around as much as we can. Using more automation has helped us irrigate the avocados more frequently with shorter dura- tions. When you get over 90 to 95 degrees, you really have to be on it with irrigation frequency. There’s not too much risk to avocados until temps approach 94 degrees or warmer. If anything, it’s go- ing to help size the fruit and get it into the bigger-size curves. The trees will thrive so long as they’re well irrigated. At this point in the season, as long as you’re ahead of the curve on irrigation, we’re not going to be dropping much fruit, and hopefully the newly set fruit sticks on the tree.

4 Ag Alert July 10, 2024

Insights from farmers and ranchers across the Golden State, including members of the California Farm Bureau.

Gino Pedretti III Merced County farmer

We are starting a second irrigation in our cotton. About 60% of our acreage is pima, and 40% is Hazera cotton, a hybrid of pima and acala. The variety gets the yield of acala and close to a pima price. It is a non-GMO, so we can’t spray Roundup, so guys use it selectively depending on weed pressure. Lygus pressure has been heavy, but not as bad as last year, which was the worst lygus year we had in 20 years. With the rain, there are more weeds and native grass- es, and when they dry up, they’re hosts to lygus. In wet years, the problem is worse. We planted corn silage in early June, and we finished our first irrigation. The crop looks good. We’re in between cuttings of alfalfa. We’re on our five-week cycle to let it head out and recharge the roots. Yields have been good on alfalfa, but the quality tests have been a little lower than we’d like. As with all crops, we’re worried about what the days of high heat are going to do. We are trying to keep everything wet. At our dairy, we checked the cooling systems and are prepared. I’m worried about the nighttime temperatures. When it stays above 70 degrees at night, the cows don’t have a chance to recover during the eve- ning, so that’s when we lose production. For our beef cows, we’re vaccinating and doing supplemental feeding. We have some irrigated pasture. The beef price is good. We are hoping with the market being high that bull prices will come up because our main goal is to sell breeding stock to commercial cattlemen. With the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, we’re trying to run our wells as little as possible. We installed almost a mile of pipeline this winter to bring more surface water to other parts of the ranch. We are trying to get more dependent on surface water and cut back on well usage.

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July 10, 2024 Ag Alert 5

CALIFORNIA

Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®

Evolving downy mildew strains test spinach growers

By Bob Johnson Most afternoons, a coastal breeze blows in from Castroville to King City, cooling the Salinas Valley and supporting a wide range of vegetable crops from artichokes to broccoli to spinach. U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers say spore traps placed throughout the region confirm that the breeze also carries spinach downy mildew spores, transporting a persistent plant-disease chal- lenge for growers. As a result, researchers and growers in the region are constantly working to develop and plant new spinach varieties that offer broad resistance to ev- er-evolving strains of spinach downy mildew. As the most widespread spinach disease in California, the pathogen can spread rapidly in cool, wet conditions, curling and blighting leaves while causing extensive crop damage. Jim Correll, a University of Arkansas plant pa- thologist specializing in spinach research, told the California Leafy Greens Research Board Conference that incidents of spinach downy mil- dew disease have remained low in recent growing seasons thanks to continued success in developing resistant spinach varieties. Yet, the disease also con- tinues to reinvent itself. In the 2022-23 season, Correll said, research- ers identified 19 distinct races of the crop dis- ease. In May, the International Working Group on Peronospora on spinach designated a 20th race of downy mildew. While spore traps can confirm the presence of the disease before Salinas Valley crops show any symptoms, researchers say they can’t immediately tell which race of the disease is in the area. “The latest monitoring tools do not tell what race is present, and we are still searching for race-specif- ic markers,” said Steve Klosterman, a USDA senior researcher based in Salinas. Each new race of spinach downy mildew is des- ignated after researchers find it shows an ability to infect previously resistant spinach varieties. Each new downy mildew discovery creates pressure to develop new spinach varieties. Under the direction of University of California, Davis, Plant Breeding Center Director Charles Brummer, researchers are working to breed spin- ach with enduring resistance and the ability to limit uptake of cadmium from the soil, an issue with some spinach varieties. Brummer’s research group has identified a few promising breeding lines for increased produc- tion by seed companies. But researchers have yet to develop a super spinach variety with universal resistance. Salinas Valley growers must constantly adapt by employing new varieties that are resistant to current strains of downy mildew. As the UC Pest Management Guidelines explain, “the use of resistant cultivars is the most effective

Jim Correll, a University of Arkansas plant pathologist, specializes in spinach disease research, including in the Salinas Valley. While incidents of spinach downy mildew remain low, he says the disease is challenging because it continues to develop new strains.

