Contents
Over
80 years of service to Tulare County
Environmental
concerns top Extension's "to do" list
A
Look Back:
The "Ag Extension" Office Opened in Tulare County in 1918.
A
Look Ahead...
Tulare County Agriculture Building to Open March, 2001
UCCE
develops dairy industry environmental stewardship short course
Tree
Fruit:
Strategic pruning speeds production, lowers costs
Choices
abound for cotton, grains
Worker
Safety:
Extension teaches safe handling of pesticides
4-H
Youth:
On the grow in Tulare County
Trellis
technology shifts from "T" to "Y"
"Radio
Tulare" expands Extension's message to
the Spanish speaking
Citrus
project explores cover crop potential
Cool
Cows are productive cows
Field
crops support dairy industry, commodities market
UC
addreses rangeland water quality management
Yellow
starthistle invades state
Celebrating
30 years of EFNEP success
Eating
study results in new educational materials for families
Master
Gardener volunteers perform services for county
UCCE
helps reduce childhood anemia
High
density walnut plantings produce positive results
Berries
may offer niche small farm opportunity
Teen
Survival targets youth
Broccoli:
good for you, good for Tulare County
Tulare:
namesake to a nut
Field crops support dairy industry, commodities market
Field crops such as alfalfa, blackeye beans, sugarbeets, corn and legumes
are very important in Tulare County. All are food resources in demand
by the county's dairy industry as well as for sale on the nation's commodity
markets.
Research is underway to control important pests of these crops to maintain
production and increase their profitability. Purple and yellow nutsedge
are important and hard to control weeds in alfalfa. Trials have evaluated
the efficacy of a newly-registered herbicide, shown to be easier to apply
than the standard material. By itself, however, it is not a complete solution
to controlling these weeds in alfalfa and subsequent crops.
Black nightshade is a problem in blackeye beans and cowpeas. Not only
does it compete with the crop for water and sunlight, it reduces the quality
of the harvested crop because nightshade berries stain the blackeye beans
purple during threshing. It is a hard weed to control in late season because
effective herbicides applied at planting don't provide season-long protection.
Research focuses on new herbicides; current herbicides applied at various
times; and cultivation methods for providing season-long control of the
black nightshade weed.
In the pest department, leafminer is a new and sporadic, yet serious,
pest of blackeyes. Effective materials have been identified for controlling
this insect. One of them, a reduced-risk material, had a Section 18 usage
label in 1999 and is now fully registered for use in California.
Cercospora leafspot is a sugarbeet disease that occurs in Tulare County.
It reduces yields and sugar percentage in the crop. Growers receive a
premium for high sugar content and processing is more efficient when sucrose
percentage is high. Currently registered materials are not very effective
on cercospora leafspot. Trials are being conducted to evaluate new fungicides
that have proven effective in other states, along with timing of application
to control this disease.
Carol Frate, Farm Advisor