J. Ory, Alastair Iles, Patrick Baur, Federico Castillo
The challenges faced by organic vegetable farmers in California during the COVID-19 pandemic included uncertainty about food safety rules and best practices, availability of workers, and significant changes to their markets. When the pandemic began, we built on an ongoing interdisciplinary research project with organic vegetable farmers on the California Central Coast to track how those growers adapted to the crisis. We conducted surveys in April 2020 and January 2021 to determine impacts on farmers and how farm size, market channels, and management strategies influenced a farm's ability to adapt to and recover from pandemic-induced disruptions. We found that mid-sized farmers with flexible and diverse marketing channels could navigate changes from the pandemic with minimal losses and, in some cases, economic gains. By contrast, smaller farmers with limited resources, especially those with disadvantaged backgrounds and limited access to technology, experienced more drastic impacts, including lost markets, labor shortages, and increased childcare needs. The lessons learned can inform a transition toward more sustainable, resilient agroecological systems.
{"title":"Adaptation and sustainability: Lessons from Central Coast organic farmers during the pandemic","authors":"J. Ory, Alastair Iles, Patrick Baur, Federico Castillo","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0017","url":null,"abstract":"The challenges faced by organic vegetable farmers in California during the COVID-19 pandemic included uncertainty about food safety rules and best practices, availability of workers, and significant changes to their markets. When the pandemic began, we built on an ongoing interdisciplinary research project with organic vegetable farmers on the California Central Coast to track how those growers adapted to the crisis. We conducted surveys in April 2020 and January 2021 to determine impacts on farmers and how farm size, market channels, and management strategies influenced a farm's ability to adapt to and recover from pandemic-induced disruptions. We found that mid-sized farmers with flexible and diverse marketing channels could navigate changes from the pandemic with minimal losses and, in some cases, economic gains. By contrast, smaller farmers with limited resources, especially those with disadvantaged backgrounds and limited access to technology, experienced more drastic impacts, including lost markets, labor shortages, and increased childcare needs. The lessons learned can inform a transition toward more sustainable, resilient agroecological systems.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":"212 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139301794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Surls, Rob Bennaton, Gail W. Feenstra, Ramiro E. Lobo, Alda F. A. Pires, Jennifer Sowerwine, Julia Van Soelen Kim, Cheryl A. Wilen
Urban farming is an important component of California agriculture, but lack of agricultural census data or common definitions makes it difficult to track and understand. In 2017–2018, a team of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) researchers and extension professionals developed a workshop series for urban farmers in California based on results of a prior needs assessment. After conducting 16 workshops in the state's largest urban centers, the team evaluated what participants learned and how they put their knowledge into action. The evaluation highlighted urban farmers' ongoing challenges and found that economic issues such as profitability and land access are some of the greatest barriers for urban farming in California. An unexpected positive outcome was the opportunity for participants to network and meet other farmers. Urban farmers expressed the need for more opportunities for mentoring and building partnerships with other farmers and organizations. Evaluation results suggest that California's urban farmers may be more diverse than California farmers as a whole, and that they are often beginning farmers.