See SPINACH, Page 7

6 Ag Alert July 10, 2024

Spinach Continued from Page 6

means of controlling spinach downy mil- dew.” The guidelines note that during the past 50 years in California, “each outbreak of a new downy mildew race was later matched by the development of resistant spinach lines.” Correll has screened spinach varieties for downy mildew resistance in Salinas, San Juan Bautista and Yuma, Arizona, for years. He said each new race of downy mil- dew is “identified and evaluated against a standard set of spinach differentials” to determine resistance or vulnerability. The International Working Group on Peronospora concluded that the 20th race of downy mildew “poses a significant threat to the spinach industry in all parts of the world.” Spinach varieties it can infect include Viroflay and Yakalo. The working group includes growers and pest control advisors in California and Arizona and representatives from seed and breeding companies. In the Salinas Valley, spinach is largely grown on 80-inch beds that are sprinkler irrigated. The dense canopy is moist and cool. The moist conditions are favorable to downy mildew, which makes itself known through unsightly spots that make the crop unfit to market. There has been limited research show- ing that drip irrigation decreases spinach downy mildew pressure. But because the

Spinach is infected by the plant disease downy mildew. Coastal breezes help carry disease spores to Salinas Valley fields. Farmers and researchers are working to develop new spinach varieties resistant to the disease.

crop is shallow rooted and densely packed, drip irrigation saves little on water or the energy to move it. Meanwhile, with spinach grown throughout Monterey County, the coastal breeze continues to spread downy mildew spores from field to field. Klosterman of USDA said researchers placing spore traps in the region have

worked with the Oakland pathogen man- agement firm Root Applied Sciences to de- velop enhanced monitoring to track the disease risks. In addition, seed companies have been adept at offering resistant varieties to man- age the newest races of the disease. For example, just two days after the working group designated spinach downy

mildew race 20, the vegetable breeding company Enza Zaden published a list of its spinach varieties that are resistant to the new race—providing spinach farmers with useful options, at least until the next threat drifts in with the coastal breeze. (Bob Johnson is a reporter in Monterey County. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)

July 10, 2024 Ag Alert 7

Seeds Continued from Page 3

While the farm prioritizes partnerships with land managers for large-scale resto- ration projects, it also sells seeds for 150 plant species on a retail website for people who want to plant native species in their home gardens. And it provides farmers with plants that make good habitat for bees and other pollinators. Hedgerow Farms, which takes its name from the rows of trees and shrubs that run along the edges of its fields, is itself an ex- ample of land restoration. Those rows, in- spired by hedgerows Anderson observed decades ago in Kenya, create a corridor that stretches from the nearby Berryessa hills to the farm, transforming irrigation ditches into verdant creek beds where fox- es, deer and rabbits scamper. The hedge- rows also harbor beneficial predators that provide pest control for the farm. “They’re basically highways of habi- tat for birds and mammals and insects,” Michaels said. Today, when collections experts Sánchez and García hit the road to gather seeds from across the state, they witness the farm’s legacy in the landscape. “It gives me a lot of pride,” Sánchez said, “that I can drive by some sites where we’ve planted and see how the flowers are doing.” (Caleb Hampton is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at champton@cfbf.com. This article first appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of California Bountiful ® magazine.)

with Hedgerow Farms because “they were the only company that provided what we wanted,” Martinelli said. One of the keys to the farm’s success, Michaels said, is the knowledge and expe- rience of its collections experts. Originally from Chiapas, Mexico, Manolo Sánchez was working in Sutter County’s apple, peach and prune orchards in 2010, harvest- ing fruit and doing other traditional farm work, when his friend, Alejandro García, invited him to work at Hedgerow Farms. Since then, Sánchez and García have crisscrossed California, going as far north as Humboldt and as far south as Bakersfield, trekking through hills and creek beds to collect samples of na- tive grasses and wildflowers to plant at Hedgerow Farms. “They’re some of the best botanists in the state,” Michaels said. The farm pays close attention to the genetics of each species, which is tied to a particular location, microclimate and soil type. “Every species we grow has a place it was originally collected from. We generally try to return the species back to that area,” Michaels said. “If we collect seed from a poppy from the Central Valley, we put the seed we produce from it back into Central Valley restoration projects.” In 2016, Martinelli of Fish and Wildlife began sourcing seeds from Hedgerow Farms for a restoration project in the

On 300 acres in Yolo County near Winters, Hedgerow Farms grows native wildflowers and grasses. Fields are planted with seeds collected from wildlands to replenish California’s natural spaces.

