
November 6, 2015
CapitalPress.com
11
California
Subscribe to our weekly California email
newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters
Study: Flood farms to recharge aquifers
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
SACRAMENTO — Another
study is suggesting that rainwater
from this year’s anticipated wet
winter be captured and used to flood
farmland to replenish aquifers.
Research commissioned by the
California Water Foundation con-
cludes that flushing water through
the most porous soils could curb
groundwater overdraft on the San
Joaquin Valley’s east side by be-
tween 12 percent and 20 percent
each year.
State water experts blame the
overdraft for causing land in the val-
ley to sink at historic rates. A recent
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration study showed land
in the valley is sinking by nearly 2
inches per month in some places.
“Our study area focused in on a
three-county area — Merced, Made-
ra and Fresno counties,” said Andrew
Fahlund, the water foundation’s dep-
uty director. “We really found we
could make a significant contribution
to groundwater recharge through this
method of spreading water on irri-
gated farmland.”
Courtesy of Calif. Department. of Water Resources
A bridge over the Delta-Mendota Canal in Firebaugh, Calif., in the western San Joaquin Valley nearly touches the water
because of subsidence of land caused by groundwater pumping. A California Water Foundation study asserts flooding
farmland to recharge aquifers could curb subsidence by as much as 20 percent.
The research, conducted by RMC
Engineering, was separate from the
work being done by scientists An-
thonty O’Geen and Helen Dahlke
of the University of California’s
Division of Agriculture and Natural
Resources.
This summer, the two researchers
proposed using some of the state’s
3.6 million acres of farms and
ranches with suitable topography
and soil conditions to recharge aqui-
fers during winter months. Dahlke is
still conducting field experiments to
evaluate how much water can be re-
charged in a couple of weeks.
The water foundation study sug-
gests diverting excess river flows
from winter storms to active farm-
land. While excess flows aren’t
available every year, an average of
80,000 to 130,000 acre-feet per year
could be diverted to farmland suit-
able for recharge, the foundation
asserts.
While additional research is be-
ing done to make sure such a project
wouldn’t affect the productivity of
land or crops, some farm groups are
showing interest in the techniques.
“Almond growers are committed
to finding innovation solutions that
contribute to environmental sustain-
ability,” Almond Board of California
president and chief executive officer
Richard Waycott said in a statement.
The foundation — a nonprofit
group aimed at achieving a sustain-
able water supply in California — is
urging President Barack Obama’s
administration and Congress to en-
sure that money from federal pro-
grams can be used for such ground-
water-recharge projects, a news
release explained.
“I think there is an increased in-
terest in seeing how to accelerate
this in practice, but it requires ...
the cooperation of landowners and a
level of comfort and trust that hope-
fully studies like this can provide,”
Fahlund said. “I think we’ll see
increasing numbers of additional
studies, tests and pilot projects that
could really give producers a level of
comfort that this isn’t going to harm
their operations and could really en-
hance them through greater water
security.”
New UC endowments to fund ongoing pistachio research
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
University of California
leaders have joined a pista-
chio group in setting up the
first of what officials hope
will be many endowments to
provide ongoing funding for
agricultural research.
The UC and the Califor-
nia Pistachio Research Board
have established two endowed
chairs of $1 million each, the
accrued interest from which
will be used over the next
five years for studies on tree
nut genetics, soil science and
plant-water relations.
Glenda Humiston, the
UC’s vice president for agri-
culture and natural resources,
said she’s having discussions
with several other groups to
set up similar funding streams
for other areas of agriculture.
In each case, a private group
would provide half the fund-
ing.
“This is a form of funding
that is crucial as we move for-
ward,” Humiston told a gath-
ering Oct. 29 at the UC’s Ke-
arney Agricultural Research
and Extension Center in Parli-
er, Calif. The announcement
was streamed online.
“We’ve seen the volatility
of funding in past years” as
state and federal budgets fluc-
tuate, she said. “This brings a
little stability to funding.”
Endowed chairs are fix-
tures at Harvard University
and other top institutions as a
way to fund specific types of
medical and other research.
