Placer

The best way to delay arrival of HLB in our area and minimize its impact is to keep ACP suppressed down to the lowest level possible.

As I write this post, the first few drops of rain are falling on our part of the Sierra foothills since early October. Here in Auburn, those early autumn rains were enough to green up our annual rangeland; other parts of the foothills and Sacramento Valley weren't so fortunate.

As a commercial sheep producer who is also the father of two daughters who have shown lambs at our local fair since they were nine years old, I'm sometimes conflicted about the value of showing livestock.

As some readers may know, I put out a quarterly newsletter (The New Foothill Rancher in Placer and Nevada Counties; The New Ranch Update in Sutter and Yuba Counties).

Note: This article first appeared in the October 2018 issue of The New Foothill Rancher and The New Ranch Update newsletters.

My friend Ryan Mahoney, who manages Emigh Livestock near Dixon, California, has embraced a variety of new ranching technologies.

Last week I visited the last of the counties, at least for my initial' visit. It took a bit longer than I had hoped but California is a big state and things always seem to crop up on my calendar.

The humming sound of busy honeybees filled the fall air, darting back and forth as I followed long-time beekeeper Randy Oliver around his bee yard. I was there to learn about a new issue for local beekeepers.

On Thursday October 4th, Sierra Foothill REC hosted its 5th Annual Beef & Range Field Day for high school students enrolled in FFA & 4-H.

According to many state fire officials, we no longer have simply a Fire Season' but a Fire Year'. In winter drought conditions, some parts of our region do not receive enough rain to mitigate fire danger.