{"title":"Urban agriculture in California: Lessons learned from an urban farmer workshop series","authors":"R. Surls, Rob Bennaton, Gail W. Feenstra, Ramiro E. Lobo, Alda F. A. Pires, Jennifer Sowerwine, Julia Van Soelen Kim, Cheryl A. Wilen","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0010","url":null,"abstract":"Urban farming is an important component of California agriculture, but lack of agricultural census data or common definitions makes it difficult to track and understand. In 2017–2018, a team of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) researchers and extension professionals developed a workshop series for urban farmers in California based on results of a prior needs assessment. After conducting 16 workshops in the state's largest urban centers, the team evaluated what participants learned and how they put their knowledge into action. The evaluation highlighted urban farmers' ongoing challenges and found that economic issues such as profitability and land access are some of the greatest barriers for urban farming in California. An unexpected positive outcome was the opportunity for participants to network and meet other farmers. Urban farmers expressed the need for more opportunities for mentoring and building partnerships with other farmers and organizations. Evaluation results suggest that California's urban farmers may be more diverse than California farmers as a whole, and that they are often beginning farmers.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42259471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Steven M. Worker, Dorina Espinoza, C. Kok, Sally Neas, Martin Smith
Strengthening young people's scientific literacy and civic engagement are important educational goals for Cooperative Extension. We implemented youth participatory action research (YPAR) projects over three years at five schools. The YPAR approach integrates science learning and civic engagement by empowering youth, with the help of adult facilitators, to decide upon a community issue to research, design and implement their research, and then plan a service project based on research findings to address the issue. We explored young people's and educators' perspectives on which project elements influenced youth participation, examined opportunities for youth science and civic-related learning, and asked educators to reflect on their own learning and development. Using data generated from youth focus groups and educator interviews, we found that YPAR grounds science learning in young people's lived experience. It also provides a meaningful approach to science learning through raising young people's critical consciousness of community issues. YPAR may be used in other extension programs to increase motivation for deeper and sustained participation in learning experiences.
{"title":"Youth participatory action research: Integrating science learning and civic engagement","authors":"Steven M. Worker, Dorina Espinoza, C. Kok, Sally Neas, Martin Smith","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0009","url":null,"abstract":"Strengthening young people's scientific literacy and civic engagement are important educational goals for Cooperative Extension. We implemented youth participatory action research (YPAR) projects over three years at five schools. The YPAR approach integrates science learning and civic engagement by empowering youth, with the help of adult facilitators, to decide upon a community issue to research, design and implement their research, and then plan a service project based on research findings to address the issue. We explored young people's and educators' perspectives on which project elements influenced youth participation, examined opportunities for youth science and civic-related learning, and asked educators to reflect on their own learning and development. Using data generated from youth focus groups and educator interviews, we found that YPAR grounds science learning in young people's lived experience. It also provides a meaningful approach to science learning through raising young people's critical consciousness of community issues. YPAR may be used in other extension programs to increase motivation for deeper and sustained participation in learning experiences.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45581176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Employment in California agriculture has increased over the past 30 years and has become less seasonal. There were an average of 404,000 farm jobs in California in 2020, 10% more than average employment of 367,000 in 1990. Meanwhile, seasonality, as measured by peak month employment divided by trough month employment, fell 22% over three decades, from 1.8 in 1990 to 1.4 in 2020. Most farmworkers have one farm employer a year, although that employer may be a labor contractor who moves workers from one farm to another. Most new workers in the California farm workforce are H-2A guest workers, the young and flexible Mexican workers who are legally authorized to work in the United States and who are often brought to farms by labor contractors. In the future, rising employment and declining seasonality, combined with an aging and settled farm workforce, may reduce farmworker migration and flexibility.
{"title":"More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990","authors":"Zachary Rutledge, Philip Martin","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0008","url":null,"abstract":"Employment in California agriculture has increased over the past 30 years and has become less seasonal. There were an average of 404,000 farm jobs in California in 2020, 10% more than average employment of 367,000 in 1990. Meanwhile, seasonality, as measured by peak month employment divided by trough month employment, fell 22% over three decades, from 1.8 in 1990 to 1.4 in 2020. Most farmworkers have one farm employer a year, although that employer may be a labor contractor who moves workers from one farm to another. Most new workers in the California farm workforce are H-2A guest workers, the young and flexible Mexican workers who are legally authorized to work in the United States and who are often brought to farms by labor contractors. In the future, rising employment and declining seasonality, combined with an aging and settled farm workforce, may reduce farmworker migration and flexibility.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47628133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
During COVID-19, California small farmers and ranchers suffered significant disruptions and shifts in the marketplace, marked by a loss in wholesale outlets and an increase in demand for direct-to-consumer sales. This study examines how agritourism operators responded to the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, in the midst of the pandemic, the UC ANR Agritourism Program held a series of trainings for California farmers interested in starting or expanding agritourism enterprises. Some of the key themes that emerged from the trainings were that farmers had to shift their operations to ensure social distancing and reduced crowd sizes, while at the same time, they experienced an unprecedented demand for direct-to-consumer sales and on-farm visits. Agritourism, in varying degrees, contributed to the resiliency of most of the participants in our study. Moving forward, it would be worthwhile for researchers, agricultural professionals, and decision-makers to examine equity in agritourism and agritourism's role as a risk-management strategy to help mitigate other types of disruptions in the future. Our findings also point to the need to provide farmers with technical assistance around e-commerce and sustainable business planning.
