LAKEPORT, Calif. – The University of California Cooperative Extension, or UCCE, invites growers and others involved in the North Coast walnut industry to attend the 2017 Lake County Walnut Update to be held Tuesday, April 25.

The event will take place from 8 a.m. to noon at the Scotts Valley Women’s Club, 2298 Hendricks Road, Lakeport. The facility is wheelchair-accessible.

Topics will include an overview of the 2016 Lake County walnut season and outlook for 2017, laws and regulations update, irrigation and canopy management, carbohydrate physiology, integrated pest management, organic transition and cultural practices and industry-supported marketing and research.

The meeting is sponsored by UCCE, Lake County Department of Agriculture and the California Walnut Board.

There is no registration fee and refreshments will be provided courtesy of the California Walnut Board.

The agenda and directions to the meeting site can be viewed at http://celake.ucanr.edu .

For further information contact UCCE at 707-263-6838 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Strong storms during the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend flooded farm fields, caused several dairy farms to relocate their animals and brought other impacts on California farms and ranches.

The storms also added more water to an already overtaxed system, and led to renewed calls to modernize the system.

“In the long term, the surge of storms should bring an improved water outlook,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger said, “but it has definitely brought worries to farmers and ranchers whose land is inundated or whose crops may be at risk. We remain hopeful that weather in coming days will minimize any problems.”

Wenger noted that many reservoirs have filled and have had to release water, which underlines the need to enhance California’s water storage capacity.

“Believe it or not, there are people who think we don't need more water storage, and that we should even tear down many of the facilities we now have,” he said. “These activists don't care how many people suffer from devastating floods in winters like this. They don't care how many people suffer from water shortages during droughts.”

Wenger said California must move as quickly as possible to allocate money from the 2014 water bond, Proposition 1, to create more storage both aboveground and underground.

“Environmentalists say we can solve water problems by conserving more water and storing more underground. But we’re not able to conserve most of the water flowing through the system now—we have had to let it go. And moving water into the ground takes time. You can’t replenish groundwater if you don’t have aboveground reservoirs and canals to hold and move water to where it can effectively filter underground,” Wenger said.

Farm Bureau said farmers of a number of crops and commodities will be assessing the impact from the weekend storms, including:

• Almonds: The storms hit just as almond trees were blooming. Bees that pollinate almond blossoms don’t fly in the rain and prefer temperatures higher than 55 degrees. In addition, a number of almond trees were blown down by strong winds during the weekend. But farmers said the tree losses weren’t as bad as feared, and expressed hope pollination would still be successful.

• Berries: The rains delayed strawberry harvest along the Central and Southern California coast. Production may be temporarily reduced as farmers wait for waterlogged fields to dry and discard rain-damaged berries.

• Dairy farms: Several dairy farms located near the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers needed to move their animals to higher ground as river levels rose. Other farmers are watching river levels carefully and preparing to move their animals if needed.

• Field crops: Fall-planted grain crops that have germinated could take on too much water, which could ultimately reduce yields. Hay fields have also flooded. Soggy or flooded fields will delay planting for a number of crops.

• Grapes: Vineyards in various grape-growing regions have been flooded. Farmers say that could leave vines vulnerable to root-rot damage if they remain flooded for too long.

• Vegetables: Rains and muddy fields slowed vegetable harvest in Southern California and delayed planting in the Salinas Valley. Rain generally benefited vegetable crops in the Imperial Valley.

• Walnuts: Flooded orchards that remain waterlogged for too long could be vulnerable to root diseases that can kill trees.

• Miscellaneous: Heavy rains in foothill regions have washed out privately maintained roads, making it hard for cattle ranchers to reach their animals, and muddy pastures limit ranchers’ ability to reach herds on horseback. Pear orchards in Lake County have been flooded. Citrus fruit harvest was temporarily delayed. The storms brought large amounts of rain to Santa Barbara County farmers who have remained in severe drought. One farmer there reported losing about half an acre of avocado trees to a mudslide.

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 48,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 6.2 million Farm Bureau members.

 MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The University of California Master Gardeners of Lake County will host a grape pruning demonstration on Saturday, Feb. 18.

It will be held from 10 a.m. to noon in Middletown.

The workshop costs $5 per person.

Participants will need to bring their own clean pruning tools for supervised practice if they plan to take part in that activity.

Call the UC Cooperative Extension Office at 707-263-6838 to RSVP and obtain the address of the workshop's location.

Organizers request a minimum of three participants who have reserved their space at least one day before the workshop in order to guarantee that it will move forward.

If fewer than three people RSVP, the class may not be held, so please call before dropping in for any class.

The California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, advises consumers not to eat recreationally harvested mussels, clams or whole scallops from Tomales Bay and Humboldt Bay.

Dangerous levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, toxins have been detected in mussels from this region.

The naturally occurring PSP toxins can cause illness or death in humans. Cooking does not destroy the toxin.

This warning does not apply to commercially sold clams, mussels, scallops or oysters from approved sources.

State law permits only state-certified commercial shellfish harvesters or dealers to sell these products. Shellfish sold by certified harvesters and dealers are subject to frequent mandatory testing to monitor for toxins.

Since crabs eat bivalve shellfish they could accumulate some of the PSP toxin. While crab meat is not affected by the PSP toxin, consumers should avoid eating the viscera (the internal organs, also known as “butter” or “guts”) from crabs caught in the affected area.

PSP toxins affect the central nervous system, producing a tingling around the mouth and fingertips within a few minutes to a few hours after eating toxic shellfish.

These symptoms are typically followed by loss of balance, lack of muscular coordination, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing. In severe poisonings, complete muscular paralysis and death from asphyxiation can occur. There have been no reports of illnesses related to this event.

You can get the most current information on shellfish advisories and quarantines by calling CDPH’s toll-free Shellfish Information Line at 800-553-4133.

For additional information, please visit the CDPH Marine Biotoxin Monitoring Web page.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) advises consumers not to eat recreationally harvested mussels, clams or whole scallops from Mendocino County.

Dangerous levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins have been detected in mussels from this region.

The naturally occurring PSP toxins can cause illness or death in humans. Cooking does not destroy the toxin.

This warning does not apply to commercially sold clams, mussels, scallops or oysters from approved sources. State law permits only state-certified commercial shellfish harvesters or dealers to sell these products. Shellfish sold by certified harvesters and dealers are subject to frequent mandatory testing to monitor for toxins.
 
Since crabs eat bivalve shellfish they could accumulate some of the PSP toxin. While crab meat is not affected by the PSP toxin, consumers should avoid eating the viscera (the internal organs, also known as “butter” or “guts”) from crabs caught in the affected area.

Water or broth used to cook whole crabs should be discarded and not used to prepare dishes such as sauces, broths, soups or stews (for example, cioppino or gumbo), stocks, roux, dressings or dips.

The best ways to reduce risk are to:

· Remove the crab viscera and rinse out the body cavity prior to cooking, or;
· Boil or steam whole crabs, instead of frying or broiling, and discard the viscera and cooking liquids.
 
PSP toxins affect the central nervous system, producing a tingling around the mouth and fingertips within a few minutes to a few hours after eating toxic shellfish.

These symptoms are typically followed by loss of balance, lack of muscular coordination, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing.

In severe poisonings, complete muscular paralysis and death from asphyxiation can occur. There have been no reports of illnesses related to this event.

You can get the most current information on shellfish advisories and quarantines by calling CDPH’s toll-free Shellfish Information Line at 800-553-4133.

For additional information, please visit the CDPH Marine Biotoxin Monitoring Web page.