CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 2003 California Plant and Soil Conference Agriculture in the Environment: Land, Air & Water Issues California Chapter of the American Society of Agronomy Co-sponsored by the California Plant Health Association February 5 & 6, 2003 Doubletree Hotel 1150 9th St - Modesto, CA WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2003 GENERAL SESSION AGRICULTURE IN THE ENVIRONMENT: LAND, AIR & WATER ISSUES Session Chair: David Zoldoske, CSU Fresno, Center for Irrigation Technology 10:00 Introduction – Session Chair 10:10 Air quality and its impact on agriculture – Bob Fletcher, Planning and Technical Support, California Air Resources Board 10:40 Irrigated agriculture in the Central Valley and water quality regulations - Dennis W. Westcot, Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board 11:10 Agricultural land in California: Does it have a future? - Henry Rodegerdts, Attorney at Law, California Farm Bureau Federation 11:40 Discussion 12:00 California Plant Health Association Luncheon Speaker: How can farmers make their case to a doubting public? Mark Grossi. Agricultural and Environmental Writer, The Fresno Bee CONCURRENT SESSIONS I. NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT: BASICS AND ADVANCES Session Chairs: Ben Nydam, Dellavalle Laboratory, Inc. & Sharon Benes, Dept. of Plant Sciences, CSU Fresno 1:30 Introduction – Session Chairs 1:40 Macronutrients: Changing strategies from not enough to too much – D. William Rains, UC Davis, Dept. Agronomy and Range Science 2:00 Micronutrients in California- Roland D. Meyer, UC Davis, Dept. Land, Air and Water Resources 2:20 Interpretation of soil and tissue analytical results- Keith M. Backman, Dellavalle Laboratory, Inc. 2:40 Discussion 3:00 BREAK 3:20 Soil test to predict nitrogen response in California crops - William Horwath, UC Davis, Dept. Land, Air and Water Resources 3:40 Efficient phosphorus management in coastal vegetable production - Timothy K. Hartz, UC Davis, Dept. of Vegetable Crops 4:00 Nutrient demand and fertilizer strategies: Lessons learned from boron - Patrick H. Brown, UC Davis, Dept. of Pomology 4:20 Discussion 4:30 ADJOURN II. PEST MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS ii Session Chairs: Tom Babb, CA Dept. of Pesticide Regulation and Steve Kaffka, UC Davis 1:30 Introduction: Session Chairs 1:40 Mitigating orchard dormant spray runoff by alternative treatment timing; impact on target pest species and pesticide load - Frank Zalom, UC Davis, Dept. of Entomology 2:00 Toxicity of stormwater runoff after dormant spray application in a French prune orchard: temporal patterns and the effect of ground cover - Inge Werner, UC Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine 2:20 Run-off of pesticide from residential landscapes and mitigation practices – J. Gan, UC Riverside, Dept of Environmental Sciences 2:40 Discussion 3:00 BREAK 3:20 Aquatic weed control – Caulerpa - Lars Anderson, USDA-ARS 3:40 Seedling IPM in the Imperial Valley - Steve Kaffka, UC Davis, Dept. Agronomy and Range Science 4:00 Assessing dormant season OP use in almonds and prunes: Examples of using the Pesticide Use Report database - Minghua Zhang, California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation 4:20 Discussion 4:30 ADJOURN Poster Session and Wine and Cheese Reception will be held immediately following the afternoon session on Wednesday. A coupon for a free drink is included in your registration materials. iii THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003 CONCURRENT SESSIONS III. ORGANIC FARMING: TRANSITION AND PRODUCTION Session Chairs: William Horwath, UC Davis and Richard Smith, UCCE Monterey County 8:30 Introduction – Session Chairs 8:40 Impact of the new Federal rule on organic farmers - Jane Sooby, Organic Farming Research Foundation 9:00 Structure and development of California’s organic production - Sean Swezey, Director UC SAREP 9:20 Organic education: concepts and examples - Mark Van Horn, Plant Science Teaching Center & Student Farm, UC Davis 9:40 Discussion 10:00 BREAK 10:20 Cover crop cultivar and planting density impacts on productivity, weed biomass and seed production in an organic system … - Eric Brennan, USDA, Salinas 10:40 Transition to organic production in cool season vegetables in Salinas - Louise Jackson, UC Davis, Dept of Vegetable Crops 11:00 Overview of organic milk production and the organic milk industry - Tony Azevedo, Organic Valley Coop, Snelling 11:20 Discussion IV. WATER QUALITY AND AGRICULTURE Session Chairs: Sharon Benes, Dept of Plant Science, Fresno State and Larry Schwankl, UC Davis, Dept. Land, Air and Water Resources 8:30 Introduction – Session Chairs 8:40 Implementing a TMDL for salt and boron in the lower San Joaquin River - Eric Oppenheimer, Central Valley RWQCB 9:00 The San Joaquin River dissolved oxygen TMDL - Source analysis and implementation plan development - Mark Gowdy, Central Valley RWQCB 9:20 Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan: