Growing California Avocados

On Wednesday, April 16 the California Avocado Society is hosting a two-hour seminar entitled, Water Knowledge is Power Knowledge.

The California Family Farmer Emergency Fund is accepting applications for extreme weather event relief grants. The deadline to apply is April 1.

On March 27, the International Society for Horticultural Science will host a webinar entitled, “Plant Biostimulants: (How) Do They Work?” from 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. Professor Patrick du Jardin of the University of Liege will serve as the speaker. Panelists will include researchers from across the globe and California.

Researchers are seeking input from specialty crop growers concerning snails and slugs. Thus far, there has been limited coordination of research efforts and as a result there is a gap in knowledge concerning how to manage snails and slugs and prevent crop damage.

A team of Iowa State University weed scientists and sociologists are conducting an anonymous survey among specialty crop growers to determine what weed control tools and technologies growers are aware of or are interested in and what factors drive or hinder growers from adopting weed management technologies.

The Specialty Crop Ag Workforce Development Program is conducting an employer survey to better understand the workforce needs in agricultural production, processing and support services while identifying current gaps in workforce skills and education. Data will be used to shape workforce training programs.

To assist agricultural operations in implementing the revised Pre-harvest Agricultural Water (Subpart E) rule in the Food Safety Modernization Act, several webinars are available. Of note, the revised portion of this rule has moved from an emphasis on testing pre-harvest water to performing an agricultural water assessment.

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources department is hosting a one-day Vertebrate Pest Conference Seminar Series on February 20

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has made several Produce Safety Program Portal training resources available on its PSP portal information website.