California Agriculture journal

Multifactor analysis of land use transitions in a drought-affected rice region Rapid land use change can have large impacts on water resources, local economies, supply chains, and the environment. Understanding the complexity of …

🌾From Field Crops Research: Drought reduced rice acreage while high crop prices drove a shift to water-intensive orchards, revealing how economics can outweigh water constraints. (Luke A. Salvato, Cameron Pittelkow, Bruce A. Linquist)

▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#PlantScience

🌊 Dive into the annual @ucanr.edu Water Webinar Series 2025-2026! Science for everyone!
📅 Oct 6 | 12 PM PT🎤 Dr. Ellen Bruno: “Managing California’s groundwater: SGMA’s early impacts & the role of groundwater markets”
💧 Free & Open Access – no registration needed!
🔗 Zoom: tinyurl.com/anrwaterwebi...

Register now - Biomass workshop series: session 3 field day. Registration is free. Three photos of a machine working roadside of a forest

Interested in forest and biomass management? @ucanr.edu is offering a free workshop Oct. 15 in Sonora 🌲
files.constantcontact.com/f7d3b974101/...

How is SGMA affecting growers’ planting and drilling decisions? | UC Agriculture and Natural Resources By Ellen Bruno and Nick Hagerty

Ten years after the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: Are growers changing what they plant or how they drill, knowing water use must decline by 2040? #UCCE and UC Davis ARE analyzed the data.

#SGMA #CAwater #Ag
bit.ly/45Ftegf

The World Is Warming Up. And It’s Happening Faster.

“Each additional fractional degree of warming brings about a relatively larger increase in atmospheric extremes, like extreme downpours and severe droughts and wildfires,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with #UCANR. @weatherwest.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/c...

California cotton heat stress study aims to prevent boll loss UC research investigates how high nighttime temperatures affect cotton boll abortion, testing products to mitigate crop losses in California's hottest farming regions.

The most critical part of heat stress for cotton is not the daytime temperatures that can exceed 120 degrees in the region, but the nighttime temperatures that fail to drop below 90 degrees, Michael Rethwisch @ucanr.bsky.social said to @agwriter.bsky.social
www.farmprogress.com/cotton/scien...

Four researchers in an agricultural field collect processing tomato samples to estimate Brix and yield per replicate.

New research shows that using a tapering strategy is a commercially viable option for processing tomato growers with limited freshwater allocations and access to groundwater. Learn more here ➡️ doi.org/10.3733/001c...

California Nutrition Incentive Program Grants Boost Access to Fresh Produce and Support Local Farmers - SierraDailyNews.com CA Dept. of Food & Agriculture Inspection Services Division Office of Farm to Fork is pleased to announce that 12 projects across the state and the people they serve are now benefiting from more than ...

“I’m eating better because I can afford to get fresh food, fresh vegetables and fruit that I wouldn’t get otherwise,” a CalFresh shopper said about the California Nutrition Incentive Program in a study by the @npi.ucanr.edu @ucanr.bsky.social. Learn more: bit.ly/4kdwnrV

Fig. 2. Principal component analysis showing significant explanatory variables for first (PC1) and second (PC2) components. Circle colors indicate the system and size of the bubble corresponds to the relative number of years of non-rice crops in the rotation. The red circle represents fields under conventional continuous rice, green is conventional rotated fields, and blue is organic rotated fields. Soil variables include SOC, POXC, ACE protein, phosphorous, minor elemental rating, actinomycetes, and fungal: bacterial ratio. Agronomic indicators include early weed abundance and yield. Organic continuous fields were removed from the analysis due to confounding effects of soil texture.

