West Coast Nut - May 2022

WEST COAST NUT

MAY 2022 ISSUE

SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE:

THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF SGMA

IN THIS ISSUE:

REGIONAL FIELD EVALUATIONS OF NEW ALMOND VARIETIES SEE PAGE 16

SEE PAGE 8

LABOR SHORTAGE DRIVES AUTONOMOUS INNOVATION SEE PAGE 40

PRODUCED IN THE HEART OF

WALNUT SCALE MANAGEMENT

SEE PAGE 44

JUNE 8, 2022

See page 45

BY REAL CALIFORNIANS JUNE 15-17, 2022

ANNUAL MEETING See page 11

PUBLICATION

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Publisher: Jason Scott Email: jason@jcsmarketinginc.com Editor: Marni Katz Email: marni@jcsmarketinginc.com Associate Editor: Cecilia Parsons Email: cecilia@jcsmarketinginc.com Production: design@jcsmarketinginc.com Tel: 559.352.4456 Fax: 559.472.3113 Web: www.wcngg.com

Contributing Writers & Industry Support Almond Board of California Contributing Writer American Pecan Council Contributing Writer Vicky Boyd Contributing Writer California Walnut Board Contributing Writer Angelina Ceja VP and Chief Education Officer, AgSafe Taylor Chalstrom Digital Content Editor Kathy Coatney Contributing Writer Roger Duncan UCCE Pomology Farm Advisor Elizabeth Fichtner UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare and Kings County Phoebe Gordon UCCE Orchard Crops Farm Advisor Tom Gradziel UC Davis Bradley S. Higbee Research Entomologist, Field R&D Manager, Trécé, Inc.

Julie R. Johnson Contributing Writer Bruce Lampinen UCCE Specialist Mitch Lies Contributing Writer Dani Lightle Assistant Professor, North Willamette Research and Extension Center, Oregon State University Catherine Merlo Contributing Writer Themis Michailides Professor, UC Davis Luke Milliron UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor Priscilla Rodriguez Assistant Vice President, Western Agricultural Processors Association Emily Symmes Senior Manager of Technical Field Services, Suterra Bob Van Steenwyk CE Specialist Emeritus and Research Entomologist, UC Berkeley

UC Cooperative Extension Advisory Board Surendra K. Dara Director, North Willamette Research and Extension Center Kevin Day County Director/UCCE Pomology Farm Advisor, Tulare/Kings Counties Elizabeth Fichtner UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County

Steven Koike Tri-Cal Diagnostics Jhalendra Rijal UCCE Integrated Pest Management Advisor, Stanislaus County Mohammad Yaghmour UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Kern County

Katherine Jarvis-Shean UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Yolo and Solano

View our ePublication on the web at www.wcngg.com

The articles, research, industry updates, company profiles, and advertisements in this publication are the professional opinions of writers and advertisers.

West Coast Nut does not assume any responsibility for the opinions given in the publication.

Award Winning Editorial By the Industry, For the Industry

IN THIS ISSUE 4 8 12 16 22 28 32

Managing Walnut Blight The Devastating Effects of SGMA Managing the Orchard Floor in Pistachios Regional Field Evaluations of New Almond Varieties The Use of Mating Disruption to Augment Sanitation in Almonds Food Safety Culture Keeps Almonds Ahead of the Curve New Formulation Could Improve Mating Disruption Adoption in Hazelnuts

36

California Walnut Board Funded Production Research Projects for 2022-23

40

Look Ma, No Hands! Labor shortage drives equipment manufacturers to add autonomous features to machines.

44 50

Walnut Scale Management

54

Five Things You Want Your Irrigation Manager to Know (Even If That’s You)

58 62

Essential Elements of a Heat Illness Prevention Program

68 70

Avoid Pitfalls When Planting a New Pecan Orchard

View From The Top: Why Ali Amin Wants You to Support Generic Promotion of U.S. Pistachios

The Impact of Pistachio Sanitation on Navel Orangeworm Damage and Egg Trap Counts

Research Finds Mechanical Topping of Young Almond Trees Costs More, Yields Less

74 78

Nights of Hard Frost Devastate Northstate Almond Crop

82

Pecan Industry Export Promotions Focus on China and Germany

CCAGA’s Processing Engineer Details Path to the Almond Processing Industry

SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE: The Devastating Effects of SGMA Since it was adopted in 2014, two reports have illustrated the devastating economic impacts of SGMA implementation.

See page 8

May 2022

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3

Managing Walnut Blight Weather-Dependent Disease has Multiple Options, with Others in the Pipeline

By KATHY COATNEY | Contributing Writer

W

ICE HIL N E

L

V

alnut blight is a bacterial disease in walnuts caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis. The disease is driven by rainfall and leaf wetness that can come from dews or rain that move the bacterium.

“It doesn’t always have to be splash-dispersed. It’s carried out from the buds by the actual growth of the tree,” said Jim Adaskaveg, professor and plant pathologist at UC Riverside.

“The critical time to spray is at pistillate flower emergence, which is commonly called the prayer stage,” Adaskaveg continued. “If there’s a lot of rain in the forecast, we’ve advised growers to start at catkin expansion. This is when the catkin comes out and expands, and you can see the individual florets of the catkin.

“If it rains at that time period of flowering and shoot growth, that’s when the bacterium is carried out from between the bud scales, and we call these bacterial cells the primary inoculum, and we want to prevent that from causing infection because it’s always better to prevent infection than to try to cure the infection,” Adaskaveg said.

Luke Milliron, UCCE orchard systems advisors for Butte, Glenn and Tehama counties, said there have been to back-toback years of very dry bloom in walnuts with minimal to almost no reports of walnut blight. While growers made spray applications, especially in the Northern Sacramento Valley as a precaution, he’s expecting there will be very low inocu-

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The critical time to spray for walnut blight is at pistillate flower emergence, also known as the prayer stage, pictured here (all photos courtesy L. Milliron.)

lum levels in 2022 because there hasn’t been a bad blight year for three years.

Cultural Practices

Walnut blight is very much weather-dependent, but there are some cultural practices that can help prevent the disease.

“A lot of growers still use impact sprinklers. They should always use low-angle sprinklers. You should never let the foliage get wet. That’s one thing growers can control,” Adaskaveg said, adding that consistently watering the canopies makes it very difficult to control the disease.

“Cultural practices include minimizing getting the canopies wet and allowing tree foliage to dry quickly. Planting tree rows in a north-south direction with prevailing winds and pruning to allow air movement are still very important aspects of managing walnut blight,” Adaskaveg said.

Varieties

Are certain varieties less susceptible to walnut blight?

“The way I always thought of it was, well, if it’s early leafing, it’s more susceptible. It’s out there for longer, we’re more likely to get rain exposure versus Chandler being late leafing,” Milliron said, adding that’s been a big advantage, particularly in the Northern Sacramento Valley.

But, Milliron continued, a genetic solution is the best option. “Put plants in the ground that won’t get the disease, that’s the best.”

Historically, one of the missions of the breeding program at UC Davis has been late leafing varieties for blight avoidance, but that’s running into issues with warmer winters, Milliron said.

“What they find is that, generally, the later leafing the walnut variety is, the higher chill requirement it has,” Milliron said.

With warmer and warmer winters and lower chill accumulation, the breeding program is moving toward early leafing, lower-chill varieties. With more rain exposure brought with early leafing, the program is looking for genetic resistance to walnut blight infection, Milliron said.

Continued on Page 6

May 2022

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5

Continued from Page 4 “We don’t have that yet, but that’s what they’re working towards right now,” Milliron said.

Adaskaveg, working cooperatively with Pat J. Brown and Chuck Leslie of the UC Davis Breeding Program, noted that the team has identified in the last few years several new genotypes that do not support bud populations and have less disease in the spring. If the breeders further select from these cultivars for high yielding and desired kernel characteristics, we could have truly blight-resistant cultivars in the near future.

Copper Resistance

Copper was the go-to control for much of the last century to treat walnut blight, and it was very effective until resistance built up in the 1980s. A new treatment evolved: copper-mancozeb.

Because resistance had already developed, what happens with the copper-mancozeb mixture is it worked

against the copper-resistant strains.

But nearly 40 years later, copper resistance in strains of the pathogen has gone up from 20 to 25 parts per million in the 1980s, to about 50 parts per million in the early 2000s, to today 100 to 150 parts per million in some strains. And in other walnut growing regions in the world where copper is used without mancozeb, copper resistance has reached 250 to 300 parts per million.

“This could happen in the U.S. with continued sole use of copper and mancozeb unless different modes of action are registered that allow for rotations. Additionally, regulatory agencies like the EPA and even CDPR do not want orchardists to use more copper,” Adaskaveg said.

These agencies are concerned about orchard runoff, he continued. “It eventually comes off the tree, moves into the soil, it can move into runoff water and waterways,” Adaskaveg said, and they don’t want to see copper in the

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West Coast Nut

May 2022

A four-spray program for walnut blight using four to five different modes of action in rotation would create a “sustainable approach to managing walnut blight,” according to UCCE’s Jim Adaskaveg.

waterways.

The EPA has been looking at copper for several years, and the copper review process is still ongoing, Adaskaveg said. The rates that the EPA approves, continue to go down over time, and the goal is to keep reducing those levels, he added.

“So, that’s a strategic problem for the walnut industry because we have to try to convince EPA that we still need copper products, in general, with all the different labels that are available,” Adaskaveg said, adding, “We’re trying to come up with ways to reduce the copper levels and still keep the efficacy very high.”

This presents a dilemma, Adaskaveg explained. “We have to develop new modes of action, and if we want to keep copper-mancozeb, we have to use these things strategically and in rotations.”

Other Mixes

Adaskaveg started looking at liquid coppers that have lower amounts of copper (metallic copper equivalent or MCE) in the formulation and mixed it with the fixed coppers.

“The liquid coppers have a more available form of copper, but this form doesn’t persist as long as the fixed coppers like Kocide and Champ,” Adaskaveg said, “New liquid copper products with low copper concentrations were demonstrated to be effective in combination with lower rates of fixed coppers

kasugamycin-dodine limits the total use of any one material which will help slow down the selection of resistance to any one of those materials, including copper, Adaskaveg said.

Figure 1. Examples of four- or five-spray mixture-rotation programs under favorable conditions for disease. Applications are made in 7- to 10-day rotations. Beginning and ending with copper-mancozeb in these programs will provide a long residual activity during and after the bloom period.

in mixtures with mancozeb, resulting in lower use of total copper per application, but still getting all the benefits from copper in the mixtures with mancozeb.”

Milliron agreed that pairing with other materials like mancozeb or kasugamycin (Kasumin) is the best way to tackle blight, particularly where there’s extremely high resistance to copper.

“You really need those other materials to help break through and let the copper do its work,” Milliron said.

Some orchards have more copper resistance than others, and it is highly variable orchard to orchard, Milliron said. “In some orchards, it’s especially high-resistance, so that’s a concern.

That’s when we really want to make sure we get the highest metallic copper equivalent (MCE) per acre.”

European Union

The European Union (EU) cancelled mancozeb for walnut growers in the EU effective January 2022. It’s currently under review for imported walnuts, and imported walnuts will likely have mancozeb tolerances repealed.

“We’re projecting they will cancel all import residues, MRLS for mancozeb on walnuts in the EU,” Adaskaveg said, noting that more than 30% of the walnuts produced in California are exported to the EU. What this means is, there needs to be alternatives to mancozeb to treat walnut blight, Adaskaveg said.

Thankfully, California growers can continue to use mancozeb and export to the EU, at least for the 2022 growing season, Milliron said.

New Materials

Mancozeb is an ethylene bisdithiocarbamate (EBDC) compound that contains manganese, and it actually has a long carbon-based chain as part of its structure. “We think that the mode of action of that material is to disrupt the membranes of bacteria, and so we were looking for other membrane disruption types of compounds,” Adaskaveg said.

This led to dodine, which also has a chain-like structure and has antibacterial properties similar to mancozeb. It was registered in walnuts in February 2021, but by the time the company got the labels and supplies into California, the threat of walnut blight had passed in 2021.

“Now they’re prepared, and it is available, and there are distributors that have it (for the 2022 season),” Adaskaveg said.

“Dodine is like mancozeb. It should be used in mixtures like how mancozeb is used, and it has a different mode of action from mancozeb,” Adaskaveg said, adding the goal is to rotate its use so that different modes of action are used to prevent resistance selection.

The new strategy will be to integrate copper-dodine mixtures. “The product is sold as Syllit, and so now we want to use Syllit in mixtures with copper or with kasugamycin in rotation programs with copper-mancozeb to reduce the total amount of copper-mancozeb applications being used,” Adaskaveg said, adding this way we’re not selecting against copper or mancozeb all the time.

Mixing it up with other products like dodine, copper-mancozeb, copper-dodine, kasugamycin-copper, or

Oxytetracycline (FireLine)

Adaskaveg has done efficacy work with oxytetracycline. It’s been through the IR-4 program, and currently, it’s been at EPA for over a year and a half.

“Oxytetracycline is not new. It’s been used in pears since the 1970s. It was registered 10 or so years ago for apples in California, for fire blight control, and it’s registered on peaches and nectarines for another bacterial disease called bacterial spot, which is another Xanthomonas disease,” Adaskaveg said.

“We’re optimistic that it’s going to get registered eventually,” he continued, but he’s estimating 2023 before that happens. “And that’s our hope, that we can start using it in mixture rotation programs.”

This would give growers another mode of action besides dodine, mancozeb, kasugamycin and copper, Adaskaveg said, adding the more modes of action, the better.

“If we use these products only once per year, ideally, the selection process goes to almost zero because you’re not using the materials repeatedly. And then if we only do a four-spray program, and we have four to five different modes of action in rotation, then that’s going to put us into what I call a sustainable approach to managing walnut blight,” Adaskaveg said, adding this is the soundest approach to managing walnut blight for a sustainable period of time over the next 25 to 30 years.

This limits the total amount of any one of these materials and prevents selection of resistance as well as minimizes environmental contamination, and reduces copper usage, which is one goal to keep copper effective for years to come, Adaskaveg said.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

May 2022

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7

THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF SGMA

By PRISCILLA RODRIGUEZ | Assistant Vice President, Western Agricultural Processors Association A part of the long-term solution to effective groundwater recharge must include additional surface storage.

I

n 2014, the Sustainable Ground Water Management Act (SGMA) was passed as a statewide framework to help protect groundwater resources over the long-term. The state allowed water subbasins to create locally based and managed Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs).

These GSAs have since developed, adopted and began to implement groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs). While we recognize the importance of protecting groundwater resources, SGMA will have devastating impacts on agriculture, disadvantaged communities, and farming and statewide jobs as well as the state.

Since the adoption of SGMA, two reports have assessed the damage and loss SGMA will cause and the economic impact to our state.

▶ 85,000 jobs lost statewide due to Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and future surface water reductions

Blueprint Economic Impact Analysis: Phase 1

▶ $2.1 billion in annual lost employee compensation statewide

"Based on an analysis of Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and other current and anticipated water supply restrictions, a study by University of California Berkeley economists Dr. David Sunding and David Roland-Holst concluded that up to 1 million acres may be fallowed in the San Joaquin Valley over a period of two to three decades as a result of reduced ground and surface water availability" (waterblueprintca.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Blueprint.EIA_.PhaseOne.2.28-v41.pdf). The key findings include: ▶ $7.2 billion in annual farm revenue loss

8

West Coast Nut

May 2022

Table 1. Change in employee compensation from SGMA plus surface water restrictions.

▶ 4 counties (Fresno, Tulare, Kern and Kings) will see the largest losses in employment and compensation

The Economic Impact of the Westlands Water District on the Local & Regional Economy: Update 2022

"An analysis conducted by Dr. Shires highlights the significant, positive economic impact that agricultural production within the Westlands Water District has on the State of California and the country as a whole. The report outlines the far-reaching consequences of inadequate and unreliable water supplies on economies and communities" (wwd.ca.gov/wp-content/

uploads/2022/03/economic-impact-report-2022-update.pdf). The key findings include: ▶ 35,000 local jobs rely on Westlands Water District ag production ▶ $4.7 billion in direct and indirect dollars of economic activity The impacts of SGMA go far beyond just agriculture; this affects farmers, farm workers, their families and every single person that lives in the valley.

The reports take a deep dive into the consequences of SGMA for disadvantaged communities and show how they will be severely impacted (Table 1). The livelihood of the farming communities that are reliant on the agricultural economy, such as local schools, gas stations, groceries store, medical offices, etc. will all be affected. It is a domino effect. If you take water away from

Continued on Page 10

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Table 2. Change in harvested acreage from SGMA plus surface water restrictions.

Continued from Page 8 these communities, you are also taking away the livelihood of families that depend on their job to support their families.

Farmers have used the latest technology to reduce water usage, having converted over to subsurface drip irrigation or microsprinklers that use significantly less water. We have adopted science by using moisture meters and remote access to initiate irrigation when it is needed. The obvious things

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have been done to try to use less water. Even with all the substantial advances in water use technology, SGMA combined with other water restrictions will cause an estimated 992,000 acres to be fallowed in the San Joaquin Valley alone (Table 2).

A part of the long-term solution to effective groundwater recharge must include additional surface storage. There must be a multifaceted and effective approach to recharging the groundwater. With additional surface storage, we would have the ability to capture flood flows during the wet years and meter the water to recharge basins when the situation will have maximum efficacy.

The agriculture commodities in this state as a whole are important contributors to the world food economy, and the impacts of SGMA are going to be felt severely in California but also around the world. To date, the state has been reluctant to build additional storage, with Sites Reservoir the only project that appears to be happening. Unfortunately, that is at least two years away from breaking ground and several years from storing water. At what point will state officials realize that the failure to build water storage in this state is affecting every citizen? With these recently released GSPs, everyone is beginning to understand the dreadful reality of SGMA at a level never fully understood before. Pumping allocations in some areas as low as one-half acre-foot of water per year and no more double cropping are just a couple of limits some GSAs are starting to implement.

This is not just a farm issue; this affects every farmer, farmworker, their families and all of the people connected to agriculture, from bankers to fuel delivery people to local restaurants. If SGMA is fully implemented, the entire valley will look like Western Fresno County after the implementation of the biological opinions for delta smelt and salmon that eliminated 500,000 acre-feet of water from the west side. These two independent studies clearly demonstrate the impact to this state. Is it enough for Sacramento to wake up?

