WCN Nov 2021

WEST COAST NUT
SPECIAL SECTION:
WHAT TO DO IN A
NO-RAIN NOVEMBER
SEE PAGE 32
Your
Connection to the Tree Nut Industry
NOVEMBER 2021 ISSUE
IN THIS ISSUE:
PRECISION YIELD MONITORING
SEE PAGE 6
DORMANCY: WHAT YOUR
TREES DO IN THE WINTER
SEE PAGE 46
BRIDGING THE AG TECH DIVIDE
SEE PAGE 76
PUBLICATION
Photo by T. Chalstrom

Publisher: Jason Scott
Email: jason@jcsmarketinginc.com
Editor: Marni Katz
Email: marni@jcsmarketinginc.com
Associate Editor: Cecilia Parsons
Email: cecilia@jcsmarketinginc.com
Production: design@jcsmarketinginc.com
Tel: 559.352.4456
Fax: 559.472.3113
Web: www.wcngg.com
Contributing Writers & Industry Support
Almond Board of California
Contributing Writer
American Pecan Council
Contributing Writer
Vicky Boyd
Contributing Writer
Ellen M. Bruno
Asst. Cooperative Extension
Specialist, Department of
Agricultural and Resource
Economics, UC Berkeley
Danita Cahill
Contributing Writer
California Walnut Board
Contributing Writer
Taylor Chalstrom
Assistant Editor
Brittney Goodrich
Asst. Cooperative Extension
Specialist, Department of
Agricultural and Resource
Economics, UC Davis
UC Cooperative Extension Advisory Board
Surendra K. Dara
UCCE Entomology and
Biologicals Advisor, San Luis
Obispo and Santa Barbara
Counties
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
Seth Hansen
CCA, Contributing Writer
Julie R. Johnson
Contributing Writer
Theresa Kiehn
President and CEO, AgSafe
Rich Kreps
CCA, SSp., Contributing Writer
Mitch Lies
Contributing Writer
Michelle Rodriguez
Safety/Food Safety Specialist,
Western Agricultural
Processors Association
Richard J. Sexton
Distinguished Professor,
Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics,
UC Davis
Steven Koike
Tri-Cal Diagnostics
Jhalendra Rijal
UCCE Integrated Pest
Management Advisor,
Stanislaus County
Kris Tollerup
UCCE Integrated Pest
Management Advisor,
Parlier
Mohammad Yaghmour
UCCE Area Orchard Systems
Advisor, Kern County
View our ePublication on the web at www.wcngg.com
The articles, research, industry updates, company profiles, and advertisements
in this publication are the professional opinions of writers and advertisers.
West Coast Nut does not assume any responsibility for the opinions given in
the publication.
By the Industry, For the Industry
IN THIS ISSUE
6 New Off-Ground Harvest Research Incorporates Precision Yield
Monitoring for Improved Orchard Management
12 Five Things That Worked for Pest Control in 2021 — and a Few
Things That Didn’t
16 California Walnuts’ First-Ever National Snacking Retail Campaign
18 Pacific Flatheaded Borer Emerges as Significant Pest of Walnuts,
Hazelnuts
22 New Kids on the Block: Almond Breeders Continue Focus on Self-
Fertile Releases
28 Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Protections Edging Toward Permanent
Standard
Special Section: No-Rain November
32 Prevent Water Stress in the Central Valley and Set Trees Up for
Bearing Next Year’s Crop
36 Enhancing Winter Chill in Tree Nut Crops
38 Northstate Nut Growers Consider the Hard Decisions if Drought
Continues
42 2021 Recap Report of APC’s Marketing in the Health Professional
Sphere
46 Dormancy – What Your Trees Do in the Winter
50 Personal Fall Arrest Systems in Nut Hulling/Processing Facilities
54 The Outlook for California’s Almond Market
58 IPM’s Role in Crop Quality
62 Understanding How Nitrogen is Utilized Improves Nitrogen-Use
Efficiency for Almond Growers
68 Monitoring and Controlling Leafrollers in Hazelnuts
70 The Practical Wisdom of Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices
76 Bridging the Ag Tech Divide
SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE: Precision Yield Monitoring
New off-ground harvest research incorporates precision yield monitoring for improved orchard
management.
See page 6
November 2021 www.wcngg.com 3

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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 5

New Off-Ground Harvest Research
Incorporates Precision Yield Monitoring
for Improved Orchard Management
By TAYLOR CHALSTROM | Assistant Editor
New research uses off-ground harvesters as a “method” to measure individual tree yields across an orchard (all photos by T. Chalstrom.)
Off-ground harvest is continuing to advance as a
viable method for harvesting almonds in California,
and a new UC Davis research project is using precision
agriculture technologies to further capitalize on its benefits.
The project, which includes researchers with UC Davis
and USDA-ARS, and in partnership with Erick Nielsen
Enterprises, Inc., was envisioned by UC Davis Plant Sciences
Professor Patrick Brown. It uses the off-ground harvester
as a “method” to measure individual trees’ yields across an
orchard, according to UC Davis Professional Researcher and
project collaborator Sat Darshan S. Khalsa. The purpose of
measuring individual trees instead of taking an average of
an orchard block, Khalsa said, is to highlight variabilities in
their orchards.
Making growers aware of variabilities will assist them
in making more precise management decisions throughout
their orchards.
“If growers are still only looking at the average yields
across blocks and managing those blocks as average units,
it’s really hard to start talking about more precision agriculture,”
Khalsa said.
Precision Yield Monitoring
A UC Davis team led by Stavros G. Vougioukas, professor
in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering,
designed a weighing bin to precisely measure the yield
coming off of each tree. As nuts are shaken from trees and
collected in the harvester, they move along a conveyor belt
and are captured in the weighing bin. The bin then commu-
6 West Coast Nut November 2021

What we wanted to know
is, ‘What is the wide range
of variability of trees in the
orchard and how are those trees
differing in yield, but what are
the drivers of those differences?
– Sat Darshan S. Khalsa, UC Davis
"
The weighing bin, engineered by Development Engineer Dennis
Sadowski, attaches to the side of the Erick Nielson Enterprises
off-ground harvester and measures the yield of each individual tree
after nuts are dropped.
nicates to the driver when to drop the nuts in the windrow.
The weighing bin itself, engineered by Development
Engineer Dennis Sadowski, attaches to the side of the Erick
Nielson Enterprises off-ground harvester. Post-doctoral Researcher
Chen Peng designed the yield monitoring software
as well as a GPS software that maps the yield of individual
trees in the orchard. The GPS mapping allows growers to see
how much specific trees in an orchard block are producing,
Continued on Page 8
The project is also looking at water management data on trees in
blocks as it pertains to stress levels.
November 2021 www.wcngg.com 7

The project uses remote sensing technology that will assist with predicting yield earlier in the season so that growers can know how to adaptively
manage their water and nutrients.
Continued from Page 7
which can be helpful for diagnosing
water and/or nutrition issues more
accurately within blocks.
“What we wanted to know is, ‘What
is the wide range of variability of trees
in the orchard and how are those trees
differing in yield, but what are the drivers
of those differences?’” said Khalsa.
“So what we did is we used satellite
imagery to show the vegetative index of
the existing orchards we were working
in, and then randomly selected trees of
all ranges of productivity and identified
them as our data trees. Within those
data trees, we’re then starting to take
more intensive measurements around
carbohydrate status, water status and
nutrient status as well as counts on
flowers and fruit set to understand
what those yield drivers are.”
The weighing bin is still in the
first version of development, and the
research collaborators have plans for
improvement. Khalsa said the project
is primarily focused on improving
the efficiency of the weighing steps so
that weight can be taken in real time
instead of after all the nuts have passed
through the bin.
“That will allow the shaking to double
in speed, and right now, we’re not
quite there,” he said.
Additionally, the current iteration
of the weighing bin requires additional
labor during harvest due to how the bin
piles up nuts in windrows, but Khalsa
said this is only temporary.
“It hasn’t quite been designed in such
a way with commercial machinery to
Continued on Page 10
8 West Coast Nut November 2021

