Balmy afternoon at 74 degrees, mild breeze - what better day for a hay ride to learn about alfalfa & forage crops.
Participants, 2017 Grains/Alfalfa Field Day, May 11, 2017.
We had a great crowd at the UC Davis Alfalfa Field Day on May 11, 2017.
About 60-70 Participants from the program heard about alfalfa varieties, pest and disease management, irrigation, toxic weeds, reduced lignin alfalfa, and new crops. Here are many of the talks featured at the field day:
- CAFA: Update on California Alfalfa & Forage Association (Jane Townsend, CAFA)
- Pest Management: Near Loss of Chlorpyrifos (Lorsban) and its implications (Pete Goodell, UC IPM)
- IPM: Implementing IPM on your farm (Rachael Long, UCCE, Woodland, CA)
- Irrigation: Estimating the True Water Needs of Alfalfa (Daniele Zaccaria, UC Davis)
- Communication: Alfalfa Blogs and Why you should Care (Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE, Stockton, CA)
- Biofuels: Switchgrass for BIofuels (Ai Oikawa, Emeryville, CA)
- Genetics/Quality: Low Lignin Alfalfa - A New Technology (Dan Putnam, UC Davis)
- Breeding Alfalfa & Tall Fescue (Charlie Brummer, UC Davis)
- Developing Human Foods from Alfalfa (Dan Putnam, UC Davis)
- Identifying the Bad Guys-Weeds in th Sacramento Valley (Brad Hanson, Joe DiTomaso, UC Davis)
- Weeds: Poisonous Weeds in Alfalfa (Birgit Puschner, UC Veterinary College, UC Davis)
- Deficit Irrigation of Alfalfa (James Radawich, grad Student, UC Davis)
- Choosing Alfalfa Varieties to maximize yield and pest management (Dan Putnam, UC Davis)
- Kura Clover: Introduction of a New Crop (Dan Putnam, UC Davis)
These were all great talks, but the highlights included a great discussion about how deadly poisonous weeds can be in alfalfa hay and what it can do to your animals (scary!).
Drs. Brad Hanson, Birgit Puschner, and Joe DiTomaso, Departments of Plant Sciences and Veterinary Sciences, UC Davis discuss identification and impact of weeds, especially poisonous weeds, UC Davis Grain/Alfalfa Field Day, May 11, 2017.
If you were not able to attend the event, you can still download information from the presentations from the University of California Alfalfa and Forages website at http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/.
The UC Davis and UC ANR - Research and Extension Center Field Days are open to the public and generally without charge.