Researchers study potential of agave crop
Volunteers plant young offshoots of 20 agave varieties during a Madera Community College event in June. Agave experts in California are researching which varieties of the crop, which is commonly grown in parts of Mexico, are best suited to grow in the Central Valley and other parts of California. Photo/Manola Secaira
Smart sprayers slash farm labor and herbicide costs
R&R Farms in Kern County uses the WeedSeeker 2 from PTx Trimble to apply herbicides only to green plants and not to dead material or soil. An increasing number of farms are using high-tech sprayers to save on labor and chemical costs. Brothers Justin and Joe Ritchie, who grow 1,300 acres of almonds and pistachios at R&R Farms, paid for the unit in herbicide savings in one season. Photo/Courtesy of R&R Farms
Mechanical harvest research bolsters table olive prospects
Tables olives are mechanically harvested at Burreson Farm Orchards in Orland. Researchers are experimenting with an ethylene-like spray that makes it easier to harvest olives with a trunk shaker. Photo/Courtesy Musco Family Olive Co.
Research looks to optimize pollination in avocados
Hamutahl Cohen, right, entomology adviser at the University of California Cooperative Extension in Ventura County, and lab assistant Abigail Brondos collect visitors to a lavender bush in a block of Hass avocado trees in Somis. Cohen is working on a three-year study of the types of pollinators of the Hass variety, which doesn’t attract honeybees and bumblebees the way other tree crops do. Photo/Rob McCarthy
Low-cost ways small farms can lean into technology
Photo/Licensed image
Pest control innovator shares take on biopesticides
Pam Marrone makes notes in a California vineyard. She is founder and former CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations, now called ProFarm Group, which specializes in the development of bio-based pesticides. Photo/Courtesy of Pam Marrone
Vision tech allows dairies to identify lameness early
Cows at Rib-Arrow Dairy in Tulare walk under an AI-powered SmartSight camera. Photo/Joya McCarthy
Farm tech focuses on robotic weeding in vegetables
Tensorfield Agriculture’s Jetty moves through a simulated carrot field using its thermal microjetting system. Photo/Mark Billingsley
Filtration practices help to avoid costly irrigation issues
At a farm near Westley, a blue filter uses rotating wands to clean a fine screen during back flushing. A coarse screen protects the booster pump, requiring about 10 psi pressure. Photo/Courtesy of Cal Poly, Irrigation Training & Research Center
State proposal to require reporting on treated seeds
Seed companies color seeds to remind employees they are handling a pesticide-treated product and should use proper safety steps. The coloring also distinguishes between seed types and alerts end users that the seeds have been treated and cannot be used as feed. Photo/Fred Rehrman