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Sabbatical Leave - Report of Results

October 1 to December 30, 2010 (3 months) and

April 1 to September 30, 2011 (6 months)

Paul Vossen – UCCE Farm Advisor – Sonoma and Marin Counties

General Itinerary

1. October to December – Travel in Europe to find new specialty crops and successful market chain practices for Sonoma & Marin growers. Update scientific and practical information about olive oil production, processing, and sensory evaluation for inclusion in my book on olive oil and to maintain my expertise in that field. Observe field research trials on European Grapevine Moth, a new exotic pest in Sonoma County.

2. January to March – Return to work and teach local farmers about new specialty crops. 3. April to early June – Travel in Australia and New Zealand identifying and evaluating new

specialty crops and researching new olive oil production techniques. 4. June to Sept. – Write research papers, book chapters, articles, and the olive oil book.

New Zealand landscape

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Daily Itinerary – Summary of Activities and Findings Institutions Visited – Persons Consulted

September 27 to October 2, 2010 – Master Miller Course

in San Casciano, Italy

I attended a one-week training course on olive oil processing with an emphasis on producing superior quality olive oils. It was coordinated and taught by Marco Mugelli, a well known and respected producer in Tuscany, Italy. This was a fortuitous opportunity, because he died unexpectedly ten months later. He had been and influence on several California small-scale oil processors as a consultant and as a judge for several years at the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition. The course provided new information about oil processing, which is important to California oil producers and it provided updated information for my olive oil book – section on processing. I met with Prof. Caudio Cantini - Consglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Follonica, who works on how olive culture effects oil quality. I invited him to come to California in 2012 to speak: He showed me his research work regarding the influences on oil quality from: Cultivar Irrigation Pruning Fruit Maturity I spent several days with Prof. Marco Mugelli San Casciano – Tuscany Chamber of Commerce Panel Leader. We discussed his research on: Phenolic compounds in oil Olive sugar & oil content. Best time to harvest Local production costs

Time of harvest to crush Processing temperature Oil oxygen exposure Segregating polyphenols

I spent two days with Prof. Massimo Vincenzini – U degli Studi di Fireneze – Dip. Di Biotecnologie discussing his research on microorganisms in olive oil. He taught me that: Olive oil is 0.2-0.5% water Microorganisms can live in oil They are not a threat to human health

Microorganisms have enzymatic activity They can reduce oil stability

He also gave me copies of several of his journal articles from studies that document the occurrence of different types of fungi and bacteria in olive oil and how they affect shelf life.

Marco Mugelli and students

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Oct. 4-8, 2010 – Private Consulting in Morocco

as per the sabbatical leave plan.

Oct. 9-31, 2010 – Córdoba, Cabra, Jaén - Menjíbar, Canena, Madrid, & Sevilla, Spain

I had studied in southern Spain in 2001-02 and wanted to return to get an update on current olive oil research activities and see how new technologies were affecting orchard cultural practices and processing – to complete the book I am writing. I also wanted to continue to be a valuable resource for all California olive oil producers and other farm advisors by maintaining my expertise. I made arrangements to meet with several researchers and industry technicians to discuss projects with them first hand, see their innovations, and to get copies of research papers that were not readily available from traditional literature sources (journals and libraries) – papers that were mostly written in Spanish or had been published in obscure journals. I also wanted to see production and marketing of new specialty crops that might be introduced into Sonoma and Marin Counties. Oct. 13:

I met with researchers Luis Rallo and Diego Barranco (U of Córdoba) and discussed their work on new cultivar evaluation; then met with Ricardo F. Escobar (U of Córdoba) regarding his tree nutrition research. Oct. 14:

I discussed plant pathology issues and research with plant pathologists Antonio Trapero and Miguel Angel Blanco-López (U of Córdoba). I got a lot of information from them for a book chapter I was asked to write on olive diseases, which will be published in Italy in 2012: Michailides, T. J., P. M. Vossen, and M. V. McKenry. 2011. Chapter 18 Olive diseases in California in Olive diseases and disorders. 2011:379-401. ISBN: 978-81-7895-539-1. Editors: Schena L., Agosteo G.E., Cacciolo S.O. Oct 15:

of oils for standards compliance.

I met with sensory scientist Hipólito Garcia Toledo (Consejería de Agricultura y Pesca – Granada) re: oil sensory quality and the work being done at UCD surrounding the evaluation

Oct. 16:Córdoba wholesale produce market

(Saturday): I visited the

early in the morning to observe their packing and transportation process. Interesting crops that were prominent in the market included pomegranate, jujube, yellow plums, chestnuts, Arabic type melons (DulceMancha), cactus fruits, and cherry tomatoes, I had observed many of these same fruits in the street markets.

Oct. 18: instructor Brígida Jiménez Herrera

I met with oil sensory

(Consejería de Agricultura y Pesca in Cabra) re: oil quality. She shared with me her course materials for training producers about olive oil sensory characteristics.

Oct. 19:

Example of produce for sale in Córdoba, Spain

I drove to Jaén – Menjíbar (Olive Research Institute) to discuss new research on olive oil processing and to use their library. I met with Gabriel Beltrán, Antonio Jiménez, and MariPaz Aguilera (Consejería de Agricultura y Pesca – Menjíbar). I also met with Marino Uceda, recently retired scientist, and his olive oil making partner Blas Melgarejo to observe their new

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processing plant and new innovative crusher. I found several popular press and scientific journal articles on olive growing and processing that are pertinent to California conditions.

Oct. 20:

I met with Francisco Vaño: Cortijo de la Loma to observe harvest of green olives. I shot a video of his harvest technique of trees with fruit that was very difficult to remove. Oct. 21:

I met again with Luis Rallo (U of Córdoba) and his Córdoba research group to discuss future collaborations with UC extension and the UCD Olive Center. Oct.22:

I took a train to Madrid to see irrigation research trials with M. Gomez del Campo Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and I gave a guest lecture to her students re: “Olive Oil Production in California” She is doing cutting-edge irrigation work that improves quality. Oct. 25:

I visited a mandarin producer Lorenzo León just west of Córdoba near Palma del Rio during their fruit harvest. We discussed cultural practices, cultivars, packing, and marketing practices. He was also growing mulberry a spring harvested crop to extend his season. Oct. 26:

I made a seminar presentation at U of Córdoba: “Olive Oil Production in California”

Oct. 27:

