Internet of Things (IoT) refers to an emerging reality where more and more devices are connected to users and other devices via the Internet. The ramifications of IoT will touch us all in the very near future.

Almost any device or product with electronic on-off controls can now be equipped to connect to the Internet. The most obvious benefit is that a user can control the operation of the product online. The smartphone is often the most convenient way to do this and the phone becomes a remote control. But the implications go much further.

IoT enables so-called “smart” device networks. For example, a smart house may have Internet-connected door locks, smoke and CO2 detectors, furnace and air conditioning thermostat, security cameras, TV and more. The smart part refers to how these devices can network to function together or independently. It may soon be possible to set your GPS-enabled smartphone to activate the furnace or air conditioning when you are within 15 kilometres (about nine miles) of home. The appropriate lights would turn on when you are within one kilometre (a little more than a half-mile), and the coffee machine could commence brewing the moment the garage door opener kicks on.

IoT on the farm

What could a smart farm look like? Connected field-specific weather stations and soil moisture sensors could alert you when conditions warrant a fungicide application. Controlled tile drainage valves could open or close automatically according to conditions detected by sensors.

Performance and yield data can already be transferred wirelessly from many forms of farm equipment. Where this real time data goes and what it will connect to is open-ended. Drones? Robotic tractors? We’ll see.

Bio-monitoring devices that track temperature, heart rate, respiration and movement on sentinel animals in livestock herds will provide an early warning for animal health issues or stressors. Appropriate climate and feed adjustments could be initiated automatically or remotely. A bio-monitoring and messaging prototype product for horses called SeeHorse already exists.

Farmers and employees may also benefit from bio-monitors that help detect fatigue and stress.

Connected sensors will automatically monitor inventories of all descriptions – fuel, feed, crop protection products. When levels drop below a prescribed level, an order could be generated automatically.

Did I mention data? Every connected device can generate data in real time and retain it via the Cloud. An avalanche of data from the billions of connected devices will come on line in the next few years. The bottom line is, if it can be connected, it will be connected.

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By Jeannette E. Warnert

Sheep shearing is like a dance. It requires strength, flexibility, a tender touch and the right moves. Once mastered, the skill can open the door to gratifying and high-paying seasonal work.

“I tell my sheep shearing students, ‘You’ll never be unemployed,’” said John Harper, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor in Mendocino County. “And you’ll never be poor.”

Shearers can earn $50 to $100 per hour, Harper said, and can start a business with a $3,000 investment in equipment.

“If they can learn how to shear sheep correctly, it’s a great little business to get into,” Harper said.

The need for skilled sheep shearers in California and other parts of the nation has prompted the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center to host an annual sheep shearing school, where a diversity of students are introduced to a trade that allows them to work with their hands, out-of-doors, when and where they want.

Although sheep shearing is traditionally a male occupation, Harper said he encourages women to take the course.

“Women have a lower center of gravity. Strength is important, but so is hip rotation,” Harper said. “The sheep’s skin is very loose and the blades are pretty powerful. The female students tend to be more cautious and we see fewer nicks.”

Beatrice Thomas, 41, is a typical student.

“I came to sheep shearing by way of dance and the arts,” Thomas said.

She left her Bay Area desk job about a year ago. “There wasn’t a mind-body connection,” she said. “Forty hours at a desk, my body was aching.”

But sheep shearing was a completely different experience.

“This doesn’t hurt the same way as sitting at a desk, because it feels vital. Every move is important. There’s a dance. There’s a rhythm. My whole spirit lit up,” Thomas said.

The 5,200-acre Hopland Research and Extension Center is home to a flock of about 1,000 sheep, which provide opportunities for scientists to study their role in land management. They also serve as a ready supply of animals for prospective new shearers to learn the craft.

“We teach students how to shear in a way that ensures the welfare of the sheep, produces a quality wool clip, and keeps the shearers safe,” Harper said. “We received a grant from the National Sheep Industry Improvement Association to purchase new shearing equipment. This allows the students to learn with brand new, state-of-the-art combs, cutters and hand pieces.”

The annual sheep shearing school at Hopland is the only intensive five-day course in the United States, said Hannah Bird, community educator at the research center.

