California leads the nation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but reductions alone will not be enough to reach the targets set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement. To do that, greenhouses gases like carbon dioxide will need to be removed from the atmosphere on a monumental scale.

Farmers spend a lot of time and money controlling weeds and other pests, and often have to turn to chemical fumigants to keep the most destructive pests at bay. Farmers also wrestle with what to do with low-value byproducts of crop production, such as skin, seeds and hulls from fruit, vegetable and nut processing.

What if those agricultural waste streams could generate alternatives to chemical fumigants and make farming more productive, profitable and environmentally friendly?

The latest developments in strawberry breeding and healthy soil took center stage at two recent UC Davis Field Days, one hosted in Prunedale (near Salinas) and one held at UC Davis Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility.

In Prunedale, strawberry farmers, shippers, breeders, propagators, crop advisors and resource conservation groups gathered to get a taste of what’s developing in the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program. Many said they liked what they tasted and saw.

Researchers seek solutions that benefit agriculture and the environment

Researchers from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) are working with farmers and ranchers, environmentalists, industry, and public agencies to find practical, science-based solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, including managing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from farmland. 

Healthy soil could change everything

When we think of climate change solutions, what typically comes to mind is the transportation we use, the lights in our home, the buildings we power and the food we eat. Rarely do we think about the ground beneath our feet.

Kate Scow thinks a lot about the ground, or, more precisely, the soil. She’s been digging into the science of how healthy soils can not only create productive farmlands, but also store carbon in the ground, where it belongs, rather than in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Five little known soil facts revealed

Soil microbes may help fight climate change.

Kate Scow, a professor of soil science and soil microbial ecology at UC Davis, keeps plastic bags filled with soil on her desk.

UC Davis helps study “fork-to- farm” fertilizer

A Sacramento company that turns food waste into liquid fertilizer has launched a three-year almond trial at UC Davis to test the product’s effect on crop production, nitrogen leaching, and soil health.

Working with Professor Edwin Lewis with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, California Safe Soil is also conducting ongoing trials throughout the state with several other commodities, including berries, lettuce, and tomatoes. 

Despite rain, California is still in a drought. Scientists are banking water as a sunny day fund.

The Central Valley sky was a never-ending expanse of gray. Not a single pixel of blue in sight. Under it, UC Davis scientists were flooding a Modesto almond orchard with half a foot of water. On purpose. In the pouring rain.