Pest Management & Plant Health

We have had some interesting calls lately concerning issues we do not usually see in the fields. We have received calls about small circular areas with snipped rice in fields west of I-5.

As we gather to celebrate moths during National Moth Week (traditionally held the last full week in July and to be observed areawide on Saturday night, July 20 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis), folks single out their favorites and non-favorites. For the beekeepers that's easy.

Acetic acid, also known as vinegar, is used in products for weed control. Many people choose it because it is natural. However, acetic acid can damage skin and eyes, especially at concentrations commonly found in weed killers.

Symptoms of red leaf blotch (RLB), a plant disease caused by the fungus Polystigma amygdalinum, have been observed for the first time in California across the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

Exotic and invasive pests threaten California's natural environments, agricultural production, structures, landscapes and gardens. Exotic pests are organisms introduced into an area beyond their natural range and become pests in the new environment.

Pesticides and fertilizers applied around homes, residential or commercial landscapes, school sites, and other areas can enter our creeks, rivers, and oceans, degrading water quality.

You've heard of terms such as green, organic, natural, ecofriendly, and less toxic to describe pest control products and services. But what do these terms really mean? To different people, they can mean different things, creating obvious confusion.

At our last meeting, we had some questions about the approved uses of pendimethalin in California rice. There are several products labeled for use on rice with pendimethalin as the active ingredient. As of June 2024, pendimethalin registered products (on rice) include Prowl H2O, Prowl 3.

When I first bought my home in central Woodland six years ago, there wasn't much in the yard to interest dragons: a mature orange tree that produced amazingly delicious navel oranges in the winter, a human-planted valley oak on the street out front, and squirrel-planted valley oak too close to my ne...

It's the Fourth of July and what better time to post images of the aptly name "soldier beetles" than today. These insects (family Cantharidae) resemble the uniforms of the British soldiers of the American Revolution, which is apparently how their name originated.