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Continued from Page 8
optimize all operations of the harvest,”
he said. “Certainly, what we want to see
in the future is the ability to weigh the
nuts and have some sort of broadcasting
of those nuts gently onto the field so
that they’re not building up in piles. So
what our team was doing as a courtesy
to the grower is we were following
behind the harvester and raking those
nuts out so that they dry effectively,
but that’s not a practice we would ever
propose for this type of work.”
Khalsa said the project is looking
for additional industry collaborators to
help design different types of weighing
bins for different types of harvesters,
keeping in mind the goal of the operation
which is to get the nuts in a windrow
where they can dry and be picked
up effectively. This process eliminates
sweeping and marries with one of the
Almond Board’s 2025 harvest goals of
INFO@RST-CLEANTECH.COM
"That’s ultimately what the growers
are looking for. They see parts of their
plots that are getting much higher
yields than others and they want
everything to reach whatever the
maximum potential is in that area."
– Andrew McElrone, USDA-ARS
reducing harvest dust levels.
"
Remote Sensing and
Satellite Imagery
Another important goal of the project
is yield prediction, which requires
the ground-truthing data from the
precision off-ground harvester for algorithm
training and validation purpose.
While the research project involves
measuring yield indicators of individual
trees to predict yield earlier in the
season, this method is not feasible for
the grower. Khalsa said that the project
is using AI/machine learning technology
paired with aerial imagery to get a
bigger picture and make things easier.
The remote sensing technology will
assist with predicting yield earlier in
the season so that growers can know
how to adaptively manage their water
and nutrients, Khalsa said. Additionally,
ground-based sensor networks,
much like those already being used by
growers to measure soil water and tree
water status, are being used in tandem
with aerial remote sensing and tractor
mounted imaging to further enhance
the management scope. These groundbased
sensor networks and tractor
mounted imaging are currently being
researched by UC Davis professors
Isaya Kisekka and Mason Earles. Yufang
Jin, professor in the Department
of Air, Land and Water Resources at
UC Davis, is heading the aerial remote
sensing and yield prediction aspects of
the project.
Jin said that the remote sensing
looks at bloom dynamics early in the
season, including flower intensity and
bloom timing overlap between rows,
along with other phenological and
physiological traits like canopy biomass
and water stress. “We can monitor
from space when the flowers start to
come out and then track day-to-day dynamics
as well as quantify intensity of
10 West Coast Nut November 2021

peak bloom,” she said. “We can ingest
all of that information into a final yield
prediction statistical model.”
Using this model, the researchers
will be able to relate the yields in
the weighing bin during off-ground
harvesting to yield drivers within the
orchard, with the hope of influencing
growers to make more tailored management
decisions.
Water Management
The project is also looking at water
management data on trees in blocks as
it pertains to stress levels. Similar to
the yield prediction data, these data are
compared with the precise yield measurements
from the off-ground harvester
to determine a more homogenized
management pattern for the orchard.
Also similar to the yield prediction data,
the water management data is captured
through remote sensing tools.
Andrew McElrone, a research plant
physiologist with USDA-ARS and adjunct
faculty at UC Davis, said that water
use is measured on the ground with
lots of sensors, including a flux tower,
which is used to ground truth remotely
sensed measurements of water use. The
remote sensing tools can be used to map
the heterogeneity of a block, according
to McElrone.
“That’s ultimately what the growers
are looking for,” he said. “They see parts
of their plots that are getting much
higher yields than others and they want
everything to reach whatever the maximum
potential is in that area. They’re
trying to maximize uniformity because
it helps improve harvest time as well.”
Additionally, remote sensing makes
it easier in general to survey the orchard.
“What the remote sensing can do is
allow you to cover a lot more acreage
more rapidly without having to send
armies of people into the field to do intensive
measurements,” he said, noting
that the cost is coming down for these
tools as well.
Remote sensing tools for estimating
evapotranspiration will soon be more
widely available through OpenET, a
web application powered by Google
Earth Engine that uses cutting edge
models and publicly available satellite
and weather station data to estimate
field-level water consumption at
potentially daily, monthly and yearly
intervals.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 11

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Five Things That Worked for Pest
Control in 2021 — and a Few Things
That Didn’t
By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor
PCA Justin Nay said there really is no substitute for good orchard sanitation
as it puts growers ahead of the pest numbers at the beginning
of the growing season (all photos by Marni Katz.)
PCAs interviewed at the 2021 Crop Consultant
Conference and in the field emphasized nutrition,
sanitation, tracking degree days and mating disruption
as their major tools to keep crop damage low in tree
nut crops this year.
No surprise that navel orangeworm (NOW) and mite
control were their two biggest challenges throughout
a hot and dry summer, but they all had strategies that
worked as well as some that worked less effectively.
What Worked
Their five most successful strategies for pest control in
2021 were:
1. Sticking with a Plan
“We had a good pest control plan,” said David Vieira,
PCA for Gar Bennett who works in Tulare, Kings
and Kern counties. “We took care of the things we can
control.”
Vieira said he kept track of degree days and pest
thresholds throughout the growing season and that that
maximized insecticide spray coverage. Using degree days
to track NOW flights resulted in a return on investment
in chemical control.
There was nothing really different in insect pest control
in tree nuts this year, Vieira said at the Crop Consultant
Conference in September. Paying attention to trap
counts and counting degree days helped keep the NOW
Continued on Page 14
David Vieira, PCA for Gar Bennett, said tracking degree days and pest
thresholds kept the pest management plan on track.
Making a plan and sticking to it, despite market fluctuations, is one
key to successful pest management.
12 West Coast Nut November 2021

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Continued from Page 12
populations suppressed in his orchards,
which is key to preventing crop damage.
“You can’t miss a step with permanent
crops and you can’t stop farming
when prices are low; you have to keep
production,” Vieira said.
2. Winter Sanitation
“Obviously, sanitation is very important,”
said Justin Nay, PCA with Integral
Ag. “We really stuck to our guns
with the growers, and after a dry winter
and money spent on orchard sanitation,
we saw the results.”
Nay said there really is no substitute
for good orchard sanitation as it puts
them ahead of the pest numbers at
the beginning of the growing season.
Lower numbers of NOW in the orchard
allow sprays to be more effective in
controlling this pest.
3. Watching Nutrition
PCA Jim Pingrey said after shifting
his attention to tree nutrition, he has
been able to reduce chemical application
for pest control.
Pingrey, with Colusa County Farm
Supply, said his sap analysis study
over the last three years led him to
fine-tune his orchard nutrition plans,
aiming to balance tree needs. After
recognizing that high chloride levels
were triggering early mite pressure, he
set about to correct that with calcium
injection. By lowering the chloride
levels, he was able to skip a mite spray
and, as an added bonus, lowered Alternaria
levels and hull rot infections in
his orchards.
“You can’t miss
a step with
permanent
crops and you
can’t stop
farming when
prices are low;
you have to
keep production.”
–David Vieira, PCA,
Gar Bennett
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4. Mating Disruption
Earlier NOW flights could have led
to more generations over the season
and more crop damage, but PCA Robert
Smith with Ultra Gro said mating
disruption puffers in east side orchards
worked well this year to reduce populations.
Yes, he said there was lower
NOW pressure on the east side, but in
those pistachio orchards, he was able
to get by with only a hull split spray.
As for mites, he said pressure in his
orchards was lighter than expected, but
he did not wait until July and instead
sprayed with a less expensive product
in May and achieved good control.
5. Monitoring and
Treatment Thresholds
Good navel orangeworm control in
almonds and pistachios can strain a
management budget, said independent
PCA Fred Strauss, but using traps and
checking for thresholds can save some
money. Traps are a good indicator of
NOW pressure, Nay said, and they can
14 West Coast Nut November 2021

mitigate a less-than-optimal sanitation
program.
What Didn’t Work
1. Cutting Corners
Not following the pest management
plan developed by your PCA.
Sometimes, growers need to trim their
budget in a low-price year, but Strauss
said it is frustrating when the grower
isn’t following the plan. With permanent
nut crops, pest control can’t be left
behind due to low markets. Following
the protocol for each season pays off
in crop quality and yields. Getting the
timing right for a spray application
to prevent NOW populations from
spiking at harvest is an important step,
he said.
2. Supply Chain
“This was a tough hurdle this year,”
Vieira said. Shipping delays of products
and higher prices for plastics and
pallets cost growers time.
“Growers paid the price of not having
the products they needed for their
orchards.”
3. Saving a Spray
Taking a chance and skipping an
insecticide spray without other mitigation
measures can save money, Strauss
said, but it also can cost in the form of
crop quality. When it comes to husk
fly in walnuts, he said it is important
to identify location of the infestation
and be sure to treat that area the next
season to avoid crop damage.
4. Spraying out NOW
Relying exclusively on insecticides
to control NOW is not an effective
method of control, Nay said. Late
damage and late harvest equaled more
NOW infested nuts. Relying on insecticide
sprays to reduce NOW populations
in the orchard will not achieve a cleaner
crop, he said.
With earlier NOW flights, good control
can’t be achieved and other control
tools can’t be optimized. Not one single
control method works for NOW, all
PCAs interviewed said. The foundation
is orchard sanitation, along with
mating disruption, insecticide sprays,
monitoring and traps that can all play
a part in pest management. Integrating
biological controls and understanding
integrated pest management protocols
can also increase efficacy of pest management
plans.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
November 2021 www.wcngg.com 15

