UC Cooperative Extension specialist Jeff Dahlberg, also the director of the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KARE) in Parlier, invoked his 35 years of sorghum expertise to increasing interest in growing the crop in California and to better understanding plants’ ability to tolerate drought. Dahlberg retires Jan. 8. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger in the early …

The California Beef Council (CBC) will invest over $1 million in 2021 in efforts to promote beef, provide consumer information, engage with foodservice and retail stakeholders, educate health and nutrition influencers, and provide educational and informational resources to beef producers. This 2021 work plan and budget were approved by the producer-led CBC board of directors during its annual meeting, held …

Dairy Cares — 2020 has been a historic year, and the only thing for certain in 2021 is more change. President-elect Joe Biden will reenter the U.S. into the Paris Climate Agreement, renewing national commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shift toward a clean energy economy. The new federal administration plans to address climate change, relying heavily on executive …

During the week of January 4, 2021, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) will send letters to dairies and other bovine operations, and many other water quality permit holders. The letters will be titled as Notices to Comply.These letters notify permit holders that they must comply with a new regulation known as the Salt Control …

The newly released 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans reaffirms the importance of consuming dairy daily as part of healthy dietary patterns for positive health outcomes. Daily inclusion of low-fat and fat-free dairy foods is recommended in all three DGA healthy dietary patterns: 3 servings in Healthy U.S. and Healthy Vegetarian, and 2 to 2.5 servings in Healthy Mediterranean. Following these …

The USDA-sponsored “U.S.–Indonesia Dairy Roundtable” event, held in Jakarta on September 30, 2019, has delivered record results for U.S. dairy exports. In the year since the seminal event concluded, U.S. exports of dairy products to Indonesia surged to more than 160,000 metric tons, valued at more than $346 million. Moreover, U.S. market share of Indonesia’s nearly $1.4 billion dairy import …

The pandemic in 2020 caused unprecedented market volatility in dairy prices, leading to lower milk checks for dairy producers. However, the price spread is expected to realign in the first half of 2021, bringing normalcy to producer price differentials (PPDs) and mailbox milk prices, according to a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange division. Extreme volatility in cheese and milk …

For most of us, 2020 can’t be over soon enough. Yet, in the digester development world, each day from today through 2024 is precious time to identify facilities, procure funding, and install digesters. Why? To capture methane and use it as valuable renewable compressed natural gas (RCNG) and meet ambitious manure methane reduction targets. How is the California digester portfolio doing? Since …

With a little time and effort, rangeland managers can have a dramatic impact on the resilience of California’s riparian areas, which are important to the state’s human, environmental and economic well-being. Rangeland ecologists at the University of California, Davis, found that when ranchers invest even one week a year in practices that keep cows away from creeks — like herding, …

Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, previewed the 2021 Food Systems Summit and its implications for U.S. agriculture during her keynote address of the 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Summit held virtually, Nov. 18-19. The sixth annual Sustainable Agriculture Summit attracted a record 800 attendees, with farmers making up about a fourth of the …