Alumni News

Cover crops, usually grown between the harvest and planting season of the main cash crop, are increasingly popular on America’s farms. From 2012 to 2017, their usage jumped by 50 percent to 6.2 million hectares. The main reason is sustainability. Cover crops make soil healthier. They reduce erosion and help restore nutrients and carbon, and create the conditions where soil can better hold moisture.

Dry season is here, and the risk of wildfire is ramping up. How can producers protect their farms? Clay Trauernicht, Extension specialist in wildfire science and management in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, is partnering with O‘ahu Cooperative Extension to offer a webinar on “Assessing and Reducing Wildfire Risk on Your Farm.”

Clear your schedule for Wednesday, June 17, and take plenty of notes at the state-wide Virtual Employees’ Benefits Fair, sponsored by Island $avings Plan (or State Deferred Compensation Plan) for State and participating County employees.

A new infographic fact sheet by Ivette, Barbara DeBaryshe, and Hua Zan hopes to raise awareness of the current economic struggles in our state and bring them closer to the attention of lawmakers. The fact sheet, posted on COF’s website, uses data from the US Census Household Pulse Survey to highlight what local families are going through right now.

How are humans impacting the amazing corals in the ocean with runoff and other stressors? Find out at Anita Tsang’s defense of her master’s thesis proposal, “Using an endemic Hawaiian soft coral, Sarcothelia edmondsoni, as a bioindicator of freshwater input and anthropogenic influence.”