West Coast Nut - July 2023

WEST COAST NUT

JULY 2023 ISSUE

SPOTLIGHT: ASSESSING PISTACHIO HULL INTEGRITY AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

SEE PAGE 4

IN THIS ISSUE:

PROGRESS ON EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR LEAFFOOTED BUG SEE PAGE 34

UNDERSTAND YOUR ORCHARD TO PREVENT ANT DAMAGE SEE PAGE 52

DEALING WITH SUMMER FOLIAR DISEASES SEE PAGE 60

BY REAL CALIFORNIANS

Photo courtesy B. Blanco-Ulate

Monitoring is Key to Hull Split Spray Timing

Hull split spray timing is critical in preventing navel orangeworm damage in almonds. To get the timing right, the rst step is monitoring the crop to detect the beginning of hull split.

Phosphorus Trial Showed Improved Tree Growth in Young Almond Orchards

The macronutrient phosphorus is not often at the table when fertilization plans for new almond orchards are discussed. De ciencies of this nutrient are rarely seen in mature orchards, but research done by UCCE Farm Advisor Phoebe Gordon and USDA researcher Greg Browne found positive impacts from phosphorus applications in replant almond orchard eld trials.

Calculating When to Start Irrigation Can Save Money

Following a much wetter winter than normal, soil moisture in many tree nut growing regions of the state is adequate for seasonal tree growth. If you are thinking it is time to initiate irrigation, Tom Devol, Almond Board of California’s senior manager of eld outreach and education, said to rst check your soil moisture.

Publisher: Jason Scott

Email: jason@jcsmarketinginc.com

Editor: Marni Katz

Email: marni@jcsmarketinginc.com

Associate Editor: Cecilia Parsons

Email: cecilia@jcsmarketinginc.com

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Vicky Boyd

Contributing Writer

Kathy Coatney

Contributing Writer

Lori Fairchild

Contributing Writer

Brittney Goodrich Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis

Brian Huff President, Diamond Foods

Roger A. Isom President/CEO, Western Agricultural Processors Association

Julie R. Johnson

Contributing Writer

Rich Kreps CCA, SSp., Contributing Writer

Mitch Lies

Contributing Writer

Chris McGlothlin Director of Technical Services, Western Agricultural Processors Association

Franz Niederholzer UCCE Farm Advisor, Colusa and Sutter/Yuba Counties

Steve Pastis

Contributing Writer

Kristin Platts

Contributing Writer

Scott Somerville Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis

Award Winning Editorial By the Industry, For the Industry

Research and Extension Center

Kevin Day County Director/UCCE

Pomology Farm Advisor, Tulare/Kings Counties

Elizabeth Fichtner

UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County

Katherine Jarvis-Shean

UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Yolo and Solano

Steven Koike Tri-Cal Diagnostics

Jhalendra Rijal UCCE Integrated Pest Management Advisor, Stanislaus County

Mohammad Yaghmour UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Kern County

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.

Research aims to improve understanding of the environmental conditions that lead to hull degradation in pistachios and how growers can predict and act on hull integrity.

ASSESSING PISTACHIO HULL INTEGRITY AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor

Pistachio hull integrity during the growing season is critical to preserving kernel quality. Hulls naturally degrade when nuts ripen, signaling harvest time. How long the hull remains intact, even though the nut is ripening, is hull integrity.

The hull of the pistachio is called the epicarp (exocarp and mesocarp). It

is about 1/16-inch thick and adheres tightly to the hard inner shell until the nut is ripe. It undergoes specific physical and chemical changes at nut maturity.

Those changes were outlined in a Pistachio Day presentation by Barbara Blanco-Ulate, UC Davis faculty in Plant Sciences. Blanco-Ulate and UC Davis

Plant Sciences faculty Giulia Marino note that little is known about how environmental differences in growing conditions affect pistachio ripening and NOW susceptibility. Since 2019, they have been conducting research funded by the California Pistachio Research Board (CPRB) to better understand how temperature drives the annual timing and extent of hull degradation in pistachio. Their research is also aimed at characterizing specific nut characteristics that can predict the extent of hull degradation in pistachios. These studies may allow better understanding of how navel orangeworm (NOW) respond to hull integrity.

Blanco-Ulate said her CPRB-funded project led her to rethink nut growth stages. She noted shell hardening and kernel growth happen at the same time. Hull ripening and kernel maturation start once the kernel reached the maximum size. There is also a peak in volatiles that happens just prior to hull ripening. Shell split occurs in parallel with hull softening. Hull softening and hull coloration to red are reliable biomarkers of hull breakdown. Blanco-Ulate explained that biomarkers are molecular or physical signatures that can be measured in the field to anticipate large physiological changes like hull ripening and breakdown. Pistachio hull breakdown occurs after nut ripening and leads to higher nut susceptibility to insect infestation and fungal decay.

Ripening Process

Pistachio nuts can display early or ‘pea split’ or normal ripening. The early splits are more likely to become infested by NOW several weeks prior to normal maturation, USDA-ARS Entomologist Joel Siegel said. NOW egg laying on normally maturing nuts does not increase until the hulls begin tearing and breaking down.

“Something is happening physiologically with early splits. Hulls can stick to the shell and expanding nuts tear the hull. When the hull breaks down, it

Hull softening and hull coloration to red are reliable biomarkers of hull breakdown (all photos courtesy B. Blanco-Ulate.)

ContinuedfromPage4

releases a chemical that attracts NOW,” Siegel said.

Hull breakdown is part of the ripening process, but tree stress or metabolic factors can cause early tears which will cause loss of crop quality. This “damage by other means” on grade sheets includes necrosis or shell defects which cause otherwise good kernels to be diverted to shelling stock.

Pistachio nuts that are ripening normally have shells that split under the hull. At this stage, hulls that begin to have a puffy or soft appearance and slip from the shell, signaling nuts are ready for harvest, generally around the end of August depending on orchard location. The trouble with recognizing crop maturity, Siegel noted, is that in a cluster of nuts, not all will reach maturity at the same time.

At the processor, hulls on the mature nuts slip off, but the hulls on less-than-mature nuts adhere to the shell.

Components of Hull Integrity

There are physiological and environmental components to hull integrity. Recognizing the physiological signs of hull breakdown at nut maturity can help growers develop management plans to ensure nut quality and time harvest to minimize NOW damage and increase nut quality.

Pistachio variety can also determine hull integrity. Blanco-Ulate’s research showed a faster hull breakdown in the Golden Hills variety compared to Kerman. Also, Golden Hills had the highest level of VOCs earlier in the season, while Kerman VOCs peaked two weeks later at a much lower

Pistachio nuts can display early or ‘pea split’ or normal ripening.

In a cluster of nuts, not all will reach maturity at the same time.

level. This faster rate of hull degradation could make nuts more susceptible to insect damage and fungal growth and is the reason growers of this variety are urged to harvest early.

Bloom time and spring temperatures during early nut growth also impact blanking and nut quality at harvest. Late-bloom nuts have higher incidence of blanks and filled nuts without splits. Blanco-Ulate’s research showed with normal bloom, 18% blank. Late bloom had 37% blanks. Normal bloom produced 94% shell split while late bloom in some locations only reached 55% shell split. Late-bloom nuts have significantly harder hulls and softer shells. She noted it is not always the case that kernel expansion forces shell splitting. It appears to be more than physical force, she noted.

Water and Nutrition

In the field, Setton Pistachio plant manager Jeff Gibbons said experience shows water and nutrition management set the stage for hull integrity during the growing season.

“I’ve been preaching this to growers for several years now, healthy trees play a part in hull integrity and that keeps navel orangeworm out,” Gibbons said.

Although the winter of 2022-23 provided plenty of water for pistachio orchards, that is not the case every year. Gibbons said keeping trees watered during dry winters and not deficit irrigating at bloom will result in better hull development from mid-April to June 1. Over application of nitrogen and insufficient calcium and potassium in the root zone can

also play a part in fruit development.

Weather during hull development is also a major factor in hull integrity, Gibbons said. In his experience, hot, dry weather during that time can compromise pistachio hulls. Cool, moist conditions can result in stronger hulls. This year, he said the weather cooperated and he expects better hull integrity throughout the growing season.

Zack Raven, farm manager at Keenan Farms, said as harvest nears, hull integrity has their attention. Keeping up with crop ET, particularly during heat spells, can help keep hulls intact. In addition to NOW damage, he said adhering hulls cause staining on shells. Stains on shells can mean loss of quality bonuses for growers.

Hull degradation and shell split are likely driven by interactions between tree physiology and environmental conditions, Houston Wilson, UCCE specialist and entomologist at UC Riverside, wrote in his research for CPRB. Better understanding of these interactions could allow for development of management strategies to influence these processes, opening the way for growers to better predict and even manage hull integrity and shell split.

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Toward Diversification

Atwater Family Farm Hopes Branded Products Yield a Sweet Return

By VICKY BOYD | Contributing Writer

What started out as a joke and a distraction during the COVID pandemic shutdown has morphed into the direct-to-consumer brand Sweet AF (Sweet Arnold Farms) for the Atwater-based family farming operation.

“It was a fun little side project and gave us something to look forward to,” said Craig Arnold, who grows almonds, cling and freestone peaches, and organic sweet potatoes with his father, Bill.

The brand also was born out of what the younger Arnold saw as changing consumer shopping patterns.

“I was watching, and consumers switched their shopping to pick-up and buying every-

thing on Amazon and having everything shipped direct,” he said. “I kept looking at it and wondered, ‘Why can‘t we do a little of that?’ Almond prices are going down to the grower, but the price in the stores and everyplace else is holding. So that just told me all the money was being made in the middle.”

Beginning with the 2022 season, Arnold Farms offered fresh peaches in season, sweet potatoes and flavored and roasted almonds to consumers for in-person pickup at their farm office or for local shipment.

Although Arnold said he doesn’t expect the Sweet AF brand to ever provide the bulk of their income, he said he’d like to grow it to where they could support local groups and organizations more than they do now.

Arnold Farms donated this bucket full of goodies to the recent Atwater FFA Ag Booster Dinner (photo courtesy Arnold Farms.)

In addition to almonds, sweet potatoes and peaches sold under the Sweet AF (Sweet Arnold Farms) brand, the Atwater operation also sells logo cups, cap and t-shirts (photo by V. Boyd.)

Arnold Farms works with a Ballico company, which adds flavoring to their almonds (photo by V. Boyd.)

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Capturing Maximum Genetic Potential

“Part of the motivation is when it’s making a little bit, I’d like to take that money and put a lot of that into the community if I can,” he said.

Birth of a Consumer Brand

Craig Arnold’s wife, Amanda, and office manager Jessica Egli developed the Sweet AF logo. In addition to their ag products, they also sell logo merchandise, including t-shirts, caps and insulated commuter mugs.

From the start, Arnold said they decided to sell online and designed a secure website, sweetarnoldfarms.com. Sweet AF also has a presence on social media that includes Facebook and Instagram. Egli handles sales and social media posts.

Selling What They Grow

The Sweet AF product line started with almonds. The Northern Merced Hulling Association in Ballico hulls them, while Monte Vista Farming Co. in Denair processes the kernels and packs 1,000 pounds at a time in 50-pound boxes. He said they use sheller-select 27/30 Nonpareils, considered a premium grade.

A Ballico company adds the flavors that include roasted-salted, Cheez-o, Snickerdoodle and Sweet Srircha. Snickerdoodle-flavored almond butter, sold in 8-ounce jars, also is made locally.

Last summer, Sweet AF added fresh peaches sold in buckets equivalent to 10 pounds and 25 pounds. Much like a refillable beer growler, customers can exchange the buckets when they return for more peaches.

Sweet potatoes from Arnold Farms’ climate-controlled storage facility are available much of the year in 3- and 5-pound boxes, which are more convenient for customers than industry-standard 20- and 40-pound cartons. So far, Arnold said customer feedback has been very encouraging.

“With fresh peaches, people come back with a lot of memories of getting fresh peaches years ago, especially here,” he said. “A lot of people remember going to J.R. Wood Fruit Co. when they were downtown. They could pull peaches right off the line.”

Push Toward Streamlining

Developing the brand also comes at a time when the family farming operation is striving to improve efficiency,

decrease costs where it makes sense, and adopt more mechanization.

Last winter, the Arnolds pulled an old almond orchard and plan to lease the ground to a local sweet potato grower for the next two years. Not only will that help break the pest cycle, but it is expected to give them time to research what crop holds the best potential.

Increasing production costs, particularly labor, also prompted them to reduce peach acreage from 180 acres in years’ past to this year’s 80 acres.

Last year, the California Canning Peach Association, which negotiates prices with processors on behalf of grower-members, was able to obtain a small price increase. And Arnold said he hoped that occurred again this season.

“The price increase last year was pretty much eaten up with labor and fertilizer costs,” he said. “This year, I’m hoping for another modest price increase, and hopefully labor will be available. It’s getting really tough to find anybody who’s willing to work a full day picking peaches.”

Labor costs also caused Arnold Farms to cut their sweet potato acreage this season to about 80 acres, less than half what it was last year. They are focusing entirely on organic production because of added premiums.

“I love growing peaches and I love growing sweet potatoes; I just really enjoy it,” Arnold said. “But with the added troubles of labor, especially because both of them are increasingly labor intensive, I understand why almonds are so appealing.”

This year, Arnold Farms also plans to plant 35 acres of French colombard winegrapes. Although Arnold admitted the white variety probably won’t net as much as one of the more popular varietals, such as sauvignon blanc, he’s banking on continued demand for its use in blending.

In addition, the operation plans to fully mechanize the vineyard from pruning to harvest, he said.

As part of diversification, Arnold Farms rents wooden field bins, each marked with its signature blue paint. The side business started with 5,000 bins as a partnership with a local fruit processing company. It has grown to the current 50,000 bins that also are rented to local sweet potato growers.

Active in the Ag Industry

Craig Arnold pointed to his great grandfather for starting the family’s Merced County farming legacy in 1909. As the family story goes, the elder Arnold either owned a grocery store or worked for one in San Francisco and left the city after the Great 1906 Earthquake and subsequent fire.

In the early 1900s, the Arnold’s farm was planted to grain crops and peanuts. Once the Merced Irrigation District brought surface water to the area, the crop mix evolved to include fruits, nuts and vegetables.

Craig Arnold, who received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business from California State University, Chico, in 2003, said there was never any question about returning to the family farm. He, his father and his uncle, Glenn, farmed together until Glenn passed away in 2019.

Over the years, Arnold Farms has cooperated in University of California Cooperative Extension field trials, including at least two that involved almond rootstocks. A previous

The cost of labor to pick peaches as well as just finding workers has been a challenge for Arnold Farms (photo by V. Boyd.)

one yielded the Bright’s hybrid rootstock. The current trial, established 8 to 10 years ago by then-UCCE farm advisor David Doll, comprises 10 acres near Winton.