Only time will tell. Let’s just hope it is not too late.

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Managing the Orchard Floor in Pistachios Growers have several considerations in their decisions about managing the orchard floor.

By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor

D

ecisions made on floor manage- generally mowed by the time irrigament in pistachio orchards are tion commences or shortly after. most often in response to an Options listed for orchard floors issue in the orchard environment. in Craig Kallsen’s 2020 Pistachio Return-on-investment in floor manage- Short Course presentation were ment is also a factor. complete floor cultivation, complete Management of the orchard floor, vegetative cover, complete herbiaccording to UCCE Orchard Entomolcide control, strip herbicide control ogy Specialist Houston Wilson, must down tree rows with cultivation consider various aspects of producof middles, strip herbicide control tion, such as equipment accessibility, down tree row with cover crops in irrigation water infiltration and pest middles and intercropping when control. For instance, the ability to do orchards are young. Each option, a good job of orchard sanitation is a he noted, has benefits as well as top priority for management of navel concerns. The concerns included orangeworm. water use, pest habitat, erosion and Wilson noted that growers and farm irrigation system integrity. managers do not often choose to plant Pistachio growers and farm cover crops in orchard row middles managers generally try to keep their unless there is a specific reason to do so. orchard floors smooth and clean, Wilson said that while a well-chosen Wilson said, as weeds in the tree cover crop can help with soil fertility rows and middles compete for water management, the cost for seed, planting and nutrients and can potentially and mowing must be taken into consid- provide habitat for vertebrate pests. eration. Resident vegetation growth For many of the same reasons, sumallowed in orchard middles is common mer cover crops are not generally during the winter months, but it is planted, even when tree canopies have not shaded out row middles.

Smooth, hard orchard floors maintained over the winter are one option for pistachio growers (all photos by C. Parsons.)

Sam Hoffman of Optimizer shows uprooted vegetation after a tillage pass through a peach orchard in a demonstration in Yuba City.

Converting to ‘Hard Top’

Zack Raven, orchard manager at Keenan Farms, said the decision was made in 2017 to convert all their pistachio orchard floors to ‘hard top’ eliminating a need for multiple discing passes through the orchard during the year.

“We were discing the floors on average eight times a year and that beThe tillage tool Optimizer leaving a smooth floor after a pass through the orchard to eliminate resident vegetation.

“‘Smooth, hard orchard floors make sanitation easier… Exposing the mummy nuts to the environment gives a better-quality kill…’

came expensive,” Raven said.

Smooth, hard orchard floors make sanitation easier. Raven said that in mature orchards, mummy nuts and orchard debris can be seen in the middles.

That is what gets mowed and shredded, he said. Exposing the mummy nuts to the environment gives a better-quality kill, he said. After a few years of mowing with a hard top floor, Raven said a grower may need to disc the debris in the middles and incorporate it into the orchard soil to prevent excessive buildup.

“You can look at that practice as being sustainable as well,” Raven said, “ You are providing natural fertility to soil from your own orchard.”

Hard top floors are not maintenance-free. Raven said they do have to be smoothed out occasionally to fill in ruts or low spots where mummy nuts can collect.

Once an orchard is bearing, Raven said, you try to keep orchard floor vegetation to a minimum. Chinch bugs like to harbor in vegetation, he explained, and once the weeds dry, the insects move into the trees and feed on nuts. Depending on what’s more cost effective, he said, the choice is to disc the vegetation or spray with herbicide.

”

soil. In pistachio orchards, passes are made to incorporate mummy nuts and orchard debris three to four inches into the soil. In pistachio orchards, Coombes said it is common to till twice a year, after harvest and in the spring when soil conditions allow.

In an orchard demonstration following the California Walnut Conference, Sam Hoffman of Optimizer said tillage machinery has been common in field crops, but there was recognition of need for floor management in orchards, and the Optimizer for orchards became available in 2018. Towed at speeds of 4.5 to 5.5 miles per hour, resident weeds

were uprooted and the floor smoothed.

Cover Crop Option

Daniele Zaccaria, UCCE agricultural water management associate professor, is leading a team proposing to investigate the effects of winter cover cropping on the radiation balance, soil-water dynamics and water productivity of mature, microirrigated pistachio orchards. His proposal was submitted to the California Pistachio Research Board for funding through November 2022.

Cover cropping orchard floors , Zaccaria said, is among the soil management practices that are being increasingly incentivized by federal and state agencies to improve soil health and mitigate the effects of increasing climate variability and climate change.

Information on the effects of winter

Continued on Page 14

Machinery Option

Tillage companies have responded to a need by the tree nut industry for specialized machinery for varied orchard floor management tasks.

Compaction issues and incorporating orchard residues are two challenges in tree nut orchards. In pistachio orchards, it is critical that growers sweep and flail mow mummies to manage navel orangeworm.

Kat Coombes, with Optimizer One Pass Tillage System, said smooth floors are preferred for management, but over time, tillage is needed to open up the

May 2022

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Continued from Page 13

Rain-sprouted resident vegetation in the middles of a Tulare County pistachio orchard. These weeds can harbor insect pests or provide cover for vertebrate pests.

cover cropping on consumptive water use, soil-water dynamics and economic water productivity of pistachio orchards is very limited, but it is crucial to inform growers’ decisions in water-limited nut production areas, Zaccaria said.

According to Zaccaria, little information is available on how winter cover cropping and its vegetation residues left onto the soil surface of the row-middles affect the radiation balance, tree transpiration and seasonal consumptive water use in mature nut orchards. In the San Joaquin Valley, specific questions have been raised by pistachio growers and farm managers about the water amounts necessary to establish and maintain winter cover crops and whether the practice of cover cropping can lead to water productivity gains, better known as ‘more crop per drop.’

One of the cover crop positives being explored is the presence of cover crops and bright-colored vegetation residues possibly improving the overall photosynthetically active radiation interception by the pistachio tree canopy as well as its distribution within the canopy.

This may lead to improved tree transpiration efficiency and water productivity (i.e., more yield per unit of water transpired.)

To determine the “water cost” of the winter cover crop, the amount of water used to establish and maintain a vegetation cover, the project team will conduct periodic measurements of the volumetric soil moisture content with the neutron probe scattering technique.

The measurement frequency will be bi-weekly for the months of November through April and then monthly from May onwards.

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May 2022

PISTACHIO GROWERS Want Consistent Proven Yield Increases?

How does an increase of 999 pounds and $1,670/ac over 3 years sound?

Yield: ‘Gold Hill’ Pistachio – 3 Year Results

Bisabri Ag Research, Newman, CA, 2016-2018 – n In-Shell Open n Reported n Gross $/Acre 9000

2016

8000

2017

2018

$8184

$7865

7000 6000 5000 4000

4552

4745

$3730

3000

$3184 2826

2439

2000 1000

$4173

$4092

5108

4923

1585

2210

b

a

a

2345 1930

2701 2111

b

0 lbs/acre

Grower Soil Program (GSP) 2016

Agro-K Program + GSP 2016

Grower Soil Program (GSP) 2017

Maximizing yields year in and year out starts with maximizing nut set. Achieving consistency in set and minimizing alternate bearing years is key to consistent yields and higher profits in pistachios. The secret is ensuring the tree has the right nutrients at the right time in the right forms and right mix.

We achieve this with a combination of Agro-K phosphite and Dextrose/Lactose (DL) based foliar nutrients. Vigor SeaCal, Sysstem LeafMax, Top Set DL, and Micro SeaMix are designed to help growers meet peak nutrient timings at critical points of the crop cycle.

Nut set can be influenced by boron which enhances pollination. Boron synergizes calcium and enhances its affect.

Molybdenum plays a direct role in nut set and retention and nitrogen utilization. Top Set DL is a unique boron-moly blend designed for synergistic application with Vigor SeaCal (calcium and seaweed) to address early season nutrient needs and maximize nut set – especially in cool wet springs.

Sysstem LeafMax and Micro Sea Mix deliver a highly systemic (phloem and xylem mobile) nutrient mix with rapid and complete uptake and fast support to early leaf and root development. Zinc is essential for maximum

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leaf size, vascular function and root growth. Magnesium, iron, manganese and copper are all critical for complete chlorophyll development. When applied together, Sysstem LeafMax and Micro Sea Mix provide these important nutrients, making them a critical application. Large leaves and chlorophyll production is key to maximizing photosynthesis that generates the carbohydrate production in the tree not only for the current year’s productivity but also as storage for the following year. Low carbohydrate production can be tied directly to increased alternate bearing issues and higher incidence of blanks. Implementing an Agro-K nutrient program will reduce blanks and improve off year yields.

Yield results from three consecutive years of replicated data, on the same trees, are shown in the chart above.

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15

Regional Field Evaluations of New Almond Varieties

By ROGER DUNCAN | UCCE Pomology Farm Advisor, BRUCE LAMPINEN | UCCE Specialist, PHOEBE GORDON | UCCE Orchard Crops Farm Advisor, LUKE MILLIRON | UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor and TOM GRADZIEL | UC Davis

Booth bloom overlaps well with Nonpareil (all photos by R. Duncan.)

E

very almond grower is searching for the perfect ties. In Madera County, trees are on Hansen 536 rootstock variety to plant. Many people feel the holy grail would and planted at a 12’ x 21’ spacing (173 trees per acre). In be a self-fertile, high yielding, Nonpareil-type kernel, Stanislaus, trees are on Nemaguard and planted at 16’ x 21’ but the reality is the industry needs a range of varieties to fill (130 trees per acre), and in Butte, trees are on Krymsk 86 marketing niches. Although there is considerable interest for self-compatible almond cultivars, there is still a need for new !"#$%&'& cultivars that serve as good pollinizers for Nonpareil. We Breeder/ Breeder/ want new varieties that are cheaper and easier to farm, with Variety Nursery Variety Nursery few insect or disease problems, good yields and high-quality, high-value kernels, preferably ones that mature outside of Partially SelfSelf-sterile fertile the Nonpareil / Independence harvest window. In addition, a good pollinizer variety will bloom with Nonpareil and Eddie Bright's Sweetheart UC Davis harvest at least a week before or after Nonpareil.

Supareil Burchell Winters UC Davis In 2014, University of California, with funding from AlSterling Burchell mond Board of California, embarked on a project to evaluate new and experimental varieties produced from UC Davis, Booth Burchell Fully self-fertile USDA and commercial California nurseries. Twenty-nine Capitola Burchell UCD1-232 UC Davis varieties (Table 1) are being tested side by side in replicated Folsom Dave Wilson UCD1-271 UC Davis field trials planted in Madera, Stanislaus and Butte coun-

16

West Coast Nut

May 2022

Bennett-Hickman

Duarte

UCD7-159

UC Davis

Jenette

Fowler

UCD8-160

UC Davis

Durango

Fowler

UCD8-201

UC Davis

Kester

UC Davis

UCD8-27

UC Davis

UCD18-20

UC Davis

Yorizane

USDA

UCD1-16

UC Davis

Y117-86-03

USDA

UCD3-40

UC Davis

Y117-91-03

USDA

Aldrich

N/A

Y121-42-99

USDA

Nonpareil

N/A

P16.013

Burchell

P13.019

Burchell

Table 1. 29 varieties are being tested side by side in replicated field trials planted in Madera, Stanislaus and Butte counties.

UCD 18-20 is an experimental variety from UC Davis has been one of the top consistent yielders and is likely self-fertile.

and planted at 18’ x 22’ (110 trees per acre). Nonpareil is planted every other row, and the experimental varieties are planted as pollinizers. Each variety is replicated four times in each location so confidence in the yield data is maxi-

Yorizane (left) is a high-quality kernel compared to Nonpareil (right) and is self-fertile.

mized. At least 14 of the tested varieties are self-fertile, meaning they can be planted in solid blocks with fewer bees.

The test orchards are currently in their ninth season, and we are beginning to get a good feel for these

varieties. Bloom time, harvest time and yields for all varieties are listed in Tables 2 and 3 (see page 18 and 19). About 1/3 of the test varieties are

Continued on Page 18

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Continued from Page 17 Bloom and Harvest Dates Before (-) or After (+) Nonpareil

being discarded from the trial this year because of their below-average yields, kernel defects or significant horticultural problems. After several years of intensive data collection, a few new varieties and selections are showing promise.

Table 3 (see page 19) shows the cumulative yields for the Butte, Stanislaus and Madera County sites and the average of all three locations for the first six harvests. The last column shows the cumulative yield per canopy size, expressed as yield per PAR (photosynthetically active radiation). PAR is essentially a measure of the amount of shade a tree’s canopy produces. A high yield per PAR indicates a high yield efficiency.

It is important to realize that juvenile yields may not reflect longterm yields as canopies continue to develop. Some varieties have a high percentage of doubles or other kernel problems which may limit their adoption. Although some varieties are performing well so far, we suggest longer-term study is prudent before risk-averse growers choose to plant any new variety. Over the next few years, we expect the best performing experimental varieties will be released for commercial planting.

Full Bloom +/- NP

Harvest +/- NP

Y117-91-03

+3

-6

Eddie

-1

-2

Y121-42-99

+4

-1

Nonpareil

-

-

Yorizane

+2

-3

Kester

+4

+5

Sterling

0

+6

Folsom

+4

+7

Booth

0

+8

UCD8-201

+4

+9

P13.019

+4

+9

Capitola

-2

+10

UCD1-271

0

+10

Bennett

0

+11

Y117-86-03

+3

+12

Sweetheart

+2

+15

UCD1-16

-1

+16

UCD8-27

-3

+18

UCD7-159

-1

+19

Jeanette

0

+24

Top-Performing Varieties So Far

Supareil

-1

+24

Nonpareil Even after 140 years, Nonpareil remains king of the California almond industry. It is held as the gold standard for quality and is the highest-yielding variety on average in these trials. It shakes very well and harvests early.

Nonpareil is also tolerant to many diseases, with the notable exception of hull rot. What’s not to like? The challenge is to find the perfect pollinizer to go with it.

Aldrich

0

+24

Durango

+1

+25

UCD8-160

0

+26

UCD1-232

+2

+32

Winters

-1

+33

UCD18-20

+1

+33

P16.013

+3

+36

UCD3-40

-10

+37

Y117-91-03 This self-fertile variety from USDA is quickly becoming one of the stars of

18

West Coast Nut

May 2022

Table 2. Bloom time and harvest time for all varieties.

Average Cumulative Yield for the First Six Harvests, Canopy Size as Measured by Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) and Yield per PAR. Cumulative Yield per Acre 3rd – 8th leaf (2016 - 2021)

Average 2021 PAR

Average Cumulative Yield / PAR

Average of all 3 Sites

Butte County

Stanislaus County

Madera County

Nonpareil

14,864

16,527

11,451

16,613

71

209

Y117-91-03

13,819

13,619

13,927

13,939

68

203

UCD 18-20

13,686

14,232

12,015

14,812

66

207

Booth

13,054

14,035

10,834

14,292

72

181

Aldrich

12,614

14,297

11,126

12,420

64

197

Yorizane

12,382

11,367

10,295

15,822

59

210

Bennett

12,069

11,559

11,810

12,867

64

189

Durango

12,040

12,912

10,175

12,568

67

180

Kester

11,904

11,479

10,438

13,796

69

173

Y117-86-03

11,839

10,669

9,931

14,917

61

194

Capitola

11,756

11,469

9,603

14,195

72

163

Jenette

11,553

12,885

8,618

14,134

59

196

Winters

11,422

12,075

9,979

11,850

64

178

Eddie

10,984

10,592

9,982

12,379

67

164

UCD 8-160

10,930

10,627

10,307

11,856

50

219

UCD 8-201

10,857

10,543

9,475

12,207

59

184

Sterling

10,662

9,831

9,681

11,983

69

155

Folsom

10,643

11,137

9,103

11,690

75

142

UCD 7-159

10,255

10,469

10,440

9,724

60

171

Supareil

10,166

9,190

9,183

12,452

76

134

Sweetheart

10,130

9,741

9,122

11,526

72

141

UCD 1-16

9,545

10,209

7,381

11,044

64

149

UCD 1-232

9,350

9,205

9,555

9,193

57

164

UCD 8-27

9,130

9,727

7,259

10,402

66

138

UCD 1-271

7,721

7,175

8,653

6,948

63

123

the trial. It out-yielded everything else in all three locations in 2021, reaching almost 4,300 pounds per acre in the Stanislaus trial. It has an excellent quality, light-colored kernel and harvests about a week before Nonpareil. The tree has a nice upright tendency, shakes well and has not had any insect or disease problems in these trials, including very little hull rot. This variety is currently going through a virus clean-up process and should be released within two years.

UCD 18-20 This experimental variety from UC Davis has been one of the top consistent yielders in these trials so far.

Although it blooms very well with Nonpareil, recent work has demonstrated that it is likely self-fertile and may work as a standalone variety.

The kernel has been rated as a Monterey or California type but may have a fair number of doubles in some years.

Average harvest is about 31 days after Nonpareil. UCD 18-20 was rated as the least susceptible variety to hull rot in these trials and no bacterial blast was observed in 2018, one of the worst years in recent memory.

Booth Originally found growing as a seedling tree in Glenn County, Booth is now a commercially available variety from Burchell Nursery. Booth’s bloom overlaps perfectly with Non-

Table 3. Average yield per acre for each location, average canopy size per variety (as measured by percent photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) captured) and average yield per PAR. Yield per PAR is a measure of yield efficiency.

Continued on Page 20

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UCD 8-160 is a small, weepy tree with a high yield efficiency.

Continued from Page 19 pareil, it shakes well and harvests about 12 days after Nonpareil. The kernel is of average quality, with no particularly worrisome defects, and is likely classified as a California. It continues to be one of the higher-producing varieties in these trials and looks to work well with a Nonpareil planting.

Aldrich One of the most popular standard pollinizers for Nonpareil, Aldrich has performed well in these trials. Aldrich generally has excellent bloom density and overlaps very well with Nonpareil bloom. Many people feel it is one of the best-tasting varieties. The kernel is small to medium in size and is commonly considered a California type.

