Serving California producers and their professional advisors
We made spot calls on Friday
(2/5) to contacts in the San Joaquin Valley to see how that part of the
crop is moving along. A little blooming has started in the very south
end of the valley in a higher, warmer belt.
From
our sponsor,
Chemtura
Did you miss your dormant spray
because of recent rain?
You can still put peach tree borer (PTB)
to rest by adding Dimilin® 2L Insect Growth Regulator to
your fungicide bloom spray.
Dimilin controls larvae and has
been proven to provide strong residual control of PTB. It‘s a
good choice at bloom because it doesn’t affect bees and
beneficials.
So, thank the rain for saving you a trip
through the field and say good-bye to PTB.
For more
information on Dimilin 2L, please contact your local Chemtura
Representative:
John Descary Southern San Joaquin Valley
(661) 302-9964
Matt Loftus
Fresno County
(559) 960-1112
Eric Leer
North Central California
(209) 531-6478
Dimilin 2L is a restricted use pesticide.
Always read and follow label directions.
Dale Deshane,
PCA, Supervised Control, Bakersfield:
"In our orchards, bloom sprays usually start around February 12-15. I’ve
been looking around this week. Down toward the Grapevine south of
Bakersfield I saw a few scattered blooms. Those guys always are earlier.
The orchards are higher, so they get warmer, and they typically start
before the almonds around Buttonwillow, Shafter, Wasco and in that
general area.
"Most of the almonds I looked at
yesterday (2/4) around Buttonwillow were all just pretty much at green
buds. One PCA said at a luncheon today that they’ve seen a little bit of
pink. So, things are moving pretty quick. But the weather continues to
be variable. Around Mettler, the wind was howling and blowing dust. When
I drove to Shafter, there was a light rain at noon, but the sun was out
when I got to Bakersfield, and the forecast still calls for rain into
Saturday.
"Several guys didn’t get their berm
sprays out for weeds because it got too wet, and the same is true for
some dormant sprays. We’re probably going to add some things with those
bloom sprays for PTB. I don’t see any bloom sprays starting in our trees
next week but maybe the next week, which is pretty close to when we
usually start."
Nick
Groenenberg, Independent PCA, Hanford:
"Some dormant sprays went out on time, but the rain has kept some
applications from being made. I saw some peaches blooming today (2/5) on
the way to Fresno. Some bees are being put out right now in the area.
The almonds are pushing real hard, but I haven’t seen any blooms yet.
They’re not going to be late, I don’t think, and they look like they’re
right on time."
David A. Doll,
Pomology Farm Advisor, Merced County:
"I’m in an orchard right now (2/5) setting up some experiments, and what
I’ve noticed here and in another orchard is that the ‘earlies’ like
Sonora are starting to move. The ones I’m seeing today are clearly green
tipped. Whether that means that they’ll still sit here for a while or
push into bloom is something I don’t know. We do know that our chilling
hours were met really early this year. Almonds got most of their
required chilling back in December, which may be why the ‘earlies’ are
pushing a little earlier. Right now what I’m looking at are clearly
green tips, and a few on the tips of branches are starting to push.
"In an orchard yesterday we noticed
some of the vegetative buds starting to push. I think spring will be
quickly arriving. Again, how that influences bloom, I can’t say. But I
would say that if a grower has quite a bit of early varieties, he might
want to take a look and see how they’re progressing, then maybe check
his bee scheduling. It would be a shame to have your early varieties
blooming and not have a single hive in the orchard.
"We need to start focusing on IPM
practices. If you have any NOW damage or are in an area with NOW, ensure
that your winter sanitation is complete. Get your spur sampling wrapped
up, too. Overall, it’s time to start outlining your approach on
lepidopteran insects and discuss possible strategies with your PCA
before bloom sprays start."
DROUGHT DOWN UNDER:
How Australian Almond Growers Have Been Coping
From a special report
Australia’s almond production region has been
through a period of drought so similar to California’s prolonged situation
that it almost seems like the two places are separated only by a river, not
an entire ocean.
Consider this:
Water supplies in the
Murray River Valley – the nation’s largest river system and the
crop’s main irrigation source – fell drastically, starting in the
2004-05 season. As drought persisted, allocations plummeted from
100% to 60%, then to 30% and to as low as 18% in the 2008-09 crop
year.
In places, the 36-month
rainfall totals were the lowest on record, and the entire country
suffered under a general drought.
Continuing allocation
reductions resulted in some orchard abandonment and widescale
deficit irrigation.
Reservoir water supplies
ran as low as 12% of capacity in places.
“At first, we blamed it on other things – industry,
for example, or urban areas – but everyone finally faced the reality
that we simply weren’t receiving enough rain,” explained Ben Brown with
the Almond Board of Australia (ABA), speaking at the Almond Board of
California’s conference in Modesto in early December. “It was a very
frustrating situation. Water was flowing over weirs, but there wasn’t
enough for all of our irrigation needs. People had always received 100%
of their allocations, then suddenly that wasn’t the case, and they
thought they had a legal right to that expected amount.”
AgFax:
Almonds is published weekly during the crop production season.