Recent News
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.
Center graduate Yu-Chen Wang accepts UCCE position
Feb 21, 2023
Center graduate Yu-Chen Wang (Cal Poly, M.S. Agriculture, 2022) accepted last October a Plant Pathology Farm Advisor position with the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), serving a wide range of growers in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties.
Yu-Chen is excited about this new professional opportunity and feels that her experiences at the Strawberry Center with applied research and grower outreach have prepared her well. She is working on applying and extending her previous work in strawberries to other commodities. Yu-Chen was highlighted in a recent UCCE News online article: https://tinyurl.com/yu-chen-ucce
A huge Congratulations to Yu-Chen, from your colleagues and friends at the Strawberry Center!
Tune in! DPR’s 2022 IPM Achievement Awards virtual ceremony
Feb 16, 2023
DPR’s 2022 IPM Achievement Awards virtual ceremony is coming up soon! Thursday, February 23 @ 1:30pm
✭✭Tune in to find out this year’s winners!
View webcast during the ceremony @ https://video.calepa.ca.gov/#/player/1321
#whatisipm #everydayipm
Congratulations to Center communications assistant Colette Smith!
Feb 15, 2023
Colette Smith will be graduating this spring with a B.S. in Agricultural Communications and a minor in Equine Science. She has worked at the Strawberry Center for two and a half years as the Communications Student Assistant.
"The Strawberry Center has equipped me with so many different skills that are applicable to my future career, and I couldn't be more grateful for this experience."
After graduating, Colette plans to enroll in the Agricultural Education Masters Program for Fall 2023 with plans to eventually teach agriculture at the high school level or work as a marketing director in the beef industry.
Best wishes to Colette and many thanks for her contributions to the Center!
Latest research blog post: Spider mites in saturated strawberry fields
Feb 9, 2023
In our latest research blog post, Center entomologist Sarah Zukoff discusses how spider mites fair in saturated strawberry fields in California during periods of heavy rainfall, as we have experienced these past several weeks. Impacts on predatory mites as well as on presence of insect-eating fungi like Neozygites are also discussed.
#whatisipm
#everydayipm
https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2023/02/09/spider-mites-in-saturated-strawberry-fields/
CPC Marketing & Comm highlights Center in Annual Impact video series 2023
Feb 8, 2023
Cal Poly Corporation, Marketing & Communications: Annual Impact video series 2023
The Strawberry Center offers students opportunities to practice sustainable efforts in growing the berries. The center is one of many campus programs that the Corporation partners in Mustang Success. Watch this video and hear about the ways CPC impacts students.
Thank you to the Cal Poly Corporation Marketing & Communications team for including the Strawberry Center in this Mustang Success video series!
Center graduate Jack Koster accepts CSUMB faculty lecturer position
Feb 8, 2023
We are delighted to announce that Strawberry Center recent graduate Jack Koster M.S. has accepted a position as Faculty Lecturer at Cal State Monterey Bay. Teaching within the Biology and Chemistry Department, Jack's courses are centered in the department's new Agriculture and Plant Sciences Major and focus on crop management, technical writing, molecular evolution and ecology, as well as senior capstone classes. In this new position, Jack specifically enjoys integrating his research work at Cal Poly into his courses and being able to relate to the agriculture community as a local. Jack's ability to not only teach plant pathology labs here at Cal Poly, but his ability to teach and mentor our undergraduate students at the Center helped him prepare for this professional role.
A huge congratulations to Jack, from your colleagues and friends at the Strawberry Center!
Jack Koster, Cal Poly, Strawberry Center Field Day 2022 (photo courtesy of California Strawberry Commission)
UCCE Annual Strawberry Production Research Meeting
Jan 30, 2023
University of California, Cooperative Extension presents
ANNUAL STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION RESEARCH MEETING
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 • Virtual via Zoom
Join UC Farm Advisor Mark Bolda and other university and field experts in this virtual meeting to learn about the latest research and advances in strawberry production.
More info @ https://tinyurl.com/UCCE-Str-Prod-Res-Meeting
(Spanish: https://tinyurl.com/3vr8m78p)
Register: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=39506
Agenda: https://ucanr.edu/sites/PSU/files/377663.pdf
Our RECENT BLOG POST discusses record-breaking rainfall levels
Jan 30, 2023
The much-needed rainfall this year has already exceeded annual rainfall for the previous 18 years and we still have two months to go before we're out of our normal wet season. As of January 17, 2023 rainfall for the current Water Year (measured from July 1 to June 30) is at 36.5 inches (927 mm) […]
Read more: https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2023/01/30/highest-rainfall-in-18-years/
Subscribe to the Strawberry Center research blog @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/subscribe/
Historic rainfalls on central CA coast!
Jan 18, 2023
The much-needed rainfall this year has been historic for our area, passing our average annual rainfall total -- and the winter season isn’t over yet! Water years run from July 1 to June 30. This bar chart shows annual rainfall for San Luis Obispo Reservoir over the past 18 years. There were some wet years but this winter is the wettest since 2005-06. Rainy, wet conditions present different types of problems for strawberry production. Various molds and soilborne pathogens thrive in these constantly damp conditions. In particular, watch for Phytophthora root rot and angular leaf spot.
Data source: https://wr.slocountywater.org/