“All of these things take 20 years to prove out,” Craig Arnold said. “If no one is willing to do the trials and willing to help with the research, how are we going to move the industry forward? We have these great resources out there with UC Cooperative Extension, UC and the state campuses. If they want to do the work on a project, I’m going to help them the best I can.”

The Arnolds embraced that same philosophy as a cooperator in a UC groundwater recharge trial from 2015-17 in a Delhi-area almond orchard.

Doll, who has been managing director of Rota Unica almonds in Portugal since leaving UCCE in November 2018, said the Arnolds’ involvement in the trials were “priceless” in helping develop local best practices.

“They contributed by providing teams to prepare fields, help plant and harvest the trial,” Doll wrote in an email from Portugal. “This has led to significant contributions to the almond industry, which included the identification of sodium and chloride tolerance of peach-almond hybrid rootstocks, rates of copper for management of bacterial spot, use of almonds for groundwater recharge and many more. Within peaches, they tested multiple varieties and rootstocks, which help extend the life of the industry. And with sweet potatoes, they have worked to identify new varieties while determining ways to reduce chemical usage.”

On a more personal level, Doll said he didn’t know where he would have been without them. “The Arnolds provided me with guidance from my first day, something in which I will be forever grateful. It was a privilege to work with them.”

Despite their busy schedules, both Bill and Craig Arnold are active in several agricultural groups. Bill is on the Merced County Farm Bureau board, while Craig sits on the California Canning Peach Association board, the California Sweetpotato Council executive board and several Merced Irrigation District advisory committees.

The younger Arnold said they volunteer their time because agriculture needs to be represented, especially with the ever-increasing flow of restrictions from Sacramento.

“I know we have all of these different regulations coming and I know we have these people on elected boards that are going to push all of these rules and regulations,” Craig Arnold said. “I want to be on the front side of them. Most of these are coming whether we want them or not. I want to have a say in them. I could sit back and complain, or I could at least try to be in the mix and knowledgeable and forecast where to position the company.”

As a fourth-generation farmer, Craig Arnold said he wonders whether the operation will still be around for the fifth generation, his 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, when they’re old enough to farm.

“One of my constant questions is, ‘Do I keep fighting through and leave them a life like I grew up with? It’s a good life. You can make a decent living and come out with a lot of values and work ethics, or do I set them up with different options?’ I could easily sell everything.

“Right now, they want to come back, my daughter especially. I don’t know what’s going to happen in 10 more years. A lot can change, and a lot has changed.”

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Arnold said Arnold Farms plans to grow only organic sweet potatoes this year because of the premium they bring (photo by V. Boyd.)

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR NAVEL ORANGEWORM MANAGEMENT IN ALMOND ORCHARDS

Navel orangeworm (NOW) is one of the top pests affecting almond production in California. NOW damage decreases almond yield, quality of meats and the price a grower receives. Furthermore, NOW damage is linked to aflatoxin, a known human carcinogen. Aflatoxin contamination is highly regulated in key markets, such as the European Union, and can lead to rejected almond shipments. Ultimately, increased rejection rates could decrease global demand for U.S. almonds, making it imperative for growers to reduce NOW damage in their orchards.

The primary tools available to growers to combat NOW include monitoring NOW populations, winter sanitation (removing and destroying mummy nuts left from the previous year’s harvest), chemical pesticide sprays and timely harvest. The University of California Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Guidelines Publication 3431 provides a practical guide to the available tools. When used in combination, an IPM protocol can reduce the incidence of NOW damage and the share of harvested meats rejected by the processor, leading to increased yields and potentially price premiums for quality. In this article, we outline some economic considerations for growers as they make NOW management decisions for their almond orchards.

NOW Management Costs as a Percentage of Annual Operating Expenses

To illustrate the costs associated with an NOW pest management program, we referred to the 2019 UC Davis Cost Studies for conventional almond production in California. The representative farms in each of these studies use an NOW pest management program consisting of winter sanitation in January and two chemical pesticide

By BRITTNEY GOODRICH | Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis

SCOTT SOMERVILLE | Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis

County Average Pesticide Applications and Costs of NOW Control

Production Region

Table 1: NOW IPM practice costs as percentage of annual operating costs, 2019 Almond Cost and Returns Studies

Source: Author calculations based on 2019 Almond Cost and Returns Studies.

applications after hull split. Pesticides, equipment and labor costs have changed substantially since 2019, so rather than reporting dollar values of costs, we focus on NOW management costs as a percentage share of annual operating costs and present the estimates in Table 1. Across all three regions, NOW management costs are a substantial share of annual operating costs, ranging from 9.3% in the southern San Joaquin Valley to 14.1% in the northern San Joaquin Valley. Differing percentages across regions are due to differing NOW management practices as well as regional variation in other orchard operating costs.

NOW Management Costs by California County

Pesticide sprays targeting NOW are a meaningful share

REDUCE NUT DAMAGE FROM NOW

of orchard operating costs. To obtain a more accurate picture of spraying costs in recent years, we used data from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR) database from 2019-21. Our analysis focuses on pesticide products specifically targeting NOW in almond orchards. Figure 1 (see page 12) shows results of this analysis. On average, almond growers use 1.4 pesticide applications per acre targeting NOW (Figure 1a). Using updated 2022 pesticide product, labor and fuel prices, we estimate on average, growers spend $93 per acre applying pesticides targeting NOW (Figure 1b). In both Figures 1a and 1b, it is clear there is regional variation in NOW pesti-

FIGHT NOW WITH BIOUNITE™

May Spray

Venerate XC Bioinsecticide

1 qt./A + Methoxyfenozide 16 fl. oz. OR Chlorantraniliprole 3 oz.

NOW Early Hullsplit

Venerate XC Bioinsecticide

1 qt./A + Methoxyfenozide 16 fl. oz. OR Chlorantraniliprole 3 oz.

NOW 2nd Hullsplit (14 days)

Venerate XC Bioinsecticide

1 qt./A + Methoxyfenozide16 fl. oz. OR Chlorantraniliprole 3 oz.

Control Mites

Rate: Apply foliar ground application in 75-150 gal./A with 2-4 qts./A of Venerate XC. Re-apply on a 7-day interval.

Assumptions: Yield distribution across varieties is 50% Nonpareil, 25% Monterey and 25% Carmel. Baseline Nonpareil price without premiums is $2/lb. Prices of Monterey and Carmel meats are assumed to be 86% and 89% of Nonpareil prices, respectively. Diesel price is $4.45/gal, and equipment operator and hand labor are $26.46 and $22.48, respectively.

Premium/discount schedule is from the Blue Diamond 2022 Crop Delivery Information. In orchard yield losses are assumed to be equal to the reject percentage at the handler.

DISCOVER THE STRENGTH OF SPEAR

Novel Peptide-Based Insecticide

cide applications and corresponding costs. Growers in Fresno and Madera counties spray for NOW more frequently and spend the most on spraying for NOW. Figure 1c shows costs per acre including winter sanitation. We assume 82% of almond orchards receive winter sanitation and that winter sanitation costs are $306/acre as outlined in Table 2 . The statewide average cost of pesticides plus winter sanitation is $344 per acre (Figure 1c). Using 1.37 million bearing acres of almonds, this means California growers on average spent over $471 million dollars on NOW management costs using 2022 prices, not including trap monitoring or mating disruption costs. This amounts to roughly 9% of the 2021/22 total almond value of $5 billion. These costs are substantial, especially in years with relatively low almond prices. However, when compared to losses associated with NOW damage, the economic benefits of the NOW IPM program outweigh the costs in most situations.

Comparing Economic Benefits of NOW IPM Programs

Spear® LEP targets lepidopteran pests on tree nuts and other high-value field and orchard crops. Field trials with Spear LEP show performance equivalent in efficacy and residual to conventional insecticides. With no known resistance or cross-resistance, Spear LEP works as a standalone, or in rotation with conventional insecticides as an excellent IPM.

Table 2 outlines the costs and associated returns comparing two NOW IPM programs on a per acre basis (monitoring NOW populations is assumed to occur in both IPM programs, but we do not incorporate these costs into the analysis.) In both IPM programs, the grower uses winter sanitation and applies two pesticides. In IPM 2, the grower also uses season-long mating disruption for NOW with in-orchard dispensers, which has been increasing in popularity over the last few years (see UC IPM Guidelines Publication 3431 for a list of mating disruption products.) In terms of the cost per pound of almond meats produced, IPM 1 and IPM 2 cost $0.20/lb and $0.25/ lb, respectively. For both IPM programs, the net returns per pound of almond meats produced are $1.69. Thinking of this another way, the grower could spend up to $1.69/lb on all other inputs (fertilizer, fungicides, etc.) and still break even with respect to annual operating costs. Thus, NOW IPM is costly but is likely essential for making almonds profitable due to the potential impacts on yield, quality and price.

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Assessing the differences between the net economic benefits between IPM 1 and IPM 2 illustrates a framework growers can follow if they are considering adopting mating disruption or changing

Table 2: Example economic comparison of two NOW IPM programs for almond production

another part of their IPM program. IPM 2 is more costly per acre and per pound of meats produced due to the added cost of mating disruption (about $120/acre). However, in this example, adding mating disruption decreases the grower’s expected share of meats rejected at the handler from 2.1% to 1.9%. The lower rejection rate at the handler for IPM 2 also means price premiums and a higher yield of undamaged nuts. When comparing the net revenues per acre, IPM 2 exceeds that of IPM 1 by $7/acre. Thus, a grower choosing between these two programs would find it most profitable to choose to incorporate mating disruption into their NOW management program.

It is important to note that mating disruption may not decrease damage rates in all orchards. For example, mating disruption is generally less effective in small orchards (<40 acres) and long, narrow orchards due to populations of NOW in neighboring orchards (Wilson et al. 2020). However, a field study by Haviland et al. (2021) showed the use of mating disruption decreased kernel damage by 35% to 53%, so in some cases it can have a large impact on grower revenues.

Tables 3 and 4 (see page 17) show breakeven rates for comparing IPM programs 1 and 2 at various almond prices, costs of mating disruption and IPM 2 rejection rates. These tables show the net benefit of switching from IPM 1 (no mating disruption) to IPM 2 (mating disruption). Any shaded squares indicate that for the corresponding rejection rate at the handler, almond price and mating disruption cost scenario, switching to IPM 2 results in economic benefits.

Table 3 shows at a mating disruption cost of $120/acre, even modest decreases in expected rejection rates mean mating disruption is economically beneficial in some situations. For example, moving from 2.1% rejection rate with IPM 1 to a 1.9% rejection rate with IPM 2 results in small economic benefits when almond prices are low and modest benefits when prices are high. However, with the use of mating disruption, rejection rates as low as 1% are feasible (Haviland et al. 2021), and the benefits are substantial, ranging from $131 to $201 per acre, depending on the almond price level.

Similarly, Table 4 shows that for a cost of mating disruption of $100/acre, moving from rejection rates of 2.1% to 2.0% leads to a net economic benefit when the Nonpareil price is $2/lb. For the most expensive mating disruption scenario ($130/acre), it is only necessary for mating disruption to decrease the expected rejection rate at the handler to 1.8% for mating disruption to make economic sense.

Other Economic Considerations for NOW IPM

As growers make their IPM decisions, it is important to address the many uncertainties inherent in almond production. A grower who spends over $300/acre on winter sanitation only to have a frost occur during bloom that destroys the almond crop for the year will not be pleased with their winter sanitation effort in hindsight. To alleviate this risk, growers can consider enrolling in catastrophic crop insurance offered through USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA). This policy will reimburse growers for yield losses below 50% of the average yield for an orchard and only requires the grower to pay an administrative fee of $655 per crop per county (all premiums are subsidized by USDA for catastrophic coverage.) Such a policy is inexpensive and can help growers recoup input costs that occurred prior to the catastrophic weather event. Buy-up coverage is also available if the grower wishes to insure a higher portion of their average yield, but buy-up coverage is more expensive. Most of California’s almond acreage is already insured through federal crop insurance, but growers who are not currently insured can get information from a certified crop insurance agent. USDA-RMA provides an online crop insurance agent locator.

Varying pest pressure, weather conditions, and yield targets mean there is no “one-size-fits-all” strategy for profitable NOW IPM decisions. The same grower may even have different IPM programs across different almond orchards, depending on the characteristics of that year and orchard. It is important for growers to think critically about their NOW IPM program, remembering that maximizing long-term profitability of their almond orchard may not involve minimizing costs of NOW management.

Table 3: Net economic benefit per acre from switching from IPM 1 to IPM 2 at varying almond prices and IPM 2 rejection rates at the handler (cost of mating disruption $120/acre)

References

2019 Cost and Returns Studies for Almond Production in Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley North and San Joaquin Valley South: https://coststudies.ucdavis. edu/en/current/commodity/almonds/

Haviland, David R., et al. “Management of navel orangeworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) using four commercial mating disruption systems in California almonds.” Journal of Economic Entomology 114.1 (2021): 238-247.

USDA RMA Crop Insurance Locator: https://public-rma.fpac.usda.gov/apps/ AgentLocator/#/

Wilson, H. et al. “Biology and management of navel orangeworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in California.” Journal of Integrated Pest Management 11.1 (2020): 25.

Zalom, F. et al. (2019) UC IPM Almond Pest Management Guidelines: Navel Orangeworm. UC ANR Publication 3341: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/almond/ navel-orangeworm/

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Notes: All assumptions from analysis in Table 1. IPM 1 rejection rate at handler is constant at 2.10%.

Table 4: Net economic benefit per acre from switching from IPM 1 to IPM 2 at varying costs of mating disruption and IPM 2 rejection rates at the handler (Nonpareil price $2.00/lb)

CARB Board Approves Expansive Truck Electrification Rule

By CHRIS MCGLOTHLIN | Director of Technical Services, Western Agricultural Processors Association

replace existing trucks within the fleet with comparable ZEV models starting in 2025.

The first impacts of this rule will be felt by the drayage industry. Within the rule, CARB specifically highlighted the priority to convert drayage equipment over to electric beginning in 2024. Additionally, no internal-combustion drayage vehicle with over 800,000 miles will be allowed to enter a California port beginning in 2025. CARB has also set the standard that all drayage trucks will be electric by 2035. This has significant implications for the industry that hauls imports and exports from some of the countries’ busiest ports.

In the beginning of 2023, many had to make difficult decisions on what to do with existing heavy-duty diesel trucks. With the conclusion of the Truck and Bus rule, many older diesel trucks were junked, scrapped or sold out of state and upgrades were made to existing fleets by purchasing 2010 or newer equipment to meet the requirements set by the rule. I fielded plenty of calls asking if this would be the last time the State would require equipment to be replaced. Unfortunately, the new rule was just passed.

