Vet Honored as 'Farmscaper'

Farmscaping, the art of planting the edges of farms with wildlife, has won a UC Davis veterinarian special recognition. Dr. John H. Anderson, who works at the UC Davis California Regional Primate Research Center, and Robert Bugg, an entomologist with the UC Davis-based UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, collaborated on a restoration ecology project at Anderson's Hedgerow Farms in Winters, Calif. The State Department of Forestry and Fire Protection recently named Anderson an outstanding "forestland steward" for his work on 500 acres of land that successfully mix commercial production agriculture with managed field edges, hedgerows, windbreaks, roadside vegetation and wildlands. "If we can use beautiful native grasses to reduce the use of herbicides and control noxious weeds like yellow star thistle, ripgut brome and wild oats, why not do it?" says Anderson. In addition to helping control weeds, farmscaping can provide habitats for many wildlife species, including beneficial insects that could potentially control agricultural pests. Anderson's own operation is set up as a model for other farmers interested in observing farmscaping examples. "How marvelous it would be if every farm could have a resident covey of quail," says Anderson.

Media Resources

Pat Bailey, Research news (emphasis: agricultural and nutritional sciences, and veterinary medicine), 530-219-9640, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu