2022 ANNUAL CONFERENCE SPECIAL EDITION
Omni La Costa Resort & Spa • Carlsbad, CA February 28 - March 2, 2022
Networking, education, and community, the three-day event was fueled by the “Power of Pistachios.” Over 1,300 attendees— an industry record— attended the conference, making this the largest conference to date. CHECK OUT SNAPSHOTS OF OUR INDUSTRY’S BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR
RICHARD MATOIAN Richard Matoian, American Pistachio Growers president, informative presentation outlined the annual statistical outlook and growth trends that remain optimistic for the pistachio industry.
APG ambassador, Miss California 2021, JAZMIN AVALOS, sang the national anthem.
A PANEL OF GROWERS DISCUSSED THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, AS PRODUCTION RAMPS UP A grower panel underscored three topics on growers’ minds: accelerating production of pistachios between 2022 and 2026; keeping doors open to American pistachios in key export markets like India; and ongoing pest battles. They emphasized that, while the three topics present challenges, the industry’s trade association, American Pistachio Growers, has proven efficacy in addressing each issue, and there could be tremendous opportunity over the next five years with a united industry.
From left to right: Moderator, Rich Kreps and grower panelists Dennis Woods, Dominic Pitigilano, Justin Wylie, Jimi Valov, Dr. Michael Woolf and Ted Sheeley.
JUDY HIRIGOYEN Vice President of Global Marketing, Judy Hirigoyen, led the marketing presentation that covered global consumer trends: plant-based proteins; fitness and weight management; fighting diseases such as heart, diabetes and obesity; and sustainability. She also shared the vast amount of publicity that APG’s public relations efforts about pistachios being a complete protein, generated since the research findings, were first announced at the 2020 Pistachio Industry conference.
FRIDAY FUEL-UP LIVE WITH GUEST BUFFALO BILLS FOOTBALL QUARTERBACK JOSH ALLEN APG’s global marketing presentation featured a Friday Fuel-Up Live interview with Dr. Mike Roussell and the Buffalo Bills’ quarterback and pistachio grower from Firebaugh Josh Allen. During the interview with APG nutrition expert, Dr. Mike Roussell, Josh talked about football and his road to success. Then, in the Pistachios Shelling Challenge, Bills fans from the audience—Jay Te Velde, Dennis Allen and Ron Marconi—went head to head with Josh Allen for thirty seconds on who could shell the most pistachios, with Josh the victor by unshelling 12 pistachios in 30 seconds. Just in case you missed it or just want to see it again, the recording of the Facebook Live interview can been seen by visiting AmericanPistachios.org, or CLICK HERE TO WATCH
THE PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS - Straight Talk From California Legislators The Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan legislative panel, discussed issues important to the Pistachio Industry. The panel included representatives from across California (top photo, from left to right): Assemblymember Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita); Senator, Assemblymember Adam Gray (D-Merced); Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger); Assemblymember Heath Flora (R-Ripon); Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo); and moderators Louie Brown, a partner with Kahn, Soares & Conway LLC, and Josh Walter, President and CEO of Walter Strategies.
GUEST SPEAKER ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY Guest speaker Astronaut Scott Kelly spoke about his life lessons, personal stories and the path that led him to becoming an astronaut and his record-breaking year in space where he laid the groundwork for the future of space travel and exploration.
Astronaut Scott Kelly spoke more about his incredible, out-of-this-world adventures and experiences with Dr. Mike Roussell on Friday Fuel-Up. In case you missed it, a recording of the Facebook Live interview can been seen by visiting AmericanPistachios.org or CLICK HERE TO WATCH
FUELING PRO SPORTS AND EVERYDAY ATHLETES APG nutrition experts share actionable tips, strategies and insights on how to fuel for everyday optimal health and performance. From eating healthy foods to modifying recipes for health, the importance of adequate and quality sleep and the powerful combination of exercise and recovery to the psychology of creating and sticking with healthy habits.