In April of this year, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) met to hear two significant proposals on the electrification of equipment throughout California. The rules proposed by staff have a direct impact across various state agencies, local governments, fuel producers and biofuel generators, equipment manufacturers and Califor-

nia businesses. Board Members heard a lengthy presentation from staff on the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule. Dubbed the “Truck Rule 2.0” by staff early in the rulemaking process, the rule will require applicable fleets to upgrade specific equipment to comparable Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV’s/electric) on an annual schedule. The rule specifically applies to fleet owners, operators and dispatchers of 50 or more Class 2b to Class 8 vehicles and applies to businesses with $50 million in receipts. Starting in 2024, applicable fleets would be required to begin converting predesignated internal combustion truck models with their electric counterparts once their useful life of 18 years has been reached or the equipment has reached a mileage threshold of 800,000 miles. Truck replacement and turnover is determined based on percentage amounts of fleets, with businesses having to

Prior to the hearing, CARB staff took several suggestions from industry and implemented them as part of the rule. Specifically, CARB staff included rule extensions to assist businesses most impacted by the requirement to electrify. Staff added a two-year extension in compliance if an equipment manufacturer is unable to fulfill an order by the required compliance date. Fleet owners must show a purchase order for the equipment prior to applying for the extension. A secondary exemption of up to five years is being provided for businesses experiencing interconnectivity delays. Businesses must show that a work order has been established by the utilities, and that the utilities have indicated the proposed project will be delayed for the foreseeable future. CARB is allowing for specialty vehicles with no comparable ZEV

Under the proposal, no internal-combustion drayage vehicle with over 800,000 miles will be allowed to enter a California port beginning in 2025.

model or manufacturer to be exempted from the rule, until a company begins manufacturing a ZEV specific model.

During the Board Hearing, after staff presented the recent updates to the rule, the Board took public comment. The Board heard public testimony from

over 120 commenters in the Byron Sher Auditorium in Sacramento. The unfortunate truth is that of those 120 comments, the Board only heard from three agricultural industry representatives on concerns about the implementation of this rule. Additional business representatives included drayage fleets, city rep-

resentatives, two truck manufacturers as well as many in the biofuel industry. Industry representatives were outnumbered 5-to-1 by environmental activists pushing the Board to approve this rule and, in some cases, make it more stringent. In a move that probably helped more than it hurt, the Board had moved the Advanced Clean Fleets item to an up-or-down vote on the proposal, meaning the Board could only accept the proposed regulation as-is, and no additional changes could be made. Several Board Members expressed support to environmental groups’ proposals to decrease applicable fleet sizes as well as expedite compliance requirements, but the up-or-down proposal held them to either accept or deny the regulatory proposal.

As one of the agricultural representatives to comment on the proposed rule, we at Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) chose to focus on the current struggles the agricultural industry experiences with the major utility providers. The agricultural industry has long been the sector to be put on the backburner by utility companies, with several of our members waiting years before even being given a date to interconnect new projects to the grid. This rule will manufacture electrical demand throughout the state, and WAPA is confident that the utility companies are not ready to meet the demand of our industry in the areas of the state that our businesses inhabit. Throughout the workshopping process, and through several updates to the Board, the California Public Utilities Commission and the major utility providers have had opportunities to present to the Board. Those groups have consistently stated they have no concern whatsoever with being able to connect industry, which we consider a blatant fallacy or outright lack of awareness of what is required with this proposal.

WAPA presented various examples of long delays for various agricultural businesses. Examples included a farm that has waited six years for the utility provider to electrify a shop, a nut processor that has to rely on two permit-

ted natural gas engines to power their operation because of delays imposed by Pacific Gas & Electric, and lastly, another processor that is permitted as a “Major Source” who is unable to replace four internal combustion engines with comparable electric equipment because their service provider simply has too many other projects on the books. The last example drastically highlights how the pursuit of better air quality does not meet the priorities of the utility providers.

After public testimony ended, the Board reconvened the next day to make their formal vote. While several Board Members ignored concerns by industry, several other members of the Board echoed sentiments made by WAPA and incorporated a follow-up requirement by the utility companies to update the Board on the efforts to interconnect these businesses to help them comply with the rule. We do not expect the utility companies to be so open with these updates, so WAPA anticipates being as active as possible to shine a light on how bad it will continue to be for our industry.

Acting quickly on the heels of the Board Hearing, WAPA worked to bring together industry stakeholders, government agencies and utility companies as well as various other interested parties to demonstrate further how difficult the situation really is. In all, the meeting included state agency officials, industry representatives and the two major utility providers in the Valley. This gave industry the opportunity to explain to both CARB and the utility providers how bad the situation currently is, and how the new rule will further impact workload and equipment from the utility companies. The group concluded with a commitment to continue the dialogue in the coming months. We hope to have some impact in the future, but for now the clock has started.

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CARB’s proposed Advanced Clean Fleets Rule will require a phase in to zero emission trucks on an annual schedule.

ALMOND ACREAGE DECLINE PROMPTS INDUSTRY INTROSPECTION

By MITCH LIES | Contributing Writer

The decline in California almond acreage last year, the first decline in more than 25-years, wasn’t unexpected, given a “trifecta of impacts,” according to Richard Waycott, president and CEO of the Almond Board of California.

Nevertheless, the decline from 1.65 million acres in almonds in 2021 to 1.63 million in 2022, according to figures from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), is notable and has sparked an introspection of where the industry is today, where it has come from and where it may be headed in the future.

In one respect, after so many years of increased acreage, including a significant increase over the last decade, the decline was inevitable, according to ABC Board Member Mel Machado, Vice President of Member Relations for Blue Diamond Growers.

“We had a lot of acres planted in the last 10 years,” Machado said. “It just makes sense that that’s going to slow. It’s not a surprise that that acreage flattens. Not at all.”

“It was in line with most people’s

expectations,” Waycott said, “given the economic situations that have befallen agriculture in general, coupled with the drought that we’ve been experiencing and the logistical issues that caused the industry to have this backup of inventory, thereby influencing lower prices in the industry.”

Decline Marks a Milestone

In another respect, while the acreage decline from 2021 to 2022 marks a milestone of sorts, changes in growth patterns for California almonds are nothing new, according to Waycott.

“If you look over the past 20 years, you see these cycles we go through in terms of growth of acreage and then slowdowns,” Waycott said.

“But this one,” he added, “may be more profound and longer lasting than others. We’ve had a sort of trough of pricing that lasted much longer than it typically does. And thinking back over the years, I don’t think we’ve had the combination of factors occurring at the same time, where you have a low price for your product, you have the record costs at the same time, and you

have interest rates going up every day or inability to get loans to finance your operations. I don’t think we’ve had that happen to that extent before.”

Waycott also said the USDA’s May 12 estimate that the 2023 almond crop will come in at 2.5 billion pounds, 3% below last year’s 2.57 billion pounds, didn’t offer any surprises.

“A lower crop estimated was not unexpected considering all that growers dealt with last year and during this year’s bloom,” he said. “The cold, wet weather kept bees in their hives and reduced the hours they could pollinate orchards.”

Forecasted yield is 1,810 pounds per acre, down 90 pounds from 2022 and the lowest since 2005.

The Price Effect

Looking back, sources said that much of the acreage increases that occurred over the last two decades can be attributed to good prices. “When prices were good, a lot of acres got planted,” Machado said.

Industry observers expect a continued acreage decline in coming years, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

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The high prices also allowed growers to keep older orchards in production longer. At the lower prices of today, growers couldn’t afford to do so, Machado said.

“Under higher prices, they could farm older orchards and make it work,” he said. “They were still making some money. But under the current pricing, that no longer works. That was one reason I’ve been hearing for why growers were pulling out orchards.

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“The other reason I’ve been hearing, which is very ironic given this year’s water situation, is ‘I don’t have enough water to farm this thing. I don’t have enough water to sustain it,’” Machado said. “They are looking at their water allocations and deciding to move water onto younger, more productive orchards and taking out the older ones.”

In many cases, particularly in the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley, growers are not replacing almond orchards with new ones, he added, another factor that drew down acreage numbers.

“There are more pistachios going in than anything else in the southern San Joaquin Valley,” Machado said. “You have to look hard to find first-leaf plantings [of almonds] from about Madera south.

“Also, a lot of guys are taking a year off, which is a good thing. Some of these lands have been in almonds for 30, 40 or 50 years,” he said. “So, they are taking a break, doing something different, either letting it fallow or farming another crop, such as a forage if there is a dairy nearby or tomatoes, whatever is available.”

Varietal Changes

The acreage decline, which occurred despite a slight increase in bearing acres, has happened mostly in areas most affected by the drought, so areas like the west side of the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, according to figures from Land IQ and USDA-NASS, both of whom the Almond Board contracts with to compile acreage reports.

And the decline has occurred mostly in older varieties that have fallen out of favor because of performance reasons, such as Carmel, Butte and Padre. Butte and Padre, which combined for 11.4% of California almond production in 2014, accounted for just 7% in 2021. Carmel went from 8.5% of production in 2014 to just 4% in 2021.

Self-compatible varieties, conversely, have increased in acreage, particularly Independence, which has risen from less than 0.5% of California almond production in 2014 to 11.5% of the 2021 crop.

Nonpareil continued to be the leading variety in 2022, followed by Monterey and Independence. And Fresno, Kern, Stanislaus, Merced and Madera counties were the leading counties, accounting for 75% of the total bearing acreage.

Looking Ahead

One big question for the industry in light of the 2022 acreage decline is whether this will be but a blip in continued growth or the start of a longer trend.

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“I think it will depend on the outcome of the implementation of SGMA as well as the profitability of the industry,” Waycott said. “And we’ve already seen prices improve since the beginning of the year. We’ve seen certain costs decline, such as freight rates and petroleum-based products, such

ContinuedfromPage22

Growth in international and domestic markets over the last 30 years will continue to drive interest in planting almonds.

as nitrogen. So, there are some good trends, or reversal-of-trends that are benefiting the industry. And, obviously, this year we will not have a shortage of water. So, that is a good thing.”

“I think we are going to continue to see [acreage] slip or slide down a bit,” Machado said. “I’ve said for many years that water will be our limiting factor for plantings in the future. And now with SGMA looming in the not-toodistant future, I’m sure that will have an impact.

“The question is to what degree and who will be impacted first and where those impacts will occur,” Machado added, “and those questions are largely unanswered, even though it is almost upon us.”

Asked whether last year’s acreage decline is in any way bad for the industry, Machado said, “No, I don’t think so at this point.”

Waycott, too, didn’t view the acreage decline as particularly significant.

“I think as long as almonds can retain long-term profitable outlook, growers will want to plant them,” Waycott said. “We’re obviously the best place in the world to grow this product, and that’s been proven over and over.

“And there are many advantages with almonds,” he said. “It is a low-labor industry. It’s not without its issues in terms of crop maintenance and crop protection and so on, but it’s relatively easier to farm than other things. And I think that the marketing machine that’s been developed over the last 30 years at the Almond Board has helped create a powerhouse of an industry that has transformed its product over the last 25 years. So, it’s very well positioned. And per-capita consumption in many parts of the world is still tiny, so there is a lot of room for growth.

“So, I think almonds have a good shot at continuing growth,” Waycott said, “even with the reduced agricultural footprint in California.”

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

The decline has largely come through attrition of older varieties in drought ravaged areas.

FIRST THING I’VE GOT TO DO IS SQUIRREL. AND THEN I’VE GOTTA SQUIRREL. AND AFTER SQUIRREL, I NEED TO SQUIRREL.

Land IQ Brings Accuracy to the Nut Industry With Crop Mapping and Ground Truthing

By MITCH LIES | Contributing Writer

In 2011, based on production levels, growers on the Almond Board of California (ABC) suspected acreage reports from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) were too low. They asked Land IQ for a second opinion.

“Growers on the Almond Board came to us and said, ‘We can’t achieve the average yields that the USDA-NASS are reporting, and we think we’re pretty good growers,’” said Joel Kimmelshue, principal scientist and owner of Land IQ. “So, can you map some almonds for us.”

That request launched acreage reporting for a company that today provides mapping for more than 50 crops in California, representing the entirety of the state’s irrigated crop footprint.

Launched in 2007 by Kimmelshue and Mica Heilmann, Land IQ hadn’t done acreage reporting when ABC requested it do so. But it was using spatial data from satellite imagery for other work in agriculture. Kimmelshue proposed that Land IQ start with Madera County.

“I said, ‘Okay, sure. Let’s cut our teeth on Madera County,’” he said. “And we did that, took them the map, they went out and checked our work and said, ‘Okay, you did pretty well. But we think you might have got lucky, so do it again.’ And we did it another year, and they said, ‘Okay, fine, now do the whole state.’”

On behalf of ABC, California Walnut Board, California Prune Board

and the California Pistachio Research Board, Land IQ applied for and received a specialty crop block grant from CDFA, divvied up the cost according to acres and got to work.

“We did that a couple of years in a row. And then SGMA (the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) hit and required the California Department of Water Resources to provide agricultural land use data set for the entire state of California, and we have been contracted with them ever since,” Kimmelshue said.

Today, Land IQ, which started in sublet offices with just five employees, has 40 employees between its Sacramento and Los Angeles offices. “And we’ve grown organically,” Kimmelshue

said. “We haven’t had any growth targets. We just grow in response to the need for the work, and we focus on delivering very accurate results centered on heavy ground truthing for calibration and validation.”

It was that need, incidentally, that initially prompted Kimmelshue and Heilmann to launch the company. At the time, in the mid-aughts, the co-owners were working for a large international consulting engineering firm.

“Normally, a big engineering job would come in the door and there would be a smaller ag component to

Joel Kimmelshue at Land IQ’s Sacramento office co-founded the company with Mica Heilmann in 2007 (all photos by M. Lies.)

A map of almond acres in California is displayed on a wall at Land IQ’s meeting room in Sacramento during a company meeting.

that,” Kimmelshue said. “And we would touch base with irrigation districts and commodity groups a lot, and there was just a need we felt for detailed mapping, detailed water use and crop estimates. So we decided, ‘Let’s go take a stab at this ourselves.’”

Growth Drivers

Early on, Kimmelshue and Heilmann hitched their wagon to accuracy, Kimmelshue said, and today, between satellite data and ground truthing, Land IQ boasts a crop mapping accuracy rate of over 97%.

“Their expertise is second to none,” said Richard Waycott, president and CEO of ABC, which contracts with Land IQ to provide almond acreage data twice a year. “We have really benefited from the work they do.”

In developing its reports, Land IQ accesses spatial imagery from four sat-

ellite services, including three government services and a paid subscription service, and validates the data with ground truthing.

“We can create a digital fingerprint of almonds, which is different than a digital fingerprint of walnuts, which is different than a digital fingerprint of alfalfa, because when you look at it from the sky, the texture, color and temporal differences are different from one crop to another,” Kimmelshue said. “Then all the pieces are put together and you create a fingerprint by crop type.”

The ground truthing not only calibrates the remotely sensed models, but also confirms, or validates, the company is properly identifying the crop type from the multiple components provided by the spatial data from satellites.

“We drive about 17,000 miles of ground truthing each year,” Kimmelshue said. Ground truthing typically involves three people riding in a car documenting thousands of fields

by crop type and dropping points on an iPad. “We capture about 80,000 to 90,000 individual fields, or data points, a year.”