{"title":"How agritourism helped farmers during the pandemic","authors":"Rachael Callahan","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0007","url":null,"abstract":"During COVID-19, California small farmers and ranchers suffered significant disruptions and shifts in the marketplace, marked by a loss in wholesale outlets and an increase in demand for direct-to-consumer sales. This study examines how agritourism operators responded to the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, in the midst of the pandemic, the UC ANR Agritourism Program held a series of trainings for California farmers interested in starting or expanding agritourism enterprises. Some of the key themes that emerged from the trainings were that farmers had to shift their operations to ensure social distancing and reduced crowd sizes, while at the same time, they experienced an unprecedented demand for direct-to-consumer sales and on-farm visits. Agritourism, in varying degrees, contributed to the resiliency of most of the participants in our study. Moving forward, it would be worthwhile for researchers, agricultural professionals, and decision-makers to examine equity in agritourism and agritourism's role as a risk-management strategy to help mitigate other types of disruptions in the future. Our findings also point to the need to provide farmers with technical assistance around e-commerce and sustainable business planning.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42710355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E. Zakowski, L. Parker, Devon Johnson, J. Aguirre, S. Ostoja
California has experienced an increase in the size and severity of wildfires in recent years, with wide-ranging impacts to agriculture. The 2020 wildfire season was particularly catastrophic, causing billions of dollars in damage to the state's world-renowned wine industry. Wine grape growers and wine producers statewide were recently surveyed to better understand the wildfire informational resources available to producers, as well as the role wildfire risk plays in operational management decisions. The survey results show that the negative impacts of wildfires on wine production may be the result of wildfire smoke more than of the actual wildfires. We also show that managers do not always make operational changes, even when they perceive increased wildfire risk. Despite diverse sources of wildfire-related information and operational guidance, there is not enough information to effectively manage fire risk.
{"title":"California wine grape growers need support to manage risks from wildfire and smoke","authors":"E. Zakowski, L. Parker, Devon Johnson, J. Aguirre, S. Ostoja","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0006","url":null,"abstract":"California has experienced an increase in the size and severity of wildfires in recent years, with wide-ranging impacts to agriculture. The 2020 wildfire season was particularly catastrophic, causing billions of dollars in damage to the state's world-renowned wine industry. Wine grape growers and wine producers statewide were recently surveyed to better understand the wildfire informational resources available to producers, as well as the role wildfire risk plays in operational management decisions. The survey results show that the negative impacts of wildfires on wine production may be the result of wildfire smoke more than of the actual wildfires. We also show that managers do not always make operational changes, even when they perceive increased wildfire risk. Despite diverse sources of wildfire-related information and operational guidance, there is not enough information to effectively manage fire risk.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43544912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Food-safety incidents are costly for everyone in the leafy greens industry. However, it is challenging to estimate the size and distribution of these costs in today's complex supply chains. Extensive use of formal contracts in markets such as leafy greens obscures prices and other terms of trade from the public view. Using proprietary data on prices and sales from a major leafy greens processor operating in the retail and food-service sectors, we are able to separately estimate short-run damages associated with the November 2018 romaine Escherichia coli advisory for growershippers, processors, retailers, and food-service operators. Due to fixed prices in grower-processor contracts, growers were only minimally impacted by the advisory. Processors, meanwhile, lost approximately $55.3 million from price and quantity impacts. Retailers incurred $14.1 million in losses after pulling product from distribution channels and shelves. Foodservice operators were less impacted because lower prices offset losses from destroying potentially contaminated products. Moving forward, the best way to mitigate losses during food-safety incidents is fast and efficient traceability.
