Flowers
By Zion Belcastro
Its that time of year again! When little lambs are born, and everything turns green again and the lands are full of color.

Save the Bees

By Alicia Singleton

Bee’s are one of the most helpful little beings for agriculture in the world. A single bee colony can pollinate three-hundred million flowers each day. Bee’s also pollinate about seventy percent of the one-hundred top food crops, which is about ninety percent of the world's nutrition. There’s around twenty-five thousand known species of bees worldwide, and four thousand species in the United States. However, the bee species as a whole are dying due to a number of things that are mostly human related.

Pollination is vital to life on our planet. Bee’s have helped ensuring food security, nutrition, maintaining biodiversity, maintaining vibrant ecosystems for plants, keeping humans and the bees themselves alive. They are essential to production of many of the micronutrient rich fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and oils we eat. In fact, close to seventy-five percent of the world’s producing fruits and seeds for human consumption depend, at least in part, on pollinators for sustained production.

Your Favorite Foods are Going Extinct! by Mackenzie Meza

Eagles and Ag

Eagles and Ag

A lot of people wonder what Eagles and Ag is.

What do they have to do with each other? What exactly

is it, and a lot of people have never even heard of it before.

Eagles for Ag is an event that happens every January to

February, and is celebrated in Carson Valley every year.

It happens in the rural farming community in

Douglas, around 20 minutes out of Carson City.

The land receives visits from many different

Prey birds such as Raptors during the winter,

Bald Eagles, even Golden Eagles and many more.

  

(Falcon  Prey Bird)

The Birds migrate over during calving season for
Ranches. When the cows are done birthing, there
is a lot of after birth just laying around full of nutrients.
That's what attracts the pray birds. You see, these
ranches aren't just supporting us as humans but they
are supporting the wildlife around them and us.

I had a lot of reasons as to why I wanted to write
about Eagles and ag as my blog post, the two
top reasons were for my uncle. His name is Steve Lewis,

Importance of Agriculture

As the years go by, the amount of farmers and ranchers keeps decreasing. Although this decrease in farmers and ranchers might not seem like a big problem, it is. Less than 2% of all working citizens are employed in the agriculture business. That means less than 2% of workers are responsible for providing food, textiles,and other agricultural products to  over 7 billion people each day.

At the beginning of its time, agriculture was the reason for civilizations and growing populations. Agriculture was born in the Fertile Crescent.People learned to cultivate the fields and provide for the increasing economy. At the time, the amount of farming was proportional to the population, but as the population has grown, the ratio of farming to population has become extremely disproportionate and might lead to farmers and ranchers not being able to supply the economy.

Even though technology has seriously improved over the past several thousand years, farmers and ranchers are still needed. As the population keeps growing so do the needs of the economy. If jobs in agriculture do not grow with the population, we will be stuck without the basic necessities.

Drought Prevention

If you haven’t already read my last blog post on drought, check that out before you read this!

Since drought tends to affect Nevada more than some other states, we need to preserve as much water as we can. Here are some ways we can lessen the effects of drought:

Indoors Prior to a Drought:

• Not pouring water down the drain when you could use it for another purpose. For example, watering your indoor plants with leftover water.
• Choose appliances that are more water efficient
• Check all plumbing and appliances for leaks. Dripping faucets waste 2,700 gallons of water per year.

Outdoors Prior to a Drought:

• Position sprinklers so they only hit grass and plants and not pavement
• Create a watering schedule
• Check and fix sprinklers periodically

During a Drought:

• Avoid taking baths and take shorter showers
• Avoid letting the water run while brushing your teeth
• Don’t overwater plants or grass
• 
  In extreme drought, let grass die in order to save water for larger plants and trees

Written By: Baylee Hale

Pesticides

Pesticides and The Health Hazards Associated with them

First and foremost, a pesticide is a chemical substance used to kill harmful insects, small animals, wild plants and other unwanted organisms. Meaning its soul purpose is to kill, so can a healthier, risk free version be made? The answer is no, because a pesticide can never be completely risk free, but lower risk versions are being made. Moreover, pesticides certainly have a positive aspect, they are helpful, readily available, and cheaper than other methods. Although pesticides have positives they also have a list of negative side effects to both the environment and humans. A quote from the PMC  says “Pesticides can contaminate soil, water, turf, and other vegetation. In addition to killing insects or weeds, pesticides can be toxic to a host of other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants”. This quote highlights a multitude of concerns the american public has. So another option many people to turn are natural alternatives, when at home gardening or treating their lawns. Many people turn to this option because they worry about the effects on their pets as well as their own health. Although, when used properly most pesticides don't have a negative effect upon contact with the previously treated area. Many all natural options include salt, neem oil, onion spray. If alternatives aren't your thing then following the instructions extremely carefully should be sufficient.

1. Read all hazards and warning carefully
2. Never eat or drink while spraying pesticides and have the proper equipment on at all times per the kind you're spraying
3. Mix pesticides in a well ventilated area
4. Only mix enough for your current applications, not future applications
5. Double check all spray equipment works and that its not windy
6. Make sure work area is clear then continue to spray
7. Afterwards don't water area and wash all clothing worn during this

These above precautions are all for a reason so please follow them.

Written By: Alexsandra Knowlton