Jordan Mazur Director of Performance Nutrition San Francisco 49ers
Joey Black
Head Team Dietitian Los Angeles Rams
Scott Sehnert
Director of Sports Performance/Sports Dietitian Dallas Cowboys
Bryan Snyder Director of Nutrition Denver Broncos
Dr. Wiebke Elsner Dr. Mike Roussell Professor, Researcher, & Nutrition Expert
Author, APG Ambassador and Nutrition adviser to Men’s Health Magazine
INAUGURAL CALIFORNIA STATE PAC 5K RUN 58 runners and walkers registered for the inaugural California State PAC 5K run on Wednesday, March 2. Proceeds from this event benefit the California State Pistachio PAC. With these funds, California candidates that are supportive of agriculture and pistachio related issues are supported.
It was a beautiful, sunny day in Carlsbad, well spent with friends and friendly competitions. The 34th Annual PAC Golf Classic kicked off with 250 golfers competing in a friendly game of golf, while supporting APG’s government relation’s programs. This year’s tournament raised over $158,500 for the federal Pistachio Action Committee. Thanks to the generous support of PAC sponsors, volunteers and the pistachio industry, the golf tournament has been going strong for 34 years.
WINNERS FIRST PLACE WINNERS Jayson Errecart Paul Nugent
Rodney Machado Emin Dhaliwal
SECOND PLACE WINNERS David Vierra Dave Kostyk
Stephen Nazaroff Dominic Pitigliano
THIRD PLACE WINNERS Matt Verdegaal Jon Underdown
Duane Shiers Robert Williams
BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK JOSH ALLEN hits the links with his pistachio foursome at the PAC Golf Tournament in Carlsbad. As part of the State PAC Auction, held this summer to raise funds for the Pistachio PAC, APG auctioned off the chance to win a spot with professional quarterback Josh Allen’s foursome at the PAC Golf Tournament. Team Allen are from left to right: Darren Peguero, Greg Watte, Josh Allen and Larry Wilkinson.
LAST CALL
POLYNESIAN
LUAU Pistachio-style! It was the pistachio industry’s biggest celebration of the year. In a tropical setting, surrounded by tiki masks and Polynesian warriors, APG guests celebrated the end of another pistachio industry conference under a new moon, with a Polynesian feast fit for King Kamehameha, accompanied by Hawaiian hula girls and Samoan fire knife dancers.
Aloha!
Ed and Shelley Davis were the winners of FREE 2023 Conference Registrations with their Best Islander Attire at the Luau.
POLYNESIAN
LUAU Pistachio-style!
Mahalo!
CARDINAL PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS HOFFMAN SECURITY INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION INC C NAGATANI FARMS • SATAKE USA INC MADERA ONE • MAGNUSON CCM • MITCHELL INSURANCE • SAS-Z NUTS • SIMPLOT • SUTERRA Conference Bag Sponsor: Personal Ag Management
Breakfast Sponsor: Primex Farms
Conference Badge Sponsor: Primex Farms
Lunch Sponsor: AgCo
Hotel Keycard Sponsors: Touchstone Pistachio Co. Zymex Industries, Inc.
Transportation Sponsor: Quinn Ag Products
Fuel-Up Refreshments Sponsor: Setton Farms
Production Seminar Sponsors: Corteva Ultra Gro
Chill Hours After Dark Lounge Sponsors: Meridian Nut Monarch Nut Company Pitigliano Farms Keenan Farms Touchstone Pistachio Co. Closing Party Sponsors: Eriksson LLC. Horizon Nut Keenan Farms
Monarch Nut Company Primex Farms Setton Farms Touchstone Pistachio Co. Zymex Industries Inc.
