West Coast Hemp Webinar: Deep Dive into Hemp Production and Cultivation

This video is the second episode in NCAT's four-part hemp webinar…

Weekly Wednesday Workshop: Winter Cover Crops

In this video, Felicia Bell, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist…
nitrogen fixing nodules in the roots of legumes

3 Reasons Your Legume Cover Crop Nodulation May Have Failed

Legumes make for great cover crops thanks to an important partnership between the plant roots and bacteria. When this biological partnership is thriving, nitrogen is being pumped back into the soil for future crops to benefit from. It can sometimes appear like your cover crop is thriving above ground, but if bright pink nodules on the roots below ground aren't visible around 30 days after germinating, there might be a problem.
By Emilie Ritter Saunders, Communications Director

Episode 221. Meet NCAT: Katherine Favor says agroforestry can plant the seeds of sustainability

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture…

Vineyard Agroforestry: Growing Grapes in the Era of Climate Change

I had the privilege of undergoing my graduate school research in one of the best places on earth: Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza, like many parts of California, is an arid region with very little rainfall, similar soils, and similar weather patterns. And, like California, it grows great wine. Unlike California, though, Mendoza still has many vineyards that are intercropped with trees in vineyard agroforestry systems. That's why, when I decided to study arid vineyard agroforestry systems for my master’s research, Mendoza is where I journeyed to. 
by Katherine Favor, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist

Episode 217. Flexibility in an Unexpected Growing Season

In this episode of Voices from the Field, two agriculture specialists…

Episode 214. Attracting and Protecting Pollinators

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture…

Episode 211. Native Plants Offer More Than Beauty to the Farmscape

Native plants bring both beauty and resilience to the farmscape.…
milkweed

Miles of Hedgerows, a California Project Update

As a resilient bunch of plants, these native species have been planted in the deserts east of Los Angeles, the fog draped regions of the redwood forests, and everywhere in between. The goal of the project was to provide habitat to native species with a mix of 18 different hedgerow plants. A special addition of Narrow Leaf Milkweed was added to the mix in an effort to grow back a tiny portion of the Monarch butterfly habitat that has been removed in the name of development over recent decades.
By Omar Rodriguez, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist
rhizobia

How to Make Sure Your Leguminous Cover Crop is Doing its Job

Legumes are a superstar cover crop, particularly in warm, subtropical climates because unlike other cover crops, legumes have the ability to turn atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen that crops can use. But as Stephanie Kasper, a biology research associate at University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley explains, legumes require an important partner to do their job.
By Emilie Saunders, NCAT Communications Director