Financial Assistance (Grants and Loans) - PG&E Grants
| Awarded Amount | Project Title | Grantee / Contractor / Author |
Scope of Work | Final Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $49,818 | Evaluation of Polyacrylamide (PAM) for Reducing Sediment and Nutrient Losses from Agricultural fields |
Michael Cahn | The objective of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of polyacrylamide (PAM) to reduce sediment and nutrients in irrigation run-off from commercial vegetable fields located in the lower Salinas and Elkhorn watersheds. Trials were designed to both demonstrate to growers how to use PAM at a field-level scale, and collect data on the effectiveness of this practice. | 2005-0736 |
| $37,030 | Reducing nutrient loading from vegetable production | Tim Hartz | The intent of this project was to compare varying levels of N and P fertilization with the grower fertility regime, with the goal of demonstrating how fertilizer rates (and therefore, environmental nutrient loading) could be reduced. Field trials were conducted in drip-irrigated lettuce fields in northern Monterey County during the summer and fall of 2007. Replicated plots of several fertility treatments were created based on the grower’s different practice. | 2007-0308 |
| $49,980 | Optimizing irrigation and nitrogen management in lettuce for improving farm water quality, Northern Monterey County | Michael Cahn | The purpose of this project was to demonstrate potential water, fertilizer, and costs savings for producing lettuce by: 1. using weather and soil based information to accurately schedule irrigations, and 2. using the quick nitrate test (QNT) to customize the fertilization schedule to match the nitrogen needs of the crop. Demonstration trials were conducted in commercial fields to compare production costs, yield and quality of lettuce grown under best management practices (BMP) for water and nitrogen and under grower standard practices. The trials were conducted in the Salinas Valley between July and October of the 2008 season, and June and October of the 2009 | 2008-0408 |
| $47,898 | Demonstrating best management practices for coastal vegetable production | Tim Hartz | The purpose of this project was to improve nitrogen fertilization practices. Numerous demonstrations were conducted in 2009 in 18 commercial lettuce fields to demonstrate the use of the pre-sidedress soil nitrate testing (PSNT) to reduce unnecessary sidedress N application. Seasonal N application averaged 134 and 61 lb/acre in the grower and reduced N strips, respectively. The additional 73 lb N/acre applied by growers resulted in an average of only 7 lb/acre of additional plant N uptake, emphasizing the inefficiency of early-season N sidedressing in fields with significant residual soil NO3-N. Postharvest evaluation of lettuce quality in four of the 2009 trials, and in two additional PSNT trials in 2010, showed no significant effect of N fertilization. | 2009-0179 |
| $49,800 | Optimizing irrigation and nitrogen management in strawberries for improved water quality - Phase 1 | Michael Cahn | This project gathered base-line data to determine current water-use and nitrogen management practices in commercial strawberry fields. The project also estimated nitrate leaching losses, developed nitrogen uptake guidelines, and a water use model for strawberries. Total plant N uptake into above-ground biomass could approach 220 lb N/acre. Averaged across fields, vegetative N content increased by just over 0.5 lb per acre per day, and totaled 83 - 102 lb/acre by the end of August. Multiplying the grower-reported seasonal marketable yield by the mean fruit N concentration estimated seasonal fruit N content, which ranged among fields from 64 - 99 lb/acre. Therefore, estimated seasonal N content in above-ground biomass ranged from 147 - 199 lb/acre. | 2010-0084 |
| $49,919 | Optimizing irrigation and nitrogen management in strawberries for improved water quality – Phase 2, Monterey County | Michael Cahn | The objectives of second phase project was to estimate the nitrate leaching risk during establishment of strawberries and focus on the contribution of fall applied fertilizer to nitrate leaching. The volume of water applied per irrigation event during the production season (March-October) was generally less than the water holding capacity of the soil; and therefore would presumably not cause excessive drainage. In contrast to the production season, estimated NO3-N losses by leaching during the winter months (November-March) were high, ranging from 167 to 239 lbs of N per acre. Applied water and rainfall were substantially higher than crop water demand, which resulted in significant drainage, that ranged from 11 to 18 inches during the winter season. | 2011-0676 |
| $49,999 | Design tools for vegetative treatment systems - Constructed wetlands - Woodchips bioreactors | Pam Krone- Davis & Marc Los Huertos |
This project included development of a wetland sizing model, primarily from tanks in series concept used in chemical engineering and applied to wetlands. This wetland sizing model can be used in agricultural ecosystems to model carbon and nitrogen dynamics. The model predicts nitrate and ammonia fluxes based on nitrification, denitrification and fermentation sub‐models, and includes input parameters such as site, climate, soil, farm management, crop, tillage, fertilization, weeding, manure amendment, flooding, irrigation, grazing and cutting. | 2005-0735 |
| $49,855 | Technical Assistance to Limited-Resource Growers in the Greater Salinas Valley Region to Implement Water Quality Improvement Practices in Accordance with the current Agricultural Order Requirements | Nathan Harkleroad | This project will provide technical assistance to limited-resource growers in the Greater Salinas Valley to implement water quality improvement practices in accordance with the current Agricultural Order. It will also provide funding for technical assistance and develop a long-term program for disadvantaged growers in the Lower Salinas, Bolsa Nueva, and Elkhorn Slough areas/watersheds. The assistance will be to comply with groundwater well testing protocols, backflow prevention, practice implementation, photo monitoring, and other types of technical assistance depending on physical inspection of the site. | 2013-0888 (in progress) |
