Tag: "agriculture"
California's Farm Belt Didn't Dodge the Summer Heat Wave
Autumn is here, so says the calendar. Living on the coast, it might be easy to think that California escaped the heat wave suffered by much of the nation this summer. While that may be true for most of the large coastal population centers, it was a different story for much of the state's interior farm belt.
Post on Sep 24, 2012 by Craig Miller from KQED Science
Heat and Harvest: Calif. Farms on a Climate Collision Course
New pests, a shrinking water supply and rising temperatures will alter agriculture in California.
Post on Sep 24, 2012 by Molly Samuel from KQED Science
Farmworkers Pay a Heavy Price for California's Bounty
California farmworkers work long days for about $7.50 an hour to pick fruit in orchards doused with nitrogen fertilizers. A UC Davis study released in March found that nitrates from fertilizers and dairy waste have contaminated groundwater supplies. Because farmworkers live near the fields they work in, they're at high risk for nitrate-contaminated drinking water.
Post on Jun 13, 2012 by Liza Gross from QUEST Northern California
Songbirds as a Measure of Farm Sustainability
John Quinn, a researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, explains how he collects and uses bird calls to establish an indicator for farm healthiness known as the Healthy Farm Index.
Post on Dec 06, 2011 by John Quinn from QUEST Nebraska
Herbicides: Help or Harm?
Recent headlines have brought to light some of herbicides’ unintended effects. Herbicides can provide farmers and gardeners with advantages over unwanted weeds—but they also come with drawbacks.
Post on Jul 20, 2011 by Jennifer Skene from QUEST Northern California
Prince Charles Delivers Landmark Speech, Says Sustainable Farming Can Feed The World
Prince Charles is a long-time supporter of organic and sustainable farming, but this speech took his advocacy a step further.
Post on May 13, 2011 by Darya Pino
How Green is Biomass Energy?
When you think of where energy comes from, you might picture a power plant or maybe wind mills. You probably wouldn't think of a pile of 12 tons of almond shells.
Post on Mar 25, 2011 by
Land Preservation on the Chopping Block
Under Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget, state funding for the Williamson Act would be eliminated.
Post on Feb 11, 2011 by Lauren Sommer
A Food, Forest and Education Center by the Freeway
I live in Hayes Valley and there has been a transformation a few blocks down from where I live. Hayes Valley Farm blooms in an abandoned concrete space; it is a 2.2 acre non-profit community run farm and urban agriculture education and research project.
Post on Nov 10, 2010 by Cat
Reporter's Notes: Backyard Seed Banks
Today, most backyard gardeners opt for buying seed packets or seedlings at the garden store. But a handful of Bay Area groups are working to create local seed saving networks, where local gardeners can learn to save seeds and share them.
Post on Sep 17, 2010 by Lauren Sommer
Reporter's Notes: Catching the Drift
In this week's Quest radio piece, I talk to two pregnant organic onion workers who got sick after an apple farmer sprayed pesticides on a nearby orchard. Following a nearly three month investigation, the Kern County Ag Commissioner issued citations finding both the apple grower and the organic company at fault.
Post on Oct 16, 2009 by Sasha Khokha
Reporter's Notes: High Tech in the Vineyards
Wine making is indeed an art form, but it is increasingly becoming more scientific. I knew growing wine grapes requires a lot of attention to detail — there is the terroir, pests and diseases and all those microclimates. But who would have known, driving down Hwy 29, the main thoroughfare through the Napa Valley, that many of those vineyards are totally wired.
Post on Mar 27, 2009 by Andrea Kissack
Stamping out the Apple Moth
A tiny moth, new to California, is at the center of a controversy pitting state officials against Bay Area residents and politicians. The Light Brown Apple Moth is seen as a threat to California crops. Now the State Department of Food and Agriculture is planning to spray a synthetic hormone over Bay Area neighborhoods this [...]
Post on Mar 06, 2008 by Andrea Kissack