Expanded Portfolio

In addition to providing information on crop type, Land IQ can provide the age of an orchard and some climatic factors that may influence yields in an orchard. It can provide information on plant stress and on evapotranspiration (ET), which it does for approximately 40 Groundwater Sustainability Agencies each month. The ET data is used to determine groundwater pumping allocations in some cases or fee rates.

The expanded portfolio also has played a significant role in company growth, Kimmelshue said. “And there has been some luck involved,” he added.

Still, he said, none of this growth happens if the company doesn’t provide accurate results. And from its first acreage report, Land IQ has stood out for its accuracy, according to Waycott.

“The team that Joel and Mica have built there is top notch,” Waycott said. “And the data they provide is real-time data. And it is exact. So, that is something that has been very useful to us. And it has also been useful for USDA. We intentionally share the Land IQ data with USDA so they can take that data into consideration as they are going about their more traditional methodology of assessing acreage. And so, we are coming out with a better product at the end of the day.”

One other key Kimmelshue identified as instrumental to Land IQ’s expanding portfolio has been its vision. “The thing that we’ve been able to do is to be visionary,” Kimmelshue said, “to pay attention to what’s going on in the agriculture industry and see what the need is, and then moving quickly to address that need.”

Looking Back

Kimmelshue said he rarely takes the time to reflect on the success of the company he co-founded. When he does, he feels fortunate.

“I feel very blessed that I get to come and do the work that I do,” he said. “I

can honestly say I’m happy to go work. I love my job.

“And I tell people that we’re doing stuff that is important,” he said. “And it’s never been done the way we do it, with accuracies that have never been achieved. And the most gratifying part is that the data we produce are being used in a hopefully objective, scientific manner to make tough decisions. ‘How much water can I pump?’ That’s a tough decision to make. But to have confi dence in the data that we deliver helps people make smarter decisions.”

Oh, and that acreage report that the Almond Board asked for in 2011? It showed USDA-NASS figures were about 10% below actual acreage, which, when considering production figures, was about what ABC members thought was the case.

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

Clockwise from left, Land IQ personnel Bradley Santi, Casey Gudel, Seth Mulder, Joel Kimmelshue and Adriana Delucchi discuss a mapping project during a meeting at company headquarters in Sacramento.

Diamond Foods Bets on Snacking and Product Innovation to Help Increase Walnut

and Pecan

Consumption

By BRIAN HUFF | President, Diamond Foods

Diamond Foods is on a mission to help grow North American walnut and pecan consumption with its continued investment in snacking and product innovation. The 110-year-old

handler launched the first-ever snack walnut line, Diamond of California Snack Walnuts, back in 2020 and this spring relaunched the original Santa Cruz trail mix brand, Harmony. We are

just getting started as we are on track to roll out a variety of new innovative products that focus on attracting new consumers and increasing occasions for walnuts and pecans.

Over the last century, Diamond Foods has made a name for itself with our extensive lines of Diamond of California “Made for Homemade” culinary nuts and ready-to-use nut pie crust products. While we have been a pioneer and leader in the culinary category for decades, it was vital for us to think about how we evolve and help increase the overall year-round consumption of walnuts and pecans.

While we’ve seen great success with our culinary nut line, the category has been traditionally limited to just one major consumption spike in Q4 for holiday baking and cooking. As such, shifting into the evergreen and fast-growing snack nut category was a natural progression for our brand to increase year-round consumption, especially with 94% of Americans snacking daily and 70% of consumers snacking at least twice each day. IRI data from April 2022 showed that in the last year the snack nuts category accounted for over $5 billion in retail sales, a 1.2% increase over the prior year.

We made our first foray into the

Diamond Foods initially launched Snack Walnuts with eight unique flavors, but four core flavors, Salted Dark Chocolate, Himalayan Pink Salt, Sweet Maple and Hot Honey, emerged as the clear flavors to prioritize (all photos courtesy Diamond Foods.)

snack nut category with the launch of our Diamond of California® Snack Walnuts line in 2020. March 2020 was not ideal timing to launch in the middle of a global pandemic, especially since the shopping experience was challenged by long lines, product shortages and shoppers looking for essentials and not new products. However, launching at that time allowed us to learn and grow from both retailers and consumers in the fast-changing snacking landscape. We initially launched Snack Walnuts with eight unique flavors, but our now four core flavors, Salted Dark Chocolate, Himalayan Pink Salt, Sweet Maple and Hot Honey, emerged as the clear flavors to prioritize. The success of those flavors confirmed the consumers’ demand for health-conscious yet indulgent snacks, but it also reminded us to keep flavors accessible. As we continue to innovate new products and flavors, we are leaning into our nutrient-dense walnuts as they are a great source of plant-based protein and better-for-you fats and complementing them with approachable flavor pairings that satisfy both the sweet and savory cravings.

Today, Diamond of California® Snack Walnuts are the No. 1 snack walnut brand in the U.S. with nearly three times more sold vs the next snack walnut brand in 2022 and sales up 61% per IRI data. We are proud of our success with Snack Walnuts thus far but know there’s still more room to grow, especially as overall domestic walnut consumption continues to be

stable. With increased walnut plantings over the last several years, the industry needs to be seeing growing consumption. With the growth of the snack nut category and our Snack Walnut line, we see snacking as a tremendous opportunity to help increase domestic demand as it will further deseasonalize walnuts and keep consumers coming back.

As part of our strategy to help increase domestic walnut consumption, we are focused on further developing our snack portfolio with innovative products that meet consumer needs and introduce walnuts in new ways to new consumers. In looking at IRI’s April 2022 data on the snack nut category, it was clear there was an upward trend of consumers purchasing trail mix. It showed the trail mix category saw a 9.1% increase vs the prior year, accounting for $1.26 billion in total retail sales. This was the rationale for relaunching Harmony, a 50-year-old Santa Cruz trail mix brand we acquired in 2006. The brand was originally founded by two surfers who made a delicious portable snack of nuts and dried fruit so they never missed the next big wave. Inspired by the original ethos of Harmony, “fuel your next adventure”, we gave the classic brand a fresh look and created a line of three tasty and nutritious trail mixes highlighting the benefits of walnuts paired alongside other complementary nuts, seeds, dried fruits and snacks.

Our reimagined Harmony launched earlier this year in three better-for-you varieties: Amped Omega-3, Colossal Keto and Mega Mountain. Amped Omega-3 is a functional blend of

Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) Omega-3 superfoods, including our Diamond of California® Himalayan Pink Salt Snack Walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raw walnuts and dried cranberries, and each serving contains 1000 mg of ALA Omega-3 (62% of the recommended daily value.) Colossal Keto is a keto-friendly blend of good fats and low carbs with our Diamond of California® Himalayan Pink Salt Snack Walnuts, Sonoma Creamery Parmesan Cheese Crisps, roasted edamame, roasted almonds and roasted peanuts. Each serving contains 3g of net carbs, 7g of protein per serving, less than 1g of sugar and 0g of added sugar. Mega Mountain is a classic sweet and savory trail mix blend with Diamond of California Salted Dark Chocolate Walnuts, roasted peanuts, raisins, roasted almonds and coated chocolate candies. Each serving contains 4g of plant-based protein and is a good source of ALA Omega-3.

Brian Huff, CEO of Diamond Foods

Diamond Foods relaunched Harmony®, a 50-year-old Santa Cruz trail mix brand acquired in 2006. The brand’s new trail mixes highlight the benefits of walnuts paired alongside other complementary

An additional phase of our strategy to increase walnut consumption domestically by further expanding our snacking portfolio is to serve another untapped market in the snack nut category: pecans. Domestic pecan consumption is up, and we see this as an opportunity to grow further by serving

opportunity by launching Pecan Pie Pecans along with an iconic seasonal flavor in Pumpkin Pie Spice Walnuts. Finally, we will also be launching an exciting co-branded product in our snack walnut line late in the year. While snacking and innovation are the keys to our strategy to increase

end benefits for the consumer. Food and drink flavors move faster in our more connected world, so we want to make sure we are being thoughtful and not just innovating for the next fad but creating timeless products that draw consumers in and keep them coming back for more.

References

IRI “Snack Sensations Around the World,” April 2022

Mintel – Snack Food, US (2018)

IRI MULO Market Advantage, Integrated Fresh, Total U.S., 52 Weeks Ending 04/17/22

IRI MULO Dollar Sales, 52 Weeks

PROGRESS BEING MADE ON EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR LEAFFOOTED BUG

By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor

Monitoring for leaffooted bug (LFB) invasions in almond and pistachio orchards is presently mostly a visual effort. Scouting orchards for signs of this large hemipteran pest begins when warm weather draws overwintering adults into orchards to feed. The trouble is damage to the developing crop may have already occurred before LFB are found. Or growers spend money on insecticide spray applications that may not be warranted.

Significant progress toward an ‘early warning system’ has been made in recent years with identification and synthesis of an aggregation pheromone. This attractant and an effective trap may give almond and pistachio growers a better picture of the potential for crop damage and justification for an insecticide spray.

Adult leaffooted bugs are large, measuring 0.75 to 1 inch in length and have large, strong mouthparts. The three main species of LFB in California have similar brown coloring with a narrow white band across the back. Their hind legs have an expanded appearance that resembles a leaf. Presently, the most common LFB species found in tree nut orchards is Leptoglossus zonatus, which can be identified by the two yellow spots on the plate-like structure that covers all or part of the thorax. UC Riverside Entomologist Jocelyn Millar said 20 years ago the LFB species Leptoglossus

clypealis appeared to be the most common species affecting California crops, but for reasons unknown, L. zona tus has now become dominant. L. clypealis does not have the yellow spots, but has a long, pointed feature on its head.

LFB overwinter as adults in protected areas, including under bark of eucalyptus, citrus or ornamental trees. They can also be found in crop debris. Beginning in March, the adults move to find food sources. Developing nuts become a food source as native vegetation dries down. Leaffooted bugs are strong fliers and can quickly invade an orchard seeking food. After mating, LFB lay eggs on leaves, twigs and nuts. Nymphs emerge and develop into adults in six to eight weeks, according to UC IPM guidelines. Adult LFB lay eggs over an extended period, resulting in all life stages being present by late June.

In almond orchards, LFB can cause significant damage when adults feed on young nuts before shell hardening. This can cause the embryo to wither and abort or may cause internal gumming. Nuts damaged by LFB feeding during or shortly after bloom will darken and drop. Nuts which are damaged when they are enlarging will have damaged tissue that turns brown and necrotic and develops a sunken appearance. After shell hardening in June, LFB feeding can damage kernels. Softer-shell

varieties are more susceptible to LFB damage for longer periods during the growing season.

Crop Damage on the Rise

Mel Machado, grower relations with Blue Diamond, said more almond growers are becoming aware of the plant bugs in their orchards, including LFB. Damage from these large bugs has increased over the last several years. In almonds, the Price, Aldrich, Fritz and Sonora varieties are particularly susceptible to LFB feeding.

“I always tell growers to walk those varieties first,” Machado said.

A better trap design to count LFB more accurately is currently being tested.

Without a pheromone attractant and trap, growers and managers must spend time scouting orchards to determine if they have an LFB infestation. Machado said they need to look for sting wounds on the hulls, gumming and egg masses. Adults can be difficult to spot as they move quickly. An exception, Machado said, is when LFB are mating, the pair will not move.

There are no good insecticide materials that will kill the adults without creating other problems, Machado said.

Houston Wilson, UC Riverside ento mologist, said pistachio nuts are vulnerable to LFB feeding in June. LFB of ten damage most of the nuts in a cluster. Feeding causes blackened or dropped nuts before shell hardening. After shell hardening, nuts do not drop from the rachis. External signs of feeding may

only be a pinpoint on the hull. LFB can continue to feed long after shell hardening if they feed near the fruit peduncle, or the “stem” that connects the fruit to the rest of the cluster. The shell is weaker in that area and less able to protect the fruit; feeding attempts in other areas of the fruit during the late season are less likely to result in kernel damage. The second type of damage is kernel necrosis where the kernel develops a sunken or distorted area and may have an off flavor.

Pheromone Research

Millar said development of an attractant for LFB monitoring has been a long-term goal. With a proven attractant, he said growers can see when LFB are migrating into orchards and apply appropriate control measures. The research has been funded by the California Pistachio Research Board and Almond Board of California.

The multi-year pheromone work has included isolation, identification and synthesizing nine compounds from sexually mature male Leptoglossus zonatus, the dominant LFB species in California.

Millar reports the research efforts were primarily aimed at producing a pheromone lure that attracted both male and female LFB. A big hurdle

the name leptotriene as the key component in the attractant. Their efforts are now concentrated on the minimum set of the other components which are necessary for an active lure, making it more manageable to produce.

Millar said that when the pheromone lure is available in commercial quantities and paired with an effective trap, this “early warning system could be a more efficient method of determining when LFB are invading an orchard. Along with an established economic threshold, growers then can make informed management decisions as to whether control measures are warranted.

The lure and trap combo for LFB is another part of the research. Wilson said lures were initially tested with sticky traps, but LFB, due to their size, are often able to pull themselves free. A better trap design, where LFB fly in, hit the hard surface of a vertical panel and drop into a container that is coated with a Teflon-like material to keep them from climbing out is being tested, Wilson said.

A successful lure and trap design, he said, will help with development of an economic threshold for LFB in almond and pistachio orchards. That will aid in management decisions and could result in fewer spray applications.

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To date growers have to rely on visual inspection to see LFB nymphs attacking pistachio nuts (photos courtesy K. Daane.)

From the Orchard From Peach Trees to Walnuts, Davin Norene Puts the Family Farm First

By LORI FAIRCHILD | Contributing Writer

Davin Norene worked on his family farm long before he started managing the walnut-growing side of the operation. As a pre-teen boy, he started his farming journey sorting peaches in the field.

Those peach trees are long gone, the perennial acreage converted to walnuts, but his love of farming lives on. As

the president and owner of Big Time Farming LLC, Norene now oversees the family’s nut-growing business with guidance from his dad, Donald Norene.

Founded in 1954, the family growing operation has seen the ups and downs of nearly 70 years of California agriculture, and they continue to adapt to new technologies and challenges.

From irrigation and pest management to pruning and cover cropping, Norene and everyone who works at Big Time Farming seek to integrate the best growing practices into their operation.

Norene also serves on the California Walnut Board, helping to position the industry for the future.

We asked Norene to share his perspective on the current and future state of the walnut-growing industry in California.

What crops do you grow?

I am a walnut grower. I grow safflower, hay and silage as rotational crops when redeveloping an orchard and sometimes in between tree rows of young orchards. I also grow a small amount of rice, and my family’s operation includes beef cattle.

Where do you farm?

My farming operation is centered in Rio Oso, Calif. We have orchards in both Yuba and southeast Sutter County in the Bear River watershed.

What is the history of your farming operation?

My grandfather, Roy Norene, started farming in the 1940s and formed Norene Ranches, Inc. in 1954. He and my grandmother, Merle Norene, built an operation that included walnuts, cling peaches, rice and irrigated pasture for beef cattle. They also had an impressive stable of cutting horses.