{"title":"Economic damages of food-safety incidents in complex markets: 2018 E. coli outbreak and romaine lettuce","authors":"Ashley Spalding, R. Goodhue, K. Kiesel, R. Sexton","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0002","url":null,"abstract":"Food-safety incidents are costly for everyone in the leafy greens industry. However, it is challenging to estimate the size and distribution of these costs in today's complex supply chains. Extensive use of formal contracts in markets such as leafy greens obscures prices and other terms of trade from the public view. Using proprietary data on prices and sales from a major leafy greens processor operating in the retail and food-service sectors, we are able to separately estimate short-run damages associated with the November 2018 romaine Escherichia coli advisory for growershippers, processors, retailers, and food-service operators. Due to fixed prices in grower-processor contracts, growers were only minimally impacted by the advisory. Processors, meanwhile, lost approximately $55.3 million from price and quantity impacts. Retailers incurred $14.1 million in losses after pulling product from distribution channels and shelves. Foodservice operators were less impacted because lower prices offset losses from destroying potentially contaminated products. Moving forward, the best way to mitigate losses during food-safety incidents is fast and efficient traceability.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49452249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Zarate, Dillon J. Travis, A. Geffre, J. Nieh, J. Kohn
“Africanized” honey bees (AHB) have been part of California's agricultural and natural landscapes for nearly three decades. Prior to their arrival in 1994, leading honey bee experts expressed concern over the potentially disastrous impact of AHB on California agriculture and public safety. Despite these concerns, the state's agricultural production has not been significantly impacted by AHB. However, some evidence suggests that the abundance of AHB in natural habitats can have negative consequences for native pollinators. At the same time, AHB may provide a genetic resource for improving managed honey bee health. We recommend updating the term “Africanized” honey bees to more accurately reflect their biology and to avoid unfortunate connotations.
{"title":"Three decades of “Africanized” honey bees in California","authors":"Daniel Zarate, Dillon J. Travis, A. Geffre, J. Nieh, J. Kohn","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0004","url":null,"abstract":"“Africanized” honey bees (AHB) have been part of California's agricultural and natural landscapes for nearly three decades. Prior to their arrival in 1994, leading honey bee experts expressed concern over the potentially disastrous impact of AHB on California agriculture and public safety. Despite these concerns, the state's agricultural production has not been significantly impacted by AHB. However, some evidence suggests that the abundance of AHB in natural habitats can have negative consequences for native pollinators. At the same time, AHB may provide a genetic resource for improving managed honey bee health. We recommend updating the term “Africanized” honey bees to more accurately reflect their biology and to avoid unfortunate connotations.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44533085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Gomes, A. Devincentis, S. Solis, D. Zaccaria, D. Munk, K. Bali, A. Shrestha, Kennedy Gould, J. Mitchell
California farmers who use reduced-disturbance tillage and winter cover cropping can boost production and improve soil health. However, some farmers are hesitant to try these conservation practices due to uncertainty about whether planting winter cover crops will deplete soil moisture in already drought-stricken regions. Our study addresses these concerns by looking at how long-term reduced-disturbance tillage and winter cover cropping, compared to fallowed soils with standard tillage, affected soil moisture. Although we found a statistical difference in total soil water content, the difference was only about 0.3 inches of water per foot of soil. On average, the soil water content of the top 0–96 inches was highest for the reduced-disturbance fields with winter cover crops. This was especially evident during our driest field season, from November 1, 2017, to March 15, 2018, when cumulative rainfall was only 1.9 inches. Our findings show that winter cover cropping and reduced-disturbance tillage can improve soil without depleting soil water levels in row crops.