🌱 From Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment: Diversifying rice rotations increased yields by 13% but reduced soil carbon and nitrogen retention. (Sara Rosenberg, Amélie C.M. Gaudin, Tommy L.D. Fenster, Bruce Linquist, Kassim Al-Khatib, Cameron M. Pittelkow)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Today’s the day — UC ANR #GivingDay is here!
We’re thrilled to be part of this 24-hour celebration of giving, and we invite YOU to join us! Your support powers our mission to advance agriculture, natural resources, nutrition, and youth development.
🔗 give.ucanr.edu

Image of the Port of Stockton. 📸: Downtowngal, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26671447

This Monday I'm hosting a webinar titled "Navigating Trade Policy Uncertainty in California Agriculture" on Monday, May 19th at 2pm. Opportunities will be available to ask questions about current trade policy at the end. Register now: ucdavis.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

This ‘wildfire resilient neighborhood’ shows how much CA housing has to change For years, wildfire-resilient home and neighborhood design has been a niche consideration for many California homeowners. January’s Los Angeles firestorms have made it feel more like an urgent necessi...

Think wildfire prep is expensive?
“Fuels management and home hardening are just as important as a remodeled kitchen at this point,” wildfire expert Yana Valachovic @ucanr.bsky.social tells
@frombenc.bsky.social @calmatters.org calmatters.org/housing/2025...

US weather forecasting is more crippled than previously thought as hurricane season nears | CNN Several current and former agency meteorologists and staff told CNN they are concerned warnings won’t be issued in time as hurricane season nears.

NEW: US weather forecasting is in worse shape than previously known, with 30 NWS forecast offices missing meteorologists-in-charge and about a dozen offices at risk of no longer serving their communities 24/7. www.cnn.com/2025/05/02/w...

How California Partners with the Federal Government on Water and Weather Forecasts There’s a lot in the news about changes underway at federal agencies, including agencies California relies on for water and weather forecasts. As these changes play out, it’s worth taking a step back ...

@ppicnotes.bsky.social's Sarah Bardeen talks with Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC ANR. Amid federal agency changes & funding cuts, it is essential to examine how California partners with the federal government for water & weather forecasts. @weatherwest.bsky.social
bit.ly/4jHgZUE

UC ANR #GivingDay, May 15-16, noon to noon.
Join us in supporting programs that bring the power of UC research in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition, and youth development directly to local communities across California. 🔗 give.ucanr.edu

UC advisor hopes to help grape growers adapt to weather extremes Christopher Chen often can be found at vineyards across the region, measuring the impact of drought-resistant rootstocks, collecting data on temperature fluctuations and carefully examining the vin…

#Wildfire One of @viticulturalist.bsky.social's 🍇 research projects is smoke taint, which can severely impact the quality of wine 🍷https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2025/04/22/uc-advisor-hopes-to-help-grape-growers-adapt-to-weather-extremes/

There is little difference between evapotranspiration at regenerative and conventional almond orchards in winter months. And regenerative sites have similar or slightly lower ET during the growing season, found scientists @ucanr.bsky.social & @ucdaviswater.bsky.social in @calagucanr.bsky.social

UC scientists ask walnut trees: When do you need to be irrigated? | UC Agriculture and Natural Resources UC scientists are working with growers in Tehama, Butte, Lake, Amador, Contra Costa, Stanislaus and Yolo counties to test a new way of measuring the irrigation needs of walnut trees. Shackel and team ...

As the state’s $474-million walnut industry struggles to regain its footing against various environmental and economic challenges, UC scientists, including UCCE specialists, are testing a new tool that could help farmers with one of those problems: water. @ucdavisplants.bsky.social
bit.ly/4cxzJCY

YouTube video by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources 3 Steps to manage sudden oak death

Sudden Oak Death Blitz Survey 2025 is underway. To volunteer to scout for SOD among your trees, see nature.berkeley.edu/matteolab/?p...
Matteo Garbelotto, UCCE specialist at @natureatcal.bsky.social & @ucanr.bsky.social discusses SODmap mobile app in the video below
www.youtube.com/watch?v=csAz...