After my grandfather passed, my father, Donald Norene, and my uncle,

Davin Norene runs the walnut growing operation of Big Time Farming. His family has been farming in California since the 1940s (photos courtesy D. Norene.)

Jerry, continued the operation. We had a cling peach receiving station and a walnut huller/dryer. I started working during peach harvest when I was 11 or 12 years old, sorting peaches in the field. When I got older, I drove a forklift at our peach station.

Today, all of the family perennial farming ground is in walnuts, and I manage this operation with the guidance of my father. My uncle continues

to operate the beef cattle and rice farming.

How have your farming practices evolved in recent years?

Over the past decade, we have made changes/improvements to:

Irrigation management: We’ve added more robust pressure bombing combined with the soil moisture sensors placed throughout the ranch.

We also use real-time weather stations placed throughout the ranch to guide irrigation and management decisions.

Pest management: We use specific chemistry to target pests and protect beneficials while we manage our perennial cover crops to encourage the presence of beneficial insects.

Pruning: Our pruning practices

Each of Big Time Farming’s pre-productive orchards has a custom cover crop program to address any soil challenges or objectives.

Davin Norene says his farm has made changes in the last decade, including changing their pruning and canopy management practices for orchards made up of newer cultivars like UC Wolfskill.

continue to evolve as our orchards continue to evolve. More vigorous rootstocks, new cultivars (e.g., UC Wolfskill) and different tree spacing densities all require adjustments to pruning practices/canopy management. Our orchards are a living laboratory.

Cover cropping: We started cover cropping in 2011 to address problems in an orchard with very coarse-textured soil. Today, each pre-productive orchard receives a custom cover crop program to address the site-specific challenges or objectives.

Minimal mowing and soil disturbance: We try to minimize compaction, erosion and water run-off while maximizing carbon sequestration. We add organic matter to the soil by minimizing tillage during pre-productive stages of orchard development, cover cropping and specific mowing practices.

What are the three things that keep you up at night related to growing walnuts?

Walnut quality, taking care of employees and their families, and being a good steward of my family ranch. These are circular, not linear, goals for our operation. Being the greatest steward I can be for the ranch while creating a productive and supportive work environment for our employees will

ultimately help provide the best quality walnuts. And if we’re offering the best quality walnuts, and therefore selling more walnuts, then we can continue to take care of our employees and their families in a meaningful way.

What are you most hopeful for in the future when it comes to farming nuts?

That California will be the leader in bringing quality walnuts and walnut products to the world market. There has been a rise in global competitors in recent years, but I’m confident that California can continue to deliver the best quality walnuts and walnut products.

What in your opinion needs to happen to set the industry in the best possible direction for the future?

A focus on quality and telling the story of the managed forests where we grow California walnuts and the family farmers who do it. We have a great story to tell about family farmers who manage uniquely diverse ecosystems that produce California walnuts.

People want to know where their food comes from and who is growing it. Family farmers are the best voices for sharing this story. We live and breathe it and raise our families in it. We need to get the message out clearly and saliently and let people see all the good that we do.

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What do you think the biggest assets are of the nut industry in California?

In my opinion, the biggest asset for walnuts in terms of consumer appeal is

With a focus on offering the best quality walnuts, Big Time Farming implements some of the most current orchard management practices, including minimal mowing and soil disturbance, cover cropping for soil and pest management, and the use of soil moisture sensors and real-time weather stations.

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that walnuts are a wholesome, plantbased protein grown in a way that benefits the environment. Walnuts are the only tree nut that provides an excellent source of the plant-based omega-3 ALA (2.5 g of plant-based omega-3 ALA per ounce), which research indicates may play a role in heart health, brain health and healthy aging. It feels good to grow something that’s good for you.

What is your proudest achievement as it relates to your professional development?

As an elected member of the California Walnut Commission, I am proud that my fellow walnut growers trust me to be one of the contributors planning our industry’s future. It’s an honor to chair the Market Development Committee, serve on the Issues Management Committee and act as advisory counsel to the California Walnut Board’s Production Research Committee.

How do you give back to the community both in agriculture and in the community where your operation is based?

I work to give back to my walnut community through my service on the California Walnut Commission and as counsel to the California Walnut Board. Before I had young kids, I was on the Board of the Farm Bureau. Now, I spend my time being as involved in my kids’ activities as I can, including coaching their Little League team. My wife and I are doing our part to raise the next generation of California walnut growers.

What advice do you have to a young person getting into farming nuts today?

Learn your craft and love your craft. Growing walnuts is a longterm, generational investment. Like in many generational enterprises, some years are tougher than others. So, fall in love and be persistent.

Who was the biggest influence or mentor for you in your career?

My father, Donald Norene, a titan of the California walnut industry. He is one of the most innovative

and astute walnut growers. He has volunteered countless hours working to grow the California walnut market, served as a former chairman of the California Walnut Commission and was an early adopter of research to improve walnut production and irrigation.

What do you think the biggest advancement has been in the field of nut growing during your career?

New rootstocks.

What advancements do you foresee having a big impact in the future?

Soil health and water/irrigation management.

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

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New Telone Restrictions Could Spell Trouble for Nematode Control

By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor

Managing root lesion nematode, Pratylenchus vulnus, the primary plant-parasitic nematode in walnut production, is expected to become

more difficult with California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (CDPR) new restrictions on the use of Telone proposed to begin January 2024.

The economic threshold for root lesion nematode on walnut is 1 per 250 cm3 of soil. Eliminating this nematode as much as possible prior to planting walnuts is critical for the long-term health of orchards. The fumigant Telone, 1,3-D, often used in blends with chloropicrin, is currently the only product that is effective against root lesion nematode and there are no commercially available effective alternatives at this time.

“There are some promising treatments against root lesion nematode, but they are not yet registered, have technical limitations and may be cost prohibitive,” Andreas Westphal, UC Riverside nematologist, said.

According to The Walnut Scion and Rootstock Improvement Working Group, root lesion nematode, Pratylenchus vulnus, is parasitic on most perennial crops. Surveys showed that root lesion nematode infests 85% of California walnut acreage. Its direct impact on walnut roots can be debilitating. Symptoms include root lesions, root loss and halted tree growth. Infestations of root lesion nematode in walnut orchards rarely kills mature trees but can severely stunt tree growth, and even at sublethal populations may reduce yields. Root lesion nematode reproduces rapidly. Within a single

Increased soil moisture levels for Telone use as part of the proposed CDPR rules are expected to make Telone less effective. In addition, the proposed requirement for deeper injection of Telone for perennial crops presents technical and logistical challenges including a need for larger tractors and/or greater fuel consumption to pull application shanks at the proposed deeper soil depth (photo courtesy TriCal.)

season, starting from small initial populations, Pratylenchus vulnus can reach damage thresholds and, within two years , can result in a 20% reduction of tree growth. Root damage induced by P. vulnus can result in fewer and smaller nuts, limb dieback in trees of bearing age and root stunting in replant sites can destroy young trees.

Increased soil moisture levels for Telone use as part of the proposed CDPR rules are expected to make Telone less effective. In addition, the proposed requirement for deeper injection of Telone for perennial crops presents technical and logistical challenges including a need for larger tractors and/ or greater fuel consumption to pull application shanks at the proposed deeper soil depth. Westphal confirmed the higher moisture requirements are likely to slow fumigant movement in soil, thus potentially reducing treat-

ment efficacy.

Replacing 2017 Permit Conditions

CDPR’s proposed regulation would replace the 2017 recommended permit conditions for 1,3-D and address all potential exposure periods: acute, seasonal and sub-chronic, annual and lifetime. The proposal would also eliminate the existing 1,3-D township cap regulatory system and replace it with more restrictive and new conditions for 1,3-D applications.

On February 2, 2023, DPR informed CDFA of several changes in the first version of the proposed fumigant regulation from June 2022. The revisions included more fumigant application rate increments in the setback tables and a more complete set of setback distances to occupied structures (100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 ft), and added two “regions”, inland and costal, each with

its own set of setback distances for the different application methods of Telone.

In general, the higher the application rate and shorter the distance to an occupied structure, the lower the maximum application block size for each application method. The maximum permitted block size can range from 0 acres (application not permitted) to as much as 80 acres for some application methods and rates. For untarped applications, including deep injection for perennial crops, growers and applicators will need to choose between large setbacks (100 to 500 ft if the site can accommodate such distances) or much smaller individual application block sizes than were treatable in prior years. For example, growers used to treating a 30- to 40-acre block in one day may now be faced with needing to break

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this field up into three to five smaller application blocks done over many days.

In a 2023 presentation by Shawn Fields of TriCal Inc., he notes that Cal-EPA’s interpretation of 1,3-D toxicity studies and exposure risk assessments are very different from those of U.S. EPA. The California agency assumes a person does not leave their immediate location for 70 years and is continuously exposed. Overall, Cal-EPA’s toxicological endpoint selections are about 40-fold more conservative than U.S. EPA’s endpoints for the same exposure duration.

In addition to the higher soil moisture and deeper injection requirements, there are increased setback distances, application block limits and seasonal penalties for winter applications. Winter applications will have even greater setback distances and/or even smaller application block size limits.

The current label requires soil moisture of about 25% of field capacity from the point of injection upwards. The DPR proposal is 50% of field capacity at a 3- to 9-inch depth., which is in addition to the current label requirements that apply to the deeper soil profile depths. To achieve the soil moisture requirement, DPR provides options such as applying 3 inches of water 48 to 72 hours before application.

“These restrictions pose challenges for applicators and growers,” said Mike Stanghellini, director of research at TriCal. “It is best to work with your PCA on a site-specific plan for fumigant applications.”

Applying an effective dose over a large area and in a timely manner will be complicated, he added. Breaking up

A Winters walnut replant orchard. CDPR’s proposed regulation would replace the 2017 recommended permit conditions for 1,3-D and address all potential exposure periods: acute, seasonal and sub-chronic, annual and lifetime (photo courtesy TriCal.)

large fields into smaller blocks for treatment is one strategy to accommodate the larger setback requirements. This means instead of one or two trips to a fumigation site, there can be as many as 8 to 10 trips, requiring coordinating work crews, added travel hours and increased use of fuel. The current rules call for a 100-foot setback from occupied structures. The proposed setbacks would range from 100 to 500 feet. A setback is the distance between the edge of a fumigated field and wall of a human-occupied structure. CDPR also notes non-residential agriculture buildings are not by default considered to be occupied structures. In addition, counties can apply the setback to any site if the area will be occupied for more than 24 consecutive hours (e.g., a homeless encampment).

Timing is another issue with fumigating multiple small blocks. The more time it takes to complete a fumigation, the more chances of changes in weather and other factors that can influence fumigant efficacy.

Tarping fumigation sites can ease restrictions, but Stanghellini said the economics are beyond the budgets of most crops, particularly those with smaller profit margins. Aside from the cost of the tarp, there are increased operating costs and disposal requirements. In tree nut orchards, Stanghellini said only the tree rows are tarped when tarping is used at all, which reduces tarp costs. However, applying the fumigant deep and needing to deploy tarps requires the use of two application rigs, which adds to the total cost of soil treatment.

Evaluating Fumigant Blends

Stanghellini said TriCal’s research program is evaluating the use of fumigant blends and post-plant contact nemati cides in combination with reduced-rate preplant fumigation that potentially could reduce the burden and impact of CalEPA’s regulatory changes on 1,3-D to applications and the growers that need nematode control. Stanghellini said that in multiple trials done in the last seven years, lowering 1,3-D

rates and blending with chloropicrin can achieve similar results as Telone-only applications. However, chloropicrin also has regulatory restrictions from Cal-EPA that are more challenging to navigate than the federal requirements.

Westphal said there are some promising alternative soil treatments being developed. While they may not replace Telone entirely, combinations of management including anerobic soil disinfestation may be effective.

Westphals’s field trials included two materials used in pre-plant treatments. The low-volume non-fumigant nematicide Salibro and high-volume soil fumigant Dominus are showing promise in field trials.

Pre-plant treatment with Dominus improved plant growth in a heavily root lesion nematode-infested soil to the same level as Telone EC treatment. In the first year, this growth benefit was realized without additional treatment, and it was sustained in the second year when a post-plant treatment with Salibro was added to the Dominus plots.

Neither Salibro nor Dominus are currently registered for use in California. The challenges to establish a sustainable and productive walnut orchard remain high.

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

Root lesion nematode reproduces rapidly. Within a single season, starting from small initial populations, Pratylenchus vulnus can reach damage thresholds and within two years can result in a 20% reduction of tree growth.

Almond Replant Disease, Phytophthora are Issues in Young Orchards

By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor

Whole orchard recycling (WOR) has many proven benefits to trees and orchard soils, but it doesn’t appear to have positive, or negative, impacts on replant disease problem in almonds, according to recent trials.

Prunus replant disease (PRD) is a soilborne disease complex that suppresses early growth and affects cumulative yield in replanted almond orchards. At the Almond Replant

Field Day at UC’s Kearney Research and Education Center, results of trials conducted to determine alternatives to soil fumigation for management of PRD were presented. While WOR has many proven benefits to orchard health, researchers are continuing to refine nitrogen management and strategies to reduce Phytophthora, a soilborne fungal disease, in newly planted almond orchards.

The trials were done to see how WOR may impact almond replant problems and other diseases. Almond planted after almond or other stone fruits without effective preplant soil fumigation may exhibit growth suppression in the first few years after replanting, resulting in delayed yield capacity. Prunus replant disease has been found to result in part from negative effects from the previous orchard on soil microbial communities.

Prunus replant disease can occur with or without significant populations of phytopathogenic nematodes. Compared to PRD, phytopathogenic nematodes, another “replant problem,” tend to impact orchards later after PRD effects have diminished. But root damage from nematode feeding can persist over the economic life of orchards.

Greg Browne, USDA research plant pathologist at UC Davis, reports that as much as one-third of California’s almond and stone fruit acreage is infested with potentially debilitating plant parasitic nematodes, and even more of the land is impacted by Prunus replant disease.

Without remediation, you can anticipate moderate growth suppression, Browne said. This soilborne complex is a biological phenomenon in the bacterial realm, Browne added, but it is not known if the soil bacterium association is causal or if the disease is in the compromised roots. Prunus replant disease has a front-end impact, but gradually tails off after several years. In the Kearney trials, trees in fumigated plots over the first three years had a significant yield advantage by the third harvest over trees in non-fumigated plots.

Whole orchard recycling plus pre-plant fumigation resulted in increased growth over trees planted in non-fumigated sites. Walking the rows of the trials showed significant

differences in tree sizes in fumigated and non-fumigated plots. Browne said WOR has subtle effects on tree performance but it does not prevent PRD (it also does not aggravate the disease.)

Increased trunk size was the most notable tree response with pre-plant

fumigation.

