Posts Tagged: grower education

Avocado Seminars for 2014

Avocado growers will be interested in the California Avocado Society's 2014 seminar series on avocados.  This series so far consists of four seminars, each available for attending in either Ventura, San Luis Obispo or San Diego counties.

This year's series to date will focus on:

• Growing Avocado on Different Spacing
• 2/4/14 - San Luis Obispo UC Cooperative Extension office - 1:00 - 3:00 pm
• 2/5/14 - Ventura County UC Cooperative Extension office - 9:00 - 11:00 am
• 2/6/14 - Fallbrook Public Utility District - 9:00 - 11:00 am
• High Density in the Field and Uniconazole
  • 4/1/14 - San Luis Obispo UC Cooperative Extension office - 1:00 - 3:00 pm
  • 4/2/14 - Ventura County UC Cooperative Extension office - 9:00 - 11:00 am
  • 4/3/14 - In Fallbrook (location TBA) - 9:00 - 11:00 am
• Rootstock Selections
  • 6/10/14 - San Luis Obispo UC Cooperative Extension office - 1:00 - 3:00 pm
  • 6/11/14 - Ventura County UC Cooperative Extension office - 9:00 - 11:00 am
  • 6/12/14 - Fallbrook Public Utility District - 9:00 - 11:00 am
• Vegetative, Flowering and Pruning Basics
  • 8/5/14 - San Luis Obispo UC Cooperative Extension office - 1:00 - 3:00 pm
  • 8/6/14 - Ventura County UC Cooperative Extension office - 9:00 - 11:00 am
  • 8/7/14 - Fallbrook Public Utility District - 9:00 - 11:00 am

Office Locations:

UC Cooperative Extension Ventura County:
669 County Square Dr., Ste. 100
Ventura, CA  93003

UC Cooperative Extension San Luis Obispo:
2156 Sierra Way
Suite C
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Fallbrook Public Utility District:
990 E Mission Rd.
Fallbrook, CA 92028

For more information about the California Avocado Society click here.

Contact them at administration@californiaavocadosociety.org
951-225-9102 Office
951-225-9198 FAX

Agritourism Workshops

Agritourism courses are being offered in Camarillo to Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern, San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles County farmers and ranchers.  The courses are geared to provide useful information to those interested in developing agritourism or nature tourism on their properties.

This is an option more agriculture land owners are exploring to enhance revenue and share some of the agricultural lifestyle to others.

There will be hand-on activities and experts will advise on business planning, regulatory compliance, risk management, hospitality and marketing.  The course includes a copy of "Agritourism and Nature Tourism in California."

These courses are being offered by the County of Ventura UC Cooperative Extension, Ventura County Farm Bureau, UC Small Farm Program, Oxnard Convention and Vistor's Bureau and others with support of the USDA.

Dates:  December 3, 2013, January 14, 2014 and February 11, 2014.
Time:    9:00 am - 3:00 pm (each session)
Location:     Center for Non-Profit Leadership
                   4001 Mission Oaks Blvd.
                   Camarillo, CA  93012
Cost:    $50 for the 3-session course
Contact:  Penny Leff, UC Small Farm Program, paleff@ucdavis.edu, 530-752-7779

REGISTER AT https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=11547.

For more information, see the flyer here.

Irrigation Field Day in June

SAVE THE DATE - THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013.  UC Ventura County Cooperative Extension's strawberry and vegetable advisor, Dr. Oleg Daugovish, will be hosting an irrigation field day in Oxnard.

The event will be located at Henry Ito's ranch where attendees will be able to view plots and see the experiments at work and hear guest expert speakers on a variety of irrigation related topics including regulations, methods and test results.

Refreshments will be included.

Date:  Thursday, June 6
Time:  9:00 am - 11:15 am
Where:  Henry Ito's ranch at 1835 Hueneme Rd. in Oxnard
Contact:  Dr. Oleg Daugovish, 805-645-1454 or odaugovish@ucdavis.edu

Two hours of VCALIG educational credits have been approved from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.

For an agenda and map, click here.

California Citrus Conference

The 2012 California Citrus Conference will be held October 10-12 in Porterville. This event is organized by the Citrus Research Board (CRB) and will include presentations, demos, and exhibitors.

Topics will include:

• ACP/HLB
• Pests
• Diseases
• Organics
• Irrigation
• Nutrition

Demonstrations and displays will include:

• ACP tracking and mapping
• Spray demonstrations
• Irrigation technologies
• Sensory evaluation lab

For more information please call the CRB at 559.738.0246 or email them.

Nursery and Floriculture Alliance Education Programs

UC’s Nursery and Floriculture Alliance has many trainings scheduled, including several in Southern California. You can find program details on their website. 

Also on the site, you will find archived presentations available for viewing and links to resources to help growers conserve irrigation water and manage water quality issues.

The nursery and floriculture industry is big business in Ventura County. Even after experiencing a decline in sales during the recession, the most recent crop report lists nursery stock as our third highest value crop at $180,057,000 (down from $298,690,000 in 2007-2008). Cut flowers are in the number four spot and brought in $47,348,000 (down from $51,297,000 in 2007-2008).

This map shows where these crops are grown within the county.

Read more