UC President Janet Napoli-
tano announced last year that
she would seek endowment
partners for all of the univer-
sity’s campuses and for Coop-
erative Extension.
The pistachio research
board was established in 2007
and has used grower assess-
ments to donate about $4.5
million for research so far,
said Tom Coleman, a Fres-
no County grower and the
board’s chairman.
“The pistachio industry be-
ing new has been very unique
in my involvement in that oth-
er growers want to help every
other grower out there,” Cole-
man told the gathering. “I’ve
had a couple of issues in my
career when I couldn’t figure
out what the problem was,
and I had people just show
up at my ranch ... to help me
Courtesy of UCANR
Glenda Humiston, the University of California’s vice president for
agriculture and natural resources, announces a pair of research
endowments Oct. 29 at the UC’s Kearney Agricultural Research
and Extension Center in Parlier, Calif.
out.”
Pistachios were introduced
in California in the 1930s as
part of a U.S. Department of
Agriculture crop program,
and the region’s first commer-
cial growers started producing
pistachios in the late 1960s
and early 1970s, research
board manager Bob Klein ex-
plained.
There are now more than
225,000 bearing acres and
more than 300,000 total acres
of pistachios in California,
mostly growing in the San
Joaquin Valley, Klein said.
The endowments come as
this year’s pistachio yields
were lighter than expected as
some growers encountered
more empty shells than nor-
mal because of the drought
and a lack of chilling hours
last winter.
Growers expect the yields
to total about half of last
year’s, when 520 million
pounds of pistachios were
produced.
YEAR-END SAVINGS
3 Years @ 0%
5 Years @ 0.9%
TRACTORS
COMBINES
JD 6170R, 1427 hrs., Cab, MFWD, IVT, loader
ready, 710-38 single rears, 3 remotes....................
..............................$157,000 Merrill, #DD008813
JD T670, 1127 hrs., Small grain, MacDon BPU Platform
(grass seed combine).......................$197,500 $189,000
Donald #0A084501
JD T670, 1170 hrs., Small grain, MacDon BPU Platform
(grass seed combine).......................$197,500 $189,000
Donald #0A084492
Case IH 7010, 1120 hrs, Level Land, 2016 BPU platform
(grass seed combine)............$140,000 Tangent #202887
JD 9650STS, 3343 hrs, Small Grain, 914P BPU Platform,
(grass seed combine).............$87,000 Tangent, #685747
JD 9650STS, 3557 hrs, Small Grain, straw chopper (grass
seed combine)...................$99,950, Harrisburg, #686910
JD 9650STS, 2246 hrs, Small Grain, 914P BPU, platform
(grass seed combine)............................$92,500 $85,000
McMinnville, #685945
Case IH 2588, 1809 hrs, small grain, hillside, 30’ cutting
platform..........................$210,000 Walla Walla #303583
JD 9650STS, 3456 hrs, Small Grain, 914P BPU Platform,
straw chopper........................$80,000 Tangent, #686102
JD 9600, 5869 hrs., 35% Rahco Leveler, 930R cutting
platform and cart................................................$44,000
Moscow, #650604 NOVEMBER SPECIAL $25,000
JD 9600, 6985 hrs., 35% Rahco Leveler, 930R cutting
platform and cart................................................$44,000
Moscow, #640650 NOVEMBER SPECIAL $25,000
JD S680, 660 hrs., 35% Rahco Leveler, 935F platform,
Stoess cart.....................$475,000 Walla Walla #7474035
JD 7722, 1462 hrs., 44% Leveler, JD 224 cutting platform...
..............................................................................$16,000
Moscow #614983 NOVEMBER SPECIAL $10,000
JD 7722, 3908 hrs., 44% Leveler, JD 224 cutting platform...
..............................................................................$16,000
Tekoa #616020 NOVEMBER SPECIAL $10,000
JD 9770, 901 hrs., Hillco Leveler, 635F platform and cart....