I drove to Sevilla and met with Ana Maria Morales Sillero and Pablo Campus at (Dpto. De Ciencias Agorforestales – U de Sevilla). Then I met with José Enrique Fernández Luque at (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas CSIC – Sevilla.). They brought me up-to-date on their irrigation research projects and gave me copies of their recent scientific papers. Oct 28:

efficient, highly productive, irrigated, and large

I was a guest speaker at a regional growers meeting on Reconversión del Olivar Tradicional in Jaén. I met with José Ma Penco and Salvador Cubero (Asociación Española de Municipios del Olivo-AEMO). These two men are the main authors of a Spanish cost study comparing different production systems. We compared their methods for developing cost studies with the methods I have used to develop cost studies with the UCD Dept. of Resource Economics (Karen Klonsky). I discussed olive oil quality and prices with Carlos Sanchez Luin, Luis Carlos Valero, Pablo Carazo, Rafael Civantos, Cristóbal Lovera, Luis Miguel Martínez who were the conference speakers and coordinators. We compared (1) traditional non-mechanized, (2) traditional mechanized, (3) intensive medium density, and (4) super intensive systems; and talked about market competition from Chile, Argentina, Australia, and California. World production has been steadily increasing over the last ten years primarily from new,

mechanized orchards. Small-scale dry farming producers just cannot compete any more. Olive oil growers in Southern Spain (Andalucía) annually receive 1.5 billion € in subsidies – most farmers get 250-500 €/ha, yet those subsidies are scheduled to stop in 2013. In Spain the cost of production is 91% of the current price. Growers must either grow at a lower cost or sell at a higher price. The new SHD growing system can grow olives, dry farmed in hedgerow systems at 200-900 trees/ha and produce oil for about 0.90 to 1.30 €/kg. Oct. 29:Fernando Martinez Roman (Instituto de la Grasa

I met with Ramon Aparicio and

in Sevilla) and agreed to write a chapter for the “Handbook of Olive Oil” by Harwood-Aparicio, which I completed in August.

Paul Vossen speaking in Jaén, Spain

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Nov 1-7, 2010 – Tarragona, Spain

I had worked at the Mas Bover research institute in Catalonia in 2001-02 and was always impressed with their innovative research. I knew Agustí Romero and Joan Tous (Investigacion y Tecnologia Agroalimentaria – IRTA – Reus – Mas Bover, Catalonia) in California and Spain. We have shared results numerous times on our trials on olive fruit fly (OLF) control at various international professional society meetings. I also had developed a good relationship with the managers of the La Boella orchard and mill near the research institute in Reus since they were the first to develop the super-high-density (SHD) growing system. Once again, I wanted to get updates form them on new olive oil cultural practices, pest control practices, and oil processing techniques to share with California producers and to update my book. Nov. 1:

Travel - Cordoba to Tarragona. Nov. 2:see the wide array of fruits and vegetables, which

I visited a produce market in Tarragona to

included: Arbutus – strawberry bush fruits, yellow kiwi, persimmons, kiwanos, white donut peaches, apples, pears, quinces, and mandarins. I also visited a pear, quince, and apple orchard with apples planted on B-9 rootstock spaced at 1.5 x 4 meters producing the cultivars: Fuji, Braeburn, Pink Lady, and Florina. The pears were dwarfed by an interstem between the quince rootstock and scion variety. They were growing Bosc, Williams, and Red Bartlett. They also had some interesting varieties of quince fruits that were used to make quince paste (dulce de membrillo).

Nov. 3:

I visited the Research Center in Catalonia “Mas Bover”. I gave a presentation to researchers and the staff on California Olive Oil Production. I met with Agustí Romero, and Joan Tous (Investigacion y Tecnologia Agroalimentaria – IRTA) to discuss their research. In their test orchards we observed OLF control trials comparing kaolin clay, copper, a new barrier film polymer, extracted volatiles that detract OLF, and varieties with natural insect resistance. I photographed fruit from their cultivar (germplasm) collection. Nov. 4:

I traveled to Tarragona-Valencia to take samples of fruit from 1,000 year old trees. This was an interesting historical exercise in determining the usefulness of some of these old trees as a source of original germplasm material in their breeding programs. Nov. 5:

I traveled with Juan Francisco Hermoso (Investigacion y Tecnologia Agroalimentaria – IRTA) to Les Garrigues & Raimat to evaluate some local mills. I invited Juan to come to California to help teach a course on olive oil processing next autumn. Nov. 6:

1,000 year old olive tree and a 54 year old man

(Saturday) I met with Joan Tasias and Pep Baiges (Orchard and Mill Managers - La Boella – Reus, Spain). They showed me the technical aspects of the mill and how it was also being used as an agritourism site. The La Boella orchard, the first super-high-density (SHD) orchard in Spain, was being used to experiment on different tree spacings. I saw how they pruned trees that were spaced differently and how that affected yield. I saw their trials to lower pruning costs by making only one large cut per tree and by using an herbicide for sucker control. They were using electric, pole mounted chain saws and pole mounted electric orchard saws. One trial compared annual to every-other-year mechanical topping. I took several videos of the milling operations and many photos of the pruning techniques. We also discussed their irrigation practices and trials comparing new materials for foliar disease control.

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November 7-12: Lebanon

US-AID Program - Consulting as per sabbatical leave plan.

November 13 to December 2: Italy – Sicilia – Palermo, Trapani, Fulgatore, Castelveltrano, Sciacca, Calabria, Bari, and Rome

Over the last few years, I developed a strong professional relationship with Prof. Tiziano Caruzo. He is the head of the olive department at the U of Palermo in Sicily. I wanted to see his team’s research projects and get updated on olive oil research in Southern Italy. I also wanted to see what other specialty crops were being produced in that area that may be of interest to Sonoma and Marin County farmers. I had met Prof. Enzo Peri Dept. Chair of the U of Calabria at a professional conference and he had invited me to see his research program. I have exchanged information for many years with Prof. Angelo Godini at the U of Bari in Apulia Italy. I saw his variety trial planting three years ago and I wanted to see how it was progressing. Prof. Godini had recently been to California as an invited speaker to one of my statewide production seminars. All of these researchers took me to see their laboratory, field trials, and they shared their scientific papers and popular press articles with me. Nov. 15:

Tiziano Caruzo, Francesco Paolo Marra, Ettore Palermo, Italy. I met with researchers

Barone, and Dino Nicolosi (U of Palermo). We reviewed research papers on NAA thinning for the N. del. Belice cultivar. I saw dwarf tissue culture plants and grafted dwarf Leccino, Cerasuola, and Coratina trees. They introduced me to their website on Italian olive cultivars.

Nov. 16:Nicolosi and met with Vincenzo Cusenza the only

I traveled to Fulgatore with Dino

SHD Arbequina grower in Sicily. I saw their use of an over-the-row harvester. This operation was very profitable because of lower harvest costs and the ability to blend Arbequina oil with their local cultivars. I observed severe olive knot on the Arbosana variety for the first time. We then visited the Castelveltrano area and toured the Grupo Curaba table olive factory. At Grupo Curaba, I saw their technique and recipe for the Nocelara del Belice cultivar table olives. Some fruit was placed in 2.9% lye solution with 6 kg of salt per 70 kg of olives, so the olives would keep their bright green color.

Nov. 17:

I met with Paolo Inglese and we reviewed several scientific papers on oil quality worldwide. I also visited one of the produce markets in Palermo featuring several interesting specialty crops such as tree ripe apples, chestnuts, mandarins, yellow flowered arugula, kale, purple broccoli, purple and white cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers, quince, eggplant, and pears. Nov. 18:

Writing, I finished the revisions for my Cal Ag article on olive oil sensory evaluation, which was later published in January of 2011. Nov. 19:

Wholesale produce in Palermo, Italy

I gave a seminar to graduate students at U of Palermo on the California Olive Oil Industry and I reviewed an irrigation article with Francesco Paolo Marra. I traveled to Sciacca with Dino Nicolosi and saw a 4 year old olive variety trial. It is an attempt to save and categorize lost varieties from small collections of trees in local orchards. This may be a source of cultivar diversity for California.

