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The Northern Region of the California Department of Water Resources and the University of California Co- operative Extension in Te- hama and Glenn counties have teamed up to provide "Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Reports" to agricultural wa- ter users. This is the first Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Report for the 2015 irrigation sea- son. It includes water use information for a variety of crops. Background in- formation about the re- ports and ways to use them in on-farm water manage- ment are outlined in this article. Informationinreport Estimates labeled "Te- hama County — Gerber" are based on weather mea- surements from CIMIS sta- tion #222; those labeled "Butte County — Durham" are taken from CIMIS sta- tion #012; and estimates labeled "Colusa County — Colusa" are taken from CI- MIS station #032. They are for healthy crops where soil moisture is not limit- ing growth. Estimates are for bearing orchards (typi- cally fifth leaf or older). The following weeks estimated crop ET (ETc) are also pro- vided. Estimates suggest a maximum amount of irriga- tion water needed. Rainfall received during the grow- ing season and stored soil moisture from the dormant season contributes to meet- ing these estimates and will reduce the irrigation water needed. Irrigation decisions based on this information should be confirmed with field monitoring. Irriga- tion systems that apply wa- ter with a high uniformity require less water to supply the crop needs. When to begin season Although January 2015 was quite dry, rainfall in November and December 2014 was substantial and effective at refilling part or all of the soil profile. Re- cent February rainfall pro- vided additional soil mois- ture storage to provide a good beginning point for using these Soil Moisture Loss Reports. On-site as- sessment of the soil mois- ture storage beginning in mid-February is still sug- gested to consider site spe- cific conditions when apply- ing information from these reports. Referring to the first table, select the crop in question and compare the "Accumulated Seasonal Water Use" since leaf-out to the "Accumulated Rainfall". As the seasonal water use exceeds accumulated rain- fall, compare the difference to the water holding capac- ity of the soil in the crop root zone. The choice is to rely on soil storage to sup- ply the difference or to be- gin to irrigate. Use through season 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 growth phases and weather conditions. In order to apply this in- formation, the water appli- cation rate from the irriga- tion system must be known. For orchards, this can be es- timated with a count of mi- cro sprinklers or drip emit- ters per acre along with a reliable estimate of the wa- ter emission rate per micro sprinkler or dripper. An- other option is to contact the Tehama County Mobile Irrigation Lab listed below and arrange an irrigation system evaluation. In the past, this service has been available at no cost but a fee may be required in 2015. Questions? The following contacts are available for more in- formation: Allan Fulton, UC Farm Advisor, 527- 3101 or aefulton@ucdavis. edu; Dani Lightle, UC Or- chard Systems Farm Advi- sor, 865-1153 or dmlightle@ ucanr.edu; Mark Rivera, California Department of Water Resources, North- ern Region, 529-7301 or mark.rivera@water.ca.gov and Kevin Greer, Tehama County Resource Conser- vation District Mobile Irri- gation Lab, 527-3013 x 102 or kevin@tehamacoun- tyrcd.org. Reports available to assist farm water management SOILMOISTURE I had heard of Brazil- ian steak houses where the meat is sliced in front of you after grilling, but had never visited one, until I was in San Antonio for the Cattle Industry Conven- tion earlier this month. It was a great experience. Fogo de Chão (fo-go dèe shoun), an authentic Bra- zilian steak house was across the street from our hotel. In 1979, Fogo began sharing the gaucho way of preparing meat in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Now there are restaurants in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Bev- erly Hills, Chicago, Dal- las, Denver, Houston, Indi- anapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Miami Beach, Min- neapolis, Orlando, Phil- adelphia, Scottsdale and Washington, DC. In Bra- zil, they are in Belo Hori- zonte, Brasilia, Rio de Ja- neiro, Salvador and three in Sao Paulo. In the olden days, gau- chos pierced large pieces of meat and slowly grilled them over open flamed pits. At Fogo de Chao the gaucho chefs still roast cuts of meat over open fire, preserving the indi- vidual taste of each cut. There were 16 different cuts of beef, pork, lamb and chicken for us to sam- ple. Picanha was sirloin sea- soned with sea salt and garlic. Filet mignon was wrapped in bacon. Alcatra is cut from the top sirloin. Fraldinha is cut from the bottom sirloin. Beef Ancho was the rib eye. The lamb cuts included Cordeiro, leg of lamb sliced off the bone, and lamb chops. Frango was chicken breast wrapped in bacon and chicken legs. Pork ribs were slow roasted as Costela de Porco. Lombo was from the pork loin, tender filets encrusted with Parmesan cheese. Linguica are the pork sausages. Our party of 15 had res- ervations for 8:30, and when we arrived at the restaurant it was crowded and noisy. The dining room had about 66 peo- ple at three tables next to each other, in our section of the room, and it was a small section of a large room. You can imagine the volume of noise at that hour of evening. I found the 6 steps of The Dining Experience on their website, when I got home: "Step 1: Sit down, relax, and enjoy a drink while they explain the Fogo din- ing experience," which we couldn't hear, between the waiters and waitresses ac- cents and the noise. None in our party had been to a Brazilian restaurant, so didn't know that you are to visit the salad and sides bar first, so we sat and waited with our empty plates and drank wine. Step 2: for us was step 5a. "Visit the gourmet salad and sides bar. En- joy over 30 items includ- ing fresh cut vegetables, salads, fresh breads, im- ported cheeses, cured meats and Brazilian side dishes like polenta, gar- lic mashed potatoes, and warm pao de queijo cheese bread." "Step 3 Then turn your card