Fall-run Chinook salmon migrate and spawn in the Feather River near California Department of Water Resources infrastructure and the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville, on Oct. 28, 2024. Photo by Xavier Mascareñas, California Department of Water Resources Hed: Breaking: California’s commercial salmon season is shut down again Subhed: It’s an unprecedented third year in a row for no commercially caught salmon

Breaking: Facing the continued collapse of Chinook salmon, officials today shut down California’s commercial salmon fishing season for an unprecedented third year in a row. buff.ly/RpayH4T

📸 Xavier Mascareñas

Join @ucanr.bsky.social's Water Program Team for the next Water Webinar series talk on April 28, 2025 at 12PM PT with Julie Ekstrom of @ca-dwr.bsky.social on, "Filling the Gaps in Drought Resilience for Rural Communities."

Join by Zoom: tinyurl.com/2bwfjd4u. Find past talks at tinyurl.com/26kskxwl

Summit to showcase California agritourism best practices, May 14-15 | UC Agriculture and Natural Resources The California Agritourism Summit, May 14-15 in San Diego County, will bring together agritourism stakeholders to share current initiatives and industry developments, gain practical tools to start or ...

Join us at the California Agritourism Summit!
Connect with farmers, tourism pros & community leaders to shape the future of #agritourism in California. Panels, tours, tools & more—happening in #SanDiego.

Register by April 30🔗 bit.ly/3EiAJOK

Advisor Chen works for resilient future for viticulture in Northern California | UC Agriculture and Natural Resources UC Cooperative Extension advisor studies solutions that minimize impacts of extreme weather Image

Advisor Chris Chen works for a resilient future for #viticulture in Northern California. In preliminary data from a recent study, he found that vineyards >0.25 miles from prescribed burns had 31% lower smoke exposure.
Learn more about Chris and his research ➡️ bit.ly/3Y0l6Cn

A researcher checks the sonic anemometer equipment in an almond orchard on a sunny day.

New research from @ucanr.bsky.social and UC Davis scientists demonstrates that regenerative management in almonds leads to improvements in soil moisture retention and does not result in increased evapotranspiration. Get the details at doi.org/10.3733/001c...

Statewide team to assist small farms with SGMA | UC Agriculture and Natural Resources California relies on groundwater - water stored in underground aquifers and pumped through wells - for up to 41% of water supply in normal years and up to 60% during times of drought. In 2014, the Cal...

UC ANR has established a team to provide technical assistance, extension education, policy analysis and outreach to small-scale farmers to understand how the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) might impact them.
bit.ly/4j68wdc

CWRI launches its newest working group: Urban Water Supply + Wildfire. Chaired by @gregspierce.bsky.social (@luskininnovation.bsky.social), this effort brings together UCLA & @ucanr.bsky.social expertise to develop solutions to post-fire water infrastructure challenges. sustainablela.ucla.edu/cwri

"Even if you're buying produce from a California farm, because there's less supply, supply and demand sort of dictates that the price of all goods are going to go up," @jaysayre.bsky.social @ucdavisare.bsky.social & @ucanr.bsky.social told ABC10 about tariffs

California farmers fear tariff trade war losses in billions, uneven bailouts Nut crops are grown in San Joaquin Valley communities of Fresno, Kern, Stanislaus, Merced and Madera counties.

California farmers could lose up to $6 billion in exports in trade war

Colin Carter @ucdavisare.bsky.social @gianninifnd.bsky.social found that overall, California’s losses from the 2018 trade war far exceeded the government compensation payments. @fresnobee.com www.fresnobee.com/news/califor...

A single dry winter decimated California’s salmon and trout populations - Berkeley News Severely dry conditions during the winter of 2013-2014 blocked some species of salmon and steelhead trout from accessing their breeding grounds, wiping out the populations of individual tributaries an...

A single severely dry winter temporarily, but dramatically, altered the ranges of three fishes — Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead trout — in California’s northern waterways. news.berkeley.edu/2025/04/03/a...

The cover of the new Cal Ag issue features a rooster with hens in the background.

Our new issue is out! Check out the latest research on bird flu risk assessment, the role of agricultural producers in wildfire resilience, farmworker views on employer sponsored health insurance, and more at californiaagriculture.org.