FILLMORE — King & King Ranch Field Day will be held from 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29 at 684 E. Guiberson Road, Fillmore.
The event will feature a bird walk, a series of talks given by the growers, researchers and agricultural professionals, and a tour of a newly planted hedgerow, followed by lunch. Topics include:
- Desirae Braga, Ventura Resource Conservation District (RCD), will lead the bird walk.
- Cynthia and Allen King, King and King Ranch, will welcome everyone to the ranch and share an overview of avocado and citrus farming.
- Gordon Frankie, UC Berkeley, and Ben Faber, UC ANR, will lead an interactive talk about Ventura-area native pollinators, avocado floral biology and pollination, and pollinators of avocados. Close ups of avocado visitors on pins will be observed through microscopes, and enlarged photos of major pollinators will also be shared.
- Guadalupe Rojas, El Camino Viejo Farm, will share the methods he uses for his organic pest control and for fostering healthy soils on his neighboring farm.
- Stephen Pryor, WFA, will share details about citrus and avocado pests, the beneficial insects that attack them and the habitat that supports these beneficials.
- Dr. Liz Scordato, Hamutahl Cohen, and research collaborators will discuss birds, bats, and small mammals.
- Ron Whitehurst, PCA, Rincon-Vitova Insectaries, will talk about habitat and augmentative biocontrol.
- Sam Earnshaw, Hedgerows Unlimited, Gordon Frankie and Lan King will lead a walk of a newly-installed hedgerow as well as flowering natives and other plants interspersed through the orchard area.