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Nov. 20:

(Saturday) I visited the Oleficio Russo olive oil mill and saw Cerasuola olives being processed. I met with Mr. Russo and his daughter and took several photos and videos of their bins, elevator, washer, disc crusher, malaxation tanks, decanter, and storage tanks. Later I rented a car and drove across Sicily – Around Mount Etna, and observed production of olives, figs, pistachio, and chestnut. I took several photographs of orchards along the way showing tree spacings and pruning techniques. I took the ferry to Villa San Giovanni on the mainland. Nov. 21:

(Sunday) Travel to Calabria - Cosenza & Rende – U of Calabria via car.

Nov. 22:

I met with professors: Enzo Perri, Cinzia Benincasa, Caterina Briccoli Bati, and Giovanni Sindona & Grad Student Domenico Taverna - Dept. of Olivicoltura U of Calabria in Cosenza - Rende. We discussed olive oil standards and toured Labs and observed their HPLC + DNA machines, and toured their sensory lab tasting room and tasted oils with Massimiliano Pellegrino – panel leader. We exchanged profile sheets (1) Premio Ercole Olivario 100 pts, (2) Mugelli Scheda di valutazione, and (3) CRA centro di ricerca per l’olivicoltura e l’industria olearia sede de Rende for research, which lists many flavor characteristics. We discussed possible collaborations in the future for development of a uniform vocabulary to describe olive oil flavors that could be used by consumers in the marketplace.

Nov. 23: Azienda Feraudo and saw Roggianella variety and a

We visited the farm of Filipo di Santi’s

trial comparing tree vigor with Arbequina and Arbosana. Those 3 three cultivars were the only ones with fruit, but differed considerably in tree size. I was shown their pruning and spacing trials. I saw the Carolea and Biancollila cultivars being harvested. Preharvest fruit drop is a problem for Carolea. I toured a citrus packing shed and oil mill at Frantoio La Molazza in Corigliano with owners Angelo and

Maria Grazia Minisci. The citrus packing shed was a very modern facility packing Clementine mandarins for the Northern European market. I observed organic production of flavored oils (bergamot, lemon, and mandarin) made from their estate harvested fruit. I tasted oil from several cultivars for the first time such as: Cassanense, which is fruity, very pungent, aggressive, persistent, and has a green herbaceous herb flavor. Oil from the cultivar Nocelara Messinese variety was very crisp, clean, fresh, lively, and the fruitiness was quite volatile and light. The Dolce di Rossano variety oil was sweet, nutty, buttery, and almost like Arbequina. Their Leccino oil tasted like cinnamon and was very pungent, and very fruity.

Nov. 24: I visited Angelo Godini – U of Bari and saw his 5th year SHD orchard trial, which I had seen

three years earlier. The cultivar Peranzana looked very interesting. The three standards: Arbequina, Arbosana, and Koroneiki all looked great. Urano had a good crop year 3, but almost nothing in years 4 & 5, so it is a dud, which was good to know, because it was being promoted as a new Italian cultivar for high density orchards in California.

I drove from Cosenza/Rende to Bari via Potenza-Taranto, a six hour drive.

Nov. 25:

(Thanksgiving Day) I traveled from Bari to Rome (Stayed with friends). Nov. 26:

I visited a fruit market in Rome to see the produce and how it was packed and priced. I was impressed with the quality of the apples, figs, chestnuts, quince, and exotic mushrooms. Nov. 29:

I went sightseeing with friends and photographed ancient olive trees near the coliseum.

Nov. 30:

Writing sabbatical leave report – file and name photos. Dec. 1-2:

Enzo Perri’s cultivar trial

Writing sabbatical leave report.

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December 3-7: Morocco

with US-AID Program. Private Consulting as per sabbatical leave plan.

December 8-20: Iraq

with US-AID Program. Private Consulting as per revised sabbatical leave plan – approved by Barbara Allen Diaz.

December 20-30: in California

I returned home for the holidays, organized photos, worked on a PowerPoint presentation, and prepared receipts for submission for reimbursement.

Dec. 20:

Travel from Iraq to California – got stuck in the Paris airport snow storm. Dec. 21-22:

Filing and naming photos from Europe, North Africa, and Middle East

Dec. 27-28:

Preparing PowerPoint presentation of sabbatical from October through December Dec. 29-30:

Preparing receipts for reimbursement through My Travel

January 1 to March 30:

- Back to work at the Sonoma County UCCE office for 3 months.

April 1 to September 30:

- Six months of sabbatical. For the first part, I went to Australia and New Zealand to see their olive oil and specialty crops industries. Then I spent time writing. I had been to Australia in 2002 and 2003, but had not been back since then. I knew that they were doing some innovative research on olive harvest, cultivar evaluation, processing, and developing new standards for olive oil grades. I have developed a good working relationship with Susan Sweeney a researcher evaluating cultivars and with Richard Gawel, who started the Australian Olive Oil Taste Panel the same time I had started the California Taste Panel. I had worked in the past with Leandro Ravetti in California teaching a course on olive oil processing. I set up part of my tour with Deborah Rogers, a Sonoma County oil processor, so we could share impressions. I also wanted to see some of Australia’s specialty fruit production. I had never been to New Zealand, but I was invited to see their olive oil industry and whatever specialty fruit crops were available by Margaret Edwards who was their country’s olive oil taste panel leader. She and I had worked together in California as olive oil judges at the Los Angeles International Competition.

April 1:

Review county budget with UCCE Sonoma County Office Manager - Allie Stabler April 4-5:

I was an invited speaker at the Medium Density Olive Production Course in Davis.

April 6-8:

Review scientific literature on olive growing and pest control via online e-library. April 11-20:

Writing - Olive Diseases Chapter: Michailides, T. J., P. M. Vossen, and M. V. McKenry. 2011. Olive diseases and disorders. Chapter 18, 2011: 000-000 ISBN: 978-81-7895-539-1. Editors: Schena L., Agosteo G.E., Cacciolo S.O. April 21-22:

Flight to Australia.

April 23:

(Saturday) I arrived in Adelaide and settled into a rented room in the home of Richard Gawel an Australian olive oil and wine sensory scientist at the Australian Wine Institute. He also owns a private sensory company called Aromadictionary. April 25: We visited Clare Valley – just north of Adelaide, an area that grows numerous specialty crops on small-scale farms including wine grapes, table olives, oil olives, vegetable crops, berries, apples, mulberry, and melons. The area has several wineries and various agritourism facilities. I saw several small olive groves and lots of invasive wild olive trees

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growing in the fence rows and fields everywhere. The wild olive trees are seedlings dispersed by birds. The base genetics is primarily from the cultivar Koroneiki, because the first settlers in that area were form Greece and they brought that variety with them to plant in Australia. They gave up trying to eradicate invasive olives a few years ago. This may also be a problem in California some day.