“It brings people from all over the country and sometimes outside the country,” she said.

The week together helps build camaraderies amongst the newly trained sheep shearers. Hopland sheep shearing alums have created a Facebook group to stay in touch and refer jobs to one another. Several previous students are making a living a sheep shearing. One is Stephanie Wilkes, a 2013 sheep shearing student who now runs her own sheep shearing business from San Francisco.

“People always ask me, ‘How can you run a sheep shearing business and live in the city?’” Wilkes said. “But there are actually a lot of sheep in the Bay Area, in Marin County, Solano and Yolo. I shear in Hayward and as far south as Gilroy. I go can go anywhere a car can.”

Lead instructor Gary Vorderbruggen said a key to sheep shearing success is a calm demeanor.

“Sheep don’t need to be riled up. If you can be calm, and be safe, you will gain speed with experience,” Vorderbruggen said. “It’s no different than a dance. It’s like a square dance, except you’re doing that square dance with an unwilling partner.”

Joining Harper and Vorderbruggen instructing the class in 2016 was Trevor Hollenback. He was first exposed to sheep shearing when visiting a friend’s sheep farm in Austria.

“I realized this is a really skilled craft. It’s amazing,” Hollenback said.

Hollenback quit his desk job and traveled to New Zealand for training, then returned to the Austrian farm for more practice. Back in the United States, Hollenback opened his own business and began shearing sheep in California and Arizona. He was tapped to be the instructor at Hopland because of his formal training in New Zealand.

“One of the most important things that the students can take away from this course is going to be sheep handling, how to move the sheep around, how to control the sheep on the board,” Hollenback said. “A lot of students came here with very little background in livestock. Footwork, positions, getting the pattern down – all the finer points in shearing – that comes with practice.”

The week-long sheep shearing school at Hopland will be held again in spring 2017. The class typically fills up within two hours of opening registration. Register interest on the UCCE Mendocino website to be notified when registration opens.

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View scenes from Sheep Shearing School in the video below:

Link to ‘Real California Milk’

 

 

 

 

 

 

An encore presentation from the Growing California video series.

By Teresa O’Connor

Citrus has a long and proud history in California. In 1895, the fruits helped make Riverside “the wealthiest city per capita in the nation,” as we explained in this article. By 1910, Los Angeles County was the nation’s largest producer of lemons, according to Rachel Surls, co-author of the new book From Cows to Concrete.  Today, California’s citrus industry is valued at $3 billion annually and responsible for more than 26 thousand jobs.

What’s at Stake 

It’s hard to imagine a future without oranges in California. But a little insect called Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) – which was accidentally introduced in 2008 into California – is posing the greatest economic threat that the state’s citrus industry has ever faced.

ACPs are vectors of a bacterium that causes a disease called huanglongbing(HLB), which also is called “citrus greening” because the fruit doesn’t fully turn orange (see photo). The lethal disease kills many types of citrus.

In Florida, the citrus industry has been dealing with the spread of HLB by ACP since 2005, and the disease is estimated to have cost producers in that state $1.6 billion in losses over a 5 year period, writes Dr. Erica Kistner of UC Riverside’s Center for Invasive Species Research.

Backyard gardeners are an important outreach target, according to University of California ANR entomologist Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell.

“We cannot stress strongly enough that landscape professionals, including residential and maintenance gardeners, can play a major role in minimizing the spread of this pest and HLB,” wrote Grafton-Cardwell on her blog, which provides lots of helpful advice on mitigating the disease.

Natural Predators Research

To fight this invasive citrus pest, UC Riverside entomologists and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) have launched a classical biological control program to reduce ACPs in the state’s urban areas.

They have imported from Punjab, Pakistan two natural enemies of ACP, which attack different developmental stages of immature ACP (nymphs). With support from CDFA, USDA-APHIS and USDA -MAC, these two parasitoids have been released into California for biocontrol of ACP with promising initial results, according to Dr. Mark Hoddle, director of the Center for Invasive Species Research.

“The impact of this parasitoid and other predators has been significant,” explains Dr. Hoddle. “There have been declines of greater than 80 percent of ACP populations, which can be attributed to this natural enemy activity. This population of parasitoids from Punjab has a unique DNA fingerprint; therefore, we can ensure we are recovering from California field sites the parasitoids imported from Pakistan. These Pakistani natural enemies have been mass reared, released, established and recovered.”

