Recent News
Save the date for Annual Strawberry Field Day: August 3, 2023
Apr 4, 2023
Save the Date!
ANNUAL FIELD DAY
Thursday • August 3, 2023
The Cal Poly Strawberry Center will host its 7th annual FIELD DAY on August 3, 2023
Join over 400 strawberry growers, researchers and industry representatives for this year’s Strawberry Center Field Day. Participants rotate through stations, hearing from Cal Poly students and staff about the latest research taking place at the Strawberry Center. Topics range from the newest automation technology to predatory mites to soil-borne pathogens of strawberry, and much more!
Check-in opens at 7:30 am
Lunch will be served!
Event registration opens in May.
RECAP VIDEO: 2022 Field Day
Check out this recap of 2022 Field Day, our most attended Field Day yet, with over 440 attendees and 40 sponsors!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tByJq0a8sg0
Thank you to the California Strawberry Commission's marketing team for this nice production.
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Interested in sponsoring Field Day?
Contact Julie @ jutillma@calpoly.edu for information and details
See images below for sponsorship package features and details.
Thank you to our 2022 Field Day event sponsors and in-kind donors! See images below.
Want to learn about the quality of predatory mites you are receiving for your strawberry fields?
Mar 30, 2023
We can test the quality of strawberry growers’ predatory mites (BOTH bottles or bean leaves).
The freshest predatory mites guarantees the best results! We don’t want the mites to wait in the weather, so contact us the day before the mites arrive to schedule a drop-off or pickup.
See our latest research blog post to learn about sample submission procedure, optimized sample storage, and more!
Introducing graduating student Gabbie Brocker!
Mar 30, 2023
Gabbie graduated this winter quarter. She first started working at the Strawberry Center as a field research intern, but is currently rating Powdery Mildew under Research Manager Kyle Blauer. "The Strawberry Center has taught me about all of the working parts that contribute to production agriculture."
Gabbie doesn't have any set plans after graduation at the moment, but she wants to visit her friend in New Zealand/Australia, and then she hopes to find a job in the Boston area.
We can't wait to see what you accomplish, Gabbie!
10th North American Strawberry Symposium (NASS) hosted in San Luis Obispo
Mar 28, 2023
The 10th North American Strawberry Symposium (NASS), a meeting of strawberry growers, researchers, and other industry members from around the globe, was held in San Luis Obispo, California, USA on March 7-10, 2023. There were 23 presentations delivered by members of our Center team from all three program areas (Entomology, Pathology and Automation). Unfortunately, the planned post-conference tour, which was to encompass strawberry production in the Santa Maria region as well as a tour of the research, training and testing facilities at our Center, needed to be switched to virtual delivery due to heavy rainfall in the region brought on by an atmospheric river storm.
Photos (top to bottom/left to right): Abbas Atefi, Kyle Blauer, Caleb Fink, Kiley Jensen, Mary Steele, Miriam Mendez
IMPROVE YOUR STRAWBERRY PLANT ANATOMY SKILLS WITH THIS NEW VIDEO!
Mar 16, 2023
Produced by the Cal Poly Strawberry Center and narrated by Center student interns Sarah Herring (Ag Business with a minor in Crop Science) and Gabbie Brocker (Ag Communications).
Stay tuned for future posts that will test your strawberry plant anatomy skill and knowledge!
https://youtu.be/qL_SpbZvwHA
#LearnByDoing #calpoly_cafes
Photos: Gabbie Brocker (left or top), Sarah Herring (right or bottom)
Congratulations Cal Poly Strawberry Center on being a 2022 IPM Achievement Award winner!
Mar 8, 2023
The Cal Poly Strawberry Center team is excited and proud to announce:
Department of Pesticide Regulation’s 2022 INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT
For promoting IPM and sustainability in strawberry production through prolific research and outreach programs
Each year the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) honors California organizations for their integrated pest management (IPM) achievements. The IPM Achievement Awards recognize organizations and individuals that are leaders in using reduced-risk pest management practices and sharing their successful strategies with others.
ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS CEREMONY
Thursday • February 23, 2023
Full Ceremony: https://youtu.be/0qhHmI4RMbQ (CP portion begins at 12:30 min.)
Cal Poly Strawberry Center Video: https://youtu.be/sV6zP_oTqtQ
Sen. John Laird Remarks: https://youtu.be/gz6kAf28chU
Asm. Dawn Addis Remarks: https://youtu.be/jzi3is9sYOg
Join us in congratulating all 2022 PM Achievement Award recipients for using IPM to advance safer, more sustainable pest management tools and practices in California!
How are strawberry plants fairing during this cold weather?
Mar 8, 2023
This winter has slowed the growth of our plants. Growers in the region are reporting that production is behind by about 3 weeks due to cooler weather, especially further inland. Strawberry plants need moderately warm days to flourish and frost will kill flowers. The amount of frost that inland ranches, like here at Cal Poly, have experienced this winter will lead to many misshapen early season fruit, or flowers that do not develop into fruit. While it normally takes 4-5 weeks for flower to develop to fruit, these cold days and even colder nights cause that time to almost double!
Center communications intern Colette Smith presents in Sacramento
Mar 7, 2023
In honor of International Women's Day (3/8/23), we would like to acknowledge and celebrate our amazing Center communications intern Colette Smith! As a part of her AG 452 course, she presented in Sacramento on the impacts that water infrastructure have on California wildlife. Colette is a fourth-year Agricultural Communications major at Cal Poly. Go Colette!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/colette-smith-8b30381a4/
#learnbydoing #InternationalWomensDay #EmbraceEquity #IWD2023
Successful Meet The Students session held at biannual IAC Meeting
Mar 7, 2023
Meet-the-Students session
Industry Advisory Council Biannual Meeting
February 2023
At our biannual industry advisory council meeting on 25 Feb 2023, our council members had the opportunity to participate in short one-on-one discussions with some of our amazing Center students, learning a little about them, their studies and career interests. In turn, it also provided our students a chance to meet and network with key industry leaders and learn more about them and their careers. It was a fun and stimulating activity for all involved!
Watch the video! https://youtu.be/rwVijYLyBc0
Farm manager Drew Summerfield hosts high school students from Idaho
Feb 28, 2023
Farm manager Drew Summerfield hosted 85 high school students from South Fremont High School FFA (St. Anthony, Idaho) for a tour of our Center fields and labs, as well as the Plant Sciences complex and a deciduous orchard. The CAFES (College of Food, Environmental and Agricultural Sciences) Ag Ambassadors provided the group a tour of the campus Ag Building and BRAE (BioResource and Agricultural Engineering) department as well.
The group's trip consisted of touring the western US to learn about diverse agricultural operations. Other than Cal Poly, stops included green houses and Hoover Dam in Nevada, citrus growing operations in Southern California, leafy greens in Salinas and Alcatraz Island. The overarching mission of their journey was to learn about diverse types of agricultural systems, especially those that are not typically exposed to in NE Idaho as part of their FFA education.
