Karmjot Randhawa
Fresno/Madera/Kings/Tulare Counties
Email: kgrandhawa@ucanr.edu
Phone: 559-241-7514
Contact Information
Tulare County
Cooperative Extension
4437-B S. Laspina St.
Tulare, CA 93274
Phone: (559) 684-3300
Fax: (559) 685-3319
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New Advisor Spotlight
Dr. Mandeep Riar joined UCCE on September 1, 2023, as the Restoration Ecology and Weed Science advisor for Kern, Tulare, and Kings counties.
As water availability issues are causing dramatic shifts in agricultural land use in California, these ultimately cause a shift in the weed flora too. In her current role, Dr. Riar is focused on ecological restoration and weed management in fallowed, retired, and abandoned agricultural lands and natural areas. The overall goal is to enhance the restoration efforts while minimizing the impact of invasive weeds.
Dr. Riar earned a M.S. in Agricultural Meteorology and Agronomy from Punjab Agricultural University, India and a Ph.D. in Weed Science from North Carolina State University, Raleigh. Her dissertation work was focused on environmental, cultural, and biological factors influencing the growth and geographical expansion of invasive weeds. As a post-doctoral research associate, Dr. Riar worked on abiotic stress evaluation in various field crops including soybean and sorghum and identified genotypes for superior drought tolerance.
Dr. Riar is based in UCCE Bakersfield and can be reached at (661) 868-6216 and mriar@ucanr.edu.
Title: Restoration Ecology and Weed Science Advisor
Specialty: Crop and weed physiology Land restoration
Address:
Cooperative Extension Kern County
1031 South Mount Vernon Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93307
Phone: 661-868-6216
Email: mriar@ucanr.edu
Tulare County Ag #1 in the Nation
It’s official. Tulare County is the number one ag producing county in the United States for 2022.
While Fresno County reported a record $8.095 billion haul for 2022, it didn’t beat Tulare County’s $8.6 billion report. Both counties benefited from improved market prices and continue to corner the market in the top spots in the nation for ag production. Add in Kern County at number three, and the Central Valley counties are a combined agriculture and economic powerhouse valued at $24,432,162,300. Putting this in perspective, three California counties account for 44% of California’s total ag production value of $55,871,204,000.
Their ag prowess doesn’t stop at farm gate receipts. Central Valley agriculture is a hotbed of innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. Farmers have always been problem solvers with longevity in mind, and now they are using poop to power their farms and communities.
You heard that right. Poop power is a thing. Tulare County produces the most milk in the nation and has 40 operational dairy digesters. The digesters capture methane from manure and convert the greenhouse gas into a natural resource used to fuel farm vehicles, homes, and transportation fleets. Tulare County has reached 56% of their 2030 pollution reduction goal and had a net reduction of 592,131 metric tons of CO2e in 2021 alone. Once all planned digesters have been operational for 10 years, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reductions will total nearly 8.5 million MTCO2e.
This win-win-win strategy combined with scientifically advanced animal nutrition and breeding genetics has also allowed dairy herd sizes to be reduced while increasing milk production. Since 2013, the number of dairy cows in Tulare County has declined by 30,000. This has led to reduced methane emissions and even better cow comfort.
Innovations like these allow this powerful tri-county corridor to continue to improve sustainability and food security. They need the strong support of Sacramento and Washington D.C. to continue these successes.
Programmatic Blogs
https://mailchi.mp/bbadd93a383f/new-ucce-dairy-advisor-for-tulare-and-kern-counties?e=319259dd68
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=58188
UCCE Tulare County Educates Local Students About Prunes, a Local Crop
Dairy's Net Zero Initiative gets boost with $10 million research grant
Calendar
| Event Name | Date |
|---|---|
| 2024 Kearney Field Crops- Alfalfa and Forage Field Day | 9/13/2024 |
| 2024 Advances in Pistachio Production Short Course | 11/5/2024 |
CDFA Outreach and Education
As part of the Governor’s Enforcement Task Force member, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) targeted action is to provide outreach and education to the agricultural community. Below is the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 guidance, checklists and videos that can be sent out as educational material to the agricultural sectors.
Cal/OSHA Checklist and Guidance:
- Infection Prevention for Agricultural Employers and Employees
English | Español | ?? (Chinese) | Ti?ng Vi?t (Vietnamese)
- COVID-19 Worker Protection Video – Infection Prevention for Agricultural Workers
English(Video Transcript) – Posted May 20, 2020
Español(transcripción de video en español) – Posted May 29, 2020
Mixteco(Mixteco Video Transcript) – Posted June 5, 2020
Do you have livestock that need land to graze, or land that you'd like grazed in California? This tool can help you make a match, says the University of California Cooperative Extension, a division of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Friends of Tulare County Emergency Relief Fund
Tulare County Agricultural Building