April 26: I visited the downtown Adelaide market and saw the wide array of specialty produce and cut flowers available. Some of the crops we are already growing in Sonoma and Marin, but especially interesting were the Chestnuts, persimmons, plums, muscat grapes, and mandarins.

April 27:Market and talked with several growers there who

I visited the Showgrounds Farmers

were selling interesting specialty fruits, vegetables and berries.

April 28:

I drove out to visit David, Andrew, and Ross Boag of Ashbourn Valley Orchards who grow several varieties of specialty pears and apples that were ripe when I was there. They also grow several varieties of peaches, but that season had passed. They have 12 hectares on the Fleurieu Peninsula under netting to protect the fruit from birds and hail damage. They gave me a lot of useful information about their production system and they were very interested in my work with organic apple production in California. April 29:

I spent the day investigating local specialty produce growers on the internet.

April 30:

Travel to Canberra

May 2:Gawel and I visited Peter and Caroline O’Clery;

In the Canberra NSW area, Richard

Peter is the President of the NSW Olive Assn. They have about 1,500 olive trees planted 7 x 5 meters on 6 ha (15 acres). They make high quality table olives out of Koroneiki, Frantoio, Benito, Corregiolo, and the UC selection 135. Most of their crop, however, was made into oil at one of the three local processing plants. We discussed the Australian olive oil business from the perspective of a small-scale olive grower. Peter told me

about the financial realities and difficulties of selling oil. They sell it directly at two farmers markets and a bit to a few select stores. Their price is about $18 per liter, which is good enough to make some profit. We discussed their irrigation, fertility, and pruning practices. Their trees were small for their age. They have a minor problem with black scale, but no other significant pests. Peter and Caroline do all the work themselves including: mowing, pruning, spraying, trimming the skirts for the wrap around trunk shaker, harvest by hand for the table fruit, make the table fruit, bottling the oil, labeling the bottles, and selling it. The only thing they do not do is run the trunk shaker, which is contracted out. This farm is a good example for my Sonoma and Marin small-scale farmers.

Produce in downtown Adelaide

Olives in Australia

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May 3:

I visited the Canberra Farmers Market and met Dave and Hideko Pantony of Gleann Na Meala Farm then went out to their organic vegetable farm nearby to see their specialty potatoes, salad greens and peas. I was especially impressed with the wide array of heirloom potato varieties including: Kipfler, Tilboug, Pink Fir, Dutch Cream, King Edward, and Mieke. I saw them growing some salad greens that I had never seen before including: Tarsai, Dansir, and Myann. Their snap pea production process was very efficient and appeared quite profitable. May 4-5:

I worked on the internet investigating the interesting produce types I had just seen.

May 5:

I picked up Deborah Rogers, olive oil master miller at “The Olive Press” in Sonoma, from the Adelaide airport. Together we planned our trip to visit orchards and olive oil mills over the next few days. May 6:

Deborah Rogers and I drove to McLaren Vale. We met the tourist center director and discussed their agritourism activities. We visited the Diana Olive Oil Mill owned by Vince Scarfo. It is an old mill that has been running for 22 years. It is one of the oldest mills in Australia, but now has all new modern equipment. Vince showed us the mill that had only been running for the last 4 days. He was processing wild fruit that had been harvested along the roadways, dry Frantoio, over irrigated green Frantoio, Koroneiki, over ripe Manzanillo, some ripe Frantoio and Jumbo Kalamata cultivars. He also showed us what he called “magic juice” – Novozymes Ultrazymes EXL from Denmark that he said gave him an extra 2% oil with hard to work wet pastes. This product is a naturally occurring enzyme that breaks down the cell walls in unripe olives to help release more oil and has applications for use in California. He was currently selling bulk oil for $3.30 US per liter, which was just a breakeven price. He makes his money milling fruit for others at a cost to them of about $200-$280 per ton. We then went to Lloyd Brothers Winery and Olive Grove (agritourism spot) where we saw a planting of Kalamon olives and tasted their canned olives and oil. May 7:

(Saturday): Travel towards Melbourne. After driving for about 3 hours, our first stop was in Keith and the olive mill called Tatiara with Natasha (Tash) and Roisin the two women who ran the place. They had two large lines – one was Alfa-Laval the other was Westfalia brand equipment. The fruit coming in was quite beaten up by the mechanical harvesters, but was being made into some fantastic oils. We tasted their recently made Picual which was fantastic. Then we drove another 6 hours to Melbourne. May 8:

(Sunday) We made it to Jill and Julian Barson’s olive ranch and immediately got a tour of the orchard, which had recently received an award for the best kept orchard in Australia. The olive trees had good growth, nice production, good weed control, and the oil quality was fantastic. They had Frantoio, Leccino, Arbequina, Barnea, and Picual cultivars. May 9:Melbourne Bay to Geelong – Lara and the Modern

We headed out to the other side of the

Olives facility. At the Modern Olives facility, Andrew Burgess gave us a tour including their nursery and propagation greenhouses. We saw the bottling line, and tank room, which is 1.5 hectares under one roof. We spent quite a bit of time in the laboratory with Leandro Ravetti and Claudia Guilaume who manages the lab. She showed us the machines and computers she uses to test their oils. They have a NIR (Near Ifra Red) apparatus used to evaluate paste for oil and moisture content and another more sensitive NIR used to evaluate oil

Claudia Guilaume in her lab

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for free fatty acid. This is an essential tool for them for evaluating the efficiency of oil extraction in real time. They have a Gas Chromatograph to analyze for DAG’s, sterols (1 day preparation and 1 hour to run) alcohols, erethrodiol, and fatty acid profile, which can be run in about an hour. They also have a Rancimat device that runs at 110oC to estimate the shelf life of an oil. It measures the electrical conductivity of volatiles as they are dissolving in distilled water from bubbling hot air through the oil. Wax content was measured by capturing waxes in a silica column. The HPLC machine is used to measure all non volatiles – tocopherols – polyphenol profile and PPP. I especially wanted to see this process because PPP (Pyrophenophytin) is a chlorophyll breakdown product that exists in olive oil. Its levels can indicate oil freshness and possible adulteration with seed oils. This laboratory test is being discussed worldwide as a possible new test for determining oil market grade (extra virgin) and has direct implications for helping the California industry overcome competition from cheap imported processed oils. Total polyphenols are measured with a spectrophotometer. Sample prep included passing an oil through a SPME cartridge C-18 gel where the polyphenols stick then they are washed out with methanol. A reagent – folin is added then the mixture is read in a Spectrophotometer that reads color at various wavelengths and determines total polyphenols.

