San Joaquin

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Vineyard with mustard cover crop in Shafter, California
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Guide to a Cover Crop Demo

April 29, 2020
Growers throughout the country and around the world plant a wide range of cover crops for a variety of reasons. Cover crops can reduce soil compaction, improve water infiltration, improve soil structure, and feed soil microbes: they encourage a healthier and more diverse soil ecosystem.
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Some plants look great, others not so much
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It's Monday, right?

April 20, 2020
Happy Monday! It doesn't feel like Monday. Saturday felt' like Sunday and I woke up early this morning thinking how slow the weekend was going by. I don't recall having that concern before. Then I realized it was over problem solved. Yardwork was front and center over the weekend.
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UC Cooperative Extension scientists monitor rangeland forage growth by clipping and measuring one square foot of area, and then calculating the data by acre. (Photo: Royce Larsen)
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Rancher wisdom can be improved with science

April 17, 2020
When California was part of the Wild West, it took a certain amount of guesswork to move cattle from their home range to summer pastures while making sure sufficient forage was left behind to hold the cattle over till fall rainfall spurred new growth.
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Early April 2020 (first post of 2020 season)

April 8, 2020
Hi. We've been a bit slow getting the thrips risk and TSWV updates up and running this year. We hope you are all safe and well. We also want to say thank you to everyone involved in food production and agriculture in general for keeping the food chain flowing during the COVID-19 epidemic.
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Early April 2020 (first post of 2020 season)

April 8, 2020
Hi. We've been a bit slow getting the thrips risk and TSWV updates up and running this year. We hope you are all safe and well. We also want to say thank you to everyone involved in food production and agriculture in general for keeping the food chain flowing during the COVID-19 epidemic.
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Amsinckia 3
Article

Weeds from Droughty Winters

April 6, 2020
As of February 20, fiddleneck (Amsinckia spp.) was flowering in Fresno County. Zero rain fell in the city of Fresno during the month of February. By February 27, a date when the temperature reached 79F in Fresno, the U.S.
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56E3771F-D6DE-4E78-A38C-C24E94BBCB8E
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Should I apply Zinc or not?

April 3, 2020
By Luis A Espino, Bruce A Linquist
We have gotten several calls about the use of zinc (Zn) fertilizers to address potential Zn deficiencies. The price of zinc is going up, and it is prompting growers to look more carefully at the use of zinc.
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No-till seeding directly into prior crop residue, Five Points, CA, April 2007
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Improving farming systems for the common good

April 2, 2020
By Jeffrey P Mitchell
This is a preview of an article for Progressive Crop Consultant magazine. Recently, two types of evidence have emerged to indicate that farmers must make substantial changes in their crop production systems in the future. The first is economic.
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