Twilight Field Day, Sept. 12, Five Points
Sustainable agricultural systems involving precision
irrigation and conservation tillage will be featured at the University of
California Cooperative Extension’s annual Twilight Field Day and bus tour Sept.
12 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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| A crowd gathers for a presentation last year in the early evening. |
“We want to introduce more farmers to these proven
technologies,” said Jeff Mitchell, UCCE farm advisor and field day coordinator.
“We’ve done the research. These systems work and they save water, reduce dust,
store carbon in the soil, and save farmers money.”
This year, the expanded event includes an afternoon
bus tour to three San Joaquin Valley farms where conservation agriculture
systems are successfully implemented.
Registrants will gather at 1 p.m. at the UC Westside
Research and Extension Center, 17353 West Oakland Ave., Five Points, Calif. to
load on buses.
The bus tour includes three stops:
1 - Johnny and Joann Tacharra Dairy in Burrel - The
Tacharras will explain the application of dairy waste water through an overhead
irrigation system to grow forage crops.
2 - Armando Galvan of Five Points Ranch - Galvan will
show his refined irrigation system to apply water to vegetable and row crops.
Galvan installs special nozzles on the overhead irrigation drop lines to
improve water infiltration and avoid ponding and crusting on the soil surface.
3 - Scott Schmidt of Farming ‘D’ Ranch in Five Points
- Schmidt will discuss new management strategies to successfully implement new
agricultural systems.
Following the tour, participants will reconvene at 4
p.m. at the UC Westside REC for a workshop on the economic and environmental
benefits of conservation agriculture systems.
The event continues with a free barbecue dinner,
entertainment by the Wheelhouse Country Band, and a keynote address by Suat
Irmak, director of the Nebraska Water Center and professor of biological
systems engineering.
Jeff Mitchell will name the 2013 Conservation Tillage
Farmer Innovator of the Year award winner.
The expanded event coincides with a concerted effort
by the Conservation Agricultural Systems Innovation (CASI) Center to grow the
conservation agriculture movement in California.
CASI is a diverse group of UC researchers, farmers,
public and private industry, and environmental groups formed to develop and
exchange information on sustainable agricultural systems for California row
crops.
“In each century, there are just a handful of times
when agriculture can transform itself in revolutionary ways,” Mitchell said.
“There is growing evidence that today presents one of those rare chances for
agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley to reinvent itself.”
The event is free but pre-registration is requested.
Labels: Conservation Tillage, Five Points, Jeff Mitchell, Sept.12, Sustainable ag systems, Tillage Farmer Innovator of the Year, Twilight Field Day, UC Cooperative Extension
