Ag Alert August 18, 2020

healthy diet is feeding off of citrus trees. There’s a good partnership and relation- ship at the time of bloom.” Afterbloom, hesaid, beekeepersareno- tified tomove their hives to protect them. The proposed regulation would limit soil applications in citrus groves to be- tween petal fall and Jan. 31, and foliar applications to after petal fall, with the second application no later than Dec. 1. Only 0.172 pounds per acre per grow- ing season could be applied, with the exception of soil applications of imi- dacloprid, of which only 0.086 pounds could be used. Almonds using managed beehives for pollination would not be allowed to use soil applications at all. Foliar applications would be limited to 0.2 pounds of active ingredient per acre per growing season, and could be applied only between post- bloom and harvest. Only one neonicotinoid—clothiani- din—is registered for use on almonds, said Gabriele Ludwig, director of sus- tainability and environmental affairs at the Almond Board of California. In 2017, the most recent year for which data are available, it was used on less than 5% of the state’s almond acreage, she added. “Part of the reason why the usage is limited inalmonds is becauseneonics are really good for biting and sucking insects, Regulations Continued from Page 3

like aphids and whiteflies,” Ludwig said. “Those aren’t really our major pests.” She said her concern lies with the leaf- footedbug and stinkbugs, both the native version and the nonnative brown mar- morated stinkbug, which only recently appeared in California orchards. “Currently, neonics are not used close to bloom,” Ludwig said. “They’re used twomonths or so after bloom.” She said the board encourages farmers to participate in the BeeWhere program, which helps them understand where managed hives are in use at all times. There are two alternatives for neon-

icotinoids in almonds, she said, but one is chlorpyrifos, use of which will be out- lawed in California as of next year. The other, pyrethroids, can interfere with integrated pest management programs targetingweb-spinningmites, she added. Ludwignoted that theAlmondBoard is funding research into the leaffooted bug and stinkbugs. “Because they’re either new pests or sporadic pests, it’s just really difficult to make a lot of progress quickly,” she said, noting that the researchers are trying to gain better monitoring and better un- derstanding of the pests’ biology, with an eye toward building an IPM system

to deal with them. Theproposedneonicotinoid regulation may be read at www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/ registration/reevaluation/chemicals/ proposed_regulation_text.pdf. Comments will be accepted through Sept. 11, via email to neonics@cdpr. ca.gov or postal mai l to Pest icide Regi st rat ion Branch, Depar tment of Pest icide Regulat ion, 1001 I St. , Sacramento, CA 95814. Comments also may be left by voicemail: 916-445-0003. (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

UC Merced joins precision-ag initiative Aiming to engineer “cost-effective systems that farmers will adopt,” the University of California, Merced, will join a consortiumof four U.S. university cam- puses focusedonagricultural technology. UC Merced announced it would take part in a project through the National Science Foundation to be called the NSF Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture—or IoT4Ag, for short. The project will be led by the University of Pennsylvania; other participating institu- tions includePurdueUniversity inIndiana and theUniversity of Florida. According to UC Merced, the overall missionof IoT4Ag “is toensure food, ener- gy andwater security by developing tech- nology to increase crop production while minimizing the use of energy and water resources and lessening the impact of ag- ricultural practices on the environment.” Professor Catherine Keske, the UC Merced campus lead for the initiative, said it would build on themomentumthe campus has already developed in preci- sion agriculture, which includes work on robotics and machine learning, remote sensing and spatial analysis, economics and other aspects. She said the world’s finite land, water and energy resources demand new tech- nologies and innovations to improve the efficiency and sustainability of all types of food production. and the children of farmworkers among our student body to government and in- dustry partners.”

“Wecancreatethetechandinfrastructure that will help farmers manage their crops down to the finest details of water and soil nutrients,”Keskesaid. “Digital technologies havethepotential toimproveefficiency,eq- uity, safety, nutrition, health and sustain- abilityacross theworld’s foodsystems.” The National Science Foundation pro- vided a $26 million, five-year grant to the universities to formthe IoT4Ag center.

Indeveloping the IoT4Agproject, Keske said, the university intends to include “everyone who has a perspective on en- gineering ag, from farmers, farmworkers

Agricultural Market Review

John Vereschagin passes away

Quotations are the latest available for the week ending August 14, 2020 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. 110-111 95-97.50 99-100 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 76.35 51.70 52.43 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales 130-173 No Quote No Quote Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock 11.75 9.25 (Tulare-Fresno) No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 64.40 63.45 64.71 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per cwt. trucked 9.30 8.08 4.55 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 195-210 (S) 195-200 (P/S) 185-205 (S) Region 2, Sacramento Valley 240 (forage mix, 3-way) 170 (F) 200-240 (P) Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley 235-270 (P/S) 210-255 (P/S) 230-275 (S) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley 175-180 (G) No Quote 170 (F/G) Region 5, Southern California 265-275 (P) 255-280 (P) 255 (P) Region 6, Southeast Interior 170-200 (G/P) 150 (F/G) 130-190 (G/P) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote 170 (G)

Former Glenn County Farm Bureau leader and California Farm Bureau Fede r a t i on boa rd membe r John Vereschaginhas died at age 88. A native of Orland, Vereschagin grew prunes, almonds and other crops, and re- ceived a patent for one of his farmequip- ment innovations: a bin carrier used in mechanized prune harvesting. Vereschagin served as Glenn County Farm Bureau board member and presi- dent, and represented Colusa, Glenn and Yolo counties on the CFBF board from

1996 to 2000—the same district now rep- resented by his son, Mike. The senior Vereschagin’s other service included the boards of the Orland-Artois Water District, the Artois Fire District and Cal-West Seeds. Vereschagin is survivedbyhiswifeKaty; sons Mike and Tim; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Contributionsmay bemade to the First Lutheran Church of Orland or the Glenn County FarmBureau Scholarship Fund.

USDA issues fruit crop estimates With the exception of raisin grapes and table grapes, other California fruit crops wereprojected tobestable insizeor slight- ly smaller, inestimates releasedby theU.S. Department of Agriculture.

ing overall California grape production would increase 4% to 6.75million tons. USDA estimated total California peach production at 490,000 tons, down 1.6%, with the cling peach crop down 2% to 270,000 tons and the freestonepeachcrop down 6% to 220,000 tons. The California pear crop will be down 1.8%to160,000 tons,USDAestimated, and the state’s apple productionwill decrease 11% to 270million pounds.

Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

No Quote No Quote No Quote

Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

36-39

38-42

The USDA reported last week that it ex- pects raisin grape production to increase 7%to1.4million tons, and tablegrape vol- umes to rise 14%, to 1.35million tons. Winegrape productionwill remain sta- bleat 4milliontons, the report said,mean-

11.60 No Quote Provided by the California Farm Bureau Federation as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. No Quote

16 Ag Alert August 19, 2020