Content and policy - Robert Fry, USDA-NRCS 9:40 Discussion 10:00 BREAK 10:20 Merced County regulations for dairy management - Jeff Palsgaard, Merced County 10:40 Use of wetlands to treat winery effluent - Heather Shepherd, Komex-H2O Science 11:00 Agricultural use of spent process water – Nat B.Dellavalle, Dellavalle Laboratory, Inc. iv 11:20 Discussion 12:00 CONFERENCE LUNCHEON: Presentation of Honorees, Scholarship awards, Election of new officers V. AIR QUALITY Session Chairs: John Beyer, USDA-NRCS and Charles Krauter, CSU Fresno, Dept of Plant Science 1:30 Introduction – Session Chairs 1:40 Air quality problems and regulations related to California agriculture - Past and present - John Beyer, USDA-NRCS 2:00 Air quality challenges for California agriculture – Present and future – Matt Summers, California Dept. of Food and Agriculture 2:20 PM10 emission factors for harvest and tillage of row crops - Teresa Cassel, UC Davis, Crocker Nuclear Lab 2:40 Atmospheric ammonia profiles over various crops in the San Joaquin Valley - Charles Krauter, CSU Fresno 3:00 Discussion 3:20 ADJOURN VI. APPLICATIONS OF AERIAL IMAGERY Session Chairs: Dan Munk, UCCE, Fresno County & Jim Gregory, Verdegaal Brothers 1:30 Introduction – Session Chairs 1:40 Limitations and benefits of remote sensing - John Ojala, USDA-ARS, Shafter 2:00 Aerial imagery that links soil variability to poor crop performance - Richard Plant, UC Davis & Dan Munk, UCCE Fresno Co. 2:20 Using aerial images to make precision applications of soil amendments - Jim Gregory, Verdegaal Brothers 2:40 Practical applications of aerial imagery for vineyard management - Ron Brase - California AgQuest Consulting 3:00 Discussion 3:20 ADJOURN v CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 2003 California Plant and Soil Conference Agriculture in the Environment: Land, Air & Water Issues California Chapter of the American Society of Agronomy Co-sponsored by the California Plant Health Association February 5 & 6, 2003 Doubletree Hotel 1150 9th St - Modesto, CA vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Table of Contents ................................................................................................... vii Past Presidents ..........................................................................................................x Past Honorees .......................................................................................................... xi 2002 Chapter Board Members ............................................................................... xiii 2003 Honorees Vashek Cervinka................................................................................................xiv Richard Rominger ..............................................................................................xv W.A. Williams ..................................................................................................xvi 2003 Scholarship Winners Essays Freeman Barsotti, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo ................................................... xvii Danilu Ramirez, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo .................................................... xviii CONFERENCE SESSION PAPERS I. GENERAL SESSION Irrigated agriculture in the Central Valley and water quality regulations ....................................................1 Dennis W. Westcot, Rudy J. Schnagl and Amanda E. Smith, Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board II. NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT: BASICS AND ADVANCES Macronutrients – Changing strategies from not enough to too much ........................................................11 D.W. Rains, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, UC Davis Micronutrients in California ........................................................................................................................14 Roland D. Meyer, Land, Air and Water Resources Department, UC Davis Interpretation of soil and tissue analytical results .......................................................................................18 Keith M. Backman, Dellavalle Laboratory, Inc. Soil test to predict nitrogen response in California crops ...........................................................................22 William R. Horwath, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, UC Davis Efficient phosphorus management in coastal vegetable production ..........................................................25 Timothy K. Hartz, Department of Vegetable Crops, UC Davis Nutrient demand and fertilization strategies: Lessons learned from boron ..............................................30 Patrick H. Brown, Department of Pomology, UC Davis III. PEST MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS Mitigating orchard dormant spray runoff by alternative treatment timing; impact on target pest species and pesticide load .........................................................................................39