Harvest is about three weeks after Nonpareil. Interestingly, Aldrich has some of the lowest nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and magnesium levels in July sampled leaves, but the highest sodium and chloride.

Yorizane Pronounced Yor-i-zăn-ē, this recently released, self-fertile variety has done well in these trials and is one of the most yield-efficient. The kernel is light in color and is of excellent quality. It is a

20

West Coast Nut

May 2022

smaller tree and could use a boost from a strong rootstock and may be suitable for tighter tree spacing. Bloom time is the same as Nonpareil and it harvests about three days before Nonpareil on average. Yorizane was slightly affected by bacterial blast in 2018. This variety was recently released by the USDA and is now available from commercial nurseries.

Bennett-Hickman Bennett-Hickman has gained in popularity as a good pollinizer for Nonpareil since its commercial release in 2015. It has excellent kernel quality and bloom overlap with Nonpareil. In these regional trials, bloom has usually begun a couple days ahead of Nonpareil but peaked and ended at a similar time. Bennett shakes very well, and harvest has averaged about 11 days after Nonpareil in regional trials. Bennett is susceptible to bacterial blast, and in the last few years, a disorder currently defined as “environmental bud failure” has emerged with this variety, but the extent of this problem is unknown.

Bennett-Hickman is available from Duarte Nursery.

We will continue to follow these trials for several more years because

yields can change as varieties mature.

In addition, we will be planting a new set of trials this fall with many more promising new varieties. Stay tuned!

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

‘The test orchards are currently in their ninth season, and we are beginning to get a good feel for these varieties.’

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THE USE OF MATING DISRUPTION TO AUGMENT SANITATION IN ALMONDS

By EMILY J. SYMMES | Ph.D., Senior Manager of Technical Field Services, Suterra

Over the last several years, mating disruption has emerged as a proven technology to reduce NOW populations and crop damage while the industry has simultaneously begun to move away from spring insecticides (photo courtesy Suterra.)

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he value of sanitation to manage navel orangeworm in nut crops cannot be understated as the California nut crop industry is aware. However, the industry is currently facing many challenges when it comes to effectively and economically implementing this fundamental management method. Inflating costs associated with equipment, fuel and labor coupled with limited labor availability and environmental conditions can all lead to sub-optimal sanitation results. As a result, many growers are re-evaluating their overall navel orangeworm (NOW) management approach. This has led to necessary conversations and updated recommendations for how growers may be able to augment sanitation efforts with in-season inputs to keep NOW populations under control.

This article follows recent conversations emphasizing a return to spring sprays for NOW and discusses the most sustainable and effective approach for managing NOW populations in the wake of sub-optimal winter sanitation: mating disruption.

Moving Away from Spring Insecticides

The fundamental pillars of integrated pest management for navel orangeworm (NOW) are familiar to the industry (Figure 1). Over the last several years, mating disruption has emerged as a proven technology to reduce NOW populations and crop damage while the industry has simultaneously begun to move away from spring insecticides, focusing insecticide inputs at the more critical and effective hullsplit timing(s).

Additionally, the almond industry has outlined goals to increase the adoption of environmentally friendly pest management tools by 25% by 2025.

The impacts of spring insecticide applications (historically referred to as ‘May sprays’ and more recently ‘mummy sprays’) on ultimate NOW harvest damage have historically not been well supported. The emergence period of the first flight of NOW in spring is protracted, occurring over months. Because this first flight occurs over a long period

Continued on Page 24

Figure 1. The integrated pest management (IPM) pyramid for navel orangeworm in nut crops. All management methods may have a place within the IPM program and are prioritized depending on their potential impacts and return-on-investment (photo courtesy E.J. Symmes.)

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Continued from Page 23 of time, even a well-timed insecticide application will only impact a small percentage of first-generation eggs and larvae. In addition to uncertainties about efficacy and return-on-investment of this practice, use of insecticides in spring (particularly the more affordable pyrethroids) are destructive to spider mite natural enemies and may result in added or more costly mite treatments needed later in the season.

Using additional applications of the more selective insecticides for NOW in spring may also be cost prohibitive due to both high material costs and an extra pass through the orchard. Insecticide resistance management is also a serious concern. Currently, the industry largely relies on three insecticide modes of action for NOW control (insect growth regulators, IRAC 18; diamides, IRAC 28; and pyrethroids, IRAC 3A). Judicious use of these chemistries is needed to ensure their effective lifespan as resistance has already been noted to the

pyrethroid class in NOW populations in California.

Preventative Approach

Mating disruption has been proven effective in reducing NOW populations and crop damage. This management tactic is completely species-specific, so it does not harm natural enemies, introduces an entirely different “mode of action” into the IPM program and is not subject to insecticide resistance development concerns. As opposed to insecticides, mating disruption is a preventative approach to pest management because by implementing this tactic, we are effectively preventing a significant portion of each subsequent generation from ever existing.

Spring insecticide sprays targeting eggs and newly hatched larvae do not disrupt female oviposition, only mating disruption does this by reducing the number of fertile eggs being laid by females in the population. This means

that there are fewer pests to “clean up” with killing agents (insecticides) or other inputs (sanitation). Additionally, mating disruption will result in fewer overwintering larvae; therefore, approaches to targeted sanitation efforts can save growers money while benefitting from a lower starting population going into the next season.

In the January 2022 issue of West Coast Nut, I described a very basic population model for mating disruption.

The model previously presented assumed an initial population of 100 individual NOW, a 50:50 male-to-female sex ratio in the population, and an average of 100 eggs per female (a conservative estimate for NOW.) In the absence of mating disruption and other mortality factors, this would result in 250,000 NOW in the second generation, 12.5 million NOW in the third generation, and 625 million

Continued on Page 26

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West Coast Nut

May 2022

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Suterra's Sprayable Pheromone Helps Control NOW Populations

The demand for a responsive, preventative navel orangeworm management was clear when growers treated over 100,000 acres with CheckMate® NOW-F when it was introduced in 2019. The number of treated acres more than tripled by 2021 because of clear evidence on the farm that it drove down pest populations, reduced damage and increased marketable yield.

from ever existing, stopping damage before it breeds. Reducing NOW population density with mating disruption maximizes the impacts of other in-season inputs like insecticides simply because there are fewer larvae to kill.

With an average material cost of around $30 per acre per application, CheckMate® NOW-F offers an affordable and flexible option to reduce NOW damage. It is uniquely designed to be tank mix compatible with many common agrochemicals and is an easy addition to spray programs.

Performance should be evaluated relative to other sprayable materials like insecticides, with these key differences in mind:

Until recently, navel orangeworm management lacked a mating disruption option that could be applied reactively based on in-season conditions.

CheckMate® NOW-F, the first and only sprayable pheromone specific to navel orangeworm, offers exactly that. Instead of requiring up-front investments before the season’s pest pressure is known, sprayable pheromone provides PCAs and growers the flexibility to apply precisely when and where needed.

• Controlled-release microencapsulated pheromones are longer acting than most insecticides.

• Species-specific active ingredient is safe for all non-target species like bees.

• Mechanism of action does not require thorough foliar coverage, so it can be efficiently applied at lower volumes and higher speeds than insecticides.

• Minimal REI allows for easy integration into operational schedules.

• Exempt from MRLs with zero pre-harvest interval.

• Provides protection for all varieties and multiple shakes up until the day of harvest and beyond.

PCAs and growers know that prevention is the foundation of the “IPM Pyramid” for any pest.

Applying Suterra’s sprayable pheromone at any point during the season effectively prevents a significant portion of the next generation of pests

To learn more about this innovative IPM approach, ask any grower who uses CheckMate® NOW-F or visit www.Suterra.com/CheckMateNOW

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Interested in similar articles?

at progressivecrop.com/subscribe Continued from Page 24

As opposed to insecticides, mating disruption is a preventative approach to pest management because by implementing this tactic, we are effectively preventing a significant portion of each subsequent generation from ever existing (photo by Themis Michailides, UCCE.)

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West Coast Nut

May 2022

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NOW in the fourth generation. With highly effective mating disruption (resulting in 95% reduction in offspring each generation), those numbers become 625 in generation two, 1563 in generation three, and 3906 in generation four.

Let’s focus here on the impacts of mating disruption versus a spring insecticide application targeting the first flight/generation and the resulting impact on the second generation. Consider a well-timed insecticide application for NOW, generally assumed to provide on average 50% control. This would result in 125,000 individuals in generation two, rather than 625 individuals under a highly effective mating disruption program. In the absence of mating disruption or other mortality factors, those 125,000 individuals have the potential to result in 6.25 million NOW by generation three, while under a continued mating disruption model, third-generation pests would total in the 1500s.

There is an old adage for navel orangeworm, “you can’t spray your way out of trouble” following sub-optimal sanitation. However, you may be able to “disrupt your way to better NOW outcomes.” Because NOW infestation can lead to serious economic damage, there may be high-pressure situations where adequate control requires a multi-layered approach of mating disruption and additional sprays if sanitation is sub-optimal. It is important to consider all the options available, the positive and potential negative impacts of each and which strategies will be sustainable in the long-term and maximize returns on investment.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

Increase Almond Yields in 2023 Add Agro-K’s NutBuilder™ nutrient program to Hull Split (NOW) sprays Almond Yields UP every year over 3 yr trial - Average 672 lbs.

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4000 3000 2000

3049

2938 2451 a

a

b P.012

3563

3462

b P.081

b P.001

2445 a

1000

1017 487

0

lbs. nutmeat/acre

2015 n Grower Standard Program (GSP)

Foliar nutrient applications (such as May and Hull split timings) are crucial in two aspects: 1) These applications maximize plant photosynthesis and respiration, nutrient metabolism, and nut fill. 2) these applications have a drastic effect on pre-loading developing buds and adjacent wood with nutrients for next year’s crop.

Depending on the variety, almond flower bud initiation just precedes, coincides, or closely follows hull split timing and continues through roughly mid-harvest. The differentiation of these flower buds follows initiation and continues through tree dormancy up until bud break. Supplying the flower buds with sufficient nutrients prior to and during their development is one of the most influential practices for increasing and maintaining higher yields next year and every year.

Additionally, while flower buds develop for next year, this year’s crop is trying to finish. Agro-K’s nutritional tools, when applied at May and Hull split timings, support continued photosynthetic activity and capacity in hard-working leaves as well as healthy nitrogen metabolism throughout the tree, decreasing the potential for hull rot and reducing stick tights at harvest.

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2016 n GSP + Agro-K Nutrient Program

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Zinc +5 D.L. is a foliar micronutrient blend containing zinc, manganese, magnesium, iron, molybdenum, and copper. These carbohydrate-based nutrients are easily absorbed and metabolized by plant tissues and support development and maintenance of photosynthetic machinery from leaf out to leaf drop. Building sufficient chlorophyll levels early in developing leaves is key to maximizing photosynthetic capacity and ultimately yield.

When combined with AgroBest 0-20-26, Zinc +5 D.L. gives growers the ability to maximize yields this season and build nutrient reserves in the tree for bloom strong early season growth and yield potential next year.

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A WORD FROM THE BOARD: THE ALMOND BOARD OF CALIFORNIA

Food Safety Culture Keeps Almonds Ahead of the Curve

By ALMOND BOARD OF CALIFORNIA | Contributing Writer

S

uccessful farmers are effective risk managers. Few risks carry more devastating impacts to almond growers than losing consumer confidence through poor quality or a food safety outbreak. The industry has done a remarkable job of not only managing these risks, but also proactively building a strong culture, stellar reputation and positive working relationship with regulators.

The Grocery Manufacturer Association estimates the average cost of a recall to a food company is $10 million in direct costs, in addition to significant brand damages affecting longterm sales. In the midst of outbreaks and recalls in other products and more stringent global regulations, almonds have navigated these waters gracefully to become a model that others seek to emulate.

This stellar track record is the direct result of decades of research, development and communication by the almond industry through the leadership of the Almond Board of California (ABC). But food quality and safety are not the job of any one person, organization or company. It requires intentional focus on the part of everyone in the value chain, starting at the orchard.

FSMA Exception

The collective efforts to develop this culture have reaped numerous benefits over the years. For example, in 2016, the Produce Safety Rule was finalized by the Food and Drug Administra28

West Coast Nut

May 2022

tion (FDA) as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that congress passed in 2011. This rule would directly affect how almond growers and handlers do their jobs every day by imposing nuances on how their work is done and requiring additional regulatory oversight.

As the industry prepared to meet compliance before the deadline, the FDA issued guidance to reflect the enhanced food safety controls already in place in the California almond industry. As a result, the FDA clarified that almonds would no longer be held to the requirements of the Produce Safety Rule given the food safety controls already in place.

“This recognition from the FDA is a testament to the long-standing and ongoing commitment the Almond Board has placed on ensuring growers and handlers are informed and up-todate on superior food safety practices,” said Tim Birmingham, director of quality assurance and industry services at ABC.

Putting Salmonella Out to Pasteur

The reason for exemptions like that of the Produce Safety Rule are the direct result of efforts made in the early 2000s to develop the almond pasteurization program. When almonds were linked to multiple Salmonella outbreaks, the Almond Board took action to work with researchers, regulators, almond growers and processors to understand the threat, measure its

Data now supports the conclusion that California almonds don’t contain levels of amygdalin that cause any concern of toxicity or release compounds of hydrogen cyanide, according to ABC’s Guangwei Huang (photo by Cecilia Parsons.)

implications and develop protocols to mitigate it.

Prior to that time, the conventional wisdom of the day was that low-moisture foods were not a risk for Salmonella contamination. It was discovered that while low-moisture foods like nuts do not support pathogen growth, they can still have low levels of Salmonella on them. Research shows that it only takes one or two cells, particularly for the immunocompromised, to become ill.

Early work focused on how to control Salmonella, not just killing it on almonds but getting growers up to speed on their role. “That was the birth of our good agricultural practices pro-

the industry well for compliance with FSMA Preventive Controls.”

ABC Pre-Check to Europe

When almonds were linked to multiple Salmonella outbreaks, the Almond Board took action to work with researchers, regulators, almond growers and processors to understand the threat, measure its implications and develop protocols to mitigate it (photo

by Marni Katz.)

gram,” said Birmingham. “We really dove into the practices that growers should employ to control and mitigate contamination at the orchard level.”

To address the problem at the processor level, the Almond Board identified what it would take to achieve adequate pathogen reductions for the different types of processes, developed a network capable of validating equipment used for pasteurization, and created protocols for how such equipment should be validated. Finally, ABC addressed ongoing quality and safety through audits of those companies conducting almond pasteurization.

Now in its 14th year of implementation, the California almond industry has not seen any Salmonella recalls or outbreaks thanks to the pasteurization program. Today, all almonds introduced into commerce in North America are required to be pasteurized using validated processes. Shipments of unpasteurized almonds to markets outside of North America are allowed only if the product is properly labeled as “unpasteurized” and should be subjected to an appropriate process prior to introduction into commerce at destination.

“The FDA has been very interested in what we’ve done because it worked,” said Birmingham. “In turn, they’ve been willing to engage in discussion around food safety with us, built on the credibility of our pasteurization program, which I believe has positioned

Another notable example of the industry’s approach to food safety is in complying with global tolerances to aflatoxins. These naturally occurring toxins are common in nature and can affect a number of crops, including almonds. Because they are a potent carcinogen, tolerances for aflatoxins have been established across the globe, with

differing levels for various countries.

One of the largest export markets for California almonds, the European Union (EU), has one of the lowest allowable limits for aflatoxin in almonds.

To help the industry remain compliant and minimize the potential for aflatoxin development in the almond supply chain, ABC developed programs and procedures to help growers and processors minimize aflatoxins at every stage of production.

Continued on Page 30

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Continued from Page 29 This effort started with the Voluntary Aflatoxin Sampling Plan (VASP), which in 2015 evolved into the Pre-Export Checks (PEC) program. Through a systems approach to aflatoxin mitigation, handlers use established procedures to sample, test and ship almonds to Europe.

“As a result of years of proactive effort, California almonds are one of only two crops recognized by the EU under regulation EC 2015/949 for pre-export checks,” said Birmingham. “This means that California exports to the EU are subject to less than 1% import control with a PEC certificate.”

Quality and Shelf Life

Recently, the European Food Safety Authority proposed a limit on hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in almonds, which at high enough levels can be toxic to humans. This could have triggered some concern on the part of the industry, but the Almond Board had started analyzing data on the hydrogen cyanide precursor compound, amygdalin, years prior to this announcement.

While the amount of amygdalin in almonds was minimized many years ago with the domestication of the sweet almonds we consume today, trace amounts still exist which can break down into hydrogen cyanide. This occurs when amygdalin decomposes into benzaldehyde, which is the compound that gives almonds their distinctive amaretto flavor.

“The amygdalin compound is not a problem because its bitter taste will prevent consumption of large enough quantities to cause concern,” said Guangwei Huang, principal scientist at the Almond Board. “But when it breaks down to release the amaretto flavor of benzaldehyde, at the same time they can release hydrogen cyanide.”

Huang says the Almond Board has completed four years of research to understand how the amaretto flavor of the almond correlates with each major variety. The result is an in-depth understanding of the impacts of different varieties, growing conditions, storage conditions and growing regions on levels of amygdalin.

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May 2022

any concern of toxicity or release compounds of hydrogen cyanide,” said Huang. This data gave the almond industry the necessary evidence to proceed with confidence in the face of stricter European regulations in this area.

Research into shelf life continues to produce insights into how to avoid oxidation, which impacts shelf life. Although almonds can store up to two years under proper conditions, quality can deteriorate rapidly based on conditions. Recently, the Almond Board completed two shelf-life studies to look at raw and roasted nonpareil almonds under different storage and packing conditions to understand how different combinations of humidity, temperature and packaging affect longevity.

“We found that consumer rejection is driven more by texture changes than chemical changes,” said Huang. “We also found that packaging can extend shelf life by four to 18 months, depending on the conditions. We’re continuing to fund research in this area of almond quality.”

A Culture of Food Safety and Quality Reaps Rewards

Since 2007, the Almond Board of California has invested over $6.5 million into research on food safety and quality.

This investment of grower dollars has not only helped the industry navigate challenges, but it has built a culture that will serve the industry for many years to come.