{"title":"Long-term reduced tillage and winter cover crops can improve soil quality without depleting moisture","authors":"Anna Gomes, A. Devincentis, S. Solis, D. Zaccaria, D. Munk, K. Bali, A. Shrestha, Kennedy Gould, J. Mitchell","doi":"10.3733/ca.2023a0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0001","url":null,"abstract":"California farmers who use reduced-disturbance tillage and winter cover cropping can boost production and improve soil health. However, some farmers are hesitant to try these conservation practices due to uncertainty about whether planting winter cover crops will deplete soil moisture in already drought-stricken regions. Our study addresses these concerns by looking at how long-term reduced-disturbance tillage and winter cover cropping, compared to fallowed soils with standard tillage, affected soil moisture. Although we found a statistical difference in total soil water content, the difference was only about 0.3 inches of water per foot of soil. On average, the soil water content of the top 0–96 inches was highest for the reduced-disturbance fields with winter cover crops. This was especially evident during our driest field season, from November 1, 2017, to March 15, 2018, when cumulative rainfall was only 1.9 inches. Our findings show that winter cover cropping and reduced-disturbance tillage can improve soil without depleting soil water levels in row crops.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49258501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah Depenbrock, J. Lane, Makda Asrat, R. Poppenga, Sabine Hargrave, Bret McNabb, V. Eviner, M. Chigerwe
Wildfires can drastically change rangeland by depositing ash contaminated with metals that are not part of normal diets. This can pose health threats to humans and animals. This risk, along with alterations of essential minerals in livestock grazing on regrowth on burnt lands, is not well known. To better understand this, our study investigated metal concentrations in water, soil, plant forage, and meat and wool of sheep grazing on the regrowth of burned lands. We compared metal concentrations in sheep grazed on regrowth to stored meat samples from grazing sheep a year prior to the wildfire. Lead, mercury, arsenic, molybdenum, cadmium, beryllium, cobalt and nickel were not detected above reporting limits in meat, wool or water samples. Contamination from chromium and thallium was detected in three of 26 meat samples from sheep grazed on regrowth. These metals were not detected in 22 stored meat samples from sheep the year before. Copper concentrations found in the meat of animals grazing regrowth was lower than in animals grazing unburned pastures; it is important to monitor copper concentrations in grazing animals to avoid diseases associated with copper deficiency.
{"title":"Grazing lambs on pastures regrown after wildfires did not significantly alter metal content in meat and wool","authors":"Sarah Depenbrock, J. Lane, Makda Asrat, R. Poppenga, Sabine Hargrave, Bret McNabb, V. Eviner, M. Chigerwe","doi":"10.3733/ca.2022a0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2022a0016","url":null,"abstract":"Wildfires can drastically change rangeland by depositing ash contaminated with metals that are not part of normal diets. This can pose health threats to humans and animals. This risk, along with alterations of essential minerals in livestock grazing on regrowth on burnt lands, is not well known. To better understand this, our study investigated metal concentrations in water, soil, plant forage, and meat and wool of sheep grazing on the regrowth of burned lands. We compared metal concentrations in sheep grazed on regrowth to stored meat samples from grazing sheep a year prior to the wildfire. Lead, mercury, arsenic, molybdenum, cadmium, beryllium, cobalt and nickel were not detected above reporting limits in meat, wool or water samples. Contamination from chromium and thallium was detected in three of 26 meat samples from sheep grazed on regrowth. These metals were not detected in 22 stored meat samples from sheep the year before. Copper concentrations found in the meat of animals grazing regrowth was lower than in animals grazing unburned pastures; it is important to monitor copper concentrations in grazing animals to avoid diseases associated with copper deficiency.","PeriodicalId":9409,"journal":{"name":"California Agriculture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43623448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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