ANR CE Position-Farm Advisor San Joaquin Valley Agronomic Cropping Systems/Nutrient Management Farm Advisor Position Description: This individual would address critical issues for millions of acres of field crops in California’s Central Valley which includes corn, small grains and cereal forages, alfalfa, sorghum, biofuels, grain legumes, with a special emphasis on nutrient management linked to animal agriculture and fertilizer use. Disciplinary expertise should include agronomy, crop science, soil science, water management, plant nutrition and soil fertility expertise. Expertise to address the nutrient management issues in this region, especially linked to the dairy-forage system is particularly important. Educational requirements include MS or PhD with previous work in closely related field. Supporting units include counties of Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, and Tulare. The headquarters location for this position will be left for further discussion, but this would be a multi-county position. This position would be linked to campus-based specialist positions in LAWR, Plant Sciences, Resource Economics, and Animal Science that relate to water management, nitrogen management, and agronomic crops. Justification: The management of nutrients originating from California’s dairy-forage system is definitely one of the largest and most important challenges facing California agriculture. California has over 4 million bovines, and this region contains the highest concentration of dairy cows in the world, creating not only the leading agricultural enterprise in the state ($5.9 billion/year), but also a series of environmental challenges. However, dairying does not exist in isolation. It is dependent upon an agro-ecosystem involving forages, grains, and even byproducts from orchards and cotton. In 2010, for example, 395,500 acres of corn silage, 257,000 acres of wheat, and >500,000 acres of alfalfa was grown in the 8 county Central California region, with nearly all of it used for silage, hay, or other dairy feed. It is a closely-linked system, with impacts on economics, rural health and employment, farm profitability, groundwater and surface water quality, air quality, and wildlife habitat. These crops have been shown to be both partly the cause, and the most promising solution to the nutrient management issues that have been shown to have major impacts on groundwater in the Central Valley of California (see Harter Nitrate Report, March, 2012). Agronomic crops (corn, small grains, alfalfa, forages) are important components of the feed chain for this system, but are also the most likely recipients for recycling nutrients so that these nutrients don’t contaminate groundwater. These crops are also linked to other nutrient management opportunities, such as municipal and food processing wastes which are becoming more important in the ever-urbanizing Central Valley. Crops such as orchards, vineyards and vegetables generally cannot be used for recycling of nutrient wastes, due to food safety and market considerations. Additionally, over application of chemical fertilizers on agronomic crops utilizing ‘recipe’ approaches has been identified as a contributor to groundwater contamination and is conducive to improvement using science and extension. There are mammoth challenges ahead in nutrient, manure, N and salinity management, and one key nexus of this issue are the agronomic crops linked to dairying in the Central Valley. This position not only fills a gap in our ability to address a large-acreage group of crops in California’s Central Valley (particularly corn silage, but including small grain forage, alfalfa, grain crops, sorghum, biofuels, and other agronomic crops), but would enable us to develop a skilled member of a statewide team to tackle nutrient management problems in the most important area for the dairy-forage system in California. This would be linked to campusbased expertise on nutrient management, soils, irrigation, forages, animal science and manure management. Extension: The key clientele group for this position would be corn and agronomic crop growers, dairy operators, cash hay farmers, food processing facilities, dairy organizations, Farm Bureau, non-profit environmental groups, seed companies, federal and state agencies, and the >2,500 Pest Control Advisors and the >550 California Crop Advisors and Technical Service Providers who are currently charged with developing nutrient management plans for dairies. Nutrient management plans are required now, principally for manure and N management in grains and forages, and training of clientele is badly needed. Extension of research-based information relevant to both crop management and nutrient management will be through a variety of means including on-line resources, electronic communications (blogs, websites, social media), the development of easy-to-use nutrient management tools, field days, newsletters, consultations and participation in state-wide programs. Agencies (State and Regional Water Quality