Knoxville Wildlife Area, a nature preserve in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Napa, Lake, Colusa and Yolo counties. The wildlife area is home to deer, bobcats and golden eagles, and draws hunters and other nature-goers. “There was an exceedingly bad weed problem in the wildlife area,” Martinelli said, referring to swaths of land taken over by the invasive yellow star thistle. “It was a challenge for wildlife to get through.” Fish and Wildlife is in the process of replacing 100 acres of thistle with native

plants such as purple needlegrass and wild rye. “It was important for us to grow na- tives that were genetically similar to what should be in the wildlife area,” she said. “And that’s what Hedgerow offers. They collect the seeds themselves in the differ- ent lands and watersheds.” “So much of the success of restoration depends on what species you plant and that depends on what is being made available through native seed farms,” said Michaels, who earned a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California, Davis.

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Enter up to fi ve high-resolution photos for the general contest and one photo for the People’s Choice category at cfbf.com/photocontest. Submit photos of fresh food, rural scenery, animals, crops, harvests, life, work, family or any inspiring photo captured on the farm or ranch.

Budding Artists (ages 13 & younger) 1st place $250 2nd place $100

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The contest is open to amateur photographers who are Farm Bureau members. Participants who are not Farm Bureau members can visit cfbf.com/join to learn about becoming a member. Go to cfbf.com/photocontest for contest rules.

2023 1st place winner Cayden Pricolo, Merced County

8 Ag Alert July 10, 2024

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CALIFORNIA

Field Crops A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®

Varied solutions eyed for chickweed in small grains By Vicky Boyd Researchers at the University of California and California State University, Fresno, say an integrated approach is needed to control common chickweed, inset, a widespread and invasive weed that impacts grain fields such as wheat or triticale. The challenge for growers in the southern San Joaquin Valley region is the species is resistant to popular herbicides.

This led Clark, fellow UCCE farm advisor José Dias and UCCE weed specialist Brad Hanson to conduct trials in a field with documented escapes and with two ALS herbicides. Two and four times the labeled rate of one herbicide only slightly reduced common chickweed populations, while two and four times the labeled rate of the other had virtually no effect on the weed compared to the untreated check. Clark enlisted the help of Anil Shrestha, a weed science professor at California State University, Fresno, to conduct formal greenhouse tests to confirm their suspicions. Joining them was Fresno State graduate student Jennifer Valdez-Herrera. They verified that the samples of common chickweed found in southern San Joaquin Valley small grain fields were resistant to three ALS herbicides. These were tribenuron methyl, the active ingredient in Express Herbicide with TotalSol soluble granules; py- roxsulam, the active ingredient in Simplicity CA; and mesosulfuron-methyl, the active ingredient in Osprey. Brian Gogue, a PCA with Helena Agri-Enterprises in Hanford, said he saw the green- house trial results, and they were “pretty cut and dry.” “That explained a lot,” said Gogue, who was one of the PCAs who had brought the issue to Clark’s attention.

Although researchers have confirmed that common chickweed in California is resistant to popular herbicides that target the enzyme acetolactate synthase, or ALS, they say that doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating use of them. Weed experts recommend growers and pest control advisors take an integrated ap- proach that includes identifying resident weed species and, if needed, applying a herbicide tank mix that includes at least two different effective modes of action for weed control for small grain crops such as wheat or triticale. “If you notice that ALS inhibitors are not controlling common chickweed, you need to look at other chemistries to control it,” said Nick Clark, University of California Cooperative Extension agronomy farm advisor for Kings, Tulare and Fresno counties. “If you have a whole ecosystem out there and you know ALS herbicides still smoke four of the five weeds, you keep them in the tank and add something you know will get the chickweed.” The issue appears to be localized in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Clark said he has talked to colleagues in the northern San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley, and they say ALS herbicides continue to work well. The problem came to light in 2021 when a few pest control advisors alerted Clark about possible ALS failures to control common chickweed in wheat and triticale fields. They had ruled out potential application errors or poor environmental conditions.

