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Crop models need to accurately represent the relevant impacts of weather and climate extremes
Development of next-generation crop models can be divided into several categories: significant improvements in simulation of important crop processes and responses to stress; extension from simplified crop models to cropping systems models that address complexity in space, time and the number of processes considered; and scaling up from field-based models to landscape, national, continental, and…
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Virtually all of the growth will be urban populations in developing countries
A common acceptable system of land classification would do much to facilitate communication among participants involved in future agricultural land-use decisions, including that of conserving prime farmlands . A longer-term concern may well be the increasing irritation between farming and urban life at the rural fringe of urban neighborhoods—“rururbia” —in terms of air quality ,…
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The AAA was a comprehensive program designed to reduce production and provide floor prices
By mid-decade, “up to 40,000 head entered annually” . Large numbers of sheep were also driven in from the Southwest to augment the 17,500 sheep that were in California in 1850. In the peak year of 1856, 200,000 head of sheep entered California. But the rancheros quickly lost out to American entrepreneurs who understood far…
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We tested the mobility of mesotrione through a soil column with acidic soil
Mesotrione reacts with hydrazides or amines to form irreversible enamine linkages, that re potentially still active. We therefore conjugated mesotrione to the nucleophilic PEG derivatives before forming the final gel. Mesotrione was incubated with PEG-CDH, PEG-ADH, or PEG-NH2 at a ratio of 1:4 between mesotrione and PEG end groups. We observed nearly quantitative reaction efficiency between…
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The micelle was further modified by crosslinking its hydrophilic shell with glutaraldehyde
A few key examples that highlight advantages of controlled release hydrogels for agriculture are described below. The Maynard lab synthesized a trehalose hydrogel for the encapsulation and thermostabilization of the animal feed enzyme, phytase.Phytase is added to pig and poultry feed to increase digestion efficiency, improve feed economical and nutritional value, and prevent pollution by…
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The state budget crisis in California has exacerbated the funding situation
The share of SAES funds coming from federal sources has been declining recently, and the composition of those funds has changed too, with an increase in competitive grants and a decline in formula funds. The federal government is also involved in financing extension conducted by the states. In 1915, the first year in which federal…
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Agricultural activity can sometimes be restricted by ESA designation in very specific ways
Rapid urban and agricultural development in the region contributed to the decline of the gnatcatcher population, and it was listed as a federally threatened species in 1993. In April 2003, USFWS designated almost 500,000 acres of critical habitat for the gnatcatcher in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties. Sunding’s analysis…
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FLCs in western agriculture originally were bilingual go-betweens
Unemployment is pervasive, even during the summer months. If the status of workers is recorded on a month-by-month basis, the percentage of workers doing farm work peaks in the summer months at 55 to 60 percent, when the unemployment rate is at least 15 percent, meaning there is one unemployed farm worker for each three…
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The assessment on dairy production was eliminated immediately and this affected producers immediately
The most important of the California state policies that we cover is the milk marketing order. However, we also discuss other state marketing orders and state outlays for agricultural support.Other chapters in this book have dealt with environmental and resource policies that are particularly important in California. Labor market policy is also important and the…
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The use of some minimum quality standards has been controversial
The demand facing packers in the fresh market is very inelastic relative to the demands in the processing and export market. Thus, price discrimination against the fresh market, by restricting the flow of product to it, is both possible and profitable. Short-run producer price enhancement without any controls on entry led to an acreage response for…