The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands will co-host a joint webinar on Climate Smart Agriculture on July 7, 2016. The webinar will feature discussions and presentations addressing salinity in specialty crops within California’s Central Valley and along coastal areas.
“Climate Change is furthering collaboration around the globe among farmers and researchers to address strategies for improving agricultural production and sustainability,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “The Netherlands is a good example for practices and approaches on climate smart agriculture that can be beneficial to California.”
Saline agriculture, the ability to produce crops with brackish water and in high salinity soils, could potentially be of interest to California farmers who encounter these growing conditions. This webinar will feature an overview by Arjen de Vos of Salt Farm Texel, a producer of saline agriculture in the Netherlands, as well as perspective from California State Board of Food and Agriculture member Don Cameron, of Terranova Ranch, a diversified farming operation in the Central Valley. Researchers from Wageningen UR and University of California will also provide perspective.
The Climate Smart Agriculture webinar is the first in a series of online discussions on Climate Smart Agriculture to be hosted in the coming months in collaboration with the University of California’s World Food Center.
California State Board of Food and Agriculture president Craig McNamara (far right) in New Yavne, Hamerkaz, Israel.
Secretary Ross is traveling through Israel this week with a California delegation interested in adaptation strategies for climate change and drought
Yesterday we started with an excellent overview of agriculture in Israel presented by Oren Shaked, a senior agricultural specialist with the U.S. Embassy. Oren described water in ag like a bike ride, “you can never stop pedaling!” They continually look at how they can do more with every drop they get. He noted the Field Advisory Service of Israel plays a vital role in the adoption of ag technology.
The list of challenges facing farmers here was almost identical to a list for California with the exception of BDS (boycott divestment sanctions). We heard about real world effects of BDS later in the day from a young farmer who has suffered loss of markets in the EU.
Our meeting with Mekorot, Israel’s National Water Company, was fascinating and could have easily lasted a half day! The Israel Water Commission makes the decisions on all water allocations and pricing. Waste water is a resource and water for ag is priced by type of treatment. Mekorot is the engineering and knowledge mechanism for its delivery. Mekorot’s 30 years of experience in seawater and brackish water treatment has improved energy efficiency, reduced consumption of chemical products, and minimized water loss (to leakage and evaporation). Mekorot prides itself on being a world leader in water technology that has turned an arid desert into a “flowering garden,’ and seawater into drinking water.
The Volcani Institute, the research arm of the Ministry of Agriculture, has 200 scientists, 800 support staff and 300 students working on a broad agenda with a focus on arid-zone agriculture in a changing climate. We heard about their special wheat breeding program to develop varieties to cope with climate change; efforts to combat the impact of rainfall on soil erosion and run-off; lysimeters used to study plant nitrate uptake and deep percolation for different water qualities and crops; the use of plant sensors to measure water flow in citrus trees as well as stem growth and contraction; thermal imaging and drones to detect real time irrigation needs; automatic traps to monitor pests and real time changes in their behavior; and, new technology that enables simultaneous temperature and humidity control in greenhouses for optimal yield production.
A greenhouse in Israel
Our last stop of the day was at Hishtil Ashkelon, a family business started in 1974 to provide premium plants to produce growers in hot climates. The company is GLOBALG.A.P.– certified and adheres to strict protocols for uniform, reliable plants. Its grafted plants are suited for mechanical planting.
The evening ended with sunset on the Mediterranean and a fun dinner in old-town Jaffa. I am traveling in great company!
The California Climate-Smart Agriculture Policy Mission is funded in part by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program
Greetings from Tel Aviv! This was the first modern city built in Israel. The city itself has a population of about 200,000 but the entire metropolitan area is home to 3.5 million of the country’s 8.2 million inhabitants.
On our first day of Climate Smart visits we traveled south to the Negev region and its capital, Beersheba. Netafim hosted us for a great discussion about how we all work together to achieve increased agricultural productivity and better quality while saving water. Netafim, a pioneer in drip irrigation and water use efficiency solutions, was established in 1965 by farmers in the Negev desert by the Kibbutz Hatzerim. According to CEO Ran Maidan they “need the farmers to smile” because Netafim has helped them accomplish yields, quality and a high return on investment!
Innovation and technology have helped Israel move from water scarcity to water security. They believe this is due in large part to the focus on agriculture – from the expansive use of recycled water (lots of purple pipe throughout the countryside) for irrigation and utilization of drip for all crops. I really liked Netafim’s stated values that drive its employees in their sense of mission: Dare; Make it Happen; Create an Impact; and, Partner for Success!