A WORD FROM THE BOARD: THE CALIFORNIA WALNUT BOARD
CALIFORNIA WALNUTS’ FIRST-EVER NATIONAL
SNACKING RETAIL CAMPAIGN DRIVES SUCCESS
WITH AWARENESS AND SALES
By CALIFORNIA WALNUT BOARD | Contributing Writer
In an ongoing effort to change the
way consumers think about walnuts,
the California Walnut Board conducted
its largest snacking campaign in May
through August to encourage additional
consumption of walnuts through snacking.
The campaign found success with
both consumer media coverage and a
first-ever snacking-focused in-store retail
program in July, resulting in strong
year-over-year sales growth of walnuts
for participating retailers. In online
content, TV segments, advertising and
promotions, consumers saw messaging
about “Raising Your Nutrition IQ with
California Walnuts” showing nutritious
and tasty snack ideas, which drove
awareness and product sales.
The decision to run a campaign focused
solely on snacking came directly
from market research that showed continued
growth in snacking as the top
use of walnuts. California Walnuts also
conducted a survey to assess current
snacking trends going into the campaign
period. Among other findings,
the survey concluded that more Americans
are looking to eat healthier snacks
than last year, and 22% of snackers
(approximately 53 million people) are
looking for snacks that promote cognitive
health.
“The Board’s market research
provided valuable insights to inform
development of a strategic campaign to
reach consumers with a new message
to drive increased walnut consumption
during a time of year when walnuts
are not typically top-of-mind,” said
Jennifer Olmstead, senior director of
U.S. marketing and communications
Retailers were pleased with walnut snacking campaign results (photo courtesy CWMB.)
for the California Walnut Board. “We
presented the opportunity to retailers
and were pleased with the interest for
this inaugural campaign.”
Twenty-six retailers operating 7,400
stores participated in the campaign,
displaying walnuts and promotional
signage. In select retailers, California
Walnuts paired with the U.S. Highbush
Blueberry Council or Bard Valley Natural
Delights Dates for in-store promotions
and recipe highlights.
The snacking campaign also included
regional TV station segments and
Facebook Live recipe demonstrations
hosted by the supermarket dietitians.
Throughout the summer, media
outreach led to 460 news articles and
garnered 1.6 billion potential views,
touting walnuts as a nutritious snack
option and shared recipe ideas, including
placements in major consumer
outlets like Men’s Health, Eat This, Not
That! and Real Simple.
“The earned media, nutrition
spokespeople, influencer partnerships
and national retail program worked
together to build excitement across the
country around purchasing walnuts,”
shared Olmstead.
Retailers who executed well at the
store level were extremely pleased with
the results, especially when compared
to the pandemic-fueled walnut sales
during the summer of 2020. Nielsen
data collected from a portion of the
retailers showed that volume gains
attributed to this program were above
170% for two of the retailers and no less
than 44% from the rest of the group.
Olmstead added California Walnuts
hopes to continue to build on the campaign
success, especially as consumer
demand for plant-forward and nutritious
eating choices continues to rise.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
16 West Coast Nut November 2021

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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 17

Pacific Flatheaded
Borer Emerges as
Significant Pest of
Walnuts, Hazelnuts
By MITCH LIES | Contributing Writer
In the summer of 2018, UCCE IPM Advisor Jhalendra Rijal
had his first direct encounter with Pacific flatheaded borer.
“Some growers were reporting damage in walnuts,” he
said. “We went out there, found larvae and later figured out
it was flatheaded borer.”
While not new to California agriculture, the Pacific flatheaded
borer today is a significant pest of walnuts, particularly,
but not exclusively, to young walnut orchards. In some
cases, damage from the pest has approached 100%, Rijal said.
In one case, Rijal noted, a grower ended up cutting every
tree in his one-year-old orchard beneath the infestation
points and re-budding them because of damage from the
pest. “So, you can imagine the cost,” Rijal said. “First, there
is the money for labor and material investment, but the
grower also was two years late coming into production.”
The pest also has emerged in recent years as a significant
issue in Oregon hazelnuts.
“In 2016, we started seeing a lot of damage in young hazelnut
orchards from the borer,” said Oregon State University
Extension Hazelnut Specialist Nik Wiman. “Before then, it
was pretty much unrecognized.”
Wiman said the pest appears to have come into hazelnuts
from outside of orchards in 2015 when drought stress
exposed young trees to the pest. A year later, the damage
started showing up.
“It was pretty devastating in some orchards,” he said. “We
saw losses topping 30% in certain orchards, and there was
even a cherry orchard that was 100% damaged. They just
ripped it out and had to replant it.
“It can be really destructive,” Wiman said.
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Pacific flatheaded borer is known to attack diseased or stressed walnut
trees. Researchers recommend growers remove infected material in fall
or winter months (all photos by J. Rijal.)
Wide Host Range
The Pacific flatheaded borer, Chrysobothris mali, affects
multiple tree crops in the Western U.S., including several
tree fruits and some tree nuts. The pest is known to attack
diseased or stressed trees.
“Drought, over-irrigation or poor soil conditions, all of
those can be predisposing factors,” Rijal said.
Flathead borer adults lay eggs in branches with cracks
and wounds, and larvae slowly move into the wood by feeding
on the cambium layer of the infested branch first, he said.
The pest also likes branches exposed to sun. “They like
the warmth of the branches and twigs and lay their eggs
there,” Rijal said.
Rijal noted that researchers don’t know why the pest has
suddenly appeared as a significant problem in walnuts. He
and others speculate that the dry conditions and drought
that have permeated the Central Valley as of late is a contributing
factor, as well as the increase in walnut acres.
“Plus, I would say that growers are much more aware of
this pest now and finding more because of that,” he said.
Rijal added that in recent years, the pest appears to be
attacking older, more mature trees, a divergence from its
historical range, and another potential reason for why it has
become more recognized as a pest of concern.
“Not only are the young trees, first- and second-year
trees infested on the trunk, but we are now seeing bigger
limbs and smaller branches, even pencil-sized branches,
that have flatheaded borer infestations,” he said. “And even
healthy-looking trees, four, six, seven, even ten-year-old op-
18 West Coast Nut November 2021

timally producing trees also are getting
attacked now.”
The increased pressure has led to
two research projects, one funded by
the Walnut Board of California in 2019
and a new multi-state project started
this summer that is funded by a USDA
Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant
and being led by Tennessee State University,
where a similar flathead borer
species is causing problems in nursery
tree plants.
Researchers from other Eastern
states, including Florida, Georgia,
North Carolina and South Carolina are
part of the grant, as well as Rijal and
Wiman, who are looking at walnuts and
hazelnuts in California and Oregon.
In the 2019 research project, Rijal
was able to identify the species
of flatheaded borer causing damage
in walnuts, produce photographs of
symptoms so growers know what to
look for when scouting for the pest and
get some preliminary data on the pest’s
biology and behavior.
“We were able to do the preliminary
work looking at the adult beetle emergence
timing in the summer to understand
the pest biology better. This helps
to ultimately develop pest monitoring
and management,” he said.
Monitoring Tools
As part of the USDA’s Specialty
Crop Research Initiative project titled
Flatheaded Borer Management in Tree
Specialty Crops, researchers are looking
at different monitoring tools, or traps
and attractants, attempting to pinpoint
peak adult emergence and looking at
different insecticides with the hope of
developing control strategies.
To date, preliminary research
conducted in the northern San Joaquin
Valley has shown peak adult emergence
occurs in June. “Although emergence
starts in May and can continue through
July, we think that mid-June is the peak
adult activity period, at least in the area
where I am doing the work,” Rijal said.
Knowing peak adult emergence may
potentially help pinpoint the optimum
window for targeting young larvae with
Continued on Page 20
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Pacific flatheaded borer feeding can increase the likelihood of
branch breakage in walnuts. “Even simple, regular wind will break it,”
said UCCE IPM Advisor Jhalendra Rijal.
Researchers are analyzing the effectiveness of different traps as part
of a multi-state Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant studying
flatheaded borer.
Continued from Page 19
insecticides, he said.
To date, researchers recommend growers become familiar
with symptoms and remove infected tree parts in fall or
winter as well as coat trunks of young trees with white paint
before they are exposed to sunlight.
Scouting in late summer/early fall will help growers
identify damaged trees, Rijal said. “In the summer, you can
see the brown frass at the infestation point on branches,” he
said, “and at that point, you know that larva is inside because
of that.”
He added that removing infected branches may not
provide 100% control of the pest in the first year. “It is more
like a population-reduction method,” he said. “You probably
won’t be able to remove all the infested branches depending
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on the pressure, but it helps a lot, because you are essentially
killing the larvae that are hiding inside the infested plant
materials.”
Left alone, infected branches may not die immediately, he
said, but over time they will succumb to the pest, and an infestation
increases the likelihood a branch will break. “Even
simple, regular wind will break it,” Rijal said.
Neonicotinoid insecticides, said as Imidacloprid, are effective
at controlling the pest in hazelnuts, Wiman said. But
those are under scrutiny by EPA and may not be available in
future years.
A relatively new class of insecticide, diamides, also has
shown efficacy on the pest in hazelnuts, but at this point isn’t
labeled for use against it, Wiman said.
“Experimentally, we are showing it works,” he said. “So, if
we lose the neonicotinoids, which we probably will eventually
because they are already banned in Europe, at least we
have some alternatives to go to.”
Rijal noted that in some cases, growers may be getting
some residual control of the flatheaded borer through codling
moth or navel orangeworm sprays, but how much of an
effect is in question.
“The insecticides might have some impact on flatheaded
borer, but we know that it is not enough because we are seeing
infestations regardless of whether the grower had treated
for codling moth or navel orangeworm,” he said.
He emphasized that painting young trees with white latex
paint is a must. “That is a must practice, especially with the
Central Valley heat,” he said. “Get that latex paint on at least
before sunburn risk.”
Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel
free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
20 West Coast Nut November 2021

