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4A Daily News ��� Saturday, March 23, 2013 Agriculture farm & ranch Cattlemen���s Field Day The ���big rainstorm��� left .25 tenths of rain, followed by more north wind. It is a drought that has made ranchers buy more hay, since the grass isn���t growing. Kendra and Mike sold their fall calves last week because they had to buy more hay for their cattle. Usually the calves are sold in late May at the Tehama County Cattlemen���s Feeder Sale. Last year the month of March was wet, and we had to cancel the Cattlemen���s Field Day because the corrals were flooded and cars, pickups, trailers would have been stuck on the soft pastures. Everyone is invited to Dave and Kathy Ferguson���s ranch in Courtesy photo Cottonwood on Saturday April 6. We will miss 90-year-old Barbara Frost-Kloose at the Tehama County Take the Bowman Road Cattlemen's Field Day. For years Barbara collected the ladies exit # 662, go west 3 miles guesses for the Big Steer weight guessing contest at the field day. on Bowman Road. Turn right on Evergreen Road. including eye drops, so I Applications for the year will be a real test. Continue on Evergreen Ranch hosts are Tony ignored the fact that it was $2,000 TCCA Ron Knight Road for 7 miles; and you will arrive at 15610 Ever- Memorial Scholarships are and Marianne Turri, and harder to read ear tag numdue by 5 p.m. on Friday lunch will be served, cour- bers. green Road and This year when I had the April 26, at the tesy of PRBO and Califorthe corrals on the Tehama Co. nia Rangeland Watershed checkup, the doctor said right. my cataracts were still A g r i c u l t u r a l Lab. The morning Directions to the ranch, there. March was a quiet Extension will start with the go west from Corning on month with no trips office. stock dog trials at Graduation the road to Paskenta- planned, so Dr. Haugen 9:30 a.m. folfrom a high Flournoy for 18 miles, and gave me 20x20 vision for lowed by a Vic school within the ranch will be on the distance. The arms are not Woolery New long enough for reading the boundaries right side. York steak or without glasses after hav*** of the TCCA, hamburger lunTehama County Cattle- ing the surgery. What a pursuing a cheon with major in an agri- Women are presenting pain putting on glasses to desserts made by cultural or ag- Baxter Black as part of 11 read, and then taking off for the Tehama Jean related course of Days of Round Up on walking with my Walmart County Cattlestudy. The com- April 16, 7 p.m. at The special. Women. I was amazed at how mittee is look- State Theatre. Tickets are There will be a ing for a ���well available at The Gold painless and quick the no host bar, and rounded��� appli- Exchange and The Loft in surgery was. No lying in Bowman 4-H will Red Bluff, Rabobank in bed for three days, but cant. be selling soft drinks and Corning and Shasta Farm rather able to drive a car the *** water. Farm Advisor Josh & Equipment in Cotton- next day and attending the In the afternoon there Baxter Black planning will be the stockman���s Davy is requesting that wood. The colorful Prime, meeting. everyone RSVP by April challenge when two riders *** at 527-3101 or Choice and Select tickets move cattle through an 8th Saturday was a double jsdavy@ucanr.edu if you were printed by our sponobstacle course. plan to attend the Spring sor Walker Lithograph. header for the Spartan JV Pine Creek Cattle Company has offered a buckle Range Tour on Saturday Another sponsor is the softball team in Chico. Grandma got to watch on a and prize of $ 2,000 in April 13 at Turri Farms in Hampton Inn & Suites. Cattlewomen plan to warm sunny day as they Flournoy. Memory of Herman The program begins at 9 serve beef appetizers at the won the first game and lost Daugherty for the champia.m. with discussions on Meet & Greet at 5:30 p.m. the second game. The preon working cow horse. There will be an All- range seeding, grazing in the IOOF Hall, while vious day they had won Girl Branding roping of strategies, riparian manage- Tehama Oaks Winery will both games. Bill and I enjoyed be pouring their latest wine two calves, and a three man ment and weed control. Two years ago we saw release. The Round Up watching the Little League calf branding. Buckles will many varieties of both Saloon will be pouring beer games while she was in be awarded in all events. The date has been annual and perennial grass- for the Prime ticket hold- grammar school, and last year we watched the JV changed on the trophy for es, grazing forbs and ers. games. *** clovers that had been plantthe Darrel Conard MemorYears ago Dr Alexander ed to test their ability to ial ���Big Steer��� weight Jean Barton can be guessing contest for the survive under foothill dry- said I was developing reached at land conditions when it had cataracts, but I don���t like ladies. jbarton2013@gmail.com. been a moist spring. This anything in my eyes, *** Barton Beekeepers sue to protect bees FRESNO (AP) ��� Commercial beekeepers and environmental organizations filed a lawsuit Thursday against federal regulators for not banning the use of two pesticides they say harm honeybees. In the suit, filed by the Center for Food Safety in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the group asks the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to suspend the use of insecticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam ��� known as ������neonicotinoids,������ a class of chemicals that act on the central nervous system of insects. The chemicals are used to treat corn, cotton and other crops against a variety of pests. Research shows that the chemicals build up over time in the soil, plants and trees. They are used widely in the Midwest, where many bees used for California���s annual almond pollination are located. Each February, more than half of the country���s honeybees ��� about 1.5 million hives ��� are trucked to California���s almond orchards, the nation���s biggest pollination event. Beekeepers and some scientists have for years blamed the pesticides for higher bee die-offs. Bees are exposed to the