Save the date E T A D E H T S AV E PISTACHIO INDUSTRY
Annual Conference Monday, February 27 - Wednesday, March 1, 2023 Omni La Costa Resort & Spa Carlsbad, California Registration Opens Fall 2022
chard Tips fr r O l om ri p A
Robert H. Beede UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor, Emeritus Monitor Bud Break and Bloom: I hope you were out watching and making some notes on bud break and bloom, which started around March 19 in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Kerman was showing green on March 24 in many locations. This is early evidence that the rest requirement of pistachio was pretty well, if not completely satisfied, and the unusually warm weather the week of March 21 produced a very rapid emergence from dormancy. So, we are ready to rock, folks! You will never learn anything about pistachios if you stay in the house and watch Dr. Phil! Make some notes about the dates that bud break—when early-, mid- and late-blooms occur. This tells you how strung out fruit set is and to what degree, if any, you were affected by inadequate chill. This information also gives you some indication of how strung out harvest maturity might be. If you installed the weather station I sent you for Christmas, make a file on your computer for temperature data occurring during bloom and early-fruit set. This will aid you in evaluating unexpected events during this most critical phase of orchard production. High and low temperatures are particularly concerning because they can affect the rate of germ tube growth of the pollen grain and subsequent fertilization. Visual signs of good rest satisfaction are Peters developing ahead of Kerman, and the south side of east/west planted orchards developing faster than those on the north side. Research shows the male Peters has a higher chilling requirement than Kerman. Thus, when its rest requirement is fully satisfied, it can develop before the Kerman female tree. Complete rest satisfaction also results on the south side of the tree by pushing before or simultaneously with the north because the south side is subject to more heat in warm winters. With marginal chilling, the north side of the tree pushes
sooner because it is not as affected by the warmer winter temperatures due to its orientation to sunlight. Cold and rainy weather will slow tree development due to lower heat units. I cannot print the words to describe my disappointment in growers who treated with Dormex, and made no effort to record its effect on leafing, bloom, fruit set, and harvest dates. Disease Watch: If it rains a quarter inch or more during bloom, it may be necessary to apply a fungicide to control Botrytis and reduce Botryosphaeria inoculum. Remember– BOT is a HOT weather disease! It will NOT show up during bloom and fruit set! Wilting shoots in early April are Botryis, not BOT. The potential for these diseases depends upon past infection levels and repeated rain events. Dr. Themis Michailides has determined that 0.2 inches of rain and temperatures, at or above 550 F, constitutes a Botryosphaeria infection event. Your inoculum pressure can still be assessed by examining the base of old cluster rachises for blackened tissue, which extends into the one-year-old wood and looks like verticillium streaking from where the cluster attached to the branch. Infected old clusters also tend not to break cleanly from the shoot. Instead, they leave a stub when one attempts to knock them off. Also examine older wood for sunken areas that, when cut into, have blackened tissue running lengthwise in the limb. These represent old infections that can possess active pycnidia for up to six years. Remember, Botryosphaeria is primarily treated in mid-June and July in orchards with low- to moderate-inoculum levels. BOT symptoms also develop in the hot summer, NOT cool spring! Shoot wilting and collapsing in the early spring, is very likely Botrytis. And YES, I DO know that I just stated that above! Please do not ask why I said it twice! LOL!