As part of this proactive approach, the Almond Board encourages growers and handlers to take a forward-looking role in developing knowledge of food safety hazards and common risk factors through Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).

In 2019, the almond industry’s many years of progress in food safety were recognized with the GMA Food Safety Award from the International Association of Food Protection.

“The credit for this award really belongs to the almond growers and handlers who invested their hard-earned dollars in the research and the ABC Board of Directors’ willingness to make difficult decisions that put the good of the industry ahead of individual concerns,” said Birmingham. “But while the award is a nice recognition, the real payoff is in the foodborne illnesses that have been prevented by the collective efforts of the industry, demonstrating our commitment to food safety from orchard to the consumer.”

References “More than money: What a recall truly costs” https://bit. ly/3xKeXf9 “On the safe side: The almond industry keeps exceeding safety expectations” https://bit.ly/3EdLa0X “Q&Almonds: A Decade of Protection with Mandatory Pasteurization” https://bit.ly/31jQ3H0 “Almond Board Receives Prestigious Award for Outstanding Contributions to Food Safety” https://www.almonds. com/about-us/press-room/almond-board-receives-prestigious-award-outstanding-contributions-food-safety Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

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New Formulation Could Improve Mating Disruption Adoption in Hazelnuts

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In taller trees, a pole with a hook on its end is needed to place mating disruption dispensers in the upper third of a tree’s canopy. Dispensers can be flung into trees with lower canopies (photo by V. Walton.)

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new pheromone formulation being developed for filbertworm mating disruption could increase usage of a technology that to date has been slow to catch on with hazelnut growers.

The new formulation, being tested

by Oregon State University (OSU) researchers, is providing the same level of control as the currently used formulation at a rate as low as one-tenth of the current formulation, according to Vaughn Walton, professor and horticultural entomologist at OSU. The new formulation could significantly lower the cost of the technology.

Under the current mating disruption program, it costs growers about $50 an acre to control the filbertworm, which, according to an analysis by OSU researchers, is about the same as a conventional spray program.

“The cost will most likely go down, and it will still give you the same effect,” Walton said of the new formulation.

“You will still get similar protection at the lower cost.”

Under the OSU cost analysis, the pheromone formulation makes up about two-fifths of the cost of using mating disruption, with application costs and chemical costs for periodic knockdown treatments making up the remainder of the per-acre cost.

Under the new formulation, growers will still use the same number of dispensers per acre, Walton said, but the amount of pheromone in each dispenser will be reduced. The researchers have one year of data on the new formulation and plan to continue analyzing it for another two.

Continued on Page 34

Continued from Page 32

Slow to Catch On

To date, use of mating disruption in hazelnuts is employed on only about 2,000 acres, Walton said, a smattering of the estimated 85,000 to 90,000 acres now in hazelnuts in Oregon.

Walton said there are several advantages to using mating disruption, primarilyincluding reduced insecticide use and better protection of beneficials, such as the parasitic wasp, Trioxys pallidus, a natural enemy to aphids.

Like filbertworms, aphids can be extremely damaging to hazelnuts, Walton said. “I’ve seen in some areas where if you don’t have biocontrol in the orchard, in a bad season, you are losing about 70% of your leaf cover.

That is not something you want to see very often.”

According to an OSU Extension research report, orchard managers who combined mating disruption with a

border spray or target spray, as opposed to using full-cover insecticide sprays, observed significantly reduced aphid populations over a five-year period.

“You don’t need to spray pesticides for aphids as often,” Walton said. “You might need it now and again, but you are going to be needing it less often.”

Filbertworm, considered the insect pest of greatest economic impact in Oregon hazelnuts, is increasingly difficult to control with conventional insecticides, Walton said, primarily because the duration of its peak flight has been extended in recent years.

“We’ve seen that with increasing temperatures, the moth’s peak flight is more of a wave than a peak,” Walton said. “So, they can start emerging as early as mid-May and can continue emerging into September. And so, your damage period is very lengthy and growers have said that they have had

issues with damage to the nuts even though they do their sprays.”

The standard material used to control filbertworm, pyrethroid, provides about 20 days of control, Walton said.

So, given the extended period of moth emergence, a typical two-spray program is not providing the length of control needed to protect hazelnuts over the course of a season, he said.

“This is why we started looking at mating disruption, where you are getting more or less six months of control,” he said.

Under the system OSU researchers are employing, a minimum of 10 pheromone dispensers per acre are placed in an orchard in early May. Dispensers are placed in the upper third of a tree’s canopy and must be wrapped securely around a sturdy branch to resist high winds and air-blast sprayer applications.

Walton noted that in smaller trees, the dispensers, which are about a yard in length, can be flung into canopies.

In larger trees, a pole with a hook is needed to place the dispensers.

Similar Efficacy

In OSU field trials, rigorous mating disruption reduced the number of filbertworm moths in monitoring traps by 40% to 88% compared to untreated blocks, according to a report of their work. The report added that mating disruption when used with chemical border protection and a periodic knockdown spray was as effective as full-cover chemical applications.

“The cost of commercially available ring dispensers for mating disruption is comparable to chemical control in conventional orchards if filbertworm density remains relatively low,” the report states. “If populations are consistently high, the additional costs of insecticide applications make mating disruption more expensive.”

OSU recommends growers place four traps in the first ten acres of an orchard and one trap for each additional four acres for monitoring pest pressure in mating disruption programs. Catching two to three moths per trap in sev-

34

West Coast Nut

May 2022

eral traps over the course of a week or five moths in any one trap indicate the need for additional chemical control, according to the research report.

Walton noted that traps in a mating disruption program aren’t as effective as in conventional insecticide programs because the pheromone being dispensed by the mating disruption dispensers confuses adult males to the point where they have difficulty finding the monitoring traps. Researchers today are working on new technology that will target female moths to better monitor pest pressure in orchards under mating disruption.

“We’ve identified a few volatiles that seem to be attractive,” he said. “We are going to be doing some work this season and maybe next season to see if we can use that to change female behavior.

If we make good progress, maybe three or four years from now, we will have a

female trap.”

Even with the pheromone cloud, however, Walton noted that male trap counts in a mating disruption program are still indicative of filbertworm pressure in an orchard and can help growers determine if a chemical treatment is needed.

“If you have a decent number of traps out, you are still catching moths,” he said.

ly nice arsenal of tools,” Walton said.

“They can get the benefit of conventional chemistry and also have that umbrella control of the mating disruption.”

That only about 3% of growers today use the technology, he said, is not surprising. “The big limitation is it is a new technology, and many people aren’t comfortable changing their methodologies,” he said.

“It is always like that,” Walton said.

“If you look at codling moth mating disExcellent Tool ruption in apples, it was always kind of After several years of working with hovering at the 1%- to 2%-level, then it mating disruption, Walton believes that creeped up to 10%, and now it is in the combined with chemical knockdown 90s. And the reason it is in the 90s is treatments, the technology offers grow- because it just makes economic sense.” ers an excellent tool for filbertworm control. And he expects that more growers will adopt the technology as time goes by, particularly if the costs go Comments about this article? We want down. to hear from you. Feel free to email us at “I think this offers growers a realarticle@jcsmarketinginc.com

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A WORD FROM THE BOARD: THE CALIFORNIA WALNUT BOARD

California Walnut Board Funded Production Research Projects for 2022-23

By CALIFORNIA WALNUT BOARD | Contributing Writer

P

roduction research continues to be a priority for the California Walnut Board as it results in continuous improvements to ensure the industry is maximizing opportunities, solving today’s challenges and preparing for the future. Each year, the California Walnut Board’s Production Research Committee (PRC) meets in early March to review and discuss funding recommendations for proposals submitted for consideration for the research program. The research program runs on an April through

March annual cycle.

When reviewing proposals, both for new and existing research projects, the Committee’s guiding factor is, “will the results of this research positively benefit walnut growers in the future?” If the answer was yes, it led to further discussions toward approvals for funding.

“The PRC works hard each year to pull together a slate of short-, mid- and longer-term efforts aimed at addressing the industry’s most critical production

On March 1, 2022, California Walnut Board’s Production Research Committee approved $1.79 million in projects for the current 2021-22 budget year (photo courtesy J. Johnson.)

problems,” said CWB Research Director Joe Grant. “It selects projects and monitors their progress very closely to ensure that grower assessments are used wisely and efficiently, with best available science, to advance industry profitability and staying power for years to come. Committee members, who are all growers themselves, are acutely aware of the urgency of finding solutions to these problems, especially in today’s economic environment.”

Despite continued financial constraints resulting from the current suspension of mandatory inspections/CWB assessments on the 2021 crop, the PRC and Board opted to restore a portion of the previous year’s cut to maintain momentum in critically needed research efforts addressing orchard production challenges. This allowed the Committee to re-open its request for proposals to new as well as continuing projects, but new proposal submissions were restricted by the continuing budget constraints to navel orangeworm, walnut husk fly and crown gall. New projects in other areas were not allowed.

Approved Projects

At the PRC’s March 1, 2022 meeting, it approved the following projects, which totaled $1.79 million, funded out of the current 2021-22 budget. These include:

Continued on Page 38 36

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May 2022

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Continued from Page 36 Continued efforts by the UC Davis walnut breeding program to develop new blight-resistant, productive and high-quality varieties to replace older ones, especially in in the early- and mid-season harvest window. The most recent advancement in this arena - ‘UC Wolfskill’- was released early last year.

“We are making big changes in the program,” said program leader Pat Brown.

“Trying to move our best material into grower trials faster than we used to. We are expanding our efforts to find growers willing to plant advanced selections in their orchards and work with us to see how they perform. Growers interested in this should contact us,” he said.

Continued efforts to breed and field-evaluate new crown gall, nematode, and phytophthora resistant clonal rootstocks. Many advanced with resistance to one, two and - in a couple cases thus far, three - of these problems have already been identified and moved into regional grower trials.

Funding for local small-scale field

testing of new rootstocks, tree training and pruning techniques, and pest and disease control by UC farm advisors Continued validation of the “delayed start of irrigation season” concept and zone irrigation management for their water savings and orchard health benefits. The delayed start concept still needs to be tested in the southern San Joaquin Valley. This is one of the of 2022 goals for this project.

Continued efforts to find new and effective alternatives to copper-based treatments for walnut blight, including: • Oxytetracycline registration on walnuts currently under review at USEPA • 2021 registration of dodine, an effective alternative to mancozeb • New liquid copper products with low copper concentrations, when combined with fixed coppers and mancozeb, provide good control with less copper applied per acre.

• New organic products shown

One approved project looks to evaluate commercial products marketed for field control of crown gall. Side-by-side objective testing will reveal whether or not these products are effective in eliminating galls (photo courtesy Elizabeth Fichtner, UCCE.)

effective for managing walnut blight under low disease pressure (i.e., low rainfall) conditions • Products based on essential oils and biological organisms are also under review Funding for ongoing efforts to evaluate new herbicides and combinations for controlling problem weeds. CWB-funded research in this area provides for an unbiased “third party” evaluation of new and existing product efficacy and safety in walnuts and how they can be integrated into cost-effective pre- and post-emergence control programs.

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May 2022

Continued efforts to refine no- and minimum-pruning techniques to reduce costs and speed up return-on-investment in developing and mature orchards.

Continuing efforts to develop better tools and techniques for assessing in-orchard and regional navel orangeworm activity and predicting the need (or not) for pre-harvest treatments.

Testing of novel soil-applied biocontrol agents to kill walnut husk fly as it is emerging from overwintering in late spring.

Evaluation of commercial products marketed for field control of crown gall.

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During the same meeting, the PRC recommended a $1.8 million budget for the upcoming year.

“PRC members are committed to seeing that industry research dollars are translated to practical solutions that growers can use,” added Grant. “This is easier to accomplish for some problems than others. Sometimes, a parallel approach that combines short- and longer-term approaches is warranted.”

Grant also noted that longer-term solutions, including breeding of new rootstocks and development of new varieties, become more necessary as short-term solutions become less available.

Grant added that the California Walnut Board and Production Research Committee are both thankful that the industry has a longstanding and very successful research partnership with UC Davis, USDA and other institutions in addressing growers’ orchard production problems, observing that the current slate of projects continues that legacy.

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LOOK MA, NO HANDS! LABOR SHORTAGE DRIVES EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS TO ADD AUTONOMOUS FEATURES TO MACHINES.

By VICKY BOYD | Contributing Writer

A

ddressing a limited labor supply, a number of companies are expanding their line of equipment with driverless features, including Orchard Machinery Corp., GUSS Automation and Monarch Tractor.

For Don Mayo, owner and president of OMC in Yuba City, the goal is to develop equipment that makes farmers and operators more efficient.

“How can we make this easier?” he asked. “How can we make this better and, eventually, how can we reduce the labor?”

To that end, OMC at the recent World Ag Expo exhibited its Shockwave Sprint side-mounted tree shaker with the Tree Seeker option it introduced about two years ago. Sharing the exhibit space were its tree hedger-toppers that use kinematics to position blade height and angle.

Simplifying blade positioning was just the first step the company took about two years ago. In the coming months, Mayo said OMC plans to introduce fully autonomous and self-driving hedger-toppers.

He said they are fortunate to have two subsidiaries, a custom harvesting company and a custom orchard maintenance group, that allow them to test prototypes firsthand. They also receive input from their grower-customers.

Reducing Labor Reliance

The Tree Seeker eliminates about 75% of human functions, making the shakers on which they’re mounted semi-autonomous, said OMC territory sales representative John Krum. Using GPS to guide machinery in an orchard is difficult because the canopy interferes 40

West Coast Nut

May 2022

with satellite signals.

So the company tapped LiDAR, short for light detection and ranging, to “see” the trees and tree rows. It is a remote sensing method that uses pulsed laser beams to measure distance.

The LiDAR unit, available on any side-mounted OMC Sprint shaker, is housed on the end of the shaker arm in a protective case. The machine runs autonomously down the row, pulling up to the proper position beside the first tree. The operator presses a button once on the joystick to extend the shaker arm, shake the tree for a preset duration and retract the arm. Without the operator touching the button again, the shaker moves to the proper position beside the next tree.

The technology replaces much of the skill needed to operate a shaker and allows just about anyone to shake trees, Krum said.

“The feedback I get from guys that are using it is they feel it’s easier to run longer days and they aren’t as tried,” he said. “It’s making their job easier, and that’s good to hear.”

That’s because operators using traditional side-mount shakers constantly look to the right, frequently getting crooks in their neck. With the Tree Seeker doing most of the tree alignment work, the operator doesn’t need to look to the right nearly as often.

OMC also has added labor-saving technology to its hedgers-toppers in the form of kinematics, said Tyler Hill, lead electrical engineer. Based on physics, kinematics analyzes the positions and motions of objects.

Traditionally, operators of hedg-

Orchard Machinery Corp. of Yuba City, also known as OMC, has added kinematics to its hedger-toppers to help speed blade adjustment.

It also is working on an autonomous hedger-topper (all photos by V. Boyd.)

Gary Thompson, chief operations officer of GUSS Manufacturing, said the self-driving airblast sprayer was born out of a need to save labor.

The Kingsburg-based company recently launched a smaller version, Mini GUSS.

ers-toppers used tape measures and ladders to measure and set blade height and angle at the beginning of a job. The task could take about 10 minutes.

Should operators encounter obstacles in the orchard, such as owl boxes or wind machines, they would draw in the blades as the machines traveled around them. Then the operators would stop the machines and go through the same exercise with the tape measure and ladder to reset the blades.

With kinematics, Hill said operators at the beginning of jobs set blade height and angle from an easy-to-use touch-

Continued on Page 42

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the day and they spray again,” Thompson said. “It’s very challenging to find people who want to do this type of work. So it got to the point where we were struggling so bad to fill our tractor seats that Dave decided we had to innovate or get out of the business. So Dave decided to innovate.”

They began building the first GUSS prototype in 2014. But Thompson said Carlo Mondavi, chief farming officer for Livermore-based Monarch Tractor, said the 40 continugetting the sprayer to where it is today ous horsepower fully electric tractor also has an autonomous option. was “very difficult.” The company introduced the full-sized GUSS at the 2018 World Ag Expo.

“At that show, we just had so much interest from growers Continued from Page 40 who wanted to purchase compared to just us providing the screen, all within the cab. The settings also can be saved. service. So it really got us thinking about outside sales and Should they encounter obstacles, the operators pull in the manufacturing,” he said. They began building and selling blades to go around them, then hit the reset button to return GUSS at a Kingsburg facility in 2019 and have since sold more blade height and angle to the earlier settings. than 120 machines.

“It does all of the calculations and is accurate up to 2 inches,” Additional comments from growers about offering a smallHill said. “It eliminates so much down time; we’ve had so er-scale sprayer drove the design and introduction of Mini much good feedback on it.”

GUSS, Thompson said.

The next step is to make the hedger-topper driverless.

“They said our orchard machine is great but it’s too big for Although GPS RTK can produce sub-inch accuracy, Hill said what they have so can we make it smaller,” he said. The smaller they opted not to use the technology because it relies on a unit is suited to vineyards and ultra-high-density plantings nearby base station for satellite signal correction. like apples among other crops.

Instead, he said OMC is using dead reckoning, which enMini GUSS has a 400-gallon spray tank compared to 600 lists algorithms that interpret readings from multiple sensors gallons for the larger unit. It also is 6 feet wide and 19 feet combined with GPS. The result is sub-centimeter accuracy (a long compared to 8 feet 3 inches wide by 24 feet long for the centimeter is about 0.4 inches.) original GUSS. Currently, Mayo said they’re testing the prototype computOutside of that, both sprayers are stainless steel, powered erized system to autonomously drive a four-wheel mule before by a 3.8-liter 173-horsepower Cummins diesel engine, use a installing it on a hedger-topper. powerful 36-inch direct-drive fan, four-wheel drive and four“We want hours and hours and hours of testing before we wheel steer, Thompson said. do it because of safety,” he said.

Both machines combine GPS with LiDAR for navigation and obstacle avoidance. One of the challenges with GPS is the Smaller Autonomous Sprayer signal is lost or severely degraded under a tree canopy, he said.

