Written by: Alma Meckler-Pacheco, The California Aggie, November 15

https://theaggie.org/2019/11/15/russell-ranch-uc-davis-hallmark-sustainable-agricultural-research-center/

This January, Russell Ranch Director Kate Scow gave an inspired talk at the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) 2018-2019 International Soils Meeting “Soils Across Latitudes” in San Diego, CA.

Russell Ranch just released their 2018 Research Report, describing the 25 research projects and findings that were conducted on the Ranch in 2018 alone. Russell Ranch researchers were excited to work with a number of UC Davis faculty, graduate students, and staff, as well as researchers from UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and UC Merced, among other institutions.

What does it mean to have healthy soil, and how can farmers monitor and improve the soil health in their fields?

Organized by the California Department of Conservation and University of California, Davis, the symposium "Managing Lands in a Changing Climate to Improve Agricultural Resilience, Food Security and Health" served as an affiliate event to the Governor's "Global Climate Action Summit." The event brought together hundreds of folks across various disciplines for a day full of engaging talks and break out workshops.

Tune in to this on-demand webinar from Kate Scow hosted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. This webinar focuses on the challenges and benefits of managing soil biology rather than relying only on chemically based systems, along with the key roles that soil microbes play in agroecosystems.

If you grew up in the 1980s or 1990s (or were a child at heart during that era), the famous Powers of Ten film likely left an indelible mark in your mind.

The film starts with a couple lounging on a picnic blanket and zooms out to the outer reaches of the universe, then back in to peer into the microscopic world of the human body: from white blood cells to DNA, and finally down to the proton of a carbon atom.

ASI’s Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility has been home to groundbreaking research in soil health since the 1990s—a legacy showcased in recent media coverage.

Can we increase food production while also increasing the environmental friendliness of agriculture?

This question is increasingly on the minds of California’s lawmakers and farmers, and it is a central focus of the nearly quarter-century of research (and counting) going on at ASI’s Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility.

Learn an overview of what exists for soil biology and new directions it may take, and discuss the relationships between soil and human health.

At Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility, It’s almost time to seed corn and transplant tomatoes—the beginning of the busy summer growing season.  Russell Ranch functions as both a research farm and a commercial farm, meaning it’s important to grow high quality grain and produce for market, but the farm requires special attention to ensure researchers can design experiments and collect quality data.  For National Farmworker Awareness week, we want to introduce you to two of the

Adding biochar to a farm's field is an irreversible decision, so understanding its long-term impacts is essential for farmers to make informed decisions.

Biochar, a charcoal created from organic materials burned at high temperatures and added as a soil amendment, has been shown to increase pH and soil fertility in areas with more weathered, acidic soils, like the tropics. But a new study shows its impact on productive soils like those in California's Central Valley may be quite different.

On a recent late-summer Wednesday, a freight container filled with cases of expired Muscle Milk protein drink awaited unloading at the UC Davis Renewable Energy Anaerobic Digester (READ) while a front-loader scooped heaps of spoiled vegetables into a mechanical processor. Nourished by a diet of assorted food waste from the UC Davis campus and area restaurants and markets, READ harnesses the activity of billions of microbes to produce biogas capable of generating 5.6 million kWh per year of clean electricity for UC Davis.

Researchers at Russell Ranch in collaboration with Professor Amelie Gaudin's lab at UC Davis have studied the effects of drip irrigation (single and double subsurface lines) vs. furrow irrigation on organic tomato production and share results from the 2016 field season.

Israel Herrera, principal superintendent of the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility at UC Davis, has been presented with a 2016 Award of Distinction by the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. The award is the highest recognition presented by the College.

For many years, a key international strategy to ending hunger has been to grow more food: push for higher yields, develop ways for farmers to intensify their farming, focus on technologies that drive both. But that focus may be shifting towards another strategy that better accounts for the environment and human well-being – agroecology.