insecticides via residues in nectar and pollen and in contaminated dust from planting of treated seeds. Critics of neonicotinoids say they are toxic to bees, making them more susceptible to pathogens, and could be a significant factor in colony collapse disorder, in which all the adult honeybees in a colony suddenly disappear or die. The Over 25 years of experience STOVE JUNCTION BBQ PELLETS The North State���s premier supplier of stoves All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K SERVICES AT LOWER PRICES Smog Check $ starting at 95 $ 25 + 8 certificate 25 (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 ��� 195 S. Main St. Now in Stock! Popular customer request Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Tues-Sat 9am-5pm ��� Closed Sun & Mon Stromer Realty 590 Antelope Blvd 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff Bldg. A, Suites 10 & 20, Red Bluff 530-528-2221 ��� Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com (530) 527-3100 Weekly Soil Moisture Loss The Northern Region of the California Department of Water Resources and the University of California Cooperative Extension in Red Bluff have teamed up to provide "Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Reports" to agricultural water users. Information in each Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Report Estimates labeled "West of the Sacramento River" are based on weather measurements taken near Gerber. Estimates labeled "East of the Sacramento River" are based on measurements taken near Durham. They are for healthy crops, where soil moisture is not limiting crop growth. Estimates are for bearing orchards (typically fifth leaf or older). Estimates suggest a maximum amount of irrigation water needed. Rainfall received during the growing season and stored soil moisture from the dormant season also contributes to meeting these estimates and will reduce the irrigation water needed. Irrigation decisions based on this information should be confirmed with field monitoring. Irrigation systems that apply water with a high uniformity require less water to supply the crop needs. This season, we are continuing to provide NOAA forecasted week of water use as additional information. Use in the Spring Season to Help Decide When to Begin the Irrigation Season Referring to the first table, select the crop in question and compare the "Accumulated Seasonal Water Use" since leafout* to the "Accumulated Rainfall". As the seasonal water use exceeds accumulated rainfall, compare this difference to the water holding capacity of the soil in the crop root zone. An Example: Accumulated seasonal water use for almonds from March 1 through March 14, 2013 was 0.69 inches while accumulated rainfall from the Gerber station on the Westside of the river since March 1 was 0.30 inches. In the case of almonds, which are the earliest orchard crop to leafout and begin developing a full canopy, a 0.39 inch soil moisture deficit has developed through March 14. When the deficit accrues to an amount greater than will be applied with a single irrigation event, it may be time to begin irrigating. By referring to these weekly soil moisture loss reports, the effects of changing weather conditions can be considered and the soil moisture depletion can be estimated to help decide when to begin irrigating and how much water to apply. Rainfall measurements taken from your own farm or ranch will improve the accuracy of this projection. Use throughout the Season to Aid Irrigation Operation Crops go through phases of growth and the weather can be highly variable during the season. These weekly reports can be used to help adjust for changing crop and weather conditions. In order to apply this information, the water application rate from the irrigation system must be known. For orchards, this can be estimated with a count of micro sprinklers or drip emitters per acre along with a reliable estimate of the water emission rate per micro sprinkler or dripper. Another option is to contact the Tehama County Mobile Irrigation Lab listed below and arrange an irrigation system evaluation and the water application rate will be determined for you. In the past, this service has been available at no cost but a fee may be required in 2013. Almond Orchard Example: One micro sprinkler is used per almond tree; each micro sprinkler emits nine gallons of water per hour; and the orchard design has 151 trees per acre. The hourly water application rate for this example is 1359 gallons per acre. This equates to a water application rate of 0.05 inches per acre per hour of operation. The math is as follows: 1) 151 micro sprinklers per acre multiplied by 9 gallons per hour emission rate equals 1359 gallons per acre per hour; and 2) 1359 gallons per acre per hour divided by 27,154 equals 0.05 inches per acre per hour of operation (there are 27,154 gallons of water per acre-inch, a common volumetric unit of measure used in irrigated agriculture). Suppose an upcoming weekly report shows that almonds (west of river) from May 4 to May 10, 2013 use 1.80 inches of water per acre and they are irrigated with the micro sprinkler system described above. At an hourly water application rate of 0.05 inches per acre per hour of operation, a maximum of 36 hours of operation would be needed during the week to match the estimated soil moisture loss. The hours of operation may be reduced further if rainfall occurred during the week or if a reasonable contribution from soil storage is allowed. Additional water is needed to compensate for non-uniform application of water. Field evaluations conducted by the Tehama County Mobile Irrigation Lab suggest 10 to 20 percent more water may be necessary. Table 2 in the Weekly ET Report helps determine how much water is needed based upon your systems irrigation efficiency keeping in mind that less efficient irrigation systems apply water less uniformly. Have Questions or Looking for More Assistance? Allan Fulton, 527-3101 or aefulton@ucdavis.edu; Mark Rivera, 529-7301 or mark.rivera@water.ca.gov; Kevin Greer, 527-3013 x 102 or kevin@tehamacountyrcd.org.