GUSS, the autonomous self-driving airblast sprayer, was That’s where LiDAR comes into play to help center the maborn out of labor challenges, said Gary Thompson, chief chine down the rows and detect obstacles. operating officer of GUSS Automation. The Kingsburg-based Typically, on a large-scale farm, one employee would monmanufacturer showed off its latest machine, Mini GUSS, which itor eight GUSS sprayers. In addition, two nurse trucks with has the same autonomous features as the original sprayer but two employees would refill the spray tanks, making for a total on a smaller scale. GUSS stands for Global Unmanned Sprayer of three employees on the spray crew.

System.

A comparable conventional spray crew would need 12 Dave Crinklaw founded Crinklaw Farm Services as a tractor drivers and three nurse trucks for a total of 15 workers, Kingsburg-based custom application business more than 40 Thompson said. years ago. As it grew from two tractors to the largest commercial sprayer of California trees and vines, labor challenges also Driver-Optional E-Tractor increased.

Introduced as a prototype in 2020, Monarch Tractor’s drivAs part of custom spraying, Crinklaw would send tractor er-optional electric tractor marries the environmental sustaindrivers up and down the state, often three to four hours from ability of all electric power with the economic sustainability of home. autonomous operation.

“They spray all night, and they sleep in the motel during “The idea behind this is how do we make what’s best for our

42

West Coast Nut

May 2022

the farmer will want to see.

“To start, you get into the tractor, select implement, start to record, identify it as, say, block 1, mow pass, block 2 spray, etc. Then you begin recording. Every time you lift the implement, every time you lower the implement, it’s recording.

“It also records the route you’re taking; it’s not just autonomous driving, it’s autonomous operations because you’re also controlling the implement, which is really, really important. Any time after that first pass, you can click on [the saved The Mini GUSS, which made its debut at the 2022 World Ag Expo, has a 400-gallon spray pass] and have it do it autonomously.” tank and is slightly shorter and narrower than the original GUSS. But it has many of the As a fully electric tractor, the Monarch other standard features, such as a 3.8-liter 173 horsepower Cummins diesel engine and tractor may qualify for incentives under autonomous operation. the California Air Resources Board Funding Agricultural Replacement Meaplanet economically superior?” said Carlo Mondavi, a compasures for Emission Reductions, or FARMER, program. ny co-founder and chief farming officer. “If we were to migrate Each regional air district has its own set of priorities, and all of the tractors on the planet earth away form fossil fuel not all have included electric tractors in their programs. The burning and onto the (electric) grid, it would be like removing San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control Board, for example, 40% of the cars from the planet.” has approved electric tractors for funding.

But he also pointed to the labor-saving driver-optional feaComments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free ture, which means a skilled operator isn’t needed to drive to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com orchard or vineyard rows and avoid obstacles.

Livermore-based Monarch has had two major rounds of investments and a major licensing agreement with CNH Industrial, the parent company of Case-IH and New Holland.

CNH Industrial also is an investor.

This season, Monarch has 15 pilot units in the hands of participating growers, who will provide feedback, Mondavi said. Those comments as well as observations made by company engineers will be used to improve the tractors before they enter commercial production this fall. Development of the original prototype began in 2016.

The basic tractor, which has 40 continuous horsepower and a 70-horsepower peak, produces significantly more torque than a comparable diesel model, Mondavi said. This allows it to pull a 400-gallon spray tank.

The e-tractor also has a PTO hookup and accepts all category 1 and 2 implements. The battery is mounted on the front, reducing the need for counterweights for implements, he said. A fully charged battery can provide up to 12 hours of operation, depending on the task.

Growers also can buy an additional battery to swap out when the first one runs out of juice so they can work round the clock. Charging, using 220-volt current, takes four to five hours.

RTK GPS, which has sub-inch accuracy, guides the tractor down the rows. Twelve cameras on the tractor record the passes, collecting geo-tagged data that can be used to The Next Generation of Plant Health! guide future hands-off passes or for other purposes. Artificial intelligence in the tractor’s computer also uses the data Microbial Bio-Available to improve upon previous passes.

Foliar Nutrients Inoculants Micro Nutrients “Every farmer has their unique way of how they farm,” Mondavi said. “So if we were to go in with click-and-go autonomy, a lot of times it will miss some of the details that Give Your Plant What it Wants, When it Wants it!

May 2022

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43

Walnut Scale Management

By ELIZABETH FICHTNER | UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare and Kings Counties, DANI LIGHTLE | Assistant Professor, North Willamette Research and Extension Center, Oregon State University, THEMIS MICHAILIDES | Professor, UC Davis, EMILY SYMMES | Senior Manager of Technical Field Services, Suterra, and BOB VAN STEENWYK | CE Specialist Emeritus and Research Entomologist, UC Berkeley

W

alnut scale (Quadraspid iotus juglansregiae) is a common pest of walnut throughout California’s Central Valley. Populations of the pest in commercial walnut orchards (Figure 1a and 1b) appear to have increased over the past decade, inciting a recent surge of research on the biology and management of walnut scale. University of California researchers have recently monitored crawler emergence patterns in multiple walnut growing regions, thus improving the phenological models utilized in timing insecticide applications. Other studies have focused on evaluation of insecticide chemistries for management of the pest, including softer insecticide chemistries and insect growth regulators (IGRs). Additionally, walnut scale has been found to interact with canker-causing plant pathogenic fungi in the canopy, thus exacerbating diseases that may further compromise orchard productivity (Figure 1c, 1d and 1e).

Despite its name, walnut scale is not unique to walnut. It is native to North America and has a wide host range, including woody shrubs, deciduous plants and conifers. In California, walnut scale populations sampled from commercial orchards all represent a single species; however, the population composition of walnut

Continued on Page 46

44

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A

B

C

D

E

F

Figure 1.1.Walnut and may be be lowlow (A) or (B) on branches.

ScaleScale on a Figure Walnutscale scalepopulations populationsvary vary and may (A)high or high (B)given on given branches. prior year’syear’s growth may predispose new growth to disease (C). Scale(C). may alsomay provide infection on a prior growth may predispose new growth to disease Scale also an provide an court, facilitating infection by canker fungi (D). Once infected, fungal pathogens canpathogens colonize can infection court, facilitating infection by canker fungi (D). Once infected, fungal branches (E).

The twice-stabbed lady beetle is a natural enemy of walnut scale found California colonize branches (E). The twice-stabbed lady beetle is a natural enemy of walnutinscale found in orchards (F).

California orchards (F) (photos courtesy E. Fichtner.)

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Walnut Scale scalloped coating

San Jose Scale

ridged body

pronounced nipple

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smooth body

Figure 2. Walnut scale, a native insect, can be differentiated from San Jose Scale, an

by the scalloped waxydifferentiated covering and ridges on the female body.

Figure 2. Walnut scale, aintroduced nativeinsect, insect, can be from SanTheJose Scale, an introSan Jose Scale has a pronounced nipple on the waxy coating and a smooth body. Photos: duced insect, by the scalloped waxy covering and ridges on the female body. The San Jose J. Kelly Clark Scale has a pronounced nipple on the waxy coating and a smooth body (photos by Jack Kelly Clark, UC Statewide IPM Program.)

Continued from Page 44

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scale across other hosts and regions has not been assessed at a genetic level. In California walnut orchards, walnut scale has historically been considered a minor pest. In the past decade, the insect has transitioned from an orchard inhabitant to a pest as the effective insecticides for walnut scale control have been cancelled.

The causes of walnut scale’s recent emergence as a pest are not fully understood. It is speculated that populations of walnut scale are higher than historic levels. The interaction of scale with canker fungi, such as Botryosphaeria spp., may also be a new relationship for walnut scale.

These pathogenic fungi have recently emerged as economic pathogens of walnut despite having been previously endemic in California. Generally, disturbances in natural or agricultural ecosystems may induce changes in the roles of ecosystem inhabitants, such as insects, pathogens, weeds and other microbes. For example, prior to the introduction of DDT and other similar chemical insecticides for the management of codling moth, scale insects were not considered economic pests of walnut orchards in California. Utilization of these insecticides

disrupted natural enemies (Figure 1f, see page 44) of several scale species, resulting in a disruption in the orchard ecosystem and necessitating management of scale populations.

Walnut Scale and Botryosphaeriaceae

Walnut scale predisposes trees to infection by Botryosphaeriaceae fungi both directly and indirectly. A direct association between scale and fungal infection is observed when the scale body is lifted from the shoot to reveal a developing canker (Figure 1d, see page 44). In this direct interaction between the scale and the pathogen, the feeding activity of the insect likely created an infection court (mode of entry) for the pathogen to infect and colonize the branch (Figure 1e, see page 44).

Infestation of twigs by walnut scale also predisposes new growth to infection and disease development. In this indirect interaction between the insect and the pathogen, the canker develops on plant tissue that remains uncolonized by the insect (Figure 1c, see page 44).

Research studies with three different pathogens in the Botryosphaeriaceae family suggest that disease levels are 60% to 70% higher on branches colonized by scale than on uncolonized branches.

Table 1. Phenology of crawler emergence in commercial walnut orchards in California (2015).*

Site

Tehama 1 Butte 3

First Generation (G1) Crawlers

Second Generation (G2) Crawlers

Emergence Peak Activity Peak Activity 4-May 26-May 24-August < 3-June No data 4-September

Butte 4 < 15-May No data 12-August Yuba 5 5-May 21-May 31-August Yuba 6 24-April 21-May 31-August Solano 7 24-April 19-May 8-September C. Costa 10 < 22-April 4-May 31-August C. Costa 11 < 22-April 28-May 24-August Tulare 12 < 24-April 14-May 26-August *Adapted from Symmes and Lightle, 2015. Walnut Research Reports

Last Crawler Detected 28-September 30-October 30-October > 19-October > 19-October 22-September > 14-November 31-August 4-September

Table 1. Phenology of crawler emergence in commercial walnut orchards in California.

Walnut Scale Identification

Walnut scale is an armored scale with a scalloped waxy coating (Figure 2, see page 46). The adult female scale

is revealed by lifting the waxy coating.

The body of the adult female walnut scale can be differentiated from that of the San Jose Scale (a non-native armored scale) by the ridges on the

body. Conversely, the adult female San Jose Scale has a smooth body and a pronounced nipple on the coating (Figure 2, see page 46).

Walnut Scale Lifecycle

Walnut scale nymphs overwinter in orchards and metamorphose to the adult stage in spring. The females remain non-motile, but the adult male is winged and able to fly. After mating, the females lay eggs and the eggs hatch in two to three days and then the crawlers emerge. Crawler emergence is in late April to mid-May in California, depending on the climate and location.

For example, initial crawler emergence has been observed as early as mid- to late-April in Contra Costa and Tulare County orchards and as late as early May in Tehama County orchards (Table 1).

Continued on Page 48

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47

Continued from Page 47 Female crawlers move around, allowing the scale to colonize the current season’s shoots. Once a female crawler finds a place to settle and begin feeding, she secretes the scale cover. Male crawlers migrate to the margins of the female cover and settle. Initially, the scale cover is white, but it changes to gray or brown in about a week. The

female then goes through two instar stages and the male goes through four instars before maturing to the adult, and a second generation is initiated in the same season. Second-generation crawlers emerge in late July to early August with crawler populations peaking in late August to early September. Second-generation crawler activity is generally complete by the end of October; however, at

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A

1 mm

B

Figure 2. Double-sided sticky tape (A) is wrapped around branches by mid-April to detect crawlers. Crawlers stick to the tape while migrating on the branches and can be seen with a dissecting scope or hand lens (B).Photo A: E. Fichtner. Photo B: E. Symmes

Figure 3. Double-sided sticky tape (A) is wrapped around branches by mid-April to detect crawlers. Crawlers stick to the tape while migrating on the branches and can be seen with a dissecting scope or hand lens (B) (photo A by E. Fichtner, photo B

by E.J. Symmes.)

some sites, crawlers may be active into mid-November. These second-generation crawlers will settle and molt before winter.

Detection of Crawler Emergence

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An American National Special Farm Package 10® can provide you with a flexible farm package that allows you to customize a policy to match your individual needs.

For more information and to connect with a local American National agent visit: an.insure/westcoastnut.

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West Coast Nut

May 2022

To target insecticide applications to the crawler stage, double-sided sticky tape can be wrapped around walnut scale-infested branches in mid-April (Figure 3a). Emerging crawlers stick to the tape as they navigate to find feeding sites. Tapes should be changed weekly and checked under a magnifying glass to observe crawlers (Figure 3b).

Chemical Control

Walnut scale can be managed with either broad-spectrum insecticides or IGRs. IGRs are a preferable tool for use in an integrated pest management program because they are less disruptive to natural enemies than contact insecticides. IGRs work by disrupting the molting process; therefore, their activity is not realized immediately but rather over time as the insect develops.

When applied at the delayed dormant stage (i.e., March), IGRs would have the opportunity to inhibit the maturation of the overwintering scale to the adult stage. When applied in late spring

(i.e., late April to early May), IGRs may impact egg hatch as well as the development of the first-generation nymphs.

IGRs, including buprofezin and pyriproxyfen, are effective for management of walnut scale. In UC trials, pyriproxyfen was only tested as a delayed dormant application, whereas buprofezin was tested at both the delayed dormant and the crawler stage timings. In-season, the delayed dormant buprofezin application was superior to the crawler application for reducing crawler populations; however, applications of the product at either timing yielded similar suppression of scale populations in the subsequent season. Only one IGR application per year should be adequate for management of the pest. Effective monitoring and decision-support can help determine the need to treat on a yearly basis.

For more information on monitoring, visit the Sac Valley Orchards website (sacvalleyorchards.com/walnuts/

insects-mites-walnuts/walnut-dormant-monitoring-and-treatment-decisions/).

Products other than IGRs also exhibit efficacy in walnut scale management. In UC trials, acetamiprid, spirotetramat, and bifenthrin/imidacloprid, when applied at the crawler stage, were effective for scale management. The full impact of both spirotetramat and bifenthrin/imidacloprid were not fully realized until the following season.

Walnut scale had become an insidious pest in walnut orchards. Orchards with high disease pressure caused by fungi in the Botryosphaeriaceae family will benefit from both management of walnut scale and pathogens. If populations of the scale are high, or appear to have increased recently, it may be time to apply an IGR for scale management.

IGRs may offer scale suppression over multiple years and often the efficacy of products may not manifest until successive seasons due to the mode of

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action.

For more information on walnut scale and other pests and diseases of walnut, visit the UC IPM website (ipm. ucdavis.edu). Research reports from studies conducted with support from the California Walnut Board are posted online (walnutresearch.ucdavis.edu).

Mention of any particular chemistries or trade names does not constitute a recommendation and are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your licensed crop consultant and adhere to the pesticide label and local and state regulations. Additionally, check with a certifier to determine which products are organically acceptable.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

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View from the Top Why Ali Amin Wants You to Support Generic Promotion of U.S. Pistachios The CEO of industry leader Primex Farms explains the need to build consumer demand in the face of California’s rapid pistachio growth.

By CATHERINE MERLO | Contributing Writer

Ali Amin is CEO of the vertically integrated Primex Company and a board member of American Pistachio Growers (photo courtesy Primex.)

A

li Amin has a message for pistachio growers in the West: Support the industry’s generic promotional activities.

Amin is CEO of Primex, one of California’s largest pistachio growers, processors and global exporters. The company owns and farms more than 5,000 acres of pistachios in Kern County. Its processing plant near Wasco is undergoing its fifth expansion since it was built in 2002. By harvest time this fall, the facility will be able to handle around 150 million pounds of pistachios. Primex also markets almonds, walnuts and several other tree nuts as well as dried fruits.

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Amin also serves on the board of American Pistachio Growers (APG). According to that trade association, California growers will produce 6.9 billion pounds of pistachios over the next five years. That’s 2.4 billion more than the state produced between 2017 and 2021.

Such projections make Amin, who chairs APG’s marketing committee, keenly aware of the need to build consumer demand and support grower pricing in the face of the state’s rapid pistachio growth.

From his office in Los Angeles, where he continues to wrestle with the same shipping problems plaguing other ag exporters, Amin spoke with West Coast Nut on the challenges and opportunities facing California’s pistachio industry.

Q. With all the pistachio trees that have been planted in the last few years in California, how do you think the industry can stay atop of that huge production wave that’s coming?

1975 was the first commercial year for California pistachio production at 1.5 million pounds. Last year, it was 1.16 billion pounds. Rounding up numbers, it’s taken a little over 40 years for the first billion pounds. It may take only seven or 10 years for the next billion pounds. The increased plantings have occurred because pistachios have been having the highest return. Prices have stayed strong over the last 30 years, and that is because of promotion and publicity.

Continued on Page 52

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Q. What’s your outlook for pistachio prices in 2022 or even looking into 2023?

New pistachio plantings were 3,000 acres per year two decades ago. In the last five years, they have reached close to 30,000 acres of new plantings each year. As almond and walnut prices have dropped, those growers pull those trees out and plant pistachios. That’s why we will probably, in the next seven to 10 years, reach two billion pounds of annual pistachio production. Up to now, the growth in demand has matched the supply. Some of it has been through advertising, some through promotion and publicity.

So, the question growers have is what will happen with all these extra plantings. We’ve been growing the market at a rate of about 5% to 7%.

We’ve gone from, let’s say, 20 years ago, almost 95% domestic, to now only 30% to 35% domestic. More than two-thirds are now going to export markets. We need to prioritize our marketing and PR activity in the export markets.

Q. Let’s talk about that for a minute. What is the biggest potential market for California pistachios?

Primex Farms’ 5,000 acres of pistachio orchards sit in California’s Kern County (photo courtesy C. Merlo)

Primex’s pistachio processing facility near Wasco is undergoing its fifth expansion since it was built in 2002 (photo courtesy C. Merlo)

Q. Is Primex exporting any pistachios into India these days?

Yes. I think all the processors are.

In the past, you could say one-third The demand in India has been growing of our market was domestic, one-third ever since APG started its marketing China and one-third Europe. But, just and PR campaign in India in 2019. as China was a major growth market When APG goes to a market like India, that went from almost nothing to 30% as we’ve done in all other markets, the of our shipments, India now has the message we have for its importers and same potential and perhaps more. Its retailers is that we’re here to stay. It middle class is growing faster than took over 20 years to develop China anywhere else. Its GDP rate is growing into a 200- to 300-million-pound at 6%, higher than China. India has a export market. We may be able to reach middle class of more than 300 million those export volumes in India in less people. than 10 years. Having said that, we also Another major factor is that a huge recognize there is still growth opportupercent of Indians are vegetarians. nity in our other export markets.