Irrigation: If you filled your root zone in February, there is no need to irrigate until late-April or early-May, depending upon soil texture and effective rooting zone. The pistachio water requirement in non-saline soil is less than 1.5 inches for the entire month of April! Thus, a four-foot root zone near field capacity, with almost SIX inches of available water, provides plenty of water to until early-May. Those needing to apply nitrogen during April should keep the applied water to a minimum. Obviously, a cover crop or dense native vegetation consumes lots of water and requires irrigation of the trees much sooner. A cereal grain cover crop can use six inches of water between the months of January and March. Nitrogen: Avoid heavy nitrogen applications before fruit set. Remember, early shoot growth and fruit development is all from STORED NITROGEN! A good nitrogen management program includes soil, plant and irrigation water N assessment. This means you should have samples taken of each so you can make a better assessment as to how much synthetic N needs to be applied to the soil to meet the plant/crop requirement. Some growers/consultants favor N application shortly after bud break. They support this early timing with the accurate statement that it takes about 14 days for ammonia-based fertilizers to convert to nitrate for uptake. Hence, they want the nitrate conversion completed by the time there is a sufficient leaf area for its uptake by transpiration. In my opinion, this practice assumes there is inadequate nitrogen stored in the tree and soil to meet the growth potential of the tree. Based upon UC nitrogen research, the pistachio tree’s ENTIRE seasonal N requirement for growth and development is only about 25 pounds. The bulk of the N requirement is associated with crop development, thus the nitrogen status of the tree, soil and irrigation water would have to be quite low to require N application at bud break. That said, there are orchards that respond to early fertilization. Back off on the N applied this season if you find soil nitrate nitrogen levels above 35 ppm per foot in the root zone. Nitrate nitrogen levels in the irrigation water must also be considered in your budget. A 10 pm nitrate N level supplies 27 pounds of actual N per-acre foot of water applied. Micronutrient Sprays: Fifty percent leaf expansion (late-April) is THE OPTIMAL time for zinc uptake! Use only 2 pounds of zinc sulfate 36 percent or the zinc product of your choice. Research by Patrick Brown and Qinglong Zhang indicates it is safe to add one-half pound of Copper EDTA or one pound of Solubor to the foliar zinc sulfate rate. Buffering this mixture to a pH of about 5 also improves zinc uptake by increasing the amount in solution. Acidification
should be done with citric acid (powder) rather than phosphoric buffer to prevent zinc phosphate precipitation. Many growers prefer to avoid the powders and apply liquid materials formulated for pistachios. Check with your supplier for suggestions, but be sure they have adequate amounts of copper, boron, and zinc. This is especially true of 2- and 3-year-old trees. Deficiencies severely limit canopy development and reduce early bearing potential. My experiences suggest second-leaf orchards are especially susceptible to micronutrient deficiency, partly because of all the tipping performed to create branching. Three sprays are often needed to prevent loss of canopy development during this critical training year. Shriveling Flower Clusters do not necessarily indicate fungal infection. Clusters that remain green and shatter off the tree could be associated with low boron levels. Boron deficient leaves have crinkled edges but remain uniformly green and normal in size. Tissue levels less than 60 ppm, in May, suggests the need for boron fertilization. Boron is taken up by the leaves throughout the season, so application can be made at any time during the spring. Correcting severe deficiencies may require up to 2 ounces of Solubor PER TREE (16 lb/ac) soil applied over time! Depending upon the severity of deficiency, start with ½- to 1-ounce of Solubor equivalent per tree, and then assess the soil and tissue levels after six months. Apply more in ½-ounce increments to avoid excessive boron in the soil. Boron is phloem immobile, so it does not readily translocate up into the tissues of greatest need. This is why you have to go slow to avoid problems. Pest Management: It is time to get out the beating tray and monitor for small plant bugs, which are the most common cause of epicarp lesion shortly after fruit set. Go to the UCIPM Pistachio website and study all the small plant bugs that can cause damage. Research shows that 20 percent or more lesion to the clusters can be compensated for by nuts setting that would have otherwise fallen off. Typically, out of 150 flowers per female inflorescence, only about 10 percent actually set. Work with a pest control advisor knowledgeable about pistachios to determine how much damage you can tolerate. Most growers do not want to see ANY epicarp lesion, so they apply a prophylactic pyrethroid spray shortly after fruit set to put their mind at ease. I hope I live long enough to witness us getting off the pyrethroid treadmill with softer, equally effective new insecticide chemistry! What a HUGE impact that would have on a more balanced orchard insect ecology! Happy Farming!
AmericanPistachios
@PistachioPower
@AmericanPistachios
PistachioPower
AmericanPistachios.org 9 River Park Place East, Suite 410 Fresno, CA 93720 USA Telephone: (001) 559.475.0435 Facsimile: (001) 559.475.0624 www.AmericanPistachios.org