THE BEST WAY TO MANAGE PATHOGENS
BEFORE THEY BECOME AN ISSUE.
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New Kids on the Block:
Almond Breeders
Continue Focus on
Self-Fertile Releases
By VICKY BOYD | Contributing Writer
Pyrenees tree showing the heavy crop load (photo courtesy Burchell Nursery.)
The trend toward self-fertile almond varieties continues
as a handful of nurseries have new offerings that
allow growers to reduce bees needed for pollination and
manage orchards more efficiently.
Following on the heels of the successful self-fertile Independence
variety, Dave Wilson Nursery has introduced
Liberty. Burchell Nursery has launched Pyrenees, the second
release in its self-fruitful Summit Almond Series.
And several businesses, including Duarte Nursery,
Burchell Nursery, Sierra Gold Nurseries, Fowler Nurseries,
Roos Tree Nursery, Tudor Trees Nursery and Agromillora
Nursery, will offer Yorizane. From the breeding program of
Dr. Craig Ledbetter with USDA-ARS, it is a public self-fertile
variety without royalties.
Burchell Nursery
The second release in Burchell Nursery’s self-fruitful
Summit Almond Series, Pyrenees matures about two weeks
later than Nonpareil.
“Pyrenees has good nut removal,” said Tom Burchell, owner
and president. “The thing we like about it is it’s 10 days to
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two weeks after Nonpareil. The nuts hang well, dry down on
the trees and shake well.”
The later maturity should allow growers to spread out
their harvests, since Nonpareil, Shasta and Independence all
come off at about the same time.
The Pyrenees nuts also are easy to hull, and any mummies
left come off readily during winter shaking.
Like Shasta, Pyrenees is self-fruitful, meaning it doesn’t
need pollen from another variety to produce a crop. But
Burchell still recommended using beehives, albeit at a
reduced number, to maximize the yield potential of either
variety.
Pyrenees produces a nut with a good seal and a semi-soft
shell that can be cracked by hand. Depending on the handler,
it could go for the in-shell market, he said. The kernel itself
is in the medium-size range and is classified as a California
type.
In taste tests conducted by the Almond Board, Pyrenees
was one of the top U.S. varieties, coming in just behind an
Australian variety. Burchell said it has a mild amaretto flavor
that the taste panel found pleasing.
“Pyrenees just had a unique amaretto flavor where everything
else we tasted that day was a bland almond,” Burchell
said. “This one was different.
“Right now, almonds aren’t sold by flavor. If you put chocolate
on them, it doesn’t matter what they taste like.”
But the unique flavor prompted him to name the variety
after the Pyrenees mountain range in Europe. After
all, marzipan, a paste made from almonds and sometimes
augmented with amaretto flavoring, is popular in European
confections.
Pyrenees produces a medium-sized, somewhat spreading
tree. Burchell said they like to put it on a peach-almond
hybrid rootstock to improve tree vigor, which isn’t as strong
as the Nonpareil.
He also continues to evaluate test number P16.022, a yet-
22 West Coast Nut November 2021

A Liberty tree is shaken, showing easy nut removal (photo courtesy
Dave Wilson Nursery.)
A close-up shows the Liberty crop after hull split (photo courtesy Dave
Wilson Nursery.)
to-be-released self-fertile variety that
will be called Lassen. It matures from
seven to 14 days later than Nonpareil.
As growers begin to remove Butte-Padre
orchards, Burchell said this variety
could be a potential replacement if it’s
released.
Lassen produces a smallish, plump
kernel similar to Ruby in shape, according
to Blue Diamond grading information.
In addition, Burchell has a few more
experimental self-fertile varieties that
Continued on Page 24
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Yorizane nuts on the ground reflect the easy detachment from the tree (photo courtesy
Duarte Nursery.)
Continued from Page 23
aren’t as far along as Lassen that he
continues to assess.
Dave Wilson Nursery
Through an exclusive marketing
agreement, Dave Wilson Nursery has
begun offering Liberty, the second
self-fertile almond variety from the
breeding program of Zaiger Genetics.
It appears to mature about 10 days
to two weeks later than Independence
and Nonpareil, said Jereme Fromme,
Dave Wilson Nursery vice president
of sales and marketing. It also blooms
about five days later than Independence.
“That’s obviously helpful in years
where there’s a potential frost event,” he
said. “The later the bloom is, the less
likely you are to have a frost event, and
that’s real critical.”
But Fromme cautioned the timeframes
are based on just a few plantings
around Stanislaus County and what
has been observed by the Zaigers over
the past 10 years. As more orchards
are put in the ground in different parts
of the state under different environmental
conditions, he said they should
get a better idea of bloom and harvest
timing.
“I think what we’re going to find,
and we find this with all varieties, is
until you get critical mass, it’s kind of
hard to say,” Fromme said. “Any given
year and the growing practices could
also change harvest windows.”
If the later timing holds, he said it
could allow growers and custom applicators
to spread out harvest, making
more efficient use of their equipment.
Liberty produces a large, attractive
kernel with a good shell seal. How it
will be categorized by the industry
remains to be seen.
“There are several different factors,”
Fromme said. “It really isn’t until you
get mass quantities from different
regions that you can put them in a
category.”
Unlike Independence, Liberty
produces a more upright tree similar to
Aldrich. Liberty trees are vigorous, and
Dave Wilson will offer the new variety
on all its commercial rootstocks. The
nuts also shake cleanly from the trees,
likely due to the more upright architecture,
Fromme said.
Liberty is self-fertile and can produce
a crop without beehives, although
some growers still put a reduced number
of hives in their orchards, much
like they do with Independence.
Zaiger Genetics hasn’t stopped at
Liberty for self-fertile varieties, From-
Continued on Page 26
24 West Coast Nut November 2021

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Yorizane: Self-Fertile and Royalty Free
In 1998, USDA-ARS geneticist
Craig Ledbetter made the
initial Yorizane cross between
the European self-fertile
hardshell variety Tuono
and ARS advanced almond
selection 74-48. As a result,
Yorizane has a pure almond
genetic background without
any peach material, he said.
USDA-ARS released the
variety, previously trialed
as Y116-161-99, in 2020.
Based on six years of RVT trial
data, Ledbetter said Yorizane
tends to alternate bear
slightly less than Nonpareil.
The Yorizane kernel is classified
as a California type, and shells
have tight seals, reducing
NOW damage. Kernels
themselves have a goldish
color and are slightly lighter
colored than Nonpareil. But
Ledbetter said they would
not be considered blonde.
Yorizane harvests about the
same time as Nonpareil.
Ledbetter named the variety
after Ban and Tac Yorizane, who
sold their 120-acre farm near
Parlier to USDA-ARS in 1991.
“We were previously in southeast
Fresno,” he said. “Fresno
grew around us and forced
us to move down to Parlier.”
Among the varieties he has in
his breeding pipeline is Y117-
91-03, a self-fertile almond
with a Nonpareil-type kernel.
Like Yorizane, this variety
Yorizane trees at harvest. These trees
are part of the Regional Variety Trial
in Stanislaus County (photo courtesy
Duarte Nursery.)
will be royalty free when it’s
released, Ledbetter said.
“We want to make sure that
everyone who does want
to sell it can,” he said.
Continued from Page 24
me said. In the pipeline is one that
harvests in early to mid-July.
“With the compaction of harvest,
we’re looking at how we can spread
harvest out on the early side,” he said.
“We can get product running through
the huller a little earlier. If you can
harvest by mid-July, you’re missing the
next or maybe multiple NOW flights.”
Sierra Gold Nurseries
Trialed as Y-116-161-99, Yorizane is
a public variety released in 2020 that
has no royalties or other fees. And
Sierra Gold Nurseries plans to offer it
next fall, said Brent Burky, director of
sales.
“We’ve just been waiting to get the
budwood supply built up,” he said.
“We want to use the cleanest budwood
possible and didn’t want to rush into
it.”
Nevertheless, Burky said he’s already
received several inquiries about
the new variety. Rootstock choice will
depend on individual growing conditions
and grower goals.
“I know with Shasta and Independence,
two popular self-fertile varieties,
if the rootstock doesn’t have a
lot of vigor, the trees stay small and
compact,” Burky said.
That leads many growers to put
them on a more vigorous rootstock. It
appears Yorizane may also produce
slightly smaller trees.
“If you want to have a tree that
looks more like a typical Nonpareil,
then I’d plant it on more vigorous
rootstock,” he said. “But I think
Yorizane will perform on just about
anything. If you have sites with limitations,
like heavy soil and you need
to plant on Krymsk 86, I think it’s
still going to perform well.”
Duarte Nursery
Duarte Nursery in Hughson is promoting
Yorizane as “The Gold Nut,”
which calls attention to its light gold
kernel color. John Duarte, president
of Duarte Nursery, said he’s impressed
with Yorizane’s clean harvest,
a crack-out equivalent to Nonpareil,
fewer doubles than Nonpareil and a
hull that comes off very easily.
In addition, Yorizane as a good
seal compared to Nonpareil, reducing
navel orange worm infestations. But
the shell itself is thin, making the
variety a good candidate for brining
and roasting.
Yorizane matures about the same
time as Nonpareil. Based on Almond
Board crack-out data and kernel
dimensions, Yorizane is considered a
California variety.
What really caught Duarte’s attention
is its reduced hull rot strikes
compared to other commercial varieties.
This will enable growers to push
irrigation and fertility to maximize
the variety’s yield potential.
“It’s a champ when you look at
all the RVTs,” said Duarte, who has
followed Yorizane’s performance
for several seasons. “There’s nothing
that’s in second place.”
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
26 West Coast Nut November 2021