Pistachios are a natural fit with one serving having as much protein as Q. Talk about the benefits an egg. Pistachios are among the few of industry unity through plant foods to contain complete protein, a group like APG. meaning they are similar in protein When the California Pistachio quality to that of meat, fish, dairy and Commission (CPC) didn’t pass its eggs. Globally, consumers are being five-year referendum in 2007, branded encouraged to move to a plant-based advertising and retail promotional diet. We just happen to have the right activities continued, which is good product at the right time. but not enough to grow demand to 52

West Coast Nut

May 2022

keep up with increasing production.

So, a group of growers got together and said the industry needed to have a generic marketing and promotional program, which had previously been done through the CPC. So, APG was charged to do the generic marketing and promotion of pistachios. A generic marketing program supports all brands: handler and non-handler as well as private-label brands. Private label has grown over the years beyond the warehouse and club store to local supermarkets and even pharmacies.

Western Europe volume is sold mostly as private label. So, a generic program is really supporting all those brands.

Another of APG’s most important functions is its government relations work to ensure we are well represented in Washington, D.C. and at the state level. Through our industry’s state and federal PACs, and with the constant work with domestic and foreign governments, we manage multiple critical issues such as regulatory affairs, tariffs and other barriers to trade that would otherwise damage the industry. Only a

ing to support the programs that have proven to be very successful in building demand. The markets where APG has a marketing emphasis have been growing at a rate of 36% a year, versus the non-supported markets that have been growing at 17%. So, double the growth. I would say, with the amount of money of the APG assessment allocated to marketing and PR, all of these markets are underfunded for the amount of crop we’re expecting

in the next five years. We certainly can do more in these markets to build up demand in our existing markets as well as supporting new markets like India.

We either increase demand or we face lower prices. There is no other way.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

Studies showing U.S. pistachios have a unique set of nutrients with multiple health benefits serve as the basis for many of the industry’s generic promotional activities (photo courtesy American Pistachio Growers.)

generic trade association has the ability to impact most of these issues. Without APG, growers would have no voice and no representation. It’s a major part of our industry’s success to date.

And the other part is that APG has the support of majority of the pistachio growers. Our growers are voluntarily paying their assessments. That’s almost unheard of. The first annual APG conference after CPC was held in Santa Barbara and had about 300 attendees.

Our most recent annual conference in Carlsbad, Calif. was attended by just over 1,300 attendees. So, there’s that much unity and sense of cooperation.

Q. What marketing plans does APG have?

Our goal is to continue to educate on the health benefits of pistachios until those benefits become common knowledge. Unlike other commodities that have been around since the mid-1900s, pistachios are just getting started. New research findings continue to surprise and align with health trends. Pistachios’ benefits as a plantbased, complete protein, their benefit to support healthy weight, diabetes and heart health are all based in published research. We just need to continue to get that information to our audiences.

Within the industry, we are trying to build a campaign to increase fundMay 2022

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Managers can time irrigations to target the effective root depth of their trees and limit the amount of water pushed below the root zone (all photos by C. Parsons.)

5

FIVE THINGS YOU WANT YOUR IRRIGATION MANAGER TO KNOW (EVEN IF THAT’S YOU)

By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor

N

o one in charge of irrigating tree nut orchards for growth and productivity assumes it is a simple task. All parts of the water delivery system, the variability of orchard soils and the orchard environment must be considered for optimal irrigation. The relationship between each of these components is critical—a failure of one can compromise the entire system.

Much like the crop nutrition rule, the right amount of water at the right rate and at the right time contributes to efficient use of water along with tree health and yield. In addition, all the components of a good irrigation system need to be addressed, including routine maintenance.

Giving their advice on the five most important things an irrigation manager should know are Matt Comrey, Wilbur Ellis irrigation specialist, and Curt Pierce, the new Area Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor with UCCE. The following are their five most important:

1. Understanding Application Rate

Comrey and Pierce both agreed that the backbone of any sound irrigation program is understanding the application rate.

“If you don’t understand the volume and time, how can you know if you are meeting the tree needs?” asks Comrey.

It is not uncommon, he noted, that those in charge of irrigation do not have a strong handle on a system’s output per hour.

The application rate is how much water in acre inches is applied per hour of irrigation set run time to accurately reconcile irrigation application with evapotranspiration (ET) rate for that specific crop.

UC works with the California Department for Water Resources to distribute crop ET reports every week and help distribute them to producers, allowing them to plan their irrigations with the previous weeks’ potential “use” in mind.

Continued on Page 56 54

West Coast Nut

May 2022

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Continued from Page 54 Knowing that most tree roots are found in the top four feet or so of the soil can also help inform irrigation decisions, especially when water supplies are limited. Managers can time irrigations to target the effective root depth of their trees and limit the amount of water pushed below the root zone. The difficult part, Pierce said, is recognizing that orchards are usually not uniform in soil types or in their use of water. Achieving a high water utilization rate across the orchard may have to be the best a manager can do.

UC works with the California Department for Water Resources to distribute crop ET reports every week and help distribute them to producers, allowing them to plan their irrigations with the previous weeks’ potential “use” in mind.

2. Understanding ETc

“This is how we estimate the volume of water needed for an irrigation,” Comrey said.

Managers should understand that the evapotranspiration rate for a given crop, or ETc, is a moving target affected by any number of different variables. Pierce said more research is needed to further refine our understanding of the water needs for tree nut crops here in California.

Using the ETc to determine tree needs is basically replacing the water used by the tree over time. Local weather station information on environmental conditions, including temperature and humidity, is used to calculate ETc for specific crops, but age of nut trees, their canopy

WA L N U TS & A L M O N DS

Irrigation managers should be aware of the quality of the water used for irrigation. Knowing the mineral content of the water and how often the system needs to be flushed is important for distribution uniformity.

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West Coast Nut

May 2022

The tedious nature of conducting a distribution uniformity (DU) test or survey is likely why most producers put them off and don’t conduct them with regularity, Pierce said.

Distribution uniformity or flow uniformity is a consistent application rate per emitter throughout the orchard. Comrey said irrigation managers should be aware of DU throughout the orchard and realize that given the variability in soils and topography, it may be a challenge to achieve. Pierce noted that issues with distribution uniformity can also be related to system maintenance. Mineral buildup in emitters or biosludge accumulation can plug or restrict waterflow. In most orchards, plugged emitters can easily go unnoticed, he said.

Regular system checks done by sampling output over time and comparing with the advertised emitter flowrate can be a simple way of getting a handle on the true water application rate, and distribution uniformity, in an orchard, Pierce said.

“There is no better solution for this than to ride the orchard and take notice of failing emitters, leaks, pooling water and visibly stressed trees,” Pierce said. Good filter maintenance and regular acid flushing can help mitigate those problems. If successive emitters on a line show de-

they impact your system. Regular checks for pressure differentials at the filters will help identify when the system may need maintenance.

5. Soil Salinity and Leaching Fraction

Distribution uniformity or flow uniformity is a consistent application rate per emitter throughout the orchard.

creased output, then pressure issues, in addition to clogs, can be a possibility, he added. Irrigation managers need to make sure the line ends are tightly closed and line integrity is maintained, meaning no damage from orchard equipment or vertebrate pests.

Whether it’s double-line drip, microsprinkler or some other form of emitter for your irrigation system, the process is basically the same, Pierce said. It is sampling output over a set time by collecting discharged water in a “catch-can” or some form of measuring device and comparing the samples to the advertised output. By replacing low-performing emitters as soon as possible, managers can help maintain the uniformity of their irrigations.

The option of calling one of the mobile irrigation labs in operation early in the season can also help with irrigation system issues. Pierce recommended calling early before the operators are booked far in advance.

4. Water Quality

Comrey said water quality has become much more of an issue over the past seasons of drought. As drought conditions persist, groundwater quality is expected to worsen.

Poor water quality can have a profound impact not only on tree growth and production but also on distribution uniformity due to mineral buildup in lines and clogged emitters.

Poor-quality water can cause water infiltration problems, reducing infiltration due to surface crusting and clay dispersions.

Irrigation managers should be aware of the quality of the water used for irrigation. Knowing the mineral content of the water and how often the system needs to be flushed is important for distribution uniformity.

Pierce said knowing the filter requirements and having the right filtration for your irrigation system and water source is also a must to help capture contaminants before

Comrey said drought has encouraged the salinization of soils in many areas of California where tree nuts are grown.

When salinity builds up in the soils, water use and crop growth are impacted. The common approach to mitigating salinity risk is to use a “leaching fraction” to help flush salts out of the root zone.

The Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at UC Davis explains that after irrigation water and its dissolved salts move into the crop rootzone, the plant extracts “pure water,” for the most part leaving the salts behind.

The amount of salt in the rootzone will increase over time unless more water than the crop uses is applied. This excess water controls soil salinity levels by leaching some of the salt from the rootzone. The fraction of applied water that moves downward through the rootzone and is not used by the crop is called the leaching fraction.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

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When using a soil test to determine how much calcium to apply to leach salts, it is best to use the Saturated Paste Extract numbers, usually reported in meq/l. Most standard salinity leaching calculations are based on these soluble numbers. The three cations: Ca, Mg and Na make up virtually all the positive ions that aid soil colloid aggregation. Bicarbonate, HCO3- is an anion that has influence, because it can take out some of the free solution Ca to form precipitated lime. To account for this impact, use the Adjusted SAR. If a Mid-West style test is used on an alkaline soil where you only get Ammonium Acetate values, the reported value for “free” Ca can be artificially high because the Ammonium Acetate blows apart the lime. All plant available nutrients are not only the ones in solution. Plant roots create a mild acid which can make many of the soil bound nutrients available.

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57

Essential Elements of a Heat Illness Prevention Program

By ANGELINA CEJA | VP and Chief Education Officer, AgSafe

S

ince California’s Heat Illness Prevention Standard went into effect in 2005, it has continued to be the agricultural industry’s most cited Cal/OSHA violation. In 2021, the agricultural industry incurred 71 citations and $235,000 of fines associated with the Heat Illness Standard.

The ag sector over the years has made meaningful strides in addressing the issues of heat illness. However, it is critical that agricultural employers know the essential elements of the regulation and develop an effective plan to provide safeguards for their employees.

In this article, we will review the highlights of the Heat Illness Prevention Standard and provide best practices to assist with implementing a successful program.

#1 Heat Illness Prevention Plan

A company must have a written Heat Illness Prevention Plan with the following elements, and include specific details as to how you will ensure that the provisions are met: • The designated person(s) that have the authority and responsibility for implementing the plan in the field.

• Procedures for providing sufficient water.

58

West Coast Nut

May 2022

•

Procedures for providing access to shade.

•

High-heat procedures.

•

Emergency response procedures— don’t forget your lone workers (e.g., irrigators).

Acclimatization methods and procedures.

When drafting your plan, it is important to consider the size of your crew, the length of the work day, the ambient temperatures and any additional personal protective equipment (PPE) that contributes as an additional source of heat. The plan needs to be in English and also the language understood by the majority of the employees. The plan must be located at the worksite and accessible to employees

#2 Heat Illness Prevention Training

Employee training needs to be done before an employee begins a shift which could result in the risk of heat illness.

Training should cover the following information:

Training must include the different types of heat illness, the common signs and symptoms of heat illness and appropriate first aid and emergency responses to the different types of heat illness (all photos courtesy AgSafe.)

• The employer’s procedures for complying with the plan’s elements, including the employer’s responsibility to provide water, shade, cool-down rests and access to first aid as well as the employees’ right to exercise their rights.

• The importance of frequent consumption of small quantities of water throughout the workday.

• The concept, importance and methods of acclimatization.

• The environmental and personal risk factors for heat illness as well as the • added burden of heat load on the body caused by exertion, clothing and personal protective equipment.

The different types of heat illness, the common signs and symptoms, and appropriate first aid and

Continued on Page 60

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#3 Adequate Shade and Water

Continued from Page 58 emergency responses to the different types of heat illness.

In addition, that heat illness may progress quickly from mild symptoms to serious and life-threatening illness.

• The importance to employees of immediately reporting to the employer, directly or through the employee’s supervisor, signs or symptoms of heat illness experienced by themselves or their co-workers.

• The employer’s procedures for responding to signs or symptoms of possible heat illness, including how emergency medical services will be provided should they become necessary.

• The employer’s procedures for contacting emergency medical services, and when necessary transporting employees to a point where they can be reached by an emergency medical service provider.

• The employer’s procedures for ensuring that, in the event of an emergency, clear and precise directions to the work site can and will be provided as needed to emergency responders. These procedures shall include designating a person to be available to ensure that emergency procedures are initiated when appropriate.

• • • •

•

Shade Adequate shade means blockage of direct sunlight. One indicator that blockage is sufficient is when objects do not cast a shadow in the area of blocked sunlight. Shade is not adequate when heat in the area of shade defeats the purpose of shade, which is to allow the body to cool. For example, a car sitting in the sun does not provide acceptable shade to a person inside it, unless the car is running with air conditioning. Shade may be provided by any natural or artificial means that do not expose employees to unsafe or unhealthy conditions and that do not deter or discourage access or use.

Shade needs to available when the temperature exceeds 80 degrees F. How do you know when temperatures hit 80 degrees? Cal/OSHA urges employers to not rely on your cell phone because it does not reflect the site-specific temperatures. The best practice is to invest in and use an outdoor thermometer daily.

The amount of shade present shall be at least enough to accommodate the number of employees on recovery or rest periods so that they can sit in a normal posture fully in the shade without having to be in physical contact with each other. The shade shall be located as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working. Shade also needs to be available even when the temperature does not exceed 80 degrees F, upon employee request.

Water Employees shall have access to potable drinking water. It must be fresh, pure, suitably cool and provided to employees All of the topics covered during employee training. free of charge. The water shall be located as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working. Where drinkThe procedures the supervisor is to follow to implement ing water is not plumbed or otherwise continuously supplied, the heat illness prevention plan procedures. it shall be provided in a sufficient quantity at the beginning of the work shift to provide one quart per employee per hour The protocol a supervisor is to follow when an employee for drinking for the entire shift. Employers may begin the exhibits signs or reports symptoms consistent with possi- shift with smaller quantities of water if they have effective ble heat illness, including emergency response procedures. procedures for replenishment during the shift as needed to allow employees to drink one quart or more per hour.

How to monitor weather reports and how to respond to As you begin to review or develop your plan, remember hot weather advisories. there are a number of excellent ag specific resources, tem-

60

Supervisor training needs to be completed prior to supervising employees and include the following topics:

West Coast Nut

May 2022

plates and training guides available on the Cal/OSHA website (dir.ca.gov/ dosh/heatillnessinfo.html). Additionally, if you need support in developing or updating your plan or providing training to your employees, please contact the AgSafe office at 209-526-4400 or send an email to safeinfo@agsafe.org.

For more information about heat illness prevention, worker safety, human resources, labor relations, pesticide safety, or food safety issues, please visit www.agsafe.org, contact us at (209) 5264400 or via email at safeinfo@agsafe.org.

AgSafe is a 501c3 nonprofit providing training, education, outreach and tools in the areas of worker safety, human resources, labor relations, pesticide safety and food safety issues for the food and farming industries.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

The amount of shade present shall be at least enough to accommodate the number of employees on recovery or rest periods so that they can sit in a normal posture fully in the shade without having to be in physical contact with each other.

May 2022

www.wcngg.com

61

The Impact of Pistachio Sanitation on Navel Orangeworm Damage and Egg Trap Counts

By BRADLEY S. HIGBEE | Research Entomologist, Field R&D Manager, Trécé, Inc.

Drive row and berms prior to sanitation activities (all photos courtesy B. Higbee.)

S

anitation has been shown to be beneficial in reducing navel orangeworm (NOW) populations and damage in pistachio orchards; however, the impact is not as great as has been demonstrated in almond.

This is likely due to the inability to destroy mummies that are on the ground. The standard shaking and poling efforts can reduce mummies in the trees as well as in almonds. But due to the smaller, harder nature of pistachio mummies, the typical mower/shredder equipment is not able to pulverize the pistachio mummies as well as almond mummies. Egg traps have been a standard monitoring tool in nut crops for decades. In this study, looking at the impact of pistachio sanitation on harvest damage, we looked at number of mummies in the tree and on the ground after sanitation was performed and the impact on the number of eggs on egg traps.

Continued on Page 64

62

West Coast Nut

May 2022

Drive row after mowing for weeds in No san plot.

After second pass with shredder.

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P a r t ia l T r t mn t None Shake/Pole Shake/Pole Shake only None None None None None None None

Ground Mummies Mean/tree

Tree Mummies

Yr

N o S a n Fu ll

No San

200 5 200 6 200 7 200 8 200 9 201 0 201 1 201 2 201 3 201 4 201 5

249

25

829

Mean

Mean/tree

% NOW Dmg me a n %

* s ig dif f

No San 2.4

Fu ll

13.41

Fu ll San 0.01

1.73

Diffe r enc e % R e d u c ti o n 0.67* 27.9

147

0.06

0.01

0.25

0.07

0.18*

72.0

601

142

0

0.01

5.1

3.5

1.6*

31.4

932

335

52.66

0.22

1.43

0.86

0.57*

39.9

1731

537

149.0

0.1

1.67

1.54

0.13

7.8

729

459

8.8

0.23

0.44

0.25

0.19*

43.2

763

239

54.7

3.4

0.42

0.11

0.31*

73.5

344

170

123.6

1

3.66

2.80

0.86*

23.5

519

450

100.5

0.625

2.8

2.6

0.2

7.1

1132

297

168.7

12.3

2

1.8

0.2

10.0

1875

426

147.9

9.7

2.85

2.7

0.15

5.3

882

293

74.5

2.5

2.1%

1.6%

0.17%

23.8%

Table 1. The number of mummies per tree on the ground and in the trees from plots where sanitation was performed (Full) compared to plots with partial or no sanitation (No San). Percent NOW damage calculated from experimental field samples taken at harvest and processed by hand. Statistically significant damage differences are indicated by an asterisk.

