By Jeanette E. Warnert, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources

Hedgerows bordering farmland – plantings with native trees, shrubs, bunch grasses and wildflowers – support bug-eating birds, which helps with on-farm pest control, according to research by recent UC Davis graduate Sacha Heath and UC Cooperative Extension advisor Rachael Long. The study was published in the October 2019 issue of the online journal Ecosphere.

The authors glued codling moth cocoons to walnut tree trunks and covered some with cages that exclude birds to test the effect that bird predation has on controlling moth pests. If moths emerge from cocoons, they produce larvae that feed on the nuts the following spring, causing significant and costly damage to the crop.

“Permitting bird access to cocoons during the wintertime increased codling moth predation from 11% to 46%, and predation increased with an increasing amount of natural habitat within 500 meters (one-third mile) of the orchard,” the researchers wrote.

Long was not surprised by the finding. She often walks in her family’s almond orchard, where a large hedgerow of native California plants grows on the field edge.

“When I walk past the hedgerow,” she said, “I hear birds singing. I see white-crowned sparrows, goldfinches and mocking birds. It’s so alive. It’s really important to provide habitat to ensure birds have a place to live on farms.”

Songbirds are voracious predators of bugs, including aphids, whitefly, scale, caterpillars, ants and earwigs, especially early in the season when they are feeding baby birds.

Heath said they were surprised to find that the walnut orchards also provided habitat for birds. Woodpeckers and codling moth reduction were highest in orchards where big, old walnut trees were retained.

Currently, 34% of earth’s arable land is managed for agriculture. With the human population projected to reach nearly 11 billion by 2100, increased food demand will require increased agricultural area and intensity that will further diminish birds’ natural habitat. Providing habitat along field crop borders benefits songbirds, which in turn helps farmers with natural pest control on farms.

Birds’ suffer a reputation as agricultural pests. But Long said that planting hedgerows along field edges won’t attract more pest birds.

“Birds like crows, that can damage crops like walnuts, are not cuing in on hedgerows, they’re cuing in on the crops,” Long said.

Heath added, “Insect-eating birds – like chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers – move along hedges, riparian streams, old oak trees, and among crops to feed on pests.”

Maintaining hedgerows of native plants on farms has the side benefit of attracting natural enemies and native bees for better pest control and pollination in adjacent crops.

Read more on the UC ANR Green Blog

Opinion Piece by Judith Redmond and Julie Finigan Morris

When you think about farms at the front lines of climate-related challenges, you may think of extreme weather, floods or drought. But did you know we’re also at the front lines of wildfire?

Both of our farms — Full Belly Farm in the Capay Valley and Morris Grassfed in San Benito County — have felt the stress of climate change. At Morris Grassfed, we’ve had to cut back our herd numbers so as not to overgraze during drought. Last June at Full Belly we came face to face with the Sand Fire, prompting mandatory evacuations and burning some of our farm buildings and 25 acres of heirloom wheat. One year before that, we were up-front observers of the fight to put out the County Fire that burned more than 90,000 acres, leaving still-prominent scars in the hills surrounding our farm.

Farms, ranches, dairies and rural communities can help protect our neighbors by creating wildfire buffers around urban areas. And well-managed agricultural land offers additional climate-smart solutions, like recharging groundwater tables, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon, all while producing healthy food.

At Morris Grassfed, we manage our cattle grazing to optimize soil health, plant biodiversity and water quality. The benefits to our community include carbon sequestration, improved watershed health, wildlife habitat and breathtaking views of open space, a vanishing part of the California landscape.

At Full Belly Farm, where we produce more than 100 organic products, we are experimenting with a combination of cover crops, compost, reduced tillage and hedgerows of trees and shrubs to maximize soil carbon storage which also improves yields, disease resistance and water-holding capacity.

We think these high-impact, low-cost practices are worthy of investments to encourage farmers and ranchers to take the risk of trying new practices. And many of our elected officials seem to agree.

The state has invested more than $330 million in the past five years on climate smart strategies. More than 320 grants totaling about $50 million have been made for soil health practices like the ones we use, turning farms and ranches into carbon sinks. And these aren’t the only agricultural climate solutions the state funds.

Farmers and ranchers can conserve water and energy by improving irrigation efficiency, installing state-of-the-art soil moisture monitoring equipment and converting to solar. Dairy producers can reduce potent methane emissions and turning manure into compost. Protecting agricultural land from urban sprawl development — and creating those critical wildfire buffers — is another powerful climate solution.

The state programs have all been very popular and but there has not been enough funding available to meet the demand.

With larger investments, more of our farms and ranches could soak up carbon, reduce air and water pollution to create healthier people, and increase their resilience to the droughts, fires and floods that threaten our food supply and communities. Farmers and ranchers need the support of the governor and legislature to unleash the many climate solutions they can contribute so that all Californians benefit.

Let’s scale up California’s climate smart agriculture solutions by advancing policies and public investments so we can manage for the outcomes we want — healthy people, thriving landscapes and robust rural economies.

Judith Redmond is co-owner of Full Belly Farm, a diversified organic fruit, nut and vegetable operation in Guinda, CA.

Julie Finigan Morris is co-owner of Morris Grassfed, a grassfed beef operation in San Juan Bautista, CA.