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2021 www.wcngg.com 27

Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Protections
Edging Toward Permanent
Standard
By THERESA KIEHN | President and CEO, AgSafe
As 2021 rapidly comes to an end, it
has become quite apparent in
recent months that COVID-19
will continue to be a part of our lives
as we march into 2022. Cal/OSHA also
appears to agree with this assessment as
they are preparing to create a permanent
standard for COVID-19. This new
permanent standard would most likely
be adopted in spring 2022 by the Cal/
OSHA Standards Board. In this article,
we discuss elements of the proposed
permanent standard and the differences
between it and the current Emergency
Temporary Standard (ETS).
This September, the Cal/OSHA
Standards Board convened a virtual
advisory committee meeting to review
the language of a proposed permanent
standard. The public was also given an
opportunity to view the meeting and
submit written comments before the
board begins the process of finalizing
the standard. Although this standard is
labeled as a permanent, it has built in a
sunset clause which is currently set to
expire after two years.
Proposed Changes
One of the biggest changes to the
proposed regulation was the official incorporation
of California Department
of Public Heath (CDPH) guidance. This
28 West Coast Nut November 2021

CONSULTAN
A Monthly Newsletter for Crop Consultants
Bringing the latest in
timely crop production to
Certified Crop Consultants
and Pest Control Advisors
As currently written, the permanent standard would eliminate the option for
employees to self-attest; only vaccinations records (digital or in print) would be an
acceptable form of proof (photo by Hector Amezcua, UC Davis.)
had been a point of contention with the
current ETS because the standard was
unable stay current with actual fluctuations
of COVID-19 transmission. The
incorporation of CDPH guidance is intended
to add flexibility to the standard
because, as we have learned, a one-sizefits-all
regulation does not work when
you are operating during the time of a
global pandemic.
Under the proposed permanent
standard, employers would no longer
need to have a separate COVID-19 Prevention
Program. Employers will need
to address COVID-19 prevention methods
through their existing Injury and
Illness Prevention Plan and COVID-19
would be officially included as a workplace
hazard. Therefore, employers
would continue to follow their current
practices of assessing and mitigating
COVID-19 hazards in their workplace,
provide training to employees, investigate
cases and report to the appropriate
regulatory agencies when required.
Another change between the ETS
and proposed permanent standard
involves vaccination reporting. When
verifying vaccination status, employers
under the ETS could choose to have
employees self-attest or require employees
to provide a vaccination record.
As currently written, the permanent
standard would eliminate the option
for employees to self-attest and only
vaccinations records (digital or in print)
would be an acceptable form of proof.
Across industries, we are hearing that
this could create issues for employers
for a couple of reasons, which may include
employees that may be unable to
locate the vaccination documentation
and the added administrative burden
of company representatives to ask
employees that have already provided
self-attestation to now produce a document
and tracking such information,
including timeframes that must now be
provided along with policies to address
non-compliance.
Testing under the proposed permanent
standard would also be altered
for those who have had close contact
with someone who tested positive for
COVID-19. Under the current ETS,
those who have had close contact but
have been vaccinated would not have
to test (close contact is defined as being
Continued on Page 30
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progressivecrop.com/newsletter
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 29

Continued from Page 29
within six feet of a COVID-19 case
for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or
greater in any 24-hour period within
or overlapping with the “infectious
period”, regardless of the use of face
coverings.) However, the proposed
permanent standards would require all
people who have had close contact to be
tested regardless of vaccination status.
And finally, there are currently
no provisions for exclusion pay in
this version of the proposed permanent
standard. Cal/OSHA has stated
exclusion pay would be left for the
Legislature to address on a permanent
basis. As a reminder, the 80 hours of
Supplement Paid Sick Leave expired
on September 30, 2021. However, it
is imperative to note that employees
must still be provided with information
about legally mandated sick and vaccination
leave, and, if applicable, workers’
compensation law, local governmental
requirements, the employer’s own
leave policies and leave guaranteed by
contracts. These benefits should be discussed
during your employee training
and if an employee must quarantine.
These were just a few of the changes
that have been proposed in the permanent
standard. To review the proposed
language or to watch the advisory
committee meeting, please visit the
Department of Industrial Relations
website at dir.ca.gov/dosh/doshreg/
covid-19-emergency-standards/ and
select the Sept. 23, 2021 Advisory Committee
Meeting.
In the meantime, it is imperative
that businesses continue to follow the
current COVID-19 ETS. Ensure you
have a COVID-19 Prevention Plan
and your employees are continuing to
receive regular training. Additionally, it
is critical that you continue to perform
daily health screenings to ensure employees
are free of COVID symptoms
prior to beginning their shift. If you
need assistance with developing our
COVID-19 Prevention Plan, providing
training tools to your employees, or
have specific questions regarding this
topic, please contact AgSafe at 209-526-
4400 or email safeinfo@agsafe.org. Additionally,
AgSafe, in partnership with
Western Center for Agricultural Heath
and Safety, has several free resources
available at agsafe.org or aghealth.
ucdavis.edu.
AgSafe is a 501c3 nonprofit providing
training, education, outreach and
tools in the areas of safety, labor relations,
pesticide compliance and human
resources for the agricultural community.
Since 1991, AgSafe has educated
over 100,000 employers, supervisors and
workers about these critical issues.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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No-Rain November
January 13-14, 2022
Yuba City, California
REGISTER TODAY AT WCNGG.COM/CWC
Prevent Water Stress in
the Central Valley and
Set Trees Up for Bearing
Next Year’s Crop
By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor
This year, long-range weather forecasts from
the National Weather Service call for above-normal
temperatures for the southern half of the
state and cooler temperatures to the north. As for
rainfall, much of the Central Valley looks to have less
than a 50% chance of precipitation in November.
If this dry forecast proves to be correct, what
steps can growers and farm managers take to prevent
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water stress and set their trees up for bearing next
year’s crop?
Keep Up with ET
“They have to continue to stay in farming mode,
keep up with irrigation to meet evapotranspiration
demands,” said UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor
Luke Milliron. Although he works with growers in
the northern counties of Butte, Glenn and Tehama,
Milliron said there is no guarantee there
that rainfall alone will provide enough moisture
for trees going into dormancy. During the
sudden autumn freeze in November 2020 that
severely damaged many California walnut orchards,
Milliron and others noted that orchards
with soil moisture from recent irrigation fared
far better.
Milliron said evapotranspiration rates for
tree nut orchards are low during November and
December, but those water needs should still be
met to encourage photosynthesis and carbohydrate
storage going into dormancy. Growers
also should think ahead to the next irrigation
season and understand they may have to start
water earlier in the growing season to refill the
soil profile if they do not apply water in the fall
or if it does not rain a sufficient amount in November
and December. Keeping trees hydrated
later in the season also keeps leaves functioning
longer and helps tree roots take up nutrients.
Franz Niederholzer, UCCE orchard systems
advisor in Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties,
said determining the level of tree stress in November
with a pressure chamber helps determine
irrigation needs. The worst time for water
stress is August to September, but adequate
moisture in the late fall contributes to longterm
tree health.
He said a good number to aim for in No-
32 West Coast Nut November 2021

UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor Phoebe Gordon said irrigating with
salty groundwater or surface water will lead to problems next
spring if leaching cannot be achieved during the winter months
where it is necessary.
Cover crops are normally seeded in the fall to take advantage of
early winter rains for germination. Lacking rainfall, these crops can
be irrigated up, but that would involve an irrigation system that
wets the row middles.
vember is -10 to -14 bars for almonds.
Readings above -20 bars signal a critical
need for water.
Manage Salinity and Nutrients
Salt management is another important
consideration in drought conditions.
UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor
Phoebe Gordon said irrigating with
salty groundwater or surface water will
lead to problems next spring if leaching
cannot be achieved during the winter
months where it is necessary. Salts need
to be removed from the active root
zone. If possible, a leaching fraction
should be added to the amount of water
applied in the fall.
Historically, orchards in the Sacramento
Valley area have less of an issue
with salt buildup, Milliron said, and
rainfall usually pushes any salt buildup
down blow the root zone. However,
without adequate leaching during the
2020-21 rainfall season, some Sacramento
Valley orchards could be in big
trouble if salts are not leached during
the 2021-22 rainfall season.
Leaching salts below the root zone
is often a priority in the central and
southern San Joaquin Valley, Gordon
said. In addition to knowing soil
properties, it is important to know the
quality of the water being applied.
Decreasing water quality and
limited supply in a drought year can
intensify salinity problems. Recent
UC research found salt affected soil
resulted in lower yields but also lower
water use.
In a Growing the Valley podcast
episode, UCCE Advisor Emeritus Allan
Fulton noted that ET reports were given
until mid-November in 2020, much later
in the season than normal due to dry
weather. Usually, Fulton said, October
rains have exceeded the crop water
demand in northern growing areas and
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there is no need for the report. Water at
that point is important as it encourages
trees to photosynthesize and store food
(energy) for spring bloom.
Filling the soil profile in November
is important as it eases the pressure on
Continued on Page 34
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 33

No-Rain November
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Continued from Page 33
irrigation next year. Irrigation should be done to maintain moisture
in the top foot of the soil. Fulton said that knowing the soils in your
orchard will help determine how much rainfall plus irrigation will
match the water holding capacity of the orchard.
The goal for growers in drought conditions would be to have
full soil moisture capacity at leaf-out in the spring. That is better
achieved in the fall rather than spring as rain after a spring irrigation
to fill the soil profile can saturate the soil when growing roots
need aeration.
Adequate soil moisture can affect nutrient uptake in the fall.
Niederholzer said the most common fall nutrient applications are
boron, zinc and potassium. Soil moisture is needed for nitrogen and
potassium uptake, but research has shown that fall applied N does
not achieve a return on investment. Foliar sprays of boron and zinc
would be less effective if water stress caused defoliation.
Potassium products need moisture to move into the root zone as
they are normally banded down the microsprinkler lines.
Other Considerations
Other concerns with dry orchard soils due to lack of fall rainfall
or irrigation include poor soil uptake of pre-emergent herbicides,
loss of cover crop stands and potential for freeze damage to young
trees.
Sac Valley Orchard Source notes that most pre-emergent herbicides
require between 0.25 to 0.75 inches of rain/irrigation for
proper incorporation and effectiveness. Plantings that were made in
fall can take advantage of winter and spring rains.
Cover crops are normally seeded in the fall to take advantage of
early winter rains for germination. Lacking rainfall, these crops can
be irrigated up, but that would involve an irrigation system that wets
the row middles.
Adequate soil moisture is one of the most important protections
for young walnut trees from freeze damage. If a freeze event is forecast,
it is also important to irrigate two to three days ahead of the
freeze, allowing the soil to accumulate heat.
Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to
email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
34 West Coast Nut November 2021

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Enhancing Winter
Chill in Tree Nut Crops
Keep the radiation effect to a minimum
so trees can rest until spring.
By RICH KREPS | CCA, SSp., Contributing Writer
No-Rain November
Hopefully this November we
get rain in the valley, rain
in the mountains and the
temps turn cold. Our trees need
it. Heck, our state needs it. If
we don’t at least get our normal
rainfall rates, we may be headed
for a statewide disaster with all the
water our government “officials”
have released this year. No matter
how brilliant we may think we are
when creating nutrition plans for
our growers to optimize our yields
and orchard’s health, Mother
Nature is still the most important
part of our farming repertoire.
Pardon my French… without water
and adequate rest, we have to
get very creative in our attempt to
keep this farming dream of ours
alive and sustainable.
What really happens when
things cool off? If you’ve read
any of my previous articles, you
know how much I love to create
human analogies to our farming
experience. Think about running
outside in the snow on Christmas
morning, in Tahoe, naked. You
can’t last very long out there in
your birthday suit. You start to
shiver, your skin gets pretty red
as blood attempts to warm you up
and then it all turns around. All
your blood pools towards your
vital organs to keep you alive and
all metabolic processes stop.
That’s a bit extreme, but you
get the point. The body is trying
to survive. Let’s compare this to
trees and get a little more detailed
without taking it to catastrophic
hypothermia in the buff. When
it gets cold, similar metabolic
processes slow way down. The
carbohydrates created with photosynthesis
in the leaves begin to
pull into the inner network of the
plant for winter storage. And the
trees shed their shade, creating
leaves. Phloem directional flow
allows much of these carbohydrates
to be stored all the way
back down in the roots. If we are
lucky enough to have produced
enough, much of it will stay
higher up in the plants as well in
the spurs, buds and woody tissues
where it serves a couple purposes.
It’ll be more easily accessible in
the spring when we need a huge
flux of carbon for bloom, but it
also takes the place of excess water.
This works like an antifreeze
for our buds. Excess carbon storage
in spurs and buds is crucial
for winter protection.
Sunscreen for Trees
Let’s look at it from a different
perspective now. Let’s say its
only 36 degrees F outside and we
have clothes on (hopefully this is
normally the case when running
out in the snow in Tahoe. Your
neighbors will appreciate it.)
How many times have you seen
pictures or even have personal
experience skiing with ambient
temps in the 30s and getting massive
racoon eye sunburn marks
because you forgot sunscreen?
This is normally the case with
both us and our trees.
I have taken numerous temperature
readings in orchards
when ambient air temps outside
are in the 40s with bark and bud
temps in the 60s. The sun heats
them up. Ambient temps aren’t
always the best indicator. The
same thing happens with the soil.
Our soil is a great insulator and
keeps our roots from freezing. We
rarely see temps in the soil below
50 degrees F at even eight inches
in the winter. And if those temps
stay higher, your roots are still
foraging because the metabolic
processes haven’t slowed down
enough to rest. Think of this analogy:
You are leaving for a long
trip in the car on Monday. You fill
up the tank on Friday but leave
the car running all weekend in
the driveway. You’re not getting
very far on Monday. If we apply
that to our trees, their engines
run all winter and when the
proverbial gas pedal is stomped in
the spring, there is no N and P left
for the bloom push. Let’s hedge
our bet.
There have been many trials
36 West Coast Nut November 2021

HERBICIDE HERBICIDE EC EC
FOR ORGANIC
anyway, I guess no one will take offense and sunny outside, but it will save your
to the reference.
gas. Just remember to wear sunscreen.
FOR ORGANIC PRODUCTION
t’s important for us as farmers to ‘Many “white wash” products can
not only watch the weather, plan for the reflect sunlight much like zinc oxide
worst and make adjustments, but also would off our noses at the ski resort.’
to do the research to actually promote
the best possible outcomes with what
God gives us. Streaking outside naked Comments about this article? We want
to turn off the car you left running is to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
probably not the best idea if it’s bright article@jcsmarketinginc.com
Many “white wash” products can reflect sunlight and
keep the radiation effect to a minimum, decreasing
the amount of carbon used throughout winter and A Fast & Effective Organic Herbicide
allowing the entire tree to rest.
You Can Trust
EC
lately to increase our winter chill by
applying “sunscreen” to our trees after
thanksgiving and through winter.
By keeping the radiation effect to a
FO
minimum, we feel we can decrease the
amount of carbon used throughout
winter and allow the entire tree to rest.
®
Many “white wash” products can reflect
sunlight much like zinc oxide would off
our noses at the ski resort. I particu-
HERBICIDE EC
larly prefer to use a refracting material
that actually disperses light in multiple
SUPPRESS® Herbicide EC, the market leader in certified organic herbicides,
directions like a diamond to avoid even
was the first effective herbicide to be approved for use on all certified organic
a point source of heat from a normal
reflection type, flat material.
food crops. With years of grower-proven efficacy and university testing,
There are some products that can
SUPPRESS Herbicide consistently provides fast and effective broad spectrum
actually be applied with a low water
burndown on a wide variety of grasses and weeds.
rate on an aerial ride and will actually
cost less than running rigs through
SUPPRESS ® Herbicide EC is a non-volatile, emulsifiable
the orchard. Many times, we can’t go
concentrate for post-emergent, non-selective weed control.
through the orchard anyway if it has
actually rained. I prefer to apply it from
above whenever possible as the sun hits • Excellent tool in IPM programs
from those angles. I feel it has greatly
helped my growers increase their chill • Helps break chemical resistance
portions the last few winters. Of course, • Great tank-mix partner to enhance conventional herbicide efficacy
I am always adding nutrition whenever
possible. I am a CCA for Pete’s sake!
• Zero MRLs and pre-harvest interval (PHI)
Add a little nutrition to the aerial spray • Low-foaming and easy-to-use
if it will mix with your application
material to get some love in all those
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nooks and crannies of the buds for the
spring push. Again, running the risk of
sounding like a degenerate gambler, I
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am always trying to hedge my bet on
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I consult for. However, since farming is
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 37