Continued from Page 62

Methods

In 2005, three replicate treatment plots were established in pistachio orchards that were planted in 1973 and located in western Kern County. Each plot was 160 acres and was assigned a treatment, “Full sanitation” or “No sanitation”, for the duration of

64

West Coast Nut

May 2022

the trial. Full sanitation consisted of shaking and poling (2005-10 only) the trees, sweeping and blowing the berms and then shredding or disking twice.

In the “No sanitation” plots, shaking and poling or shaking the trees were performed in 2006-08 (Table 1); otherwise, there were no sanitation efforts

until weeds were mowed in late April/ early May. Sanitation assessments were conducted in two-tree-by-four-tree areas (two adjacent rows with a total of eight trees.) All mummies from the ground and in the tree were collected and counted separately and the total divided by eight to obtain the mummies

per tree. For each plot, four areas were sampled in each quadrant for a total of sixteen sample areas. All mummies were dissected in the lab for presence of NOW (results not reported here.)

There were four egg traps in each quadrant of each plot. Egg traps were loaded with commercial almond meal (no oil added) which was replaced every two weeks. Traps were checked and egg counts recorded each week. The design of this experiment also included pheromone and almond meal-baited sticky traps in equal numbers to the egg traps.

These data are not reported here but will be addressed in a future article.

All plots received the same NOW insecticide applications within each year, and these typically consisted of two “hullsplit’ applications in August prior to the first harvest shake (typically early to mid-September.) Harvest samples of about 1000 nuts (3 to 500 nuts from three adjacent trees) were taken from each egg trap location just prior to both the first and second harvest shakes for a total of about 8000 nuts from each plot.

NOW damage was pooled for the two harvest sample dates and the overall mean for each treatment is shown in Table 1 (see page 64).

Full), there were still a significant number of mummies on the ground. Tree mummies were reduced to 2.5/tree on average, and considering that a proportion of these mummies contained blank nuts not suitable for NOW development, this should be an acceptable level and on par with almond recommendations for trees.

Egg Trapping

Figures 1 to 3 are representative graphs of egg trap dynamics for the purpose of characterizing the response of trap counts to different mummy loads in pistachio orchards. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show weekly egg trap counts in Full and No San treatments for 2013,

Continued on Page 66

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Sanitation

Table 1 lists the mean number of mummies on the ground and in the trees for plots receiving partial or no sanitation (No San) and plots receiving full sanitation (Full), along with NOW damage levels. The NOW damage reduction in the full sanitation treatment ranged from 5% to 73.5% with an average of 23.8%. The greatest benefit was in years of relatively high NOW damage, such as 2005, 2007 and 2012. There were some years in which the damage reduction was 10% or less (2009, 2013, 2014 and 2015), but in 7 out of the 11 years of the study, NOW damage was reduced by 23.5% or more.

Over the duration of this study, the mean damage reduction was 23.8% with the Full averaging 1.6% and the No San averaging 2.1%. It is important to notice that even though there was an overall reduction of nearly 70% in the number of “Ground Mummies” in the Full treatment (882 in No San vs 293 in

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65

Continued from Page 65 2014 and 2015. In 2013, there was a very large difference in tree mummies between the treatments, while ground mummy counts were slightly higher in the No San treatment.

The difference in tree and ground mummies was numerically high in 2014 and 2015 (Table 1, see page 64).

First flight egg trap counts for 2013 show a peak of nearly 800 eggs/trap/ week in the Full plots while the No San plots peaked at about 100 eggs/trap/ week, and this peak occurred about two to three weeks later than the large peak in the Full treatment. In 2014, there were large differences in both ground and tree mummies between the treatments, and two first flight peaks occurred.

The first peak occurred simultaneously in the two treatments, with the Full at about 160 eggs/trap/week and the No San at about 25 eggs/trap/week.

The difference in second peak magnitude between treatments was much less pronounced, with the peak in the Full plots at about 90 eggs/trap/week and the No San at about 65 eggs/trap/week

with a delay of about one week.

Also in 2014, the second flight peak was more pronounced and the No San peak was greater than the Full peak (60 eggs/trap/week vs 25eggs/ trap/week), displaying a reversal in the trend from the first flight. In 2015, peak counts and differences between treatments were much lower (20 eggs/trap/week), but the trend from 2014 was repeated; higher counts in the Full treatment for the first peak with higher counts in the No San treatment in subsequent peaks.

Conclusions

The reduction in both tree and ground mummies was substantial in the Full plots, an average of over 96% reduction for tree mummies and nearly 67% for ground mummies.

This resulted in lower damage in the “full” plots each of the 11 years in this study. However, due to the pattern of nut susceptibility to NOW attack and regardless of the relative abundance or pressure from NOW populations, NOW damage was 2% or less in six of the 11 years (Table 1, see page 64). The

Mummies on berm that escaped blowing and sweeping.

average percent reduction in NOW damage in those years was 0.26%. In the five years that NOW damage was above 2%, the average reduction was 0.7%, but in the two highest years of damage, 2007 and 2012, the reduction was 1.6% and 0.86%, respectively. The results from 2007 are particularly interesting; NOW damage was highest and the difference between treatments the greatest (5.1% vs 3.5%), and shaking and poling was performed in both the Full and No San treatments, resulting in virtually no tree mummies in either treatment. However, there were 601 and 142 ground mummies/tree in the No San and Full treatments, respectively,

Pistachio Sanitation Trial - 2013 NOW Egg Traps 1200

Full

Mean number of eggs

1000

No San

800

600

400

200

0

3/5

4/5

5/5

6/5

7/5

8/5

9/5

Figure 1. Egg trap counts for traps in fully sanitized (Full) plots and plots receiving no sanitation efforts (No San) in 2013. 1050 NOW degree-days from biofix occurred on June 5, 2100 degree-days on July 20 and 3150 degree-days on September 1.

66

West Coast Nut

May 2022

Figure 2. Egg trap counts for traps in fully sanitized (Full) plots and plots receiving no sanitation efforts (No San) in 2014. 1050 NOW degree-days from biofix occurred on June 1, 2100 dd on July 14 and 3150 dd on August 24.

Pistachio Sanitation Trial - 2015 NOW Egg Traps 25

Full No San

Ground mummy sampling.

suggesting that ground mummies are an important source of host material for NOW reproduction. This also suggests that if ground mummies could be reduced further, perhaps to an equivalent level commonly found in well sanitized almond orchards (five to ten mummies/tree), NOW damage could be reduced to an even greater extent.

A few things that are clear from Figures 1 to 3: Based on parallel trapping data with sex pheromone traps (not presented here), attractiveness of almond meal-baited egg traps to NOW females appears to diminish after mid-June (the end of the first flight) and does not have a good correlation to relative NOW population densities.

Since NOW damage was around 2% in each of these years and egg trap counts were vastly different, there seems to be absolutely no correlation between relative NOW populations as represented by egg traps and NOW damage at harvest.

The fully sanitized plots had much higher first-flight egg trap counts than the plots that had no sanitation efforts.

The much greater difference between tree mummies (14 to 160 times more in No san plots) relative to ground mummies (1.2 to 4 times more in No san plots) suggests that egg traps have much less competition in fully sanitized orchards, resulting in much higher egg counts than would occur under the same conditions in an orchard that is not sanitized with the same NOW abundance.

Based on this study, sanitation as practiced is likely worthwhile, but it will have the most impact in years of high NOW damage. Egg traps, while still very good at establishing a biofix in pistachio orchards (not necessarily true in almonds), may not be a good relative indicator of population abundance between orchards unless the number of tree mummies is similar. If improvements in ground mummy destruction equipment are realized and prove to be practical, sanitation would likely have a much greater and more consistent impact and NOW management in pistachio would be vastly improved.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you.

Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

Mean number of eggs

20

15

10

5

0 2/17

3/17

4/17

5/17

6/17

7/17

Figure 3. Egg trap counts for traps in fully sanitized (Full) plots and plots receiving no sanitation efforts (No San) in 2015. 1050 NOW degree-days from biofix occurred on June 10, 2100 dd on July 21 and 3150 dd on September 1.

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67

Avoid Pitfalls When Planting a New Pecan Orchard

By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor

T

here are pitfalls in every step of pecan orchard development. Site selection, orchard design, water quality, mineral nutrition and tree training can all have an impact on the long-term productivity and health of a pecan orchard.

Richard Heerema, pecan specialist with New Mexico State University spoke about some of those pitfalls at Pecan Day in Yuba City, hosted by West Coast Nut in cooperation with the California Pecan Growers Association. Heerema said the long amount of time it takes to get pecan trees to maturity makes it important to avoid common pitfalls when planting and growing pecan trees in the Western U.S. Starting with suitable ground for pecan production,

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“will get you a long way down the road,” Heerema said.

Less-than-optimal soil can be avoided or amended. California has different factors in orchard site selection than New Mexico or Arizona, but some of the same principles apply. In California, he said, a site less suited to other tree nuts might be chosen for pecan production. There may be ways to maximize the site, he said.

Site Selection

Site selection entails looking at the soils and variations in soil. Heerema suggested digging holes across a field to compare soil textures. Explore the pits, he added ,and look for stratified soils that could be a barrier to good drainage.

Breaking up layers may be possible. Finding rock or hardpan layers would require significant work to ensure good drainage for trees.

Pecans like well drained soils, Heerema said. They can tolerate ‘wet feet’ better than other tree nuts, but sandy or loamy soils are preferred, although sandier soils are less able to hold nutrients in the rootzone.

Before planting, he advised, the quality of the water for irrigation should be determined as pecan trees are sensitive to high salinity levels.

The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys differ in their ground water quality. The southern part of the San Joaquin Valley often has higher salinity levels in groundwater. High boron levels are also found on the west sides of both valleys.

“If you know ahead of time, you can deal with it.”

Orchard Design Matters

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Row direction matters in planning an orchard. If the orchard site is conducive to pecan production and has deep, fertile soils and good water, production can be maximized with a design that affords trees the most light and space. Heerema said an Australian study of row orientation north to south produced an increase in yield compared to rows going east to west.

Light is especially important in the Sacramento Valley, Heerema said. Rows planted in a north-to-south direction are best for catching maximum light. Quoting pecan grower Keith Larrabee, Heerema said, “Light is not everything, but it is at least 95%.” In ideal sites, Heerema added, pecans can

SPRuce up your Spring snacking! make tremendous gains in growth.

Tree spacing and variety are also considerations in orchard design. Planting more or fewer trees per acres is really a judgement call based on management style, Heerema said. Fewer trees per acre give young trees a good start. They will fill in the space and run out of light later. Where pollinizer rows are planted is another consideration in orchard design.

“Roots are everything at planting,” Heerema said. When trees are received from the nursery, they should be handled carefully, keeping roots moist by heeling in moist ground or placed in cold storage.

At planting, he advised mudding the trees in and irrigating as soon as possible.

Roots should not be bending upward or circline but should be down and out. If necessary, long roots can be pruned without harming the tree.

Tree trunks should also be painted white to prevent sunburn. New trees can be badly burned that first year after planting, Heerema said, and paint is cheap insurance. Emitters should be wetting the young trees’ rootzones. Keeping in mind the soil texture, care should be made to not underirrigate or overirrigate new trees. A leaching fraction should also be applied.

Pruning or Not

Heerema’s pruning advice is to not over prune, but don’t under prune either. The more cuts made, the longer it takes for nut production. Leaving lower limbs for a while will produce a bigger tree faster, he said.

Not a lot of pecan growers will do summer pruning, Heerema said, but there is some value to it, particularly with long, vigorous shoots. During May and June, shoots can be cut in half; this reins in the tree, and regrowth will not be as vigorous as it would be with winter pruning.

This does not apply to baby trees, but Heerema warned not to wait too long to start mechanical hedging in a more mature orchard. This is a judgement call, he added, and should be based on vigor of the trees. At about 30 feet in height, begin cuts.

This advice also includes not letting trees “grow out of the boxes.”

Hedging direction also matters, Heerema continued. For the best light, it should be from north to south.

When it comes to mineral nutrition, Heerema warned against overfertilization of young trees with N, particularly in the Sacramento Valley.

“These trees are vigorous to begin with; don’t make it worse.”

The mineral they most need is zinc. Research done in Arizona found that for young trees, this nutrient is best applied via soil where it can be taken up by the roots. Tissue analysis can give growers an idea of zinc needs.

Orchard floor vegetation can also affect young tree growth. Preventing weed growth three to four feet from the tree trunks is advised as even mowed weeds can steal nutrients and water. Cover crops planted in the middles can work as long as the plants don’t take over the entire floor. As the trees mature, weeds are less of an issue.

“Baby these trees for the first three years after planting,” Heerema advised. “It is really important to meet their needs through those first years.”

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Research Finds Mechanical Topping of Young Almond Trees Costs More, Yields Less

By MITCH LIES | Contributing Writer

Young almond trees are shown shortly after mechanical topping in this photo. Research has shown no yield advantage when topping Nonpareil and Monterey varieties (all photos by R. Duncan.)

M

ore than two decades ago, UCCE Pomologist Roger Duncan embarked on research seeking to answer whether there was any yield advantage to topping 1- and 2-year-old almond trees.

“We tried it back then and didn’t see any obvious benefit to it,” said Duncan, who advises in Stanislaus County.

After witnessing mechanical toppers at work in orchards in recent years, Duncan decided it was time to try it again. The result?

“We could not see any advantage at all, and it actually ended up costing more money,” Duncan said of the recent research.

Going back 20+ years, the idea behind topping was that a grower would get a bushier tree of stronger, shorter stature that would yield better, Duncan said. The reality, however, is the practice failed to deliver on any of those factors in Duncan’s trials.

In the 6-year experiment that was concluded in 2020, trees left untopped significantly outperformed trees that were mechanically topped, whether scaffolds were selected or not.

“The highest yielding trees were the 70

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trees that we did nothing to,” Duncan said. “So, through the sixth-leaf Nonpareil trees that were not topped, that had no scaffold selection, no training, the untrained, unpruned trees yielded about 500 pounds more cumulatively than the next best treatment, which was topping with no scaffold selection.”

In the Monterey variety, mechanically topped trees that had follow-up scaffold selection had the lowest cumulative yields, he added.

The experiment was conducted in west Stanislaus County with Nonpareil and Monterey almonds planted on Titan peach-almond hybrid rootstock.

Researchers documented yields for four years beginning in the third leaf.

The experiment compared mechanically topped trees to trees that weren’t topped and included various levels of hand training in the topped and non-

Continued on Page 72

Almond trees left un-topped, left, are initially taller than topped trees, right. Trials have shown that topped trees quickly grew to the same height as the un-topped trees but had a tendency toward smaller trunks by the end of the next growing season.

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Continued from Page 70 topped trees. Trees were topped only once after the first season.

Vigorous Regrowth

Whenever a grower approaches him with a question of whether to adopt a practice, Duncan said the first question he asks is, “what are you trying to accomplish?”

“Anytime you do any practice that costs you money, you have to have an idea of what you are trying to accomplish, and hopefully it makes or saves you money by doing it,” Duncan said.

The goals Duncan most often heard for mechanically topping trees were to get a shorter, bushier tree that would yield better. The experiment showed that not only did the topped trees not yield better than trees that were not topped, they also were not shorter.

“Obviously they were shorter immediately after topping, but by the end of the next year, the topped trees and the un-topped trees were the same height, because the trees that were topped had a tremendous amount of regrowth,” Duncan said. “So, we get all this vigorous regrowth and they end up the same height as you get without topping after just one season.”

Another reason Duncan has heard for topping trees is to reduce wind resistance in hopes of reducing leaning, resulting in a straighter tree. Again, researchers found there was no reduction in leaning in the topped trees.

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Excessive bud break and a “crow’s nest” of branches can develop after topping trees, potentially leading to increased shading of the lower canopy.

“We used this big protractor to measure trunk angles and we didn’t see any difference at all in how much a tree leaned, whether they were topped or not topped,” Duncan said.

“That may be because much of the leaning that occurred appeared to happen in the first growing season, prior to any topping being done.

“So, at least in this case, we were not able to show that the trees were shorter,” he said. “We were not able to show that the trees were any straighter. And we were not able to show that the trees yielded better.”

Researchers also looked at how topping trees affected pruning costs in testing the premise that topping trees could reduce those costs.

“It is generally faster to do follow-up hand pruning of topped trees,” Duncan said. “And what we found is it was a little faster when a tree was topped to come back with a hand crew and do some scaffold selection. But it didn’t make up for the increase in cost from the topping. At least it didn’t in our trial.

“So, the most expensive treatment that we had was where the trees were mechanically topped, and then we did follow-up scaffold selection by hand,” he said. “Of course, the least expensive was where we didn’t do any scaffold selection or topping, just removed limbs too low on the trunk for shaker access. Those were also the best-yielding trees.”

The experiment showed that sending a crew through an un-topped orchard to do normal pruning and scaffold selection cost about $12-an-acre less than the combination of topping and sending a hand crew through to do scaffold selection.

“It was a little faster, but when you add on the cost for the topping, then you actually end up costing yourself a little more money,” Duncan said.

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In addition to these drawbacks, Duncan said mechanical topping actually could exacerbate shade issues in trees.

“I am concerned that when we make this kind of indiscriminate cut right at the top, you get all of these new shoots pushing all at the same height right at the cut and you end up getting a crow’s nest appearance, and I think there is potential for actually increasing shade in the lower canopy

A mechanical topper moves through a young almond orchard.

over time.

As for topping, Duncan said he hesthrough in a short time, it might make “I haven’t confirmed if that is true,” itates to say it is never the right thing sense.

Duncan added. “That is just speculato do. “I haven’t compared topping in “But, as a general practice, just to tion. But it could possibly make your really upright varieties like Padre or do a mechanical topping in a young shade problem worse.”

Aldrich, but I suspect the results would orchard that has no problems and is In general, Duncan said, for decades, be the same,” he said. growing well, I don’t see how there is trials have shown that pruning almond “There are always special circumany benefit to that,” he said. trees lowers yields. stances where maybe mechanical “Every trial I’ve ever seen all topping would be beneficial,” he said. throughout California, and really “Especially if someone needed to get in Comments about this article? We want throughout the world, whenever we really fast and needed to get somebody to hear from you. Feel free to email us at prune almond trees, we never improve article@jcsmarketinginc.com yield in the short or long term, and we usually reduce yield,” Duncan said.