See CHICKWEED, Page 11

10 Ag Alert July 10, 2024

The researchers are evaluating two ad- ditional ALS herbicides. While the results are still preliminary, Clark said they appear very similar to previous tests. As part of her master’s thesis, Valdez- Herrera is working with Fresno State pro- fessor Katherine Waselkov, a plant evolu- tionary geneticist, to study possible genetic changes within common chickweed as causes for resistance. Clark said several questions remain, in- cluding what type of economic impact the weed poses to small grain producers, par- ticularly under heavy infestations. He said he hoped to share research results soon to help growers and PCAs make more in- formed crop management decisions. Clark said he could envision growers eventually incorporating preplant burn-down op- tions or preplant herbicides registered for small grains into south valley weed man- agement practices. Currently, the most common weed- management system involves one post-emergent application targeting in-season weeds. The Weed Science Society of America tracks herbicide resistance in specific weeds, and most of the cases in the coun- try involve ALS inhibitors. Based on the data, Clark said he wasn’t surprised they found ALS-resistant common chickweed in the southern San Joaquin Valley since it Chickweed Continued from Page 10

In the past, Gogue said, phenoxy herbi- cides such as 2,4-D were commonly used in small grains, but they were not effective on common chickweed. The ensuing regis- tration of Express herbicide, followed a few years later by Simplicity, provided “lights out” control of chickweed, he added. “The adoption of those new (ALS) her- bicides was very quick and very strong because of chickweed,” he said. “It was absolutely amazing what they did, and it was what we needed.” The confirmation of chickweed resistance has prompted PCAs like Gogue to change theirweedmanagementrecommendations, but he said it’s difficult because there aren’t many other good options. Gogue said he also has seen the effec- tiveness of ALS herbicides on some of the other broadleaf and grassy weeds they for- merly controlled. Herbicide resistance occurs when a single mode of action is used repeatedly on a pest. No herbicide is 100% effective, and a small number of individuals sur- vive treatment because of a slight differ- ence in genetic makeup. Those survivors may reproduce. With continued use of the same mode of action, the number of resistant plants in the population may increase to the point that the herbicide is no longer effective. (Vicky Boyd is a reporter in Modesto. She may be contacted at vlboyd@att.net.)

ALS herbicide-resistant common chickweed competes with triticale in a farm field in Tulare County.

had already been confirmed in at least five other states and several other countries. “I was surprised it had taken so long for us in California given that it has occurred in so many other wheat-producing areas in North America,” he said. “It wasn’t wel- come, but it was expected.” Clark pointed to changing field crop production trends as a possible reason for resistance development. During at least the past 10 years, double-cropping that involved winter small grains followed by dairy forage has become popular in the southern San Joaquin Valley. With that in mind, growers were limited in the herbicides they could use in small

grains because some carried plant-back restrictions, which required lengthy wait- ing periods before corn could be planted. Because many ALS herbicides do not have those requirements and can be used on a wide variety of crops without any waiting, they were used widely, he added. “There’s continually less crop diversi- ty on the forage ground, so there’s been more intensive use on dairy ground of herbicides, and ALS inhibitors in particu- lar,” Clark said. “It’s a ubiquitous group of chemicals that are used on just about every crop. It’s possible to go from one crop to another and still have an ALS on one crop to the next.”

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Nationwide and the Nationwide N and Eagle and Let’s champion rider safety are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. The Farm Bureau, FB and the FB National logo are trademarks of the American Farm Bureau Federation and are used with permission under license by Nationwide. © 2024 Nationwide (05/24)

