Santa Cruz

The question is troubling: What's going on with the monarch butterfly population in the West? The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation reported this week that its Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count shows a decline for the second consecutive year.

"Why Are the Monarch Butterflies Declining in the West?" When Professor Elizabeth Crone of Tufts University, Medford, Ma., zeroes in on that topic to the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, she will discuss the challenges that both monarchs and ecologists face.

With some of the time that the occasional rainy days have been affording me, I've been catching up with my professional reading. In particular, an article the November 2017 edition of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau newsletter - like I said I was catching up - caught my eye.

Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, UC Riverside Raspberry (Rubus spp.) is an important crop for California, where it is among the top 20 commodities with an average annual value of $448 million from 2015 to 2017 (CDFA: California Agricultural Statistics Review 2017-2018).

This year's UCCE Annual Strawberry Production Research meeting will take place on February 5 and will be held at the Salinas Sports Complex (also known as the Rodeo Grounds) on Main Street.

WHAT: SANTA CRUZ AG DEPARTMENT CONTINUING EDUCATION CLASS FOR GROWERS AND CERTIFIED PESTICIDE APPLICATORS WHEN: MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019 9AM 11AM (ENGLISH) registration starts at 8AM 2PM 4PM (ESPAN~OL) registration starts at 1PM WHERE: UC COOPERATIVE EXTENSION AUDITORIUM 1432 FREEDOM BLVD, WAT...

Scientists are developing climate-smart farming practices, California is offering financial incentives to implement them, and now a group of 10 UC Cooperative Extension climate-smart educators are taking the program to the next level.

While scientific reports continue to mount confirming that global climate change is increasing temperatures, causing more frequent weather extremes and raising the sea level in California, UC Cooperative Extension is working to ensure the worst predictions are avoided and California residents and bu...

For UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE), attention to climate change goes beyond an increase in severe wildfires, droughts, floods and heat in California, and their impact on natural resources, agriculture and the state's economy.

As most readers of this blog know, the loss of the pre-plant soil fumigant methyl bromide several years ago presents a serious challenge to business as usual in the California strawberry industry.