Boards), and farmer-led Water Quality Coalitions who are charged with protecting surface and groundwater by utilizing crops to recycle nutrients would be key clientele and outreach partners for this position. Research: There are a range of critical researchable questions pertaining to nutrient (particularly N) management in corn, small grains, crop rotations, alfalfa, and management of nutrients that are not currently being addressed. These include development of in-season tools for decisions on both manure and fertilizer to more closely match the nutrient applications with crop need, and utilization of improved N-management techniques. Researchable question include use of nitrification inhibitors, GIS systems for controlling sitespecific fertilizer applications, conservation tillage, precision agriculture, development of models for nutrient uptake and utilization, crop rotation, silages, response of field crops to different rates and forms of fertilizers manure application methods, the use of organic techniques for fertilization, soil and plant testing, and irrigation management for reducing environmental impacts. Irrigation management is a critical component of both economic and environmental impacts of these crops, and will be an important part of an integrated approach to nutrient management for this position. Developing integrated crop management systems which prevent nutrient impacts on the environment will be a broad goal of this position, and the applied research program will address specific issues within this umbrella. ANR Continuum: This position will be going forward as a component of a ‘team’ to address the dairy-nutrient issue in the Central Valley. This represents expertise in 1) Nutrient Management Specialist in LAWR (proposed), 2) Current (Larry Schwankl) and new Irrigation Specialist (LAWR, being recruited), 3) Grain cropping systems Specialist at UC Davis, Dept. of Plant Sciences (proposed), 4) Irrigation Engineer Position in Biol. & Ag. Engineering (proposed) 4) Livestock Waste Management Specialist in Animal Science, Animal Science UC Davis (Meyer- existing position), 5) Forage Specialist at UC Davis (Putnam-existing position). 6) Soil Hydrology Position (Harter-existing position), and 7) Soil/Nutrient Position (Pettygrove, existing, but probably retiring soon). Several existing Farm Advisor positions related to agronomy and dairy (Carol Frate, Marsha Mathews, Steve Wright, Shannon Mueller, Carol Collar) would work as a team with this individual, but their responsibilities are not focused on this area. Faculty members working on agro-ecosystems (Van Kessel, Six, Horwath, Scow) would be interested in this position. This team approach could also include the Irrigation Engineering Position (Ag. & Res. Engineering, UCD, proposed). This position would work closely with the CDQAP program, Dairy Organizations, the Wheat Commission, CAFA, Dry Bean Advisory Board, and state and federal agencies (Water Quality Control Board, CDFA). This position would be closely linked to Groundwater Quality Group (Thomas Harter). This position would work with NRCS, Cal State University Fresno, Cal Poly, and Farm Bureau. With several likely pending retirements in this locale and this subject area, and the recent loss of dairy advisors in Tulare and Fresno Counties, the development of this position would be a powerful signal that solutions to the waste/nutrient management issues in this region is high priority for ANR. Support: Logistical support (vehicle, office, internet, phone, etc.) for this position would come from the specific county that is identified. As outlined below, this position could be placed in any one of several San Joaquin Valley counties, but the position would be a multicounty position that addressed the critical (particularly nutrient management) issues for these crops. Other support: This position will have a tremendous breadth of opportunity for funding support, particularly if the individual cooperates with other colleagues in Cooperative Extension, as well as faculty members at UC Davis, Riverside or Berkeley on some of the fundamental issues associated with nutrient management and crop production. Some commodity support is likely to be available (from corn companies, the Wheat Commission, the CA Dry Bean Advisory Board, etc.), but more important sources of funding would be primarily from state agencies (CDFA, Water Resources Control Board, DWR, EPA, USDANIFA) to address the nutrient management issues in this region. These are important issues to California, and nationwide, and there is reason to expect research in this are to be fundable. Location: This position could be located in any of the county offices in this region (Merced through Tulare), with access to county vehicles, office space, internet. The decision on the headquarters location for this position will depend upon a number of factors. It would be desirable to locate this position in one of the more intensive dairy regions, such as Tulare, but other regions of the Central Valley are also feasible.