Link to story on the Sacramento Bee web page

The USDA is investing a total of $237 million throughout the US to help farmers, Ag producers and rural businesses lower energy costs. More $7.6 million of that is coming to California for 12 different projects. The funding is provided through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

Recipients can use REAP funding for energy audits and to install renewable energy systems such as biomass, geothermal, hydropower and solar. The funding can also be used to increase energy efficiency by making improvements to heating, ventilation and cooling systems; insulation; and lighting and refrigeration.

The California recipients are:

RP Napa Solar 1 LLC – $4,500,000 for a solar power generation facility

IP Malbec LLC – $1,900,000 for a solar power generation facility

Alamo Farms – $250,000 to install a solar array system

David Santos Farming – $239,950 to install a solar array system

Dr. Halley Moore Enterprises, Inc. – $12,424 to install a solar array system

Five H Dairy Biogas LLC – $237,050 to create biofuel with an anaerobic digester

Inpipe Energy Development, LLC – $98,750 to install a hydroelectric system

Lohgarh, Inc. – $81,445 to install a solar array system

Loma Linda Vineyards, LLC – $25,410 to install a solar array system

Loma Seca, LLC – $20,000 to install a solar array system

Roplast Industries, Inc. – $198,375 to install a solar array system

Samra & Sons, Inc. – $125,419 to install a solar array system

From a California Department of Fish and Wildlife News Release

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division, and the State Water Resources Control Board will be at the Emerald Cup in Sonoma County on Dec. 14 and 15. All three agencies will be participating in two roundtable discussions and hosting an information table with cannabis-permitting materials, wildlife-friendly literature, and a suggestion box.

Roundtable Topics and Times:

Saturday, Dec. 14 from 11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Regulator to Cultivator: Keeping an Open Dialogue
State agencies, cultivators and industry stakeholders all have an investment in today’s cannabis market. Keeping the lines of communication open during California’s historic transition to a regulated commercial cannabis market is crucial. While a regulated market offers many new and exciting opportunities for California’s cannabis industry, there are also many challenges to work through by engaging in conversations and receiving feedback from each other.

Saturday, Dec. 14 from 1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Environmentally Friendly Cannabis: What Industry Experts Have to Say
With the passage of Proposition 64, thousands of new cultivators are entering the regulated cannabis market. Many are unaware that seemingly harmless farming activities can have big impacts to the environment. Learn more about the state’s role in protecting California’s natural resources and how some traditional cultivators are raising the bar with their wildlife-friendly practices.

Please note, times are subject to change based on conference schedule adjustments.

Cannabis cultivators with questions can always visit the CalCannabis website to learn more about the licensing process.

Learn more about the Emerald Cup at: theemeraldcup.com.

By Jeanette E. Warnert, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

The ecosystem services of landscapes in California are essential to the state’s future, but many people take them for granted.

In addition to direct economic outputs, working landscapes – farms, rangelands, forests and fisheries, to name a few – sequester carbon, capture water, support wildlife, offer picturesque views and make space for hiking, skiing, boating and other recreational activities.

“We need to put a value to ecosystem services, from an economic standpoint, that incentivizes people who own and manage these landscapes so they can continue to manage them for everyone’s benefit,” said Stephanie Larson, UC Cooperative Extension rangeland advisor in Sonoma County.

When ecosystem services have been monetized, proper compensation can be calculated, ensuring benefits like clean water, fresh air and a livable climate are protected for future generations.

In November, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources released a report at the California Economic Summit in Fresno on the value of California’s working landscapes. The report determined the state’s working landscapes generate $333 billion in annual sales and 1.5 million jobs. That number does not include ecosystem services.

“The value of ecosystem services is probably higher than the $333 billion direct economic contribution of working landscapes outlined in the report,” said Glenda Humiston, University of California vice president for agriculture and natural resources. Humiston is chair of the economic summit’s working landscape task force. “The problem is, when we don’t have that quantified, it’s hard to make investments to make sure those ecosystem services are maintained.”

Humiston said that, in time, systems can be developed for the public to support the ecosystem services they enjoy.

“You might have a small surcharge on binoculars,” she said. “That money could be used to protect bird habitat so birders can go somewhere to see birds. Water districts might assess a surcharge on your water bill to pay for the forested watersheds where they are getting your water. There are many different mechanisms to do this. We’re trying to figure out what would be the best mechanism.”

During the summit, a team of researchers, policymakers and industry professionals launched a new phase of work to calculate with scientific accuracy the value of ecosystem services. Larson is a member of the leadership team, along with executive director of the Central Valley Partnership Dan O’Connell and Sequoia Riverlands Trust director of pubic planning and policy Adam Livingston.

The team is working with partners to secure funding and technical support to integrate data sets already available from the Council of Governments’ Rural-Urban Connections Strategy into an open source, statewide system for mapping ecosystem services.

Once the tool is established, the team will be ready to pilot test it in four areas of California that provide ecosystem services.

“I love this concept,” said Kenny Spain, economic development specialist with the Headwaters Fund in Humboldt County and a member of the task force. “It’s a valuable tool.”

Link to item on UCANR Green Blog

World Soil Day (today, Dec 5) was designated by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) to recognize the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system, and as a vital contributor to human life through its connection to food, water, and energy security.

The designation was formally endorsed in 2013 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. World Soil Day is an opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the increasing challenges in soil management and, raising the profile of healthy soil by encouraging governments, organizations, communities and individuals around the world to engage in proactively improving soil health.

CDFA and its partners inside and outside of government have aligned with this through a series of events this week promoting soil health. Today, the California Compost Coalition, CalCAN, and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) will facilitate a tour of a local compost facility and farms employing healthy soils practices.