“And it seems like it doesn’t matter if we do it by hand or whether we are topping mechanically or hedging mechanically. We have just seen over and over that pruning does not improve or maintain yields, and it only has the possibility of reducing yield, if anything.”

Some scaffold selection in the first year or two after planting is recommended to build the structure of a tree, Duncan said. “The idea is to build a strong scaffold structure, a strong architecture, so you have a tree that lasts 25 years and you don’t have scaffold breakage,” he said. “And you have to Patented Smart-Till tines fracture and open the soil 8” deep with little soil disturbance. prune occasionally for safety, machinBreaks hardened soil for longer irrigation sets and less ponding in the row middles.

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• Increase irrigation runs “That is different than pruning for • Incorporate soil ammendments improving light distribution to main• Reduces soil compaction • Fast at 6-8 mph reducing cost/acre tain yield,” he said.

“Generally, the more you prune, Call your dealer for a demo or see the video in action at www.TGSchmeiser.com the more potential you have to reduce yields,” he said. “That has been shown Better Root Zone Management from over and over and over again. It is no longer a theory. It is pretty well a prov1-800-288-8128 • www.tgschmeiser.com en fact at this point.”

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Nights of Hard Frost Devastate Northstate Almond Crop

By JULIE R. JOHNSON | Contributing Writer

A

week of hard night freezes followed by stiff north winds left almond orchards decimated in the Northern Sacramento Valley of California, leaving growers with nothing to do but look ahead to next year’s crop.

Trees once full of blossoms and the promise of a bumper crop in February stood over a blanket of red in March, the ground covered in dead nutlets and petals.

Almond growers were delighted with the potential crop

A blanket of dead almond blossoms reddens the floor of a frost-damaged crop in Vina, Calif.

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What should be an almond tree burdened with newly developing nutlets sits nearly empty. DC Felciano, pictured, said the branch he is pointing to should have about 40 nutlets, but there are only four, as six nights of below-freezing temperatures in the Northern Sacramento Valley in late February killed most of the crop.

DC Felciano , manager of almond orchards in the Corning and Vina area, holds up a handful of dead blossoms containing black-centered nutlets destroyed by a hard frost in late February. He said the only thing growers can do now is to look ahead and work on next year’s crop (all photos by J.R. Johnson.)

in early February as warm weather kept the bees humming in the orchards.

Then came the freeze.

In late February, nighttime and early morning temperatures dipped into the low to upper 20s in many areas of the valley.

“For six nights in a row, for five hours or more we saw temperatures at 32 to 21 degrees [F], and that was just too much,” said DC Felciano, manager of 160 acres of almonds in the valley owned by Jack Brower of Escondido.

Growers desperately

fought the freeze. Sprinklers ran and helicopters hovered in an attempt to save the vulnerable infant almonds.

The sprinklers put water on the trees, providing a heat layer, and that works if the temps don’t drop below 30 degrees F. However, such wasn’t the case for many areas during the February freeze.

Many growers hired helicopters to push down the warmer air above the trees down into the orchards.

For that to work, there has to be an inversion layer, according to Mel Machado, director of members relations at Blue Diamond Growers, and it was light if existent at all in the areas hardest hit

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Felciano said it is still too early to know whether it will be worth harvesting what little of a crop they may have.

“And we aren’t through with the inclement weather yet.

There is always the potential for hail damage, extreme winds and yet another frost. Many things are still unknown,” he added.

Most growers will be able to collect frost insurance on their failed crop at $2.35 a pound on a five-year average.

“Most almond growers I know in this area are just calling this year a loss and will be collecting their insurance. If there is any upside to this, it is that frost insurance will likely be paying out more than the open market, which I expected to see paying out only $1 a pound due to high storage levels,” Felciano said. “Some growers may come out ahead if they carried insurance, but not everyone does.”

The orchards Felciano manages are not covered by insurance and he said the owner will just have to take the year as a loss.

Continued from Page 75

by the frost.

It appears the range for almond loss is 60% to 100% in the Northern Sacramento Valley, and a year of work and investment is lost.

“Everything you see below the trees, all of that red, that’s this year’s crop,” said Felciano. “Every dead blossom contains a nutlet.”

Picking up a blossom from the ground, he cut open the tiny nutlet.

“See how it is black in the center? That shows it is dead.

Otherwise, the center would be a very soft green color, almost white, definitely not black,” he added.

Pointing to a branch on a tree, Felciano noted the branch should be covered with small, developing nuts.

Instead, as was the case with all the branches and trees around, it held about four.

“This branch alone should have 40 almonds on it, not four,” Felciano said. “For this 70-acre orchard here in Vina, it’s a Levels of Loss total disaster, pretty much a 90% loss.”

The frost impacted different areas of the Northstate differently; however, it was the Northern Sacramento Valley which Worth Harvesting or Not? took the worst of the freeze.

Like many growers assessing the crop in late March, Even within the valley, different areas suffered different levels of loss.

For example, according to Shanna Long, a grower in Corning, the Vina area where 70 acres of Felciano’s orchards grow, seemed to suffer worse damage than orchards in Corning, only Quality Agricultural Spray Equipment, Parts and Supplies six miles away.

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“From about Arbuckle north took the worst hit in the state,” Felciano said.

He explained the range of loss also depended on the almond variety.

“Some varieties are more susceptible to freeze hours than others. Monterey’s are frost-hardy, and we are finding Independence is frost-hardy as well. It was the early varieties, like Nonpareils, Sonora, Ne Plus, which have shown to be much more susceptible to frost damCLOSED MIXING SYSTEMS age,” Felciano added.

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“EVEN IN THE FACE OF

THIS LOSS, PEOPLE NEED TO REALIZE GROWERS WILL HAVE TO CONTINUE FARMING AS WE ALWAYS DO BECAUSE WE ARE NOW FARMING FOR NEXT YEAR’S CROP."

– DC FELCIANO, ORCHARD MANAGER

towards the varieties that are frost-hardy.

“That is something we are looking at for the future,” he said. “Drought conditions are becoming a huge factor in orchard management. One of the factors in the freeze was orchards blooming about 10 days earlier than in previous years, and that is due to a very

warm January and the drought.

Onward and Upward

On the upside, if it can even be considered that the dead blossoms on the orchard floors can stay right where they lie and become organic matter that will feed the trees in return for their loss.

“Even in the face of this loss, people need to realize growers will have to continue farming as we always do because we are now farming for next year’s crop. The work we do today is for one year ahead, we just have to look forward,” Felciano explained.

Fertilizers will still need to be applied, irrigation will need to run and soils and leaves tested, all for next year’s crop.

“However,” Felciano explained, “on a frost year like this one, when growers lose their crop or a good percentage of it, we cut back on all our inputs. We will fertilize the trees, we will water the trees, but we won’t do a lot of extras because the revenue isn’t coming in this year and the trees won’t be putting out

energy in developing this year’s crop.”

And now, with fuel costs skyrocketing, keeping a tight rein on the financial bottom line is essential.

In addition to killing off a good portion of this year’s almond crop, the freeze also did damage to the wood on young trees.

“On the young almond trees, the frost burned some of the young growth black,” Felciano said. “But I’m not too worried as the trees will push new leaves again, but just takes energy away from the trees.”

According to Long, only time will tell the true toll weather has taken on California’s second leading crop.

California grows 100% of the country’s domestic almond supply and 80% of the international supply. Even in a bad crop year, that is something to be proud of, Long said.

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77

CCAGA’S PROCESSING ENGINEER DETAILS PATH TO THE ALMOND PROCESSING INDUSTRY

By TAYLOR CHALSTROM | Digital Content Editor

T

he almond processing industry is in good hands for years to come if college graduates like Andy Barahate continue to enter the field.

Barahate is the type of skilled graduate that California State University, Fresno’s new Western Agricultural Processors Association Tree Nut Laboraty hopes to train for the industry. The laboratory was dedicated on April 1 after several years of coordinated industry effort.

Hailing from India Barahate came over to the U.S. with a Bachelor of Engineering and robotics background and went to study electrical engineering at Fresno State. However, over the course of his studies Barahate became involved in agriculture-related projects, and he ended up changing his major 78

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to industrial technology in the Jordan College of Agriculture. After graduating, Barahate went to Henderson Hulling and Shelling in Sacramento for an internship. “[I] learned the basics of how to run a plant for hullers and shellers, the conveyance systems that are related to it,” Barahate said.

With this new in-person knowledge of almond processing systems, experience with Fresno State’s almond processing course and his background in electrical engineerin, Barahate was recommended by Henderson Hulling and Shelling to the Process Engineer

Continued on Page 80

Andy Barahate is Central California Almond Growers Association’s Process Engineer and is a product of true, in-person processing experience at California State University, Fresno. (photo by A. Barahate.)

One project Barahate has been working on at CCAGA is looking at ‘hot spots’ in stockpiles using thermal imaging by drone (photo by A. Barahate.)

Continued from Page 78 position at (CCAGA). Here, Barahate participates in a myriad of research projects related to improving facets of almond processing.

Almond Processing Research

Since coming to CCAGA’s Kerman location as a Process Engineer, Barahate has taken on and completed multiple projects related to almond process-

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ing. One project in particular Barahate has been working on is looking at ‘hot spots’ in stockpiles using thermal imaging by drone. Hull and shell piles as well as the stockpile yard would catch on fire, CCAGA President and CEO Mike Kelley said, and by then it was sometimes too late. The goal of the project is to find areas in stockpiles that might be cause for fire danger before a fire occurs and create a proactive approach to managing hot spots.

“Before, we were often reactive and attacked a problem after the fire had already manifested itself,” Kelley said.

Barahate said the fires caused in stockpiles are due to an exothermic reaction with mold that may be festering in higher-moisture areas within piles.

These exothermic reactions are what show up as the bright red or yellow areas in the thermal imaging.

When it was found that the high-moisture mold areas were inciting these reactions, Barahate drew from previous research he’d participated in with thermal irrigation mapping and brought the new idea to CCAGA’s Board of Directors for thermal imaging of stockpiles. The Board approved and Barahate got to work.

One key finding from the research thus far is the need for vigilance in monitoring stockpile surface temperatures. Barahate said multiple factors can contribute to overall stockpile temperatures, including any foreign material (i.e., sticks or stones), fumigation and the temperatures of hulls themselves from high moisture.

Monitoring these temperatures is no small task. CCAGA has about 20 acres of stockpiles at its Kerman facility and another 1.8 acres in Sanger, Barahate said, so there is ample ground to cover.

Barahate flies the drone around 50 to 100 feet above stockpile blocks. He then takes both a regular and thermal image of the block to examine any outliers.

“A safe temperature for any stockpile is 76 to 80 degrees F,” Barahate said.

Barahate’s data show that in winter, a single stockpile near 80 or 90 degrees F is considered an outlier and a potential fire hazard. The hazard is only

potential because an outlier present one week may not be present the next, Barahate noted.

The thermal imaging research for stockpiles is a continuous process, and Barahate provides weekly updates to CCAGA with gathered and subsequently analyzed data.

Barahate said that CCAGA also has an active outreach program to notify other hullers and shellers across the state of the almond processor’s research findings. “The [research] that I have started here, I want each and every sheller to use it in their program and use it for their own benefit,” he said.

“It’s not a copyright thing; it’s actually out there for all. It’s open to the industry, that’s what my ultimate goal is.”

Capitalizing on Fresno State Training

Barahate got his first introduction to almond processing through Fresno

State’s almond processing course in 2019. Although the course is now in full force running the Tree Nut Processing Laboratory unveiled in April, it was in juvenile stages when Barahate enrolled.

Barahate was still able to take away valuable information from the course during this time.

A citrus processing line was used as an example for the almond processing course to give students general exposure to processing machinery. “For example, the conveyor, which had load cells in it detecting the weight of the citrus, and if it didn’t have that proper weight to it, it would be knocked out,” Barahate said.

This type of technologically advanced processing machinery and others that students in the course observed inspired Barahate, leading him into his internship with Henderson. “That actually insighted me that I must know how a processing plant works on a

bigger scale.”

Kelley believes the almond processing course at Fresno State will help graduates get a taste of the tree nut industry and hopes several will seek good paying jobs in the San Joaquin Valley.

“We unfortunately see engineering graduates seeking jobs outside of the San Joaquin Valley,” he said. “This brain drain is not good for the economic and social future here at home. The WAPA Tree Nut line showcases our industry, and we hope will sell the fact that there are good jobs for those who wish to work in a great industry right here in the largest of the Mediterranean climates in the world and the best agricultural region in the world.”

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81

A WORD FROM THE BOARD: AMERICAN PECAN COUNCIL

PECAN INDUSTRY EXPORT PROMOTIONS FOCUS ON CHINA AND GERMANY

By AMERICAN PECAN COUNCIL | Contributing Writer

T

he American Pecan Council (APC) has seen a growth in export activities and funding in the last three years, leveraging USDA funds to create an international strategy to further develop consumer-focused marketing efforts in China and Germany. Thanks to the Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) Market Access Program grant funds from previous years, the pecan industry was able to hire in-country representatives in both countries, providing the industry with ‘boots on the ground’ to assist in coordinating its in-country market activities. The results have shown continued success for the American pecan industry despite the changing global market.

In this article, we will review the current export market activities and successes, provide an update on MAP and EMP funding for marketing activities overseas in the

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upcoming year awarded to the U.S. pecan industry and look into the expansion of pecan export markets.

China

APC has continued to focus marketing efforts in China.

We are certainly seeing a change in the China market. China, which once was the top market for inshell pecan exports, continues to be a challenge with tariffs, supply chain issues and a changing environment due to lockdowns and the ongoing pandemic. The share of pecan exports in China used to be 40% to 50%; however, the country now accounts for 22% of American pecan exports. Although a significant drop, it is still a very important market, and the APC continues to make sure that Chinese consumers know about American pecans and their important health benefits which is shown in the marketing analytics.

With close to a billion internet users in China, American Pecans’ continuous collaboration with targeted influencers has helped us branch to eight new emerging social platforms, reaching more consumers than ever. Besides WeChat and Weibo, creative content on American Pecans can now be found on popular platforms such as TikTok, Toutiau, TMall, RED, Kuaishou and Bilibili. APC has collaborated with 12 local influencers (aka Key Opinion leaders, or KOLs) to date, resulting in 56.4 million consumer views and touchpoints (CVTs).

Beyond the phased engagement with influencers to tell the story of pecans from different angles, key campaigns also saw American Pecans host its first contest with a recipe-sharing platform in conjunction with China’s annual Dragon Boat festival (more than 500 entries) as well as our first foray into China’s largest B2C online platform, TMall, with nearly 40,000 clicks to the pecan tab on their site. A customized luncheon, which showcased the versatility of American Pecans in an array of dishes, and a baking workshop were both well-received, with invitations to these events quickly snapped up within minutes, a testament of the interest in tree nuts amongst Chinese consumers.

We are gearing up to kick-off American Pecans’ official WeChat platform. American Pecan’s WeChat platform will house all creative collaboration and content as well as host fun facts and tips for consumers on how to incorporate pecans into their lives. Having an official social media platform in China will pave the way for better and bolder storytelling around American Pecans, reaching more consumers and building awareness for an entire category in the long term.

Germany

The U.S. pecan industry has also seen some key wins in Germany from APC marketing efforts. The powerful pecan is chipping away at other nut commodities and has gained nationwide exposure with the APC’s viral Nutcracker campaign. The traditional and very German nutcracker is now the spokesperson for the incredibly versatile American pecan. Visit American Pecan’s Vimeo page to watch a recap video and learn more about this campaign.

German citizens crave a healthy, outdoor and traditional lifestyle. By utilizing the American Pecan Council’s “Original Supernut” slogan coupled with the traditional “German Nutcracker”, initial results have proven successful in putting pecans on the map in this country. The APC leveraged its German influencers and focused on digital marketing and traditional media. Long-term, the industry plans to focus on the nutrition of pecans and how to incorporate them into the German lifestyle.

Largest MAP and EMP Allocations Ever for the Industry

With the success of marketing programs overseas and unification of the industry’s effort through the Federal Marketing Order, APC has seen an increase in Market Access Program (MAP) and Emerging Market Program (EMP) allocations received from USDA each year. Recently, the American Pecan Council obtained a record total of $1.175 million dollars in EMP and MAP funding for international market development activities for the 2022 calendar year after much collaboration with USDA. This is an increase of more than $500,000 compared to 2021.

Expanding Export Markets

In 2018-19, APC conducted an in-depth international market analysis on opportunities for expansion in current top foreign markets as well as for pecan exports. During the evaluation, several markets rose to the top of the list. Thanks to the increase

in allocations APC is receiving from USDA, the industry can tap into these other markets the research concluded to be top-tier potential markets for the industry. These include the UK, the third largest EU market for pecans, behind the Netherlands and Germany as well as India. The UK has significant potential to expand its current pecan consumption because there is an increase in healthy living and a known love of food. Pecans, being a high-tier priced nut, can be marketed as the premium nut for the UK consumer by providing both health benefits and exceptional taste. Currently, there has been little marketing of pecans in the UK, but once consumers learn about pecans, this market presents a great opportunity.

Meanwhile, with the decrease of market in China, the APC has received an Emerging Market Program (EMP) grant to study India and the opportunities for American Pecans to grow pecan demand and consumption in this untapped market with over one billion consumers! The largest challenge is the current tariffs on nuts into India. However, having a market program ready to go will be crucial once these tariffs are lifted. India is the great unknown for American Pecans, and further market research needs to be conducted on tackling trade barriers, supply chain hurdles, and Indian consumers’ perception of pecans. The American pecan industry has a considerable opportunity with this market.

India has a large middle class and could very well become an important trading partner.

The APC’s International Marketing Committee, chaired

by Phillip Arnold, has also chosen to invest 2022 calendar year allocations into continuing to further develop China as an inshell market.

Overall, these are exciting times for the American pecan industry and great opportunities await! A HUGE thank you to the USDA for supporting APC’s International efforts and their

continued support of the U.S. pecan industry. We look forward to continuing to build awareness and demand for American Pecans, not only stateside, but around the globe in untapped markets in 2022 and the years to come!

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

May 2022

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