Browne noted there is potential for biological treatments for PRD, but they are not yet there. Anerobic soil disinfestation is one possible alternative to fumigation. Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) is a process of disin-

festing the soil by creating anaerobic soil conditions with the incorporation of a carbon soil amendment, tarping

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Walking the rows of the UC Kearney whole orchard recycling trials showed significant differences in tree sizes in fumigated and non-fumigated plots (all photos by C. Parsons.)

and irrigating to saturation to begin a two- to six-week treatment period.

One of the trials compared the use of rice bran with almond hulls, and it also tested different N and P fertilizer regimes and tarping versus not tarping. The trials compared rice bran with almond hulls as amendments alone and as ASD drivers with different N and P regimes.

Browne said the ASD strategy that proved most effective in terms of tree growth was rice bran, water and tarping. Rice bran alone was also effective, but he noted rice bran quantities were limited while almond hulls were more plentiful.

Vigorous rootstocks are another avenue to overcoming PRD, Browne said.

Phytophthora

Crown and root rot Phytophthora, and Perennial Phytophthora canker are also issues in young orchards after replanting. The crown and root rot are linked to wet conditions. Canker is a scion disease that affects trees, typically in the 5-6 leaf.

Phytophthora, known as a waterborne pathogen, thrives in wet conditions and is a part of a group of fungi called oomycetes. In wet conditions, Phytophthora can produce swimming zoospores that can infect plants. The species can also persist in dry conditions in soil. Soil fumigation can reduce but not eliminate populations of these organisms. Phytophthora can also be introduced in an orchard site by nursery stock.

Management of Phytophthora root and crown rot begins with cultural practices. Mohammad Yaghmour, UCCE orchard systems advisor in Kern County, noted that water management and planting on berms are both good strategies when replanting on an orchard site with a history of Phytophthora root and crown rot. He noted during his presentation at the Almond Replant Field Day that in recent years in Kern County as well as in counties to the north, many farm calls have involved

Drip lines left too long near the base of young trees were noted as a possible cause in crown and root rots. While it is necessary to place them close to the trees at planting, when the root system becomes more established, the lines should be moved further away from the trees.

Phytophthora crown and root rot of newly planted almond orchards as well as those a few years older.

Drip lines left too long near the base of young trees were noted as a possible cause in crown and root rots. While it is necessary to place them close to the trees at planting, when the root system becomes more established, the lines should be moved further away from the trees.

Rootstock selection can also play a part in preventing crown and root rot infection. Yaghmour said that Mariana 2624, a plum hybrid is the most resistant compared to other rootstocks. He also noted peach/almond hybrid rootstocks are more susceptible to Phytophthora compared to Nemaguard and Lovell.

Yaghmour advised prevention of the canker disease in the form of tree training. The most common site of the cankers is in ‘pockets’ that form where several scaffold branches join the trunk in close proximity. Less common are infections near joints of two scaffold branches.

To avoid potential problems with infection sites, Yaghmour said careful scaffold selection and wider spacing can keep likely infection sites from forming.

Chemical treatment for Phytophthora includes use of mefenoxam or phosphonates. Yaghmour said preventative foliar sprays with phosphonate in the fall or spring suppressed development of cankers for up to five months after treatment. Mean canker lengths on trees sprayed with phosphonate before inoculation were smaller than those on untreated trees.

Yaghmour said the fungicide Oxathiapiprolin (Orondis) is a new tool that can be used to manage Phytophthora in almonds.

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

Greg Browne, USDA research plant pathologist at UC Davis, explains anaerobic soil disinfestation projects in almonds. He noted as much as one-third of California’s almond and stone fruit acreage is infested with potentially debilitating plant parasitic nematodes, and even more of the land is impacted by Prunus replant disease.

Chelated or Complexed Micronutrients: Choosing the Right Chemistry for Nutrient Uptake

By RICH KREPS | CCA, SSp., Contributing Writer

Why is chemistry so complex? What is the “key?” Here we go again getting lost in the weeds of chemistry. Maybe not so much. I’ll try my best to give some simple examples of which nutrients to use, where and why. Do I want “che”lated or complexed micronutrients?

Chelating

First, what’s the difference? Let’s think of chelation like a crescent wrench. The nutrient we are looking to push into the plant, well that’s the nut. When we chelate nutrients, we hold on to those ions (usually metal) on several sides surrounding it. Chelating agents can bind metal ions with several atoms in a molecule, but it’s always with an organic (carbon-based) molecule. That means it can be bound with a nitrogen-based group and even an oxygen-based group in the same larger molecule, like the two sides of an adjustable wrench. They are synthetic, usually very stable and water soluble (hence the grip on a hex nut with a crescent wrench.) It’s held tightly but can easily be released when we need it. We are trying to keep that nut locked in place for a while before it’s released to be absorbed (i.e., solubilized). It is very important in enzymatic reactions. In medicine for humans, chelating agents are the equivalent of sending lots of crescent wrenches through our body to lock up toxic metal ions. In agriculture, we chelate first to try to get the nutrients into the plant. Glyphosate is one of the best chelators and it works by getting into the plant and tying up the manganese and

zinc so the plant can’t use it for its enzymatic reactions. It “systemically” kills the plant from within as it can no longer carry out its normal functions. We release these ions by acidifying them. The most stable chelated nutrient is EDTA iron which is why it is much less effective on high pH soils. EDDHA works much better when the pH goes up. Here in the west, much of our soil is above 7 pH.

Complexing

Complexing an ion can be multiple binding sites or even one. It can be a single ion, a functional group or even a separate molecule. Think of complexing like an ice cream cone if it’s single (the nutrient is the ice cream, the agent is the cone.) or like a dumbbell if it’s in the middle and binding two ions. The agent is the bar and the nutrients are the weights at the end. In agriculture, lignosulfonates, organic acids like humic and fulvic, gluconic acids, sugars and amino acids are typical complexing agents. They are biodegradable and fairly easy to make. They are attached to carbons and can be easily absorbed. We tend to forget the three main elements of any living creature are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Being assimilated with carbon can be very advantageous. Because of their nature, they can solubilize easily but also make precipitates forming less soluble salts in the soil. They’ll have to be acidified later to become available if at all.

Let’s get back to wrenches, ice cream cones and dumbbells. It has been my experience that fertigating with chelates

works better than with complexes. It has also been my experience that spraying complexed nutrients foliarly facilitates better nutrient uptake. The caveat is qualifying those statements with, “It has been my experience.” Often, nutrients are applied in conjunction with other chemistries to logistically get to all the necessary functions of an orchard in the short time allocated to grow a crop. Boron often goes out with glyphosate applications. Micronutrients often go out with pesticide or fungicide sprays. Macronutrient blends of NPK get micronutrients blended in with them all the time. Many of these will have some sort of tie-up, so find out first or jar test them. It is important to know what you are applying and how it may tie up other nutrients to make sure it’s effective. After a foliar spray, it’s tough to see a white salt residue on your leaves as certain nutrients tied up and dried out, leaving them fairly useless until it rains again or another spray happens to solubilize them.

A farmer can typically hedge his bet by adding a complexing agent to a nutrient application. Often, sugars are used, organic acids like humic and fulvic, weak acids like gluconic, lacto-bionic, citric and malic acids lend themselves to carrying more nutrients into a plant in a foliar application. The point here is don’t spray nutrients and just hope they are assimilated onto your crop. Do your research, ask your CCA and make a separate, isolated, clean spray if a specific nutrient gets critically low. In most areas, applying nutrients by air can save a lot of time, be more cost effective than the labor and diesel to go through your field again, and be very effective for a specific nutrient.

One last thought: I have been on farms where managers are a little disappointed that certain nutrients are still a little low after a foliar application. Many times, the new growth and larger crop associated with proper nutrition are not taken into consideration. The dilution ratio of larger leaves can play a role in how your nutrients get measured by weight. So, after using that crescent wrench to tighten those nuts where

they are needed, lifting those barbells to make yourself stronger, have a little ice cream to top it off. And while you’re at it, do the same for your crops.

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DIAL IN SPRAY COVERAGE FOR COST-EFFECTIVE SPRAYING

By FRANZ NIEDERHOLZER |

The goal of airblast spraying is a uniform pesticide deposition of a known, prescribed pesticide rate throughout the entire target (tree canopy). Done right the first time, a good spray job saves the time and money of a second spray plus income lost due to crop damage in the case of a poor first spray (in tough economic times, a second spray for the same problem may not be in the budget.)

There are several steps to achieving this goal. Skipping any step will reduce spray efficacy and efficiency.

Step 1: The sprayer should travel at an appropriate speed to allow spray to reach the treetops. Too slow sprayer speed wastes time, too fast means poor coverage in the treetops and the risk of income loss due to crop damage.

Step 2: Point larger nozzles at thicker canopy (more leaves and nuts). For most orchard crops, this means 65% to 80% of the spray flow (gallons per minute) should be applied through the top half of open nozzles.

Step 3: Measure gallons per acre sprayed and, using total spray tank volume, determine the amount of pesticide product to add to each tank, to match your PCA’s recommendation.

Step 4: Check coverage with water-sensitive paper (WSP) placed in the canopy.

Components of Good Coverage

Ground speed

Airblast spraying uses air from the sprayer’s fan(s) to move the pesticide throughout the tree. If the fan’s air doesn’t reach the treetops, the pesticide won’t either. Ground speed is a simple and effective way to adjust air movement through the canopy, especially between bloom and harvest when spray coverage is most challenging.

The sprayer should travel fast enough so air from the sprayer’s fan reaches up through the tree to just above the tops of the tallest trees. To check this, at a time of day with little to no wind, tie a short (18-inch) length of surveyor’s ribbon to a section of PVC pipe or conduit and run the tubing up through the middle of a tree to a height just above the tallest trees in a planting. With the sprayer fan “on,” drive the sprayer past the tree with the flagging at tractor and sprayer settings you think is appropriate (e.g., full sprayer air delivery and 2.25 MPH sprayer speed). If the flagging flutters out to 45 degrees from the vertical as the sprayer passes the tree, the speed is appropriate for that planting at that time of the season. If the flagging just barely moves or doesn’t move at all, repeat the process with slower tractor speed. If the flagging kicks up to the vertical (180 degrees from dead hang), repeat the process at a faster tractor speed. Record

the tractor and sprayer settings that deliver air movement from the sprayer fan to just above the canopy. Calculate the acres per minute sprayed at that ground speed by multiplying ground speed (feet per minute) by the row width. Note: If spraying on a day with slight winds, drive slower, delivering more fan air to compete with the wind and better cover the upper canopy.

Nozzle selection

With a gallons per acre (GPA) target from your PCA and the appropriate sprayer speed measured with the aforementioned “flagging on a pole” process, calculate the sprayer output (gallons sprayed per minute; GPM) needed.

Gallons per minute = (Gallons per acre) x (Acres per minute)

Now select nozzles to deliver the GPM you just calculated (on paper). More spray should be applied to areas of the tree with more leaf area. Upper-canopy locations often hold more crop than the rest of the tree and are the toughest to cover. Extra spray volume with larger nozzle size targeted there will deliver more uniform coverage.

Step 1: Park the sprayer in the orchard and look where the different nozzle ports are located. Tying flagging to the nozzle ports and running the fan can help show you which ports point where in the tree.

Step 2: Using the manufacturer’s

UCCE Farm Advisor, Colusa and Sutter/ Yuba Counites

In mature orchards, 65% to 80% of the spray flow should be applied through the top half of open nozzles (all photos by F. Niederholzer.)

catalog and desired system pressure (for example, 150 psi), select nozzle sizes to locate on different nozzle ports. The goal for mature trees is 65% to 80% of the total GPM going out the top half of the open nozzles. That is, if there are 16 nozzles per side of a sprayer that should be open in a particular orchard based on the sprayer and tree size, the top 8 should have most of the total GPM. Using the same nozzle size at every nozzle port will, at best, overspray the lower canopy while delivering good/decent coverage to the treetops (as long as the ground speed is right.)

Gallons per acre

With the ground speed and nozzles selected, determine the GPA by checking the math you just did in the previous step. Park the sprayer on flat ground and completely fill the tank with clean water. With the nozzles just selected on the sprayer and using the sprayer and tractor settings for the right/appropriate ground speed, turn on the spray booms for a measured amount of time (one minute, two minutes, etc.) and then shut off the flow. Refill the sprayer with clean water using calibrated buckets or a hose with a flow meter to measure how much water was sprayed in the time the nozzles were “on.” Calculate GPM from the volume sprayed and the run time. Adjust GPM, as needed, using the system pressure or by changing nozzle sizes or parts (e.g., two- or four-hole swirl plates for disc/ core nozzles) to deliver the recommended GPA.

Check coverage

Water-sensitive papers (WSP) are small cards with yellow coating on one side that turn blue where water (or fingerprints) touches the surface. To check spray coverage, place WSP at different heights in the trees in the orchard. This can be done several ways. If you have a pruning tower, use it to get up into one or more trees in the orchard and directly clip WSP to leaves or attach to nuts. Flag each WSP location so you can find it later. Another method is to attach WSP at different heights on a PVC pole and run the pole up through the middle of the tree canopy. Once WSP are up in the canopy, spray clean water down the row where WSP are placed using the tractor settings and nozzle selection/location determined earlier. Take down WSP after and compare upper- and lower-canopy locations to see if coverage is generally uniform. You can measure coverage with a smartphone camera and apps, but a visual scan should be enough. Are the lower cards all blue? If so, the lower canopy is getting too much spray. One

possible fix for this is to change out lower nozzles for a size smaller and repeat the test. If the upper cards are not getting much coverage, increase selective nozzle sizes that target the upper canopy and/or slow down the sprayer.

Spraying when relative humidity is low (<40%) can cut spray deposition in the upper canopy in half compared to spraying when relative humidity is higher (early morning). This can lead to poor pest control and/or development of pesticide resistance. Especially in warm summer months with low daytime humidity, night and early morning spraying is important to achieving good spray coverage.

Effective pest control with pesticide(s) is a key backstop in a good, cost-effective IPM program. Good spray coverage (and material selection/spray timing) ensures the backstop is solid.

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The sprayer should travel fast enough so air from the sprayer’s fan reaches up through the tree to just above the tops of the tallest trees.

Preventing Ant Damage Depends on Timing, Knowing Your Orchard

By KRISTIN PLATTS | Contributing Writer

Almond growers are familiar with the hungry, protein-loving ants that quietly eat their fill of nuts as they sit on the ground after shaking. While IPM plans typically include monitoring for ants in the spring months, as growers roll into the summer and start looking toward harvest season, ants should still be on their radar.

There are two kinds of ants of concern to growers in the Central Valley: the more northernly pavement ant, a 3/16-inch dark brown to black colored ant, and the southern fire ant, 1/4 to 1/3 inches long and whitish gray in color. The latter is believed to cause the most damage, according to Jhalendra Rijal, a UCCE IPM advisor for Stanislaus County.

There’s an easy and cheap method to determine if you’ve got one of these types of ants. Placing a piece of hot dog inside a plastic bag and laying it on the ground in an orchard will attract a protein feeding ant in a matter of hours.

“If they are protein feeders, they will go after it,” Rijal said.