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14 Ag Alert July 10, 2024

Heat Continued from Page 1

Seedless—the first variety to come off each year—around July 10-14, but heat stress on the plant will delay harvest, he said. Other permanent crops such as walnuts may also sustain damage from the heat. With triple-digit temperatures continuing, Stanislaus County grower Jake Wenger said there is always concern the nuts will get sunburn. Walnuts exposed to direct sun- light may turn black as the heat cooks the kernels inside the shells. To prevent sun and heat damage, he said he applies a white clay film on the foliage and nuts, particularly trees on the edge of orchards and at the tops of canopies that receive the most direct sun. Even with these measures, he said he expects some sunburn damage. In a crop progress report this month for Blue Diamond Growers, Mel Machado, vice president of member re- lations for the cooperative, said almond growers are increasing the frequency and volume of irrigation. Fresno County farmer Donny Rollin, who grows almonds and pistachios, said he’s doing his best to keep his trees well hydrated. Because he irrigates in sets, he said, the challenge is timing his watering rotation around orchards so that all his trees are adequately irrigated. For Dave Vierra, who grows fresh-mar- ket fruits and vegetables in Yolo County, the growing season is still early enough that the heat won’t be too detrimental to his crops. He said he expects “minimal loss” on his watermelon, which might get a bit sunburned. His sweet corn will fare OK, he said, as will his tomatoes, which are still on the green side, with the plant’s huge canopy to protect the fruit from sunburn. With high heat, there is concern of in- creased pest pressure, especially mites, worms and moths, all of which he’s moni- toring for in his corn crop, he said. Perhaps his biggest heat-related impact so far is on sales, especially at

farmers markets, which have seen atten- dance drop. To maintain his presence, he said he continues to participate in all his usual markets. His on-farm fruit stand also remains open, he said, though sales have not been as severely impacted as at farmers markets. He credited the installation of shade and misters at his fruit stand for keeping customers and employees comfortable. One bright spot has been watermelon sales, which he said benefited from the heat. Sweet corn and watermelon are typ- ically big sellers during the summer, but he said sales of sweet corn have been sluggish due to higher prices at the retail level. “It’s an interesting landscape at the mo- ment, to say the least,” Vierra said. With harvest crews working fewer hours due to the heat, he said there’s more spoil- age in the field. Sweet corn is picked at night, with crews typically done by 9 a.m., he said. Trying to keep crops cool through the heat will add to his costs, Vierra said, not- ing the increased energy used for cold stor- age and other cooling equipment. Because

they are running full throttle, he said, they tend to need repair. “We rarely get out of a heat wave like this without some sort of equipment failure,” he said. Excessive heat can also cause yield loss- es for field crops such as rice, especially during flowering, as the heat can hurt the pollen. But Luis Espino, UCCE rice farm advisor for Butte and Glenn counties, said the rice plant has not yet reached that vul- nerable stage. In the past, panicle blanking, or emp- ty kernels on the rice panicle, was more common due to nighttime temperatures dropping below 55 degrees for consecutive days in mid-July, causing the flowers to not fertilize. But in recent years, high daytime heat tended to be the more likely culprit for blanking. “It just desiccates the pollen,” Espino said. “The flowers open, and that pollen just it cooks.” (Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at clee@cfbf. com. Assistant editors Christine Souza and Caleb Hampton contributed to this report.)

Heat stress also affects the cow’s im- mune system because the animal is doing all she can to reduce her body tempera- ture, increasing stress. This will decrease her fertility, she said. While keeping shade and water on the animals remains important, Branco Lopes said shading water troughs and feed bunks will encourage them to drink and eat. Dairy farmers should also check the nozzles on sprinklers or misters to ensure they’re working properly, she said. “It’s little things, but in the end, they’re important,” Branco Lopes said. Borba said even though improved health and farm conditions have allowed dairy cows to better handle extreme heat, there will still be some mortality. His con- cern, he said, is with the state’s limited rendering capacity to keep up with live- stock carcasses. Persistent, scorching temperatures can put crops such as table grapes at risk. At Mirabella Farms in Fresno County, grower Philippe Markarian said he was working to prevent damage to the fruit. But he said he anticipates some crop loss. “The vines will be under a significant amount of stress,” he said. Last week, most of the varieties Markarian grows were going into verai- son, when the grapes begin changing col- or and ripening. With high-enough heat, the berries will cook on the vine, especial- ly if they’re in direct sunlight, making the fruit unsalable. Markarian said he was increasing irriga- tion to help the vines weather the heat. He was also experimenting for the first time with applying a polymer coating designed to prevent vine stress by mitigating tran- spiration, helping the plants regulate their internal temperatures. He typically begins picking Flame

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