We were hosted for lunch in the kibbutz dining room before we made a quick stop at a Jojoba planting that is 14 years old, with an original subsurface drip irrigation system that has performed with very few problems and no replacements. Jojoba berries are pressed for oil used in cosmetics and as a botanical for lots of personal care products. The kibbutz processes its own Jojoba oil. California State Board of Food and Agriculture member Don Cameron is a member of our delegation and had an opportunity to visit the planting along with representatives of Netafim.
We also visited Rootility in Ashkelon, which took us to within eight miles of Gaza. Rootility is a startup plant breeding company using a high through-put accelerated conditions simulation system focused on roots to improve extreme temperature, drought and salinity resilience. The company – like Netafim – has a California presence. This year it is conducting trials on 850 acres of processing tomatoes. In addition to tomatoes, it has done proof-of-concept trials on peppers, melons, sugar beets, corn, rye grass and sunflowers.
Additionally, we visited the Volcani Center, a research arm of the Israel Ministry of Agriculture. CDFA Science Adviser Amrith Gunasekara is also part of our delegation and shows us some of the highlights.
We have also attended a networking reception and dinner in the Herzilya Pituah district of Tel Aviv with leaders of a number of Israel agriculture technology companies who are doing business in California. It was one of the most successful networking events I’ve ever seen – the conversations were non-stop all around the table and we left feeling like we have lots of potential partners for collaboration to meet our water and climate challenges.
The California Climate-Smart Agriculture Policy Mission is funded in part by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program
Israel is regarded as perhaps the most climate-smart agricultural region in the world. It has to be, with annual rainfall of about 17 inches (source: World Bank). By comparison, portions of the Sierra Nevada, the source of much of California’s water, can receive more than four times that amount.
However, the drought and the prospect of climate change has us challenging our long-held assumptions. That’s why I am pleased to be leading a delegation to Israel (June 17-25) to learn more about the country’s climate smart strategies, especially irrigation technologies and extensive use of recycled water.
Our travels will include a tour of a water management facility in Jerusalem, a visit to a nursery just north of Gaza, and a trip to Netafim, an Israeli Ag technology company in the Negev Desert that also does business in California.
The delegation furthers a relationship between California in Israel that was cemented in 2014, when Governor Brown and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a memorandum of understanding to develop joint projects and conduct mutually beneficial research.
Israel innovates with technology, efficient irrigation, recycled water, and plant breeding for drought conditions and salinity. And it all works – the country is able to produce the most of the food it requires to feed its citizens, yet its per-capita water use is only one-third of California’s. Eighty-five percent of the country’s wastewater is recycled for agricultural use, compared to just 9.5 percent in California.
We’ll be providing updates during our trip. I hope you’ll follow along. I see this as just the beginning of a more extensive and fruitful Climate Smart Ag relationship between Israel and California.
The California Climate Smart Delegation to Israel
-Jason Sharett, California Strawberry Commission
-Robert “Bob” Curtis, Almond Board of California
-Don Cameron, Terranova Ranch, Helm, CA; member, California State Board of Food and Agriculture
-Craig McNamara, Sierra Orchards, Winters, CA; president, California State Board of Food and Agriculture
-Sean McNamara, Sierra Orchards, Winters, CA
-Hank Giclas, Sr. , Western Growers Association
-Timothy A. Jacobsen, Center for Irrigation Technology, CSU Fresno
-Khaled M. Bali, Ph.D, Irrigation/Water Management Advisor, University of California – Cooperative Extension
-Steven Moore, Board Member, State Water Resources Control Board
-Kamyar Guivetchi, P.E, Manager, Statewide Water Planning, California Department of Water Resources
-Brooks D. Ohlson, Director, Sacramento Center for International Trade Development
-Alvar Escriva Bou, Public Policy Institute of California
-Dillon L. Hosier, National Director, Israeli-American Council
-Carlos Suarez, State Conservationist for California, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
-Abby Browning, Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
– Karen Ross, Secretary, CDFA
-Amrith Gunasekara, Ph.D, Science Advisor to Secretary Ross, CDFA
-Josh Eddy, Executive Director of California State Board of Food and Agriculture
The California Climate-Smart Agriculture Policy Mission is funded in part by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
CDFA is placing new electronic signs at each of its 16 Border Inspection Stations. This sign is at the Topaz station, along Hwy 395 southeast of Lake Tahoe. Messaging on the signs can be updated and customized to inform the public about Amber Alerts, fires, flooding, traffic conditions, local events, and targeted seasonal pests.
Watch this video from CDFA’s Growing California series about Border Inspection Stations as California’s first line of defense.
Internet of Things (IoT) refers to an emerging trend where more devices are connected to users and other devices via the Internet
IoT enables “smart” networks that allow different devices to function together or independently
IoT could help with things like fungicide application, animal health and supply management
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.
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.
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 bookFrom 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.”