The tried-and-true method can be used during different times of the year to look at activity early in the season and even as a tool to evaluate if baits and insecticides are effective or not later in the season.

Spring Through Harvest

Ants begin their activity in the springtime as temperatures warm up but won’t usually be active early if the climate is still cool and wet. Speculating on whether the long, wet winter made a difference in ant activity, Rijal

said it’s possible it might delay it slightly, but is still yet to be determined and no reason to drop your guard.

“Even though their activity might be a little slower earlier, when the temps start hitting red, then it really doesn’t matter; they will come back to the more or less similar level of activity and can do substantial damage,” he said.

While IPM plans should help substantially in the control of ants, Rijal said it’s easy for a problem to be created if you aren’t paying close enough attention. He encourages growers to continue to monitor for active mounds in the orchard based on the UC IPM data collection template, which estimates about 15 colonies in a 5,000-square-foot area.

“If you were able to harvest within seven days after shaking, then you’re expecting about 1.6% damage, but if you harvest 10 days, instead of seven days, you’re looking at 30% more damage,” Rijal said.

Blue Diamond Member Relations Vice President Mel Machado said recent observations in his own Oakdale, Calif. orchard tells him the wet weather really didn’t make any difference to solve or reduce the ant problem this year.

“Those little buggers are tough,” Machado said. “Looking at my field, they survived quite nicely. I would not count on people saying the rain drowned all the ants.”

As the summer lends its way to weeds, Machado said you might have ants and not even realize it if

Some

naturally due

In an integrated management program for ants, Abamectin Clinch, Altrevin and Metaflumizone should be used anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks before harvest depending on label instructions (photo by K. Platts.)

almond varieties, like Padre, can withstand damage from ants

to a tighter shell seal, but all it takes is enough open space for an ants head to fit inside for it to become ant food (photo courtesy M. Machado.)

you’re only looking for their mounds.

“The message for growers is, sometimes you don’t see the ant hills,” he said. “If you’ve got weeds that they like, particularly weeds with high-oil seeds, purslane, spurge, pigweed, look underneath. You’re more than likely going to find them.”

According to records kept by Blue Diamond for growers who have requested tracking, between 2011 and 2022, protein feeding ants caused 18.9% of total reject damage in Nonpareil, with the range from 15.9% to 26.8%. In Independence, ants represented 22.5% of total rejects, ranging from 19.0% to 37.3%.

The data also showed the percentage attributed to ants is much lower on varieties with better shell seal, generally in the high single digit levels. Some almond varieties, like Padre, can withstand damage from ants naturally due to a tighter shell seal, but all it takes is enough open space for an ants head to fit inside for it to become ant food, Machado said.

“If there is any opening at all in that shell, they’ll get in there,” he said. “I have seen ants tear up the Butte because it can have an opening along the wing of the shell. They don’t touch the Padre because they can’t get in the Padre shell.”

Best practices going into the summer months can include a number of baits, according to Rijal, who said several are working well for growers right now, including Abamectin Clinch, Altrevin and Metaflumizone, each of which has its own window for when it should be used, anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks before harvest. He cautions, though, that several things can affect bait, including a wet orchard, length of time the bait has been stored and even a weedy orchard that makes bait less attractive to ants.

Drying Length Depends on Timing

While growers know it’s important to get nuts off the ground as soon as they’ve had enough time to dry out, Machado says getting to know your orchard long before harvest to catch the ideal shaking window might be just as important as an IPM plan for keeping the ants out of your harvest.

He noted one of UC’s recommendations throughout the years has been for early harvest but clarified ‘early’ isn’t really the right word.

“I personally rip the word ‘early’ out of every presentation I see and I replace it with ‘timely harvest,’” Machado said.

Growers who harvest too early end up with a product that is too green, he explained, adding several things can affect the ideal window for shaking, including having to contend with a bloom that’s very long in some varieties and very short in others.

“You’ll have nuts, literally, on the same spur or the next spur, that are two weeks different in age and maturity,” Machado said.

He explained nuts that have been on the ground long enough should have a target of 5% kernel moisture, while anything above 6% generally can’t be stored.

Although he said he understands early harvest for Nonpareil management, Machado said pushing for harvest too early

will lead to a product that has to stay on the ground longer, adding to the danger of ant destruction.

The key, he adds, is spending real time getting to know your orchard.

“The best fertilizer you can apply is the leather of your shoes,” he said. “The thing we drive at Blue Diamond is know the basics, excel at the basics.”

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Growers are advised to monitor for active mounds in the orchard based on the UC IPM data collection template, which estimates about 15 colonies in a 5,000-square-foot area (photo courtesy M. Machado.)

LANDFLEX INCENTIVES GIVE GROWERS OPTIONS IN TROUBLED GROUNDWATER BASINS

By STEVE PASTIS | Contributing Writer

LandFlex, a program intended to help solve California’s groundwater crisis, recently awarded $23.3 million in block grants to groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) in California to distribute to farmers who took action to limit their agricultural water use.

“The objective of Land Flex is to replenish critically overdrafted groundwater basins in areas of need and retire the use of overdraft on enrolled agricultural acres,” said Kris Tjernell, deputy director of Integrated Watershed Management for the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). “That may mean for some growers enrolled in LandFlex future farming may not look the same, but Land Flex is providing a financial incentive to transition ag lands to sustainable use. Some may feel that is a benefit. Overall, this program may not make financial sense for all growers, but it is a voluntary and solutions-based program

assisting vulnerable communities in solving the groundwater crisis related to drought by protecting domestic wells through preventative fallowing, relieving supply pressures and providing water supply and economic certainty to critically overdrafted basins,” explained Aubrey Bettencourt, president/CEO of the Almond Alliance, in the February 2023 issue of West Coast Nut.

The program is the result of a partnership of the DWR, the Western United Dairies Foundation, the Almond Alliance, Self-Help Enterprises and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers.

As part of the program, GSAs work with farmers to identify land that would reduce the use of nearby wells. Land Flex provides financial incentives for each enrolled acre, allowing farmers flexibility to manage their land through serious conditions, such as a drought or a flood, and leave water in the ground to stabilize their aquifers and to help replenish drinking water wells in California’s most vulnerable communities.

“Our farmers can stay in operation and have operating capital on a voluntary and annual basis while supporting our communities and ensuring sustainable working farmland and a secure food supply for the future,” stated a DWR release.

Land Flex is intended to benefit small and mid-sized farms. Program eligibility is limited to growers with a three-year average adjusted gross income of no more than $2.5 million. Program partners, such as Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Self-Help Enterprises, Western United Dairies Foundation and the Almond Alliance, assist GSAs by providing outreach to growers.

Unused Grant Money

Seven GSAs in the state were determined to be in criti-

LandFlex rewards growers who transition some of their land use practices (all photos courtesy Department of Water Resources.)

cally overdrafted basins, qualifying them for the Land Flex block grants. Grants were awarded to three of them: Madera County Groundwater Sustainability Agency ($9.3 million), Greater Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency ($7 million) and Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency ($7 million).

However, two of those districts did not use all the money they received.

“We have accepted applications from growers in the three awarded basins, they will be starting implementation soon,” said Tjernell in early June. “However, the program did not expend all the funds as expected, so DWR will be opening the program for a Phase 2, which will only be open to the remaining four GSAs who applied for Land Flex and were eligible.”

In Phase 2, more than $10 million of unused funds is to be awarded to one or more of the following GSAs: MidKaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency, Lower Tule River Irrigation District, Pixley Irrigation District and Westland Water District. Applications were to be received over a two-week period beginning on June 14.

Since there is a chance that not all the Phase 2 funds will be used, interested tree nut growers are encouraged to visit www.landflex.org for updates about any unused funds.

Funds from the Land Flex program have been distributed “50-50” between farmers with permanent crops (fruit and nut growers) and those with row crops, said Bettencourt.

The Land Flex program is for water year 2022-23, which started October 1, 2022 and runs through September 30, 2023. There has been no decision about continuing the program beyond that.

“We were only given funding by the (California) legislature for this round,” said Teji Sandhu, executive policy advisor to the deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources, who hopes the program will continue.

Many walnut growers pushed over their trees as the result of falling prices. Those growers who pushed over their trees during the 2022-23 water year were eligible to receive LandFlex funding to clear the trees off their land. Those who took that action before October 1, 2022, however, were not.

Simply idling a tree nut orchard does not qualify a grower for Land Flex funds, according to Tjernell.

“Land Flex doesn’t pay for idling tree crops; it pays when those trees are removed,” he said. “The grower would be the one who determines if that would be a benefit. This action may make sense if the grower looks ahead and consid-

ers SGMA (Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) implementation and market conditions, then decides it’s time to begin transitioning some of their land use practices.”

Both Sandhu and Bettencourt are among those pleased with the program so far.

“We have yet to see the benefits, but I’m hopeful the expected benefits are what we’re going to see on the ground,” said Sandhu.

“Farmers are learning there are programs out there [such as Land Flex], and we’re seeing a lot of positive response about that,” said Bettencourt.

One such program is offered by the California Department of Conservation (DOC) to fund groundwater sustainability projects that, among other goals, repurpose irrigated agricultural land. According to the DOC website, the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program (MLRP) “seeks to use this funding to increase regional capacity to repurpose agricultural land to reduce reliance on groundwater while providing community health, economic wellbeing, water supply, habitat and climate benefits.” So far, the program has received $90 million in appropriations.

Sandhu noted, however, that MLRP applicants need to “come up with a 10-year plan, while Land Flex is a one-year program.”

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Aaron Cuthbertson, engineering geologist with the California Department of Water Resources, measures groundwater levels at designated monitoring wells in Yolo County.

Getting the Best Out of Irrigation Using Soil Moisture Monitoring and Weekly ET Report

By JULIE R. JOHNSON | Contributing Writer

Irrigation is a major investment for nut growers. Getting the best performance out of that irrigation was the topic of a recent “Fundamentals of Irrigation Scheduling” workshop co-hosted by Almond Board of California and UCCE in April and featuring Tom Devol, Senior Manager of Field Outreach and Education for Almond Board of California, and Curt Pierce, UCCE Area Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor.

During the presentation in Orland, Calif., Devol talked about Finding Success with Soil Moisture Monitoring, an overview of the tools starting at the boot or shovel to volumetric versus tension-based sensing. Pierce shared information on Scheduling Irrigation with Evapotranspiration, how to create an irrigation schedule leveraging ET data and how to calculate needs for young trees and application rates.

Why Monitor Soil Moisture

Devol, in answering the question as to why monitor soil moisture, said “the list is long,” such as determining when to irrigate, improving crop quality, sustainability and better water management, to name a few.

In addition, answering that question begins with the grower asking questions:

• Is my field moisture good, too wet or too dry?

• Am I leaching water past my root zone?

• Am I getting the most out of my nutrients?

• When do I need to run water again?

• What is my active root zone?

“Answering those questions takes a toolbox,” Devol said. That toolbox can include ET data that helps understand what a tree needs, soil moisture data helping to understand effectiveness of meeting those needs and plant-based data that helps to understand the stress the tree is under.

“They all work together,” he added. “After a few decades of working with these technologies, the place I see the biggest lack of understanding is how much water is going into the ground, how fast is it going into the soil and am I leaching water. None of this has to do with volume; it has to do with status.”

He explained the need for adequate levels of irrigation to avoid overwatering and underwatering and learning how water behaves in sandy loam versus clay loam.

Devol said growers also need to understand where trees’ root systems are pulling water from. The majority (40%) is within the top fourth section of roots going down to only 10% at the bottom section.

“The top half of the root zone pulls in 70% of the water and nutrients,” he added. “Putting too much water on a tree beyond that point can be a waste of water and money.”

He said it is vital to know your soil, what type you have, its infiltration ability and other habits. “This is what

Tom Devol, senior manager of field outreach and education for Almond Board of California, providing information about soil moisture monitoring during the Fundamentals of Irrigation Scheduling workshop in Orland, Calif. co-hosted by Almond Board of California and UCCE (photo by J.R. Johnson.)

Successful use of the weekly ET report is the topic of presentation by Curt Pierce, UCCE area irrigation and water resource advisor, at the Fundamentals of Irrigation Scheduling workshop this spring in Orland, Calif. (photo by J.R. Johnson.)

you base your irrigation system design on, and if you don’t know your soil, you will run into some big problems down the road,” Devol explained.

Soil, Tree and Field-based Tools

The first level of testing soil moisture is to “kick some dirt,” Devol said, however, among the more technical tools are the basic three: plant based, such as the pressure chamber, volumetric measurement sensors and soil tension sensors.

“They all work together,” he said. “And with all three tools in the box, you get a better answer. They answer different questions, but all work together, and that is really important.”

It is important to understand how to use and read each one of the tools in the toolbox.

Volumetric sensors can give daily water use data, information on when irrigation is required to avoid moving trees into a level of stress and volume of water available for uptake. These sensors also help in tracking infiltration.

Tensiometers on the other hand provide the measure of the force that plant roots must exert to pull water from soil pores, or the force needed to extract water.

Devol also referred to “a new space of tree-based sensing,” which provides direct contact with water tissues for accurate and continuous water status measurement in the tree.

Three Rules of Field Monitoring

Devol offered three rules of field monitoring. The first being that sensors collect a value for a condition; however, they cannot change the condition.

“Sensors can make an observation, but they can’t change that observation,” he said. “They can tell you your soil is wet, it’s dry, but that is all they can do. Just putting a sensor in the ground doesn’t mean you are irrigating better. You have to do something with that information, you have to act on it.”

The second rule: Many times, the condition is not what is wanted or expected.

“I’ve come across farmers who expected a particular outcome on the sensor readings, and when it isn’t what they expected, they call me and say, ‘your sensors aren’t working,’” Devol said. “The sensors were working; the grower didn’t understand the fact that although he had water running on the ground and the sensors were reading low soil moisture, he didn’t have too much water, it was because the water wasn’t infiltrating.”

And the final rule goes hand-in-hand with the second: “If you don’t believe it, verify it.”

“That is what I ask growers to do all the time if they question data,” Devol added. “This is really important. The first year a grower uses a monitoring system, it really opens their eyes. If something seems wrong with the data, recheck it, move the sensor, but don’t give up on using monitoring

systems. Trust it.”

ET Reports Still Hold Value

Pierce presented information on using the Sacramento ContinuedonPage58

The list is long when answering the question as to why monitor soil moisture, according to Tom Devol (photo by J.R. Johnson.)

Valley Orchard Source weekly crop ET Reports provided through a partnership of the Northern Region of the California Department of Water Resources and UCCE for agricultural water users.

There is currently published a Northern Sacramento Valley Report and a Southern Sacramento Valley Report. Each publication reports on ET for almonds, walnuts, pistachios and prunes.

Pierce explained crop “water use” estimates are for orchards that are bearing, not limited by soil moisture, and in their fifth-leaf or older.

He said growers can use the weekly report to estimate maximum weekly irrigation run time.