green side up, sig- naling that you are ready for the gaucho chefs to be- gin tableside service." The green/red card was the size of a coaster, and ev- eryone had one by the wa- ter glass. "Step 4: Choose from the 16 cuts of delectable fire roasted meats that are brought to your table, sliced, and served by our gaucho chefs." The chefs would bring a large skewer with several chunks of the same cut. You could have rare beef cut from the center of the sirloin, or it could be well done as the chef sliced off the outer rim of the beef. "Step 5: When you are satisfied, flip the disc to the red side until you are ready for more offerings." "Step 6: If you wish, end the meal with one of our delicious desserts." There was: Fogo de Chão Signature Papaya Cream, South American Flan, Crème Brule,Turtle Cheesecake, Molten Choc- olate Cake and Key Lime Pie. Another night we took a cab to the Market Square for a Mexican dinner at Mi Tierra Café Y Panaderia. It is open 24 hours a day, with photographs of long- time customers in the lobby, where the pastries and candies are for sale. There was a three dimen- sional clay mural of people covering one wall in the back which was very color- ful. Musicans were work- ing for tips as they wan- dered among the booths and tables. Good Margari- ta's but average Tex-Mex. Generation gap The generational gap between me, a Tradition- alist and the Generation Xers, and Millennials, was evident following the key- note speaker after the opening general session. A Traditionalist — 1901- 1943, had the Great De- pression; winning World War II; the move from farm to suburbs since more than half lived in ru- ral areas in 1910, and al- most 70% lived in cities and suburbs by 1960; de- velopment of huge compa- nies, and growth of com- munication with newspa- pers, radio, airplanes and automobile. These events were influencing factors for my generation. Generation Xers, born 1965 to 1981 had comput- ers at home, global eco- nomic competition, di- vorce and "latch-key" chil- dren, 23% interest rates, manufacturing jobs left country, layers of middle management eliminated, discussed rather than memorized the Gettysburg Address, with zero-toler- ance schools which were influencing factors. Millennials, born 1982 to 2003 had pervasive technology and media. Boomer parents had em- phasized self-esteem, they had planned leisure ac- tivities and playtimes in their childhood, the school shootings and 9/11, ex- pected a toy with their meal, explicit news re- porting of public figures' personal lives, and went through school in teams for an influencing factor. We were to become more creative, innovative and profitable watching a graffiti artist use his his- tory as a business strate- gist and artist, painting three pictures on stage. The paintings were to be "visual metaphors for his messages, which highlight profitability through inno- vations and superior levels of performance." I thought it was a waste of an hour of my time, while the younger women thought it was great since he asked: "What is a cre- ative idea worth?" "Step back from day to day." "It pays to take a risk." "Cattle ranchers can have bold new ideas." An 11-year-old from Kansas, Molly Beaver won the competition to sing the Star Spangled Banner at the opening, and she was excellent. It was sung like it should be sung. Perhaps she will be another Reba, since Reba got her start singing at the National Fi- nals Rodeo as a teenager. High school rodeo The Red Bluff Shoot Out and prizes the high school rodeo contestants won last weekend were thanks to many generous sponsors. There were jackets for the average winners and the all arounds, plus jewelry and gifts for winning a go with fast time/high score each day. Thank you to Haleak- ala Ranch, Redding Ro- deo, Green Waste, Cresco Equipment Rentals, J P Ranch Rodeo, Bobby Jones Arena, Outback Con- struction, Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale, Red Bluff Round-Up, Basin Exca- vating, Tehama District Fairgrounds, Star N Bar- rel Horses, Walker Print- ing, Run 2 Win, St. Eliz- abeth Hospital Ambu- lance, Lane's Tractor Sales, Kystinz Unlimited, Kramer Ranch, Lassen Canyon Nursery, #Bullpup Cattle Finder, and North State Barrel Racing As- sociation and Photo-Fast with Larry Smith and crew. JEAN BARTON The Brazilian steak house dining experience Long-term research by UC Agriculture and Nat- ural Resources scientists has documented the ca- pacity for farmland in the San Joaquin Valley man- aged with conservation practices to sequester carbon, results that could give farmers a seat at the carbon trading table. The study was published this month in the Agronomy Journal. Published research re- sults provide evidence that farmers will need to get credit for sequestering carbon if such an opportu- nity arises in the future. In addition, the conservation practices have been shown to offer other environmen- tal benefits — such as re- ducing dust emissions and cutting water use — while increasing yield and profit. Initiated in 1999 at the UC West Side Research and Extension Center, the study is a tomato-cotton rotation grown in four treatments: 1) standard tillage, 2) standard tillage and a winter cover crop, 3) no till and no cover crops, 4) no till and a winter cover crop. "It took about eight years until we saw an in- crease in carbon in the top foot of soil," said the lead author Jeff Mitch- ell. Mitchell is working with UC Davis soil scien- tists Randy Southard, Will Horwath and Kate Scow, Fresno County UC Coop- erative Extension advisors Dan Munk, Kurt Hem- bree and Tom Turini, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service part- ners Dennis Chessman and Rob Roy. Standard tillage is the way most annual crops are managed in the San Joaquin Valley today. The soil is tilled to break up or- ganic matter and reshape beds each year after the crop is harvested. Under no-till management, the plants are left after har- vest and the new crop is planted amidst the un- touched dead plant resi- due. Most years the research- ers planted a cover crop mixture that included trit- icale, rye and peas in No- vember. Around the begin- ning of March, the cover crop was chopped and disked in on the standard till plots. It was chopped and left on the surface in no-till. 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