Despite the biocontrol successes, there have been challenges. “The Argentine ant, another invasive pest, has developed a disruptive mutualism with ACP nymphs,” he says. “The nymphs provide honeydew, which is a sugar reward for the ants. In exchange, ants protect the ACP nymphs from their natural enemies. So, we’re working on new, novel ant control strategies. These might involve biodegradable baits loaded with ultra-low toxicity sugar water inside hydrogels made from crystallized algae.”

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded more than $14.5 million in grants to support research into plant health, production and resilience, including more than $1 million to institutions in California. These grants were made through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Foundational program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Established by the 2008 Farm Bill and re-authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill, AFRI is the nation’s premier competitive, peer-reviewed grants program for fundamental and applied agricultural sciences. In the seven years since AFRI was established, the program has led to true innovations and ground-breaking discoveries in agriculture to combat childhood obesity, improve and sustain rural economic growth, address water availability issues, increase food production, find new sources of energy, mitigate the impacts of climate variability and enhance resiliency of our food systems, and ensure food safety.

The grants were awarded through AFRI’s Plant Health and Production and Plant Products (PHPPP) area, which supports basic and applied research in the following areas: understanding plant-associated microorganisms and plant-microbe interactions; controlling weedy and invasive plants; and plant-associated insects and nematodes.

Understanding Plant-Associated Microorganisms and Plant-Microbe Interactions:

• University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., $483,700
• University of California, Riverside, Calif., $500,000
• USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, Colo., $472,400
• University of Delaware, Newark, Del., $499,830
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Ill., $499,938
• Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., $500,000
• North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D., $150,000
• Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., $499,980
• Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, $499,970
• Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore., $498,780
• Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore., $15,000 (conference)
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, $499,990
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, $498,310
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va., $15,000

Descriptions of these projects are available on the NIFA reporting website.

Controlling Weedy and Invasive Plants:

• Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz., $500,000
• Chapman University, Orange, Calif., $69,178
• Wichita State University, Wichita, Kan., $430,882
• USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Stoneville, Miss., $500,000
• Montana State University, Bozeman, Mont., $158,744
• Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., $272,078
• Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore., $500,000
• Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, $500,000
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, $500,000
• University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo., $500,000

Descriptions of these projects are available on the NIFA reporting website.

Plant-Associated Insects and Nematodes:

• University of California, Berkeley, Calif., $454,000
• USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Athens, Ga., $480,000
• University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., $468,527
• Montana State University, Bozeman, Mont., $385,100
• University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.C., $149,800
• North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D., $133,000
• Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Ithaca, N.Y., $379,000
• New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N.Y., $499,900
• Gordon Research Conference, West Kingston, R.I., $15,000 (conference)
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, $499,500
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, $454,000
• University of Houston, Houston, Texas, $150,000
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va., $500,000
• University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisc., $485,000
• USDA Forest Service, Madison, Wisc., $15,000 (conference)

Descriptions of these projects are available on the NIFA reporting website.

To date, PHPPP has awarded more than $68 million to further progress and solve challenges in plant production through research, education, and extension.

Link to full news release

The Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) is California’s highest environmental honor. The program recognizes individuals, organizations, and businesses that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made notable, voluntary contributions in conserving California’s precious resources, protecting and enhancing our environment, building public-private partnerships and strengthening the state’s economy.

Applications for the 2016 awards are being accepted through Friday, July 29, 2016.

Categories

This year, GEELA recipients will be chosen from five categories and one subcategory:

• Climate Change
  • Automobile Dealer Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Promotion
• Ecosystem and Land Use Stewardship
• Environmental Education
• Sustainable Practices, Communities or Facilities
• Waste Reduction

Who May Apply/Eligibility

The awards will be presented for voluntary achievements culminated in 2015. Competition is open to all California residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations, professional and trade associations, communities, state and local government entities, tribes, and federal agencies operating in California. Projects are deemed ineligible if they are the result of mitigation, litigation, or required by legislation. Those who applied previously are welcome to apply again.

