COLUSA, CA (MPG) – A helicopter last week dropped bucket loads of golf balls on the Colusa Golf and Country Club to help raise money to keep the Nickels Soil Lab in the business of supporting local growers and ag businesses for another year.
Yerxa Farm’s big yellow ag chopper hovered over the greens that boarders the backside of the UC Cooperative Extension Office before dropping hundreds of golf balls, sponsored by local supporters of the research farm near Arbuckle.
“The Nickels Soil Lab was largely self-funded through crop sales for many years,” said Franz Niederholzer, UCCE Farm Advisor. “The recent rise in operating costs and drop in nut prices forced a need for fundraising beginning in 2022.”
The Nickels Soil Lab is a non-profit, private farm, established in the 1970s, to support public research of the University of California, the USDA, and other public projects on land provided by the Leslie J. Nickels Trust, through the bequest of the late Mr. Nickels.
The Lab has operated for more than 40 years on 160 acres near Arbuckle, hosting long-term irrigation, nutrient, rootstock and/or variety trials in almonds and walnuts, along with an almond orchard farmed with organic production practices/inputs, a small two-acre table olive planting, and a blueberry variety trial, Niederholzer said.
Research results are published yearly, and projects are viewed at an annual field day in May.
“Projects at the Nickels Soil Lab support local growers and ag businesses, strengthening the local and regional economies, and help protect natural resources,” Niederholzer said. “Cooperators supporting the Nickels Soil Lab include local growers, ag businesses, the Colusa County Water District, the Almond Board of California, and the University of California Cooperative Extension office in Colusa County.”
Once the golf balls settled around the target hole, they were collected, and the winners were announced.
JJ Gross, of Colusa, won the grand prize for having his ball drop closet to the hole. Gross won the Prosteel Theftgard Gun Safe from Kittle’s Outdoor, donated by Beeler Tractor and Air-O-Fan Products.
Mike Perry won the Kittle’s Gift Card, donated by Simplot Grower Solutions, for second closest to the hole, and Marie Critchfield won the Tiffany bracelet, donated by Niederholzer, for her ball dropping third closest. Gerry Hernandez won the fully loaded Yeti cooler, donated by Jim Pingrey/JRP Consulting when her sponsored ball dropped furthest from the hole.
Niederholzer thanked all the businesses and individuals who provided prizes, ticket buyers and direct donors, Colusa Golf and Country Club, and Yerxa Farms for the success of this fundraiser.
“Despite the success of this fundraiser, additional funds will be needed to keep the Nickels Soil Lab operating through this year,” Niederholzer said.
Tax deductible donations can be made online at myaglife.com/fundraiser/ or by mailing a check made out to Leslie J. Nickels Testamentary Trust (or LJNTT) to P.O. Box 246, Colusa, CA 95932.H