May 10:

We drove for about 3 hours to Shepparton where we met Peter Evangelista a technician working with Alfa Laval who was consulting with the new owners of a re-built Alfa-Laval mill. We observed trunk shaker harvest on Barnea with a side-by-side Californian made machine. It was only removing about 60% (estimate) of the fruit. I took lots of photos and a video of the harvest operation. We stayed overnight in Shepparton. May11: Timber Corp orchards and processing plant with

We drove north to Boort to see the former

Leandro Ravetti – Orchard Manager. He drove us around the 17 km long orchard where we saw 1 million trees planted 7x4 m apart. They have Barnea, Arbequina, Frantoio, Manzanillo, Hojiblanca, and Picual cultivars; all with 80-100 ppm greater polyphenol content due to cooler weather. We saw two of the 11 colossus harvesters working, one on the Arbequina trees and another on Barnea trees. They had just started harvesting a couple of days earlier. We also saw some of the damage from the recent floods. Then we toured the processing plant and saw the 4 washing lines that removed leaves and any stray metal parts. No water was used to avoid diluting out the flavor of the oil. There were 8 Amenduni decanters and a large bank of purging and storage tanks. We tasted 6 recently made oils (Arbequina, Barnea, Picual, Hojiblanca, Koroneiki, Coratina, and Picholine) which were all very good. The Barnea was bland and used to extend and mellow out other oils. They make about 50% Barnea. It is mixed with Arbequina to produce a mild blend (1.2 million liters). For their medium blend they use mostly Picual and Barnea (1.5 million liters). For their robust blend they use primarily Picual and Coratina (500,000 liters).

May 12:

Colossus harvest at Boundary Bend

With Leandro Ravetti we visited the Boundary Bend orchard and processing plant – probably one of the best orchards and mills in the world. The orchards are very impressive from the pumping station out of the Murray River to the detail of layout, and attention to detail in every step. The smaller Arbequina trees were being harvested with a small Braud brand over-the-row grape harvester and the larger Koroneiki and Barnea cultivar trees were being harvested

Kangaroos along the roadway

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with a Colossus. This operation is a good example for all orchardists. I saw that they were applying copper sprays immediately after harvest to protect the trees from olive knot. I observed Koroneiki trees that were being harvested almost completely clean with the Colossus. This variety is normally very difficult to harvest. All the early season fruit is treated with enzyme and talc to improve extraction efficiency, something we could be doing in California. The Boundary Bend mill had two processing lines able to handle

thousands of tons of fruit every day. All of the oils are purged in tall narrow conical bottomed tanks for a few hours to a couple of days to remove most of the water and sediments. Then they are put into larger storage tanks for about two months, and finally the oils are decanted over to clean tanks for long-term storage. Little or no filtering is done on any of the oils. They also have one decanter designated for secondary extraction, which is done immediately after the paste goes through the first extraction. The 2nd extraction oil is very green in color but it does not taste fresh. The mill separates the pits from the 2-phase, wet, waste pomace, which is burned to heat the mill. The pomace without pits is dumped onto the orchard floor for disposal and for its limited fertilizer value. We tasted all of the oils right out of the tanks in the storage area with Leandro – then went back into the mill to look at his record keeping system. For every oil they designate a code that corresponds to the location in the orchard where the fruit originated, plus variety, time of harvest, date of harvest, method of harvest, crusher grid size, paste temperature, speed of paste injection into the decanter, quantity of talc and or enzyme used, oil temperature, oil free fatty acid percentage, destination tank for purging, decanter plate number used for separation, and finally pomace oil and moisture content in percent. From this, extraction efficiency is calculated.

May 13:kangaroos along the way.

We drove back to Adelaide and saw some

May 14:Adelaide produce market again to evaluate the quality and

(Saturday) Richard, Deborah, and I visited the

cost of the produce and various processed products. The market had some fantastic looking produce, which was all quite expensive.

May 16: Margaret Edwards in New Zealand, Susan Sweeney in

I worked on emails to communicate with

Adelaide, and my contacts in Western Australia making travel arrangements.

May 17:

I met with Allen Bolaffi an accountant with Agrolive company in Adelaide. He was a big investor in olive orchards all over Australia in the late 1980’s. We talked about the olive oil industry in general and discussed the problems of the Australian olive oil market trying to compete against cheap low quality imports from Europe. He also told me about the high cost of water in Australia which has hampered the development of new plantings. May 18-19: I spent two days with Susan Sweeney, former researcher with the Roseworthy Research Institute just outside Adelaide who had conducted the definitive study of oil olive varieties in Australia over 15 years. We reviewed the data she had collected and then drove out

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to Roseworthy College to see the germplasm test orchard. It has been abandoned for about 5 years with no irrigation, pruning, or soil management. The trees actually looked pretty good and I got some photos of the more unusual varieties.

May 19:

I drove out to Cottonville Farm, at Scott Creek and visited with Helen and Alan Dawson the owners. They produce sylvan blackberries and boysenberries. They use no conventional chemicals except herbicides. They had no fruit, but showed me how they trellis and prune the plants. May 20:

I had met Humphrey Howie at the Adelaide farmers market, so I drove out to visit his citrus farm where their family has been for 103 years. Their 25 hectare farm is called Fat Goose Fruits. They have Washington navel oranges, Valencia oranges, lemons, limes, and several varieties of seedless mandarins. They are certified NAASA organic and sell most of the fruit in net bags. This farm was a good example of an agritourism destination. May 21:

apples, and central leader peaches.

(Saturday) I drove down to McLaren Vale and met Mark McCarthy to see his production of Zante currants and sun muscat grapes that they sell fresh or dried. They have 15 hectares in total and have recently planted several hectares of Pink lady, Fuji, Gala, Mutsu

May 23:(Western Australia) and worked on the internet

I made final travel arrangements for Perth

researching specialty crops there. May 24:

and Jan Cooper of Kailis Enterprises. We talked I flew to Perth and met with Mark Kailis

about the international olive oil market. Jan drove me out to Beverly to see their organic orchards – over 1,000 ha. The trees were 3-5 years old. They did not allow photographs probably because the orchard floor was covered with weeds, the trees were a bit small, and there was only a very light crop.

May 25:

May 26: I met with Margaret Edwards former U of Auckland researcher and founder of the NZ olive oil taste panel. We went to Waiheki Island where she runs an olive mill and farms 11 hectares of olives, wine grapes, and forest land.

I met with Laurence Kirton, private consultant and irrigation specialist. We drove to the Gingin area to look at olive orchards. We went to see Marek Fisher who was using a pulsing irrigation system and bragging about how great it was working on 2-3 year old trees. He has huge expenses from applying mulch over the irrigation lines to keep them cool in the summer sun. The pulsating irrigations went on 80 times per day for 1 minute with a lapse of 13 minutes between irrigations. Each application has a small amount of fertilizer in it. Lawrence and others claimed a 50-60% reduction in water use with excellent results. I did not see the excellent results. Next we visited Steve Beckwith at the Forest Tanner orchard. They were harvesting with a modified Colossus that was modified to use only one operator. I photographed kangaroos in the orchard late into the evening. That night I flew to Sydney on the midnight flight – arriving at about 6:00 am. I took the 9:00 a.m. flight to Auckland, New Zealand arriving at about 2:00 pm on the following day.

May 27: I toured Margaret’s mill and saw several olive orchards being harvested.