Award Selection

The annual Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award Program is administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the Natural Resources Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the State Transportation Agency, the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, the Government Operations Agency, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and the Health and Human Services Agency.

Contact

For any questions regarding the application process, please contact Nilan Watmore.

 

The California State Board of Food and Agriculture held two meetings this week in the Bay Area to discuss some of the latest developments in Ag technology as well as solutions to address food waste. Board President Craig McNamara fills us in.

Despite hopes for a drenching from El Niño, California farmers are facing another drought year in 2016.  Even after four years of the worst drought on record, California farm output was a record $54 billion in 2015, accounting for more than half of the nation’s fresh produce. Groundwater has helped compensate for California’s lack of rainfall, but groundwater overdraft cannot be continued indefinitely.

California farmers have responded to the drought by fallowing land; switching to crops that yield higher value per unit of water; and switching irrigation technologies.  Almost all California cropland is irrigated, so continued improvements in irrigation efficiency are key to weathering this and future droughts.

There are four main types of irrigation: surface (flood and furrow); sprinkler; drip (including low-volume micro-sprinkler); and subsurface.  Surface methods generally lose the most water to evaporation, and have been declining in popularity for several decades as efficient drip systems take their place.  The drought provides more urgency for this transition, and farmers interested in switching technologies can take advantage of grants from SWEEP, the state’s State Water Efficiency Enhancement Program.

However, even when using a high-efficiency system, a farmer needs to know how much water to apply in order to accurately meet crop demand.  A large percentage of California farmers make irrigation decisions based on CIMIS, the (California Irrigation Management Information System).  CIMIS uses about 200 weather stations around the state to calculate “reference evapotranspiration”: water lost from a well-watered grass field under current local conditions. Farmers then multiply this number by a “crop coefficient” for a rough estimate of their actual water demand.

Even better is to measure the actual evapotranspiration in an individual farm field – but, until recently, that required equipment that was too costly for most producers.  A new, cheaper sensor technology called surface renewal, developed jointly by ARS and UC Davis, performs real-time evapotranspiration measurements on the spot.  Results so far from California fields show that surface renewal can provide a more detailed and accurate picture of crop water demand – potentially saving much-needed water for other uses.

It is unknown when California’s current drought will end, and climate change will likely increase the risk of severe droughts in the future.  Efficient irrigation technologies will become ever more important to help California maintain its role as the nation’s number one agricultural producer.

Link to blog

 

By Anne Brice

Although demand for local food in the Bay Area is on the rise, most small farms struggle to stay afloat. But a new student startup called Farmcation, which grew from a UC Berkeley innovation course called “Eat.Think.Design,” is working to connect local farmers with urbanites who want a taste of rural living and are willing to pay for it.

Founded by Grace Lesser, a business and public health master’s student, and Caitlyn Toombs, who graduated in May with a master’s degree in business, Farmcation isn’t just a promising business model; it’s a way of bringing people together.

“To both of us, food is so much more than sustenance,” says Toombs. “It’s a means of creating community, and a way to foster connectedness with the world around us.”

The seeds of Farmcation began to sprout last summer when Lesser and her then-fiancé moved to her family’s farm in western Massachusetts, where they grew an acre of vegetables and raised 65 chickens to serve to their 240 wedding guests later that August.

Through the process of growing and providing their own food to guests, Lesser not only saw firsthand how powerful food can be in building community, but also realized just how much work small-scale farming takes.

When Lesser returned to Berkeley in the fall, she and Toombs set out to create a platform that linked food-curious consumers to local farmers seeking extra revenue. Although it’s a mutually beneficial relationship, it’s a connection they say doesn’t always happen on its own. They came up with Farmcation.

At a recent test event for the startup, now in beta, visitors traveled to an organic family farm in the Central Valley, where they took a tour with a farmer, picked strawberries and ate a picnic lunch prepared by chefs from a San Francisco restaurant. These are the types of experiences, Toombs says, that will bring people closer to the food they eat, the land it’s grown on and the people who produce it.

“Ultimately, we seek to make our cultural relationship with food less transactional and more relational,” says Toombs. “Being a part of the farming process is the most transformational thing people can do to change their relationship with food.”

Farmcation plans to finalize its business model this summer.

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