...............................................$390,000 Moscow #686502
JD 9660, 3915 hrs., Small grain, 914P Belt pickup platform
(grass seed combine).......................$125,000 $116,000
Madras #706475
JD S690, 824 hrs, 35% Rahco Leveler, 635F Platform,
Stoess Cart...............................$545,000 Colfax, #745738
JD 6125M, 174 hrs., Regular cab, MFWD, 24-spd. tran., H340
loader w/suspension..........$112,000 Four Lakes, #DG777037
Case IH JX1095N, 2885 hrs, Narrow Cab, MFWD, 3 pt, 540
PTO, front weight pkg........................................................
...........................................$27,000 McMinnville, #36490
JD 6115R, 753 hrs, Premium Cab, IVT trans, MFWD,
Autotrack ready, 2 remotes......$96,500 Salem, #799261
Kubota M9960, 150 hrs, Open Station, ROPS, MFWD,
LA1353 Loader..................$45,900 Central Point #54397
JD 9630, 2138 hrs, 4WD, PS trans, Auto Track ready,
800/70R-38 duals, HID lights...........$199,000 $194,900
Tekoa #18545
JD 9620, 4438 hrs, 4WD, PS trans, 800/70R-38 duals,
4 remotes, fresh engine....................$180,000 $174,900
Moscow, #30510
JD 9320, 5247 hrs, 4WD, PS trans, 710/70R-38 duals,
4 remotes, Bareback..................$125,000 Colfax #31662
JD 9300, 7126 hrs., 4WD, PS Trans., 3pt, 1000 PTO, 620/42
Duals, 5 Remotes......................$105,500, Salem, #30202
JD 8630R, 812 hrs, ILS Axle, IVT Trans., 4 Remotes,
710/70R-42 Duals.............................$285,000 $280,500
Harrisburg, #72619A
JD 7280R, 299 hrs, Cab, IVT Trans, TLS Front Axle,
Set up for loader.......................$227,500 Merrill #13029
JD 8770, 14,749 hrs, 4WD, 3 remotes, bare back, 24 spd.
Power Quad Trans, duals................$33,000 Tekoa #3214
JD 9200, 7381 hrs, 4WD, 4 Remotes, 20.8-42 Duals, Quad
Range Trans...................................$81,000 Tekoa #30476
JD 8770, 7675 hrs, 4WD, Quad Range Trans, 20.8-42 Duals,
3 Remotes..............................$50,000 Walla Walla #4681
JD 9400, 7644 hrs., 4WD, PS Trans., 1000 PTO, 710-42
Duals, 4 Remotes.....................$99,900, Tangent, #41372
JD 8630R, 1011 Hrs, IVT Trans, ILS Axle, 4 Remotes,
620/70R-46 Duals.....................$262,999 Donald, #71414
JD 9560R, 222 hrs, 4WD, Dual 800/70R-38, PS Trans,
Auto Track Ready...............$374,000 Walla Walla #7998
JD 9300, 9631 hrs, 4WD, 24 spd Trans., 3 PT, No PTO,
4 Remotes.........................$59,900, McMinnville, #40643
CAT D6-9U Bulldozer, 19,000 hrs., cable blade, canopy
electric start...............................$3,500 Tekoa #PM60430
21 Ag & Turf locations in
Oregon, Washington, Idaho
and Northern California,
papemachinery.com
Agricultural education teaches students about agriculture, food and
natural resources. Through these subjects, agricultural educators
teach students a wide variety of skills,
including science, math,
communications, leadership,
management and technology.
Ag teachers never have the same
day twice. One day they might be
in a classroom or laboratory, the
next visiting students in the
field, preparing teams for an
FFA Career Development Event,
or leading a community service activity
with their FFA Chapter.
•
Teach by doing, not just telling
•
Share their passion for agriculture
•
Create lessons that are hands-on
•
Reach students, including those who might not be successful
in a traditional classroom
•
Teach about cutting edge topics, like cloning, satellite
mapping, biofuels, alternative energy and more.
•
Travel in state, nationally, and even internationally.
•
Work with new and emerging technology from agribusiness
companies.
Currently there is a national shortage of agricultural educators at
the secondary level. It is estimated that there will be hundreds of
unfilled positions across the United States this year, simply because
not enough students are choosing to be agricultural educators.
541-681-5363
All financing on approved credit. Financing special applies only to select pieces of equipment.
See dealer for details and qualifying units.
45-7/#5
45-7/#13