No-Rain November
NORTHSTATE NUT
GROWERS CONSIDER
THE HARD DECISIONS
IF DROUGHT
CONTINUES
EVEN AG WELLS DON’T
GUARANTEE A WET FUTURE
By JULIE R. JOHNSON | Contributing Writer
UCCE Farm Advisor Franz Niederholzer said that as groundwater levels drop, even
if adequate water is being pumped from ag wells, the quality of that water might
need to be considered (photo by J.R. Johnson.)
There is one thing nut growers
know for certain, and that
is the uncertainty of Mother
Nature. And uncertainty is what
lays on the horizon as the west
continues to navigate through a
historic drought that has prompted
federal and state cutbacks in
regulated water supplies.
In early August, the Water
Resource Control Board adopted
an emergency resolution allowing
regulators to halt diversions from
two of California’s largest river
systems: the Sacramento River
and the San Joaquin River watersheds.
The order could apply to
around 86% of land owners who
have legal rights to divert water
from these two systems, with a
possibility of the remaining 14%
being impacted if conditions get
worse.
While this governmental
action has potentially devastating
impacts on the central and
southern regions of the state,
growers in Northern California
are a bit better off as the majority
of nut growers in the Upper
Sacramento Valley receive their
irrigation from privately-owned
agriculture wells, not districts or
agencies.
Preparing for a Dry Future
According to the Water
Resource Control Board, the
curtailment order is a necessity
to protect the state’s water supply,
especially if the drought continues
into this next wet season.
The possibility of another dry
winter and spring all too real,
said Franz Niederholzer, UCCE
farm advisor in Colusa, Sutter
and Yuba counties.
The National Weather Service
Climate Prediction Center (cpc.
ncep.noaa.gov/) is forecasting
a dry winter in much of California.
Specifically, it says the
El Niño-Southern Oscillation is
predicted to be neutral through
early fall, with La Niña potentially
emerging during late fall
and lasting through the 2021-22
winter. That forecast means a
winter/spring of less than normal
rainfall; in other words, continuing
drought conditions.
What if the forecast rings
true and the winter and spring
of 2021-22 doles out insufficient
amounts of rain to rescue the
arid landscape, fill reservoirs and
renew groundwater levels?
What is a grower to do? How
do you plan for such an unknown
future while still fulfilling
Continued on Page 40
38 West Coast Nut November 2021

Continued from Page 38
worldwide demand for produce
and keeping the financial coffers
steady?
Los Molinos walnut grower
Bruce Lindauer of Lindauer Farms
says he completely understands
this quandary, especially after his
many years in the industry.
“Growers wake up every day
having to make such calls in the
face of uncertainty,” he said. “Dry
north winds, drought, too much
rain, scorching heat, pests, disease,
it is all a part of the daily path
growers have to navigate.”
The old saying, “plan for the
worst and hope for the best,” is
probably the advice most growers
should be applying as they move
into this uncharted territory, Niederholzer
suggested.
“Looking to the future and
making decisions based on two
When drought is on the horizon, growers need to start evaluating their orchards to see where possible outcomes, sufficient or insufficient
water supply, is import-
potential losses can be cut early on (photo by Marni Katz.)
ant,” he added. “The hard decision
of evaluating your orchards and
deciding what to keep and what
to walk away from has to be considered. It sounds
extreme, but you have to have that conversation and
assessment walk-through before the decision is right
in front of you so you aren’t scrambling.”He suggests
growers look to make those calls by Thanksgiving or
at the latest the first of December as bee contracts are
coming up, and if the decision is made to walk away
from 25% of a grower’s acreage, bee contracts will need
to be adjusted in line with that decision.
“If it rains sufficiently, that’s great, but growers still
need to consider what to do if it doesn’t,” Niederholzer
adds.
Ag Wells Aren’t Surefire
Farm Manager D.C. Felciano of JJB Farms LP said
the company had to plan ahead by selling off hundreds
of acres in almonds in the Delta region due to water
cutbacks.
“Basically, it comes to this: no rain, no water, no
produce and it’s a loss all around,” he said. “For our
orchards in the Northstate, we are on agriculture wells
and should be okay even if we have another dry winter
and spring, but down south, it’s a whole different story.”
For those on ag wells, the questions still needs to be
asked: Where is the value in your farm going forward
and where do you need to limit your losses and water
use?
Lindauer said as he plans for the future, his road
40 West Coast Nut November 2021

map for a dry winter is to make sure his trees go dormant
with plenty of moisture in the root zone area.
“And then I will watch the weather during the winter
months and see what happens,” he added. “I want to make
sure the roots wake up, not saturated, but with enough
moisture in the spring. I would move from point A to point
B and plan accordingly. That is really the best I can do.”
Niederholzer said if the state doesn’t get enough rain
and snowpack in the mountains this winter and early
spring, even growers on wells will need to be cautious.
“As the groundwater levels drop, even if adequate water
is being pumped from ag wells, the quality of that water
might need to be considered,” he said.
He explained that the salinity, chloride, selenium and
boron levels could go way up and cause additional problems
for nut trees.
“And unfortunately, the best way to leach those toxic
levels is to wash them out with good-quality water,”
Niederholzer said. “This buildup of minerals can make it
difficult for the plant to function and thrive.”
Rationing Resources
With the possibility of limited resources, Niederholzer
suggests growers consider where best to use those resources,
specifically water.
“You have to look at which orchard blocks are bringing
the best return, and then you have to make a decision on
how to treat the remaining property. There are so many
things to consider on the remaining orchards and their
maintenance, such as age, variety, rootstock and site location,”
he said. “If you’re looking at a young block, the possibility
for bounce-back is likely; however, if you are looking
at older orchards, the probability is that cutting back on
irrigation will most likely shorten the trees’ lifespan and
quality of future crops, and it might not be worth farming.”
For instance, if the drought continues and a grower has
an old, hard-shell variety block on older Marianna rootstock,
that might be a block to retain as the rootstock deals
well with high-salinity water in comparison to a block on
another, less tolerant rootstock.
“It isn’t a blanket statement on age as much as it is the
productivity and long-term quality of the orchard, rootstock
and variety,” Niederholzer said.
In addition, planning for the future under these
circumstance isn’t just a one-year outcome, but rather a
two-year outlook, at least. The decisions on water supply
and use made today directly impacts the flower, set and
crop two years out.
Lindauer says it is constantly a “what if this” or “what if
that” in planning ahead.
“But even for those of us on ag wells, it isn’t a sure
thing,” he said. “You have to consider that even ag wells
can face inadequate water supplies. And then you have to
consider your electrical or power source for those wells; is
it adequate or stable and even affordable? There are a lot of
aspects to deal with under these conditions.”
As if the drought isn’t causing growers enough of a
headache, Lindauer laments the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company’s (PG&E) new rate program that doesn’t allow
irrigation well use between 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“How do you deal with this, how do you or your employees
go out after 8 p.m. to check your lines and prepare to
turn the irrigation back on? It’s dark. This is just crazy,” he
said. “The public wants us, the growers, to be as sufficient
as possible with every drop of water during this drought,
but how can we do that when PG&E is making things even
more difficult for us? How do you plan for the future, for
continued drought conditions, around something like
this?”
Niederholzer said this next year has the possibility of
creating conditions never seen before in the Sacramento
Valley for nut growers.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘What is the future going to
look like if we continue to receive inadequate amounts of
rain?’ We may have to make extremely hard decisions under
conditions never before seen in the state,” he said. “And
those decisions aren’t going to affect only nut growers and
other produce growers, but the ripple effects will be wide
and deep, all the way down to the consumer and everywhere
in between.”
Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel
free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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follow label directions. 559-228-3311
November 2021 www.wcngg.com 41