Central leader peaches – McLaren Vale

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May 29: (Sunday) I helped Margaret and her husband John make olive oil all day until about 7:00 p.m. I learned how to take the machinery apart and thoroughly clean everything. Everything was washed with caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) then rinsed with a solution of citric acid, which neutralizes the NaOH.

May 30: I took the ferry back to Auckland, rented a car, and drove south toward Rotorua where I stayed overnight.

May 31: I drove south toward Martinborough (8 hours). The first part of the journey was through grassy pasture land. Then I got into some drier hills, native forest, mountains, and lots of planted Monterey Pine forest trees. I visited the horticultural area of Napier where they grow apples, citrus, table olives, avocados, peaches, plums, and wine grapes. I made it to Martinborough in the early evening. It is a small town with a cool old town square.

June 1: I met with Helen Meehan an orchardist and olive oil producer who has a tasting room on her property. She and her husband John showed me the orchard with Barnea cultivar trees about 10 years old that had the typical upright growing habit making the trees too tall to harvest. Their other cultivars were much easier to manage. They do not irrigate since they have a deep soil and rainfall all year long. The trees were all spaced 6x4 meters apart, which was too close as some shading was occurring. We visited a semi-abandoned orchard that had severe foliar disease (Peacock Spot) so bad that every leaf, right up to the growing point was covered with it. I tasted Helen’s oils at her tasting room. She had made a fantastic 2009 blend of Frantoio, Leccino, and Barnea, but her 2010 oil was quite bland due to the high rainfall. A few years earlier, Helen and John had started an international marketing business where they sell their oils into Canada and parts of the USA. I talked with John a lot about the economics of their operation. He felt they were getting about a 35% return, but that did not include all costs. Their oils sell for about $20-$25 per 250 or 500 ml bottle. Helen also made several unique infused (flavored) oils, which are the main money makers including: smoked paprika, smokey chili, fennel, lemon, orange, cumin, cinnamon, vanilla and dried porcini mushroom. We also visited a kiwi farmer who was producing golden kiwi; not a likely crop for Sonoma or Marin farmers. Golden kiwi is patented and closely controlled. The patent holders only rent the plants so that they can control the quantity and quality of the production. This is an example being followed more and more by plant breeders and universities around the world.

June 2: I got up at 5:00 am, packed and drove to the Wellington airport, connected to Auckland and on to San Francisco.

June 3: I recuperated from jet lag. June 6-10: I filed and named photos taken in Australia and New Zealand. June 13 to July 8: Writing: I finished my part of the chapter on “Olive Diseases in California” by

Themis Michailides, Paul Vossen, and Jim McHenry, which will be published in Italy in 2012. July 11 to August 26: Writing: I finished Chapter 2 – Growing Olives for Oil in “Handbook of

Olive Oil” edited by R. Aparicio and J.L. Harwood – to be published by Springer in 2012. August 29 to Sept. 30: Writing: I revising and updated portions of my book on olive oil primarily

the introduction and production sections.

Golden and green kiwis

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Sabbatical Leave Project Progress and Project Changes Primary Objectives (as Stated in the Sabbatical Leave Plan)

1. Complete a book on olive oil production, processing, and evaluation for peer review submission by April 2012. Focuses on the ANR strategic initiatives to enhance competitive sustainable food systems and improve water quality. Also write up results of research projects for olive fruit fly from 2003-2009 and weed control trials from 2000-2005.

2. Discover, evaluate, and introduce new specialty crops from European markets into Sonoma –

Marin Counties for small-scale specialty crops producers. Focuses on the ANR strategic initiative to enhance competitive sustainable food systems.

3. Identify aspects of local food distribution and marketing chains in Europe (Spain, Italy, and

Greece) that may be adapted to Sonoma and Marin Counties. Focuses on the ANR strategic initiative to enhance California’s agricultural economy.

4. Investigate the biology and control of the recently introduced (into Sonoma County) exotic pest

species: European Grapevine Moth – EGVM (Lobesia botrana) – primary host is olives. Focuses on the ANR strategic initiative for managing invasive pests and diseases.

Objective # 1 I made considerable progress toward completing the book on olive oil production, processing, and sensory evaluation. I read hundreds of scientific papers, articles and books written for growers and olive oil consumers. I evaluated and compared new economic studies from Spain, Italy, Argentina, Chile, Australia and California. I spent many days in the offices, libraries, laboratories, processing plants, and orchards with some of the world’s foremost experts looking at research results, laboratory techniques, mill equipment manipulations, cultivar trials, pruning techniques, and irrigation system management. I took a lot of really good photos on tree pruning, harvest methods, shots of the fruit of all of the major cultivars in the world, tree spacing trials, processing techniques, and laboratory procedures that will be incorporated into the book as one of the final steps. I spent considerable time evaluating a new pulse irrigation technique in Australia that was alleged to save considerable water. I never found any supporting scientific data to support the claims made by industry sales people and consultants. I reviewed all of the data I could find on new pest control methods for every pest affecting olives in California and some that are not in California yet. I updated the introduction and production sections of my book including:

• World and CA production statistics

• The International Olive Council

• Marketing olive oil • Botany • Physiology

• Climate & site selection

• Propagation • Varieties – cultivars

- rootstocks • Production systems • Irrigation

• Establishment • Fertility – nutrition • Orchard floor

management • Pruning • Pest control • Harvest

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This book will be an important manual for producers helping them make informed decisions regarding best cultural practices to reduce costs and improve profitability. The other two sections on olive oil processing and evaluation have not been updated. I just ran out of time. I had originally asked for 12 full months of sabbatical leave, and I had enough sabbatical leave credits to take a full 12 months, but I was only granted 9 months leave with a 3 month interruption in the middle. I finished writing and completed the revisions for a Cal-Ag article that was published in the Jan-March issue of 2011. I also took the opportunity to focus efforts on completing the two following book chapters that I had been invited to write, which took 10 weeks:

1. Michailides, T. J., P. M. Vossen, and M. V. McKenry. 2011. Chapter 18: Diseases of olive in California in Olive Diseases and Disorders. 2011:379-401 ISBN: 978-81-7895-539-1. Editors: Schena L., Agosteo G.E., Cacciolo S.O. – to be published in Italy in 2012.

2. Vossen, P. M. 2012. Growing olives for oil – Chapter 2 in Handbook of olive oil: analysis and properties edited by R. Aparicio and J. L. Harwood – to be published by Springer in 2012.

I did not complete the paper on weed control based on trials I conducted from 2000 to 2005. I am almost finished with the scientific paper on my olive fruit fly research from 2003 to 2009. I am waiting for help from Susan Langstaff who assisted me in conducting the tests for evaluation of olive fly damage threshold levels on olive oil sensory characteristics. We just need to settle on a way to report the statistical methods. That paper will likely be titled: “Comparison of Various Control Methods and Damage Threshold Levels for Olive Fruit Fly in Small-Scale Orchards in Coastal California” What I learned: New Information to be shared with California Olive Oil Producers

• Course in Tuscany Italy: Details about the influences of cultivar on olive oil quality, influences of subtle differences in olive paste manipulation and its effect on oil flavor, and the influences of microorganisms on olive oil keeping quality.