Using an example of water application rate for a solid-set sprinkler irrigation system in almonds (sprinkler nozzles rated in gallons per minute), and using a do-it-yourself calculation of hourly water application rate (inch/ hour): 90 trees per acre, solid-set mini-sprinklers, one sprinkler every other tree, offset every other row so 45

sprinklers per acre, with nozzle flow rate 1.2 gpm at 30 psi.

The math: 90 trees divided by 2 (one sprinkler every other tree) x 1.2 gal/ sprinkler/min x 60 min/hour = 3,240 gal/hour/acre applied. 3,240 gallons divided by 27,154 gallons = 0.12 in/hour.

Or, Pierce said, a grower can go online to the ET reports, go to ET Calculators (Water Application Rate Calculator for Minisprinkler and Solid-Set Sprinkler) and the work can be done for you.

The information the grower will need to use the online calculator includes flow rate of sprinkler system in gallons per minute and number of sprinklers per acre. The information the online calculator will provide is the applied water-gallons per acre per hour, and applied water-inches per hour.

“You can use the report information to calculate irrigation runtime to replace last week of ETc,” Pierce added.

Using the mathematical process, he showed for example a grower with an almond crop in Orland could figure out from report data the need to irrigate at 0.12 in/hr would equal 7.8 hours of irrigation time.

Pierce noted growers need to consider soil texture and its available water-holding capacity. Very coarse sandy soil water-holding capacity is 0.4 to 0.75 in/ft of soil, while sandy clays, silty clays and clays capacity is 1.60 to 2.50.

The question has been asked, Pierce said, if the weekly ET reports can be used in young, developing orchards.

“The answer is yes,” he said, “ET reports can be useful, but be careful, especially year one during the first month or two after planting.”

Pierce provided a few tips:

• Weekly ET reports are of little or no use during the first month or two after transplanting.

• In-field evaluation of soil moisture and tree conditions is much more useful.

• Once trees are rooted and growing well, ET reports may help, but weekly estimates need to be adjusted for changing canopy size.

• Irrigation amounts may be much

The evolution of soil moisture monitors from shovel to the latest technology in tensiometers was included in Tom Devol’s Finding Success with Soil Moisture Monitoring presentation. He said the first step in checking moisture is to “kick the dirt” (photo courtesy T. Devol.)

less than ET estimates in years one and two depending on soil and rainfall conditions.

Another online help in using the ET report, according to Pierce, includes the Weekly Irrigation Scheduling Tracker per acre and per tree. The tracker asks the grower to enter the orchard-specific information of “weekly crop ET estimate, average hourly water application rate and actual hours of irrigation applied for the week.

In return, the tracker will display the calculation results or answer, which includes maximum weekly hours of irrigation needed, actual inches of water applied for the week and percent of estimated weekly crop ET.

In conclusion, Pierce said, “Using weekly ET reports may lead to deeper thinking about water management.”

He noted as growers learn more about the use of the ET reports, they may want more precision in their knowledge and practices and “start down a path of advanced water management.”

“In most field situations, applying these weekly reports of ETc with your knowledge of an irrigation system will help assess the upper limit of irrigation amount and irrigation runtime each week,” Pierce said.

While the weekly ET report is more focused on adult trees, a grower can use the report for young trees with adjustments, explained Curt Pierce during his presentation on Scheduling Irrigation with Evapotranspiration.

Dealing with Summer Foliar Diseases

By KATHY COATNEY | Contributing Writer

Summer foliar diseases cause defoliation of the trees and over time reduction in yield. Defoliation also leaves the trees vulnerable to other diseases.

Jim Adaskaveg, a professor and plant pathologist at UC Riverside, is doing research on Alternaria leaf spot and scab in almonds. A disease severity value (DSV) model has been developed for almond forecasting of Alternaria

scab.

“Those are the main two summer diseases that cause defoliation in almonds year after year. So, with developing the models, we’re trying to determine the effects of wetness, relative humidity and the sporulation for the scab pathogen,” Adaskaveg said.

“We’re trying to develop a scab model to predict sporulation of the twig lesions that occur on the green shoots. And then we can time our sprays by when that model says these lesions should be sporulating, the primary inoculum for infecting new almond growth (i.e., leaves, shoots, and fruit) in the spring,” he explained.

This would allow growers to time their applications so they’re applied when needed, and it might also tell them they don’t need to spray at all, Adaskaveg

said.

“If you don’t have the right weather, it won’t sporulate, so it’s really for the judicious timing of fungicide applications,” he said.

Adaskaveg is also doing fungicide applications and testing new products. “We’re constantly evaluating fungicides, and new fungicides that are becoming available as well as biologicals and biopesticides such as fermentation products that will be organically approved,” Adaskaveg said.

A product called natamycin was registered as a postharvest biopesticide, and last year, it received organic certification from Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). This year, Adaskaveg is testing it as a preharvest treatment, so it could be useful not only for summer foliar diseases, but for all foliar diseases of almond, including Alternaria leaf spot and scab.

Impacts of the Disease

Leaf defoliation from foliar diseases in almond can lead to sunburn which opens the trees to canker diseases.

“It also affects yield because there are only so many buds on a tree, and if the tree loses its leaves, it has to re-foliate first just for survival. And that means there would be less buds to form flowers next year,” Adaskaveg said. “Yields go down in the subsequent years, so it’s both direct effects and indirect effects on the tree health.”

The fungal pathogens, Alternaria spp, are ubiquitous, so it is almost always in the air because it can be found on a number of plants and organic material, whereas the scab pathogen only infects almond and other Prunus spp. If just one scab twig infection occurs on the stem, it carries over from one year to the next, Adaskaveg said.

Chemical Treatments

Adaskaveg is always being asked why so many chemicals are needed to treat foliar diseases. “The more you have is actually better because it allows for competition, it allows for rotation to prevent resistance, there’s more people using different treatments, and there’s less contamination of any one compound,” he said.

Rotating and not using one material

Irrigation can be a contributing factor to a favorable disease environment depending on irrigation sets and availability of water (photo courtesy K. Coatney.)

over and over means growers have lots of materials to choose from and keeps resistance from building.

“Most growers want to be good stewards of the land, and this helps them achieve that,” Adaskaveg said.

Adaskaveg will continue to evaluate new products. “The idea is you have to stay ahead, and you have to know what’s going on, so you have to have trials, and we move these trials around to different locations where there are problems,” he said.

Adaskaveg works with commercial growers on university property, and he tests registered and non-registered materials that are already registered on other crops. He also tests experimental materials on university property.

“We have all these different stages of development and evaluation, like a continuum, from very early stages to things that are already registered on other crops, but we want to get them registered on almonds. And then we have things that are already registered on almonds, and we test how well

they’re continuing to perform,” Adaskaveg said.

“That’s the idea behind having someone like me doing that type of work is to ensure that we have a continuous pipeline, if you will, of materials,” Adaskaveg said.

Environment and Disease

Problems with these diseases vary because orchards vary from planting density to orientation of the rows to the configuration of how the orchard is

Alternaria in pistachios causes different problems from defoliation to yield loss to tree health (photo courtesy K. Coatney.)

planted and arranged, Adaskaveg said.

“The tree density, for example, if it’s arranged north/south or east/west, affects the microclimates within the orchard,” he said.

Generally, in areas where there’s more rain like in the north part of the state, the disease is usually more severe. Irrigation is also a contributing factor, and depending on irrigation sets and availability of water, it could create environments favorable for disease.

“If growers have to use long irrigation sets, or if there was more rain in certain regions, then that sets them up for having more disease problems,” Adaskaveg said.

“The north gets usually more rain, so in general, the north has more foliar diseases,” he said, but in Kern County, where high-density, high-input orchards were planted in low areas, such as lake beds, and areas with high moisture, they can also have higher disease problems.

“They can also be created by nature with heavy rainfall that’s very conducive for foliar diseases,” Adaskaveg said.

Alternaria in Pistachio

Ongoing research is being conducted on pistachios by Themis Michailides, a plant pathologist at UC Davis and Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, and Boris Camiletti, postdoc researcher with UC Davis in the plant pathology department. The project has been underway for several years, and Camiletti started working on it in July 2020.

“We have different projects with pistachios. One is focused on managing Alternaria late blight in the field. We are working with fungicide resistance as well,” Camiletti said.

The crux of the research is testing chemical treatments for Alternaria late blight, he continued. As part of this project, samples are taken every year from orchards throughout California to determine the resistance levels to strobilurins and carboxamides. Camiletti encourages growers to send leaf samples with Alternaria lesions at the end of the season to

help determine the resistance levels in the pistachio orchards. Samples can be sent to Dr. Boris Camiletti at UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 9240 S. Riverbend Ave., Parlier, CA 93648-9774.

“This would help us collect the samples that we need for our project more easily, and the growers will know the resistance levels in their orchards,” Camiletti said.

“We test traditional chemicals and new ones. We are also testing from different chemical classes. Every new product, we try to test it,” Camiletti said.

This is important research because the efficacy of the commercial products is threatened by resistance. “Every year, Themis and I test several commercial products to corroborate that efficacy is still there. Some products may have problems with resistance, but they are still effective,” Camiletti said.

Another research project is creating models to predict disease in the field because in some orchards the disease is very variable. This will give growers the ability to determine the level of disease in their orchards, Camiletti said.

“We will have some molecular protocols this year that private laboratories can use to quantify the resistance levels in the orchards,” Camiletti said.

Currently, they have only just started testing the models. They were tested in the past, but on an experimental scale, and now they’re testing these models at commercial scale, and that project will end December 2024, Camiletti said, adding the website will be up and running later in 2023.

Once it’s ready, it will allow the grower to enter information on a specific orchard to predict when fungicide sprays have to be applied to control the disease. “We will also organize a workshop to train them how to use it,” Camiletti said.

Impacts of the Disease

Alternaria in pistachios causes different problems from defoliation to yield loss to tree health. “I think the most important problem is the shell stain that affects the quality of the nuts and therefore generates economic losses for the growers. We don’t have an estimation, but talking with pro-

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Leaf defoliation from foliar diseases in almonds can lead to sunburn which opens the trees to canker diseases (photo courtesy K. Coatney.)

cessing plants, it can be around $2,000 an acre in some cases if the disease is not controlled,” Camiletti said.

“Alternaria is a pathogen that depends a lot on the humidity in the orchard. For example, there are orchards that are next to a river or other water reservoirs that have the disease every year, so growers are applying fungicides every year because they have problems with the disease from the humidity,” Camiletti said.

Other orchards, the disease might be very sporadic, so sprays may not be performed when needed and then the disease develops. To manage the disease, growers should apply fungicides June to July to control it, but symptoms may not develop until much later in the season (August to September). If they didn’t spray, it is too late when they see the symptoms. This is what we are trying to solve with the models,” Camiletti explained.

Humidity comes from irrigation in the orchard. Irrigation is generally at night and water on the ground will remain in the orchard and create leaf wetness, leaving the orchard susceptible to the disease, Camiletti said.

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Golden Hills defoliation due to Alternaria (photo courtesy T. Michailides and B. Camiletti.)

CAL/OSHA STANDARDS BOARD CONSIDERS REGULATION FOR

egulations mandating temperatures below 87 degrees F in all indoor places of employment, including farm shops, tree nut hullers and processors, might just be right around the corner. The Cal/OSHA Standards Board held hearings in May and June on the proposed new Cal/ OSHA Standard for “Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places

The new proposed regulation would apply to all indoor work areas where the temperature equals or exceeds 82 degrees F. The regulation specifies access to water, requirements for cooldown areas, engineering controls, training requirements for employees and supervisors and a written heat illness plan. Engineering controls must be used to reduce and maintain the temperature and heat index to below 87 degrees F. A cooldown area must always be provided when employees are present, and a cooldown rest period must be afforded to each employee.

Effective training in the following topics shall be provided to each supervisory and non-supervisory employee before the employee begins work that should reasonably be anticipated to result in exposure to the risk of heat illness:

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 employer’s procedures for complying with the requirements of this section, including but not limited to the employer’s responsibility to provide water, cool-down areas, cool-down rests, control measures and access to first aid as well as the employees’ right to exercise their rights under this section without retaliation.

The new proposed heat illness regulation would apply to all indoor work areas where the temperature equals or exceeds 82 degrees F.

The importance of frequent consumption of small quantities of water, up to four cups per hour, when the work environment is hot, and employees are likely to be sweating more than usual in the performance of their duties.

The concept, importance and methods of acclimatization and of close observation during acclimatization pursuant to the employer’s procedures under subsection (i)(5).

The different types of heat illness, the common signs and symptoms of heat illness, and appropriate first aid and/or emergency responses to the different types of heat illness, and in addition, that heat illness may progress quickly from mild symptoms and signs to serious and life-threatening illness.

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

The employer’s procedures for re-

sible heat illness including how emergency medical services will be provided should they become necessary.

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

The employer’s procedures for ensuring that, in the event of an emergency, clear and precise directions to the worksite 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 invoked when appropriate.

We delineate these here to emphasize the point that this is a serious issue and Cal/OSHA is going to great lengths to make sure employers adequately train their employees on heat illness. In addition to employee training, the proposed standard has specific require-

Research is showing the cost to get facilities down to below 87 degrees F would be more than $1 million for air conditioning, which in some cases such as hullers or walnut dehydrators are impractical or would work against the operation.

ments for Supervisor training, which must include the following:

Prior to supervising employees performing work that should reasonably be anticipated to result in exposure to the risk of heat illness, effective training on the following topics shall be provided to the supervisor:

The information required to be provided by subsection (h)(1).

The procedures the supervisor is to follow to implement the applicable provisions in this section.

The procedures the supervisor is to follow when an employee exhibits signs or reports symptoms consistent with possible heat illness including emergency response procedures.

Where the work area is affected by outdoor temperatures, how to monitor weather reports and how to respond to hot weather advisories.

You must also have a written Heat Illness Prevention Plan (HIPP) just like

you do for Outdoor Heat Illness, which must include procedures for access to water, access to cool down areas, how to measure temperature and heat index, emergency response procedures and procedures for close observation of employees during acclimatization.

Now it goes without saying that we must provide a safe work area for our employees, but do we have an issue in our farm shops, hullers and processors? Most facilities provide fans, portable coolers and water wherever possible. We also use these buildings to allow our outside workers an area to cool down. In researching, the cost to get our facilities down to below 87 degrees F would be more than $1 million for air conditioning, which in some cases such as hullers or walnut dehydrators are impractical or would work against the operation. The proposed standard says that engineering controls shall be used to reduce and maintain the temperature and heat index to below 87 degrees

F except to the extent the employer demonstrates such controls are “infeasible.” Unfortunately, the proposed standard does not define “infeasible”. Therefore, the Association was able to provide specific testimony in an opportunity only provided to the Association, making the case that installing a/c systems big enough to cool a huller or processor would be too costly or work against the operation such as a walnut dehydrator.

So where does it go from here?

We know that more than 400 pages of comments were submitted on the proposed regulation, but there is a legislative mandate to adopt an indoor heat illness regulation so we know one will be adopted. We just don’t’ know what the final regulation will look like. Stay tuned.

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