Tulare

Just when you thought we knew all the devastating pests of avocado, along comes another one, this showing up in the Piru area of Ventura County - bagrada bug. The infestation is in huge numbers covering the stems and leaves of the tree, leaving fecal droppings on the backsides of leaves.

From the Fresno State website Jul 18, 2014 by Tom Uribes A team of three Fresno State plant science students took first place in the weed identification category at the 58th annual Weed Day seminar hosted by University of California, Davis.

Just received an e-mail listing of seven (7) UC Cooperative Extension folks retiring in June 2014.

From the May 2014 Tulare County UC Cooperative Extension "Field Crop Notes" newsletter http://cetulare.ucanr.edu/newletters_898819/Field_Crop_Notes_692/?newsitem=51665 Managing Junglerice in Corn by Steve Wright and Carol Frate Introduction.

Advances in mitigation of alternate bearing of olive: vegetative growth response to plant growth regulators Elizabeth Fichtner, UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County, and Carol Lovatt, Professor of Plant Physiology, Botany and Plant Sciences, UC-Riverside.

(This article summarizes California Department of Pesticide Regulations online VOC information.) Its that time of year again when hot weather fuels the creation of ground-level ozone, also called smog. High levels of ozone can harm people and crops.

The first step in researching and developing strategies for mitigating alternate bearing (AB) in 'Manzanillo' table olive is to model the tree phenology with respect to the alternating 'ON' (high yield) and 'OFF' (low yield) cycles.

Introduction The economic sustainability and consequent longevity of Californias historic black ripe table olive industry is challenged by the crippling cost of hand-harvest, a cost that often exceeds 50-75% of gross return.

Poison hemlock, Conium maculatum, was brought from Europe into the U.S. as an ornamental in the 1880s and now occurs throughout North America. In California it is most commonly found at lower elevations and coastal regions but it is continuing to spread into other areas.

What about those Africanized honey bees? Where are they located in California? Hollywood movie refer to them as "killer bees." Ditto, the news media.