• Work in Spain: How nitrogen fertilizer can affect olive oil quality, how to be maximize competitiveness by reducing production costs, details about the influence of irrigation on olive oil yields and flavor, details of all of the olive diseases affecting olives in Spain, influence of tree spacing on olive yield and oil yield per hectare, effectiveness of kaolin clay and other products for olive fruit fly control, pruning techniques for SHD orchards, and a process to evaluate an olive oil mill and help the processor improve their oil quality.

• Work in Southern Italy: The potential for some new cultivars that we should plant and evaluate in California, mill design and layout for efficiency of fruit handling, and some new vocabulary for olive oil flavor classification (sensory testing and evaluation).

• Work in Australia and New Zealand: The potential for spread of “wild” olive trees that might cause environmental problems in California, realities of the economics for small-scale olive oil producers, the potential for adding enzymes in processing olives and improving oil yields, details regarding olive tree pruning in the palmette shape for over-the-row mechanical harvest, details regarding new laboratory techniques for determining olive oil trueness to market grade, the fallacy of pulse irrigation supposedly improving production

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while using less water, how to grow medium density olive trees and harvest them efficiently (mechanically), details about the hands-on operation of a small-scale olive oil mill and keeping it clean, and the value of infusing olive oils with various flavors.

Objective # 2 I spent considerable time in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand looking for potential new specialty crops that could be grown in Sonoma and Marin Counties for a profit by small-scale farmers. I visited several farms that were growing, packing, and selling vegetables, berries, and tree fruits other than olives, including: • Palma del Rio, Spain mandarin producer • Mt. Etna tree fruit producers • Citrus packing and farm in Calabria, Italy • Clare Valley, Australia produce growers • Adelaide, Australia – Ashbourne Valley

Orchards

• Gleann Na Meala Farm, near Canberra, Australia

• Cottonville Farm – Scott Creek, Australia • Fat Goose Fruits Farm – Adelaide,

Australia • McLaren Vale, Australia – Mark

McCarthy Farm • Napier, New Zealand farms

I found some potentially profitable new crops that I will be presenting to Sonoma and Marin farmers and I plan to establish some variety evaluation trials and demonstration farms/orchards as well. Of particular interest are: Chestnuts, golden kiwi, mulberry, specialty varieties of apples (especially Florina that is resistant to apple scab disease), quince, yellow flowered arugula, seedless muscat table grapes, European pears on dwarfing rootstocks, specialty Asian salad greens, heirloom potatoes, mandarins, melons (especially DulceMancha), cactus fruits, and fig varieties (Adriatic – White Genoa - Tigerella) that do well in a cooler climate. What I learned: New Information to be shared with Sonoma-Marin Specialty Crops Growers

• Work in Spain: The potential for growing some new and interesting tree fruit and vegetable crops that we have not grown before including Arabic melons, mulberry, disease resistant apple cultivars, mandarins, quince, strawberry bush fruits, packing techniques for selling small boxes of ripe (softer and more flavorful) produce, and the need to have established relationships with buyers in order to assure rapid movement of highly perishable products.

• Work in Southern Italy: The technique for making Castelveltrano-style table olives as a specialty item, possible growing of yellow flowered arugula as a salad mix crop, and that it is possible to ship ripe, perishable fruits into city markets.

• Work in Australia and New Zealand: How to protect tree crops from birds (netting trellis structures); how to grow specialty potatoes for a profit; some new specialty Asian salad greens to try here such as: Tarsai, Dansir, and Myann; some of the characteristics of good agritourism farms, and that golden kiwi is not possible to grow due to patent restrictions.

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Objective #3 I talked with buyers and sellers of wholesale and retail produce on how products moved through their various market chains. I visited several wholesale and retail produce markets that were selling interesting fruits and vegetables, as follows:

• Córdoba, Spain wholesale market • Produce market in Tarragona, Spain • Palermo, Italy produce market • Rome, Italy city fruit market

• Adelaide, Australia farmers market • Adelaide, Australia - Showgrounds

market

What I learned: New Information to be shared with Sonoma-Marin Specialty Crops Growers

• Work in Spain, Italy, and Australia: In most cases produce was being packed in smaller sized containers and boxes than what I see in California. Almost without exception the produce was riper and was full flavored compared to most California produce, consequently they had to know their market sales potential very well. They spent considerable effort coordinating the packing of ripe and flavorful products that were delivered in small quantities to each market outlet. Their distribution systems were fairly local in most cases and many times I was told that consumers (the ultimate buyers) demanded very high quality products with good flavor. There was considerable competition among farmers to grow and pack the highest quality ripe fruits. The positive implications for Sonoma and Marin produce farmers is that there may be an opportunity to pack and sell wholesale fruits and vegetables that are more ripe and flavorful if they use good packaging and cooling techniques and if shipments are well coordinated through distributors in appropriate quantities that will sell rapidly.

Objective #4 I abandoned the objective of investigating the field biology of European Grapevine Moth – EGVM (Lobesia botrana) for three reasons. (1) it is a very minor pest in the areas I visited and it was difficult to find current research being conducted by the group of scientists I knew in Spain, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand; (2) Lucia Varela, my IPM co-worker in Sonoma County, was already putting considerable effort into investigating this pest in California and Europe with specific entomologists she had contacted; and (3) I just ran out of time trying to do too many things.

Appraisal of Obtained Results and Anticipated Results Finishing the Book on Olive Oil and Other Publications I thought that after gathering the necessary information I needed to be able to update and finish writing my book on olive oil that I would have enough time to complete the whole thing and have it ready for peer review by the end of September. I fell short of that goal. Though I was able to compile all of the up-to-date information and scientific data I needed, I only had enough time to update and finish writing the sections on (1) oil olive production (Propagation, cultivars – rootstocks, production systems, irrigation, establishment, fertility – nutrition, orchard floor management, pruning, pest control, and harvest); and (2) the introduction (world and CA production

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statistics, the International Olive Council, marketing olive oil, botany, physiology, climate & site selection). The other two sections on olive oil processing and evaluation, still need to be thoroughly reviewed updated and re-written. I am disappointed that I have not been able to complete the entire book on olive oil as planned, however I did write a chapter (as sole author) for the revised edition of the “Handbook of Olive Oil”, a very prestigious publication that is a must-have reference for olive oil chemists worldwide. I also contributed significantly to a chapter on “Olive Diseases in California” that was co-written by Themis Michiliades and Mike McHenry for a book titled: “Olive Diseases and Disorders” - Editors are: L. Schena, G.E. Agosteo, and S.O. Cacciola (from Italy). These were activities that were not in the sabbatical leave plan, but I felt that this was an opportune time to write those book chapters and complete them within the deadlines set by the editors. During my sabbatical leave I established new relationships and solidified existing relationships with several university professors, graduate students, post docs, oil sensory experts, and private consultants that will remain a source of excellent scientifically valid information for the olive oil producers in California. Specialty Crops My expectations were exceeded in discovering a number of potential new specialty crops in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand that we can grow or try to grow for profit in Sonoma and Marin Counties. Especially interesting are: Cool weather figs, mulberries, the Florina apple variety, quince, heirloom potatoes, and the DulceMancha melon variety. I already made a presentation in January during a one-day seminar to growers on “Extending the Growing Season” where I presented new information on some of the growing techniques and potential new crops that I had learned about in Europe. I also used some of the information that I had gotten in Europe to make a presentation on Sonoma County agriculture and its potential at “The Food Forum” held in January. I just made two presentations (December 13 and 20, 2011) on growing specialty tree fruits to over 100 attending farmers and small-scale market gardeners from Sonoma and Marin Counties. Market Chain My review of marketing procedures in Europe primarily confirmed my suspicions that small-scale growers need to find a special local niche for riper fully flavored fruit. I learned about the specific designs of some of the smaller packages used there. Some of these may be able to be submitted to CDFA by local growers for approval as new standard packages if appropriate. My knowledge base increased regarding the techniques used to market produce from what I saw in Europe, making me more confident that we can make some of those techniques work here in Northern California. I also have many good photos of smaller scale packaging that I can use to show my farmers how some of the Europeans and Australians do it.

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Exotic Pest Control The collaborative work I had proposed with Lucia Varela regarding investigating the biology and control of European Grapevine Moth EGVM could have easily become a duplication of effort. Lucia just recently returned from working in Europe with entomologists who were very knowledgeable about this pest. I am not concerned that this part of my sabbatical leave plan was dropped, because Lucia is the real expert and has developed a knowledge base to which my contribution would have been minimal.

Future Activities Based on this Sabbatical Leave

Finishing the Book on Olive Oil and Other Publications My first choice would like to take the remaining three months of sabbatical leave originally requested and finish the two sections of my book on olive oil processing and evaluation. I attended our recent Sustainable Food Systems Conference and Pomology & Viticulture Workgroup in Davis (Oct. 11-13) where there were several presentations on the topic of electronic publishing. I now feel that it is a better idea to publish shorter topics within my olive oil book on-line instead of printing one huge book in hard copy. I am ready now to publish the sections on olive orchard production and the introduction, which could be combined. I could also extract individual topics, for example: tree spacing, pruning in high density orchards, irrigation timing for mature olive trees, or how to control olive fruit fly and produce short electronically published articles that would be available online at no cost. I could publish the production and introduction sections of the book electronically and it (combined) as a pdf document through the UCCE Sonoma and Marin website. Some other UCCE manuals have been published and sold or provided for free in this manner (peach, pistachio, pomegranate, and avocado). I will have to discuss these options with ANR Communications Services. UC-ANR Communications had originally wanted me to finish the whole thing before submitting it for peer review. I will be able to meet with Susan Langstaff in February to determine how I should write up the statistical methodology for the data I have on sensory evaluation of olive oils as influenced by different levels of olive fruit fly damage. Then that paper titled “Comparison of Various Control Methods and Damage Threshold Levels for Olive Fruit Fly in Small-Scale Orchards in Coastal California” can be submitted for peer review and publication. I will likely submit it to Hort Technology, Plant Protection Quarterly, or Cal Ag. At this time I do not know when I will be able to finish the paper on weed control. The best option would be to complete the 12 months of sabbatical leave (take another 3 months) as originally requested. The two book chapters I wrote for Olive Diseases and Disorders and The Handbook of Olive Oil will be published in 2012. I will continue to be a resource for all California olive oil growers and processors through local farm advisors in each county or directly to growers in counties when there is no tree crops advisor present – with the notification and approval of the local UCCE county director. I will continue to

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serve on the UCD Olive Center advisory committee. I will work with the UC olive workgroup to educate California producers statewide to improve their production efficiency, oil quality, and marketing techniques. I have applied for a CDFA-UDSA specialty crops grant (2011-12) to use my UCCE Research Taste Panel as a tool to help differentiate California olive oils in the US market. Specialty Crops I have already presented two full-day seminars (Dec. 13 and 20) on Growing Fruit Trees on a Small-Scale in Sonoma & Marin Counties (http://cesonoma.ucdavis.edu/SpecialtyCrops/). These seminars have included information on potential new specialty crops discovered in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. I will continue to coordinate and teach these one-day seminars as they are very popular (50+ attendees at each one) covering one crop at a time in much more depth. I have already spoken with the Farm Manager, Leonard Diggs, at the Santa Rosa Junior College Shone Farm regarding the possibility of planting some new crops for demonstration and evaluation purposes. He is very interested in putting in some specialty potato varieties this next spring in March or April. I will need to gather some more information on the availability of some of the varieties I saw in Australia including: Kipfler, Tilboug, Pink Fir, Dutch Cream, King Edward, and Mieke. Even if those varieties are not available, I know that I can get some interesting varieties from Ron Voss, UCCE Emeritus Specialist on potatoes that we can try. Leonard also expressed interest in planting some seeds of the DulceMancha (Arabic) melon so commonly grown in Europe and North Africa. I am working on getting some seeds to plant in May. I will also be talking to some of my better vegetable growers about planting this melon since it is so good, productive, and popular. I anticipate that this will become a specialty item for my growers here. I will get some seeds of the Asian greens: Tarsai, Dansir, and Myann and get some of my small-scale vegetable growers to try them. In regards to tree crops, we also have some room at the SRJC farm to plant a few Florina cultivar apples as replacement trees in our existing market garden demo orchard at the SRJC shone farm. I am looking into a source for these trees in the USA and may have to import them and go through quarantine. I am also going to propose to Leonard Diggs at the SRJC and another fruit and vegetable grower in Sebastopol – Dan Smith about planting some fruiting mulberry trees for demonstration and evaluation purposes. I have already located some nursery trees available in the USA that can be shipped into California for planting this winter. I would like to set up two cultivar demonstration sites if possible. Market Chain I will be working with local Sonoma and Marin growers, wholesale buyers, distributors, and retailers to help them develop handling systems that can maintain quality with ripe fruits and other highly perishable products. I will also be meeting with contacts made at the food forum last February and the various local food security organizations such as Buy Local, Farm Link, and Community Alliance with Family Farmers, to work with them and their members in order to identify key steps that we might use to improve our food distribution system here in Sonoma and Marin Counties.

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Exotic Pest Control I will be collaborating with Lucia Varela to get appropriate information regarding the European Grapevine Moth out to my olive growers in Sonoma and Marin Counties and the rest of California. Collaborations with Foreign Experts I am working with the UC olive workgroup to plan a two-day short course – probably at the UC Davis Olive Center in the early winter of 2013 on establishing a new olive orchard. We will need to cover both high density and medium density production systems and I would like to invite Claudio Cantini from Italy to speak on medium density orchards. I had heard him speak on this topic at the course I took in Tuscany, Italy last October 2010. I already met in California on October 3rd 2011 with Juan Francisco Hermoso who I worked with in Spain regarding the evaluation of olive oil processing facilities. I had invited him here to speak at a conference on olive oil processing. We have talked about working collaboratively on a project to help evaluate California olive oil mills and to help California processors make sure they are managing their mills efficiently and producing the highest quality olive oil possible.