A WORD FROM THE BOARD: AMERICAN PECAN COUNCIL
2021 Recap Report of APC’s Marketing
in the Health Professional Sphere
By AMERICAN PECAN COUNCIL | Contributing Writer
Reaching the eyes and minds of
health professionals is crucial to
gaining a competitive advantage
in the health and food marketplace.
American Pecan Council
(APC) contracted with Eat Well
Global to help boost pecans in the
health and nutrition arena. The strategic
goal for APC’s marketing activities
through Eat Well Global was,
“To increase top-of-mind awareness
of pecans among target credentialed
health professionals,” and throughout
2021, Eat Well Global executed
against the following strategies:
• Demonstrate pecans’ differentiating
nutrition and flavor qualities
compared to other nuts
• Showcase pecans’ culinary
versatility
• Address barriers to pecan
consumption
In this article, we will discuss the
2021 activations that were implemented
to help accomplish the
strategic goal and the key success
metrics that came from these programs.
Intuitive Eating Webinar
One of the first 2021 activations was
the Intuitive Eating Registered Dietitian
(RD) Webinar conducted in
December 2020. We partnered with
the Weight Inclusive Nutrition &
Dietetics Practice Group (WIND) to
host an engaging, 90-minute webinar
Continued on Page 44
Demonstrating pecans’ differentiating nutrition and flavor qualities compared
to other nuts and showcasing pecans’ culinary versatility were two
strategies that American Pecan Council contracted Eat Well Global to execute
throughout 2021 (photos courtesy American Pecan Council.)
42 West Coast Nut November 2021

®
IMAGINATION
INNOVATION
SCIENCE IN ACTION

Continued from Page 42
for intuitive eating RDs, a new target
audience for the APC in FY2021. The
webinar garnered a total reach of 183k+
across all webinar promotions, which
included the WIND community, speaker
social handles and the Pecan Powerhouses
Network. Following the event,
nearly half of all post-webinar survey
respondents indicated a more positive
perception of pecans after attending
the event, and 21% were more likely to
recommend pecans.
“
…HEALTH MARKETING EFFORTS TO DATE
HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PUT PECANS TOP-OF-
MIND AS A NUT TO ENJOY AND RECOM-
MEND, AND REVEALED PECANS’ UNIQUE
TRIFECTA: SUPER TASTE, SATISFACTION
AND NUTRITION.
“
Strategic Influencer Partnerships
Another strong activation was the
strategic influencer partnerships carried
out during winter 2020 and summer
2021. One of those influencers was
acclaimed chef and culinary dietitian
Sara Haas, RDN, LDN. We engaged
with her for an inaugural Virtual
Cooking Party, a 60-minute cooking
and educational event featuring low
FODMAP, gluten-free and lactose-free
recipes. During the Virtual Cooking
Party, Sara garnered live attendance of
117 health professionals and a collective
reach of 41k+ across Sara’s social media
channels and the Pecan Powerhouses
Network. We also collaborated with
Sara on the development of two original
savory pecan recipes, including Pecan
Polenta with Crispy Kale and Smashed
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans.
Another high-profile RD influencer
we partnered with was Vanessa Rissetto,
MS, RD, to develop digital recipe
content shared with Vanessa’s audience
of 21k Instagram followers. Vanessa
garnered 4.5k impressions and 3.7k
reach across two recipe content pieces
(Instagram posts and accompanying
Instagram stories), highlighting Vanessa’s
original recipes for a Pecan BLT and
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. Both of those
influencer partnerships resulted in four
original pecan recipes and garnered 50k
impressions across Instagram posts and
influencers’ mailing lists.
44 West Coast Nut November 2021

Today’s Dietitian Symposium
In May 2021, APC sponsored Today’s
Dietitian Virtual Spring Symposium
(TDSS) 2021, the nation’s second-largest
dietitian conference. The return on this
activation garnered enhanced visibility
and opportunity for deeper engagement
with RDs through a live virtual yoga
event we sponsored. From TDSS 2021,
we reached Today’s Dietitian’s 77k+
social media followers via sponsored
Facebook posts and saw a 20% increase
in the Pecan Powerhouse Network
membership, APC’s database of health
professionals. We will cover more on
the Pecan Powerhouse Network (PPN)
in an upcoming article.
wellness. They advise people on what
to eat in order to lead a healthy lifestyle
or achieve a specific health-related goal.
The activities listed above are just some
of the activations APC has conducted
for pecans to reach the minds of health
professionals such as registered dietitians.
We saw very successful results in
only the second year. In an upcoming
article, we will continue to touch on
other RD marketing activations held
in the 2020-21 year that brought major
results for pecans.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
®
New Handouts and Health
Professional Survey
On top of the activations listed
above, Eat Well Global and APC also
partnered with culinary dietitian
Kristy Del Coro, co-founder of the
Culinary Nutrition Collaborative, to
develop two new client handouts showcasing
seamless ways to include pecans
in everyday meals and snacks. You can
find these available for your use under
the For Health Professionals>Resources
tab on AmericanPecan.com.
To measure and gauge marketing
efforts geared towards RDs, we distributed
Today’s Dietitian e-blast to 320
non-clinical RDs originally surveyed
in 2020 to assess year-over-year pecan
knowledge and behavior change. The
survey illuminated that health marketing
efforts to date have successfully put
pecans top-of-mind as a nut to enjoy
and recommend, and revealed pecans’
unique trifecta: super taste, satisfaction
and nutrition. 15% of RDs surveyed are
consuming and recommending pecans
more frequently than last year, on par
with walnuts and more regularly than
pistachios.
As previously mentioned, building
top-of-mind awareness with health
professionals is very important because
they educate and engage with consumers
as experts in health, nutrition and
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DORMANCY:
WHAT YOUR TREES DO
IN THE WINTER
By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor
Research is looking at the role of stored carbohydrates in almond production (photos
by C. Parsons.)
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Trees don’t go out and buy pumpkin
spice lattes when temperatures
drop, but nut trees have another
way of responding to cooler fall temperatures.
Trees signal the visual start of
their winter dormant period, dormancy,
by dropping leaves as temperatures
and sunlight hours decrease. During
dormancy, growth is suspended even if
growing conditions are ideal.
Dormancy ends when growth resumes
in the spring, but what happens
during the ‘dormant season’ can have
an effect on tree productivity.
Although leafless during dormancy,
deciduous trees are still functioning
internally, sustained by carbohydrate
reserves. Without leaves and green
shoots, they are less vulnerable to
damage during severe freeze events
over the winter. Warmer temperatures
in the spring are a signal to the trees
to come out of dormancy. They use
carbohydrate reserves to bloom and set
a new crop.
Winter Chill
Walnut trees, pistachio trees and,
to some extent, almond trees, need to
experience cold temperatures during
their winter dormant period, from leaf
fall until growth resumes in the spring.
UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor
Katherine Jarvis-Shean said if orchards
experience the right amount of winter
chill and subsequent warmer temperatures
in the spring, they come out of
dormancy synchronized and prepared
to bloom and set a crop. There are
three ways this can go wrong in mature
walnut and pistachio orchards during
dormancy, she said, noting almond
trees have less winter chill requirements
during dormancy than walnut
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Continued on Page 48
46 West Coast Nut November 2021

Continued from Page 46
UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor Katherine Jarvis-Shean said if orchards experience the right
amount of winter chill and subsequent warmer temperatures in the spring, they come out of
dormancy synchronized and prepared to bloom and set a crop.
and pistachio trees.
Pistachio trees that do not experience
sufficient chill during dormancy
will have asynchronized bloom; the
female trees will have flowers open, but
male trees have yet to produce pollen.
This difference in timing, Jarvis-Shean
said, is one reason that the new pollinizer
Randy is favored over Peters,
which has more need for chill. Walnut
trees overcome this lack of overlap with
more varieties that produce pollen at
varying times.
The second result of warm temperatures
during dormancy is a longer
duration of bud break. A larger window
from the first to last bud break becomes
problematic as harvest nears. This
uneven maturity of the crop will mean
that multiple shakes at harvest may be
required. After two shakes, Jarvis-Shean
said, it can become uneconomical
to bring in equipment for a third shake
and 10% to 15% of the crop may be left
in the orchard. Finally, looking back on
the infamous low chill year of 2014-15,
lower yields in pistachio were the result
as female trees produced far fewer flowers
to be pollinated.
In a research paper, UC Davis Plant
Scientist Maciej Zwieniecki reports
that temperature variability during the
dormant period affects bloom. It is a
common perception that warmer winters
shorten the dormancy period and
advance bloom, but they can also delay
bloom and make it asynchronous or
cause trees to leaf out early, which can
affect yields at harvest. Winter temperatures,
he noted, can either induce
biological processes critical to endodormancy
or activate bloom.
Zwieniecki said that a tree’s nonstructural
carbohydrate reserves at
senescence are vital to sustaining their
metabolism throughout dormancy.
Trees need sufficient energy at the end
of the dormant period for bud break
and bloom.
Non-Structural Carbohydrates
Research being done at the UC
Davis “Z Lab” is looking at what is happening
in orchards during the dormant
period, how trees prepare for winter
and how they emerge from dormancy
in the spring. This research, writes Jarvis-Shean
in Sac Valley Orchard Source,
will help explain how trees may be
counting winter chill and spring heat,
and the information developed can be
used to create bloom prediction tools.
One of the avenues of study is in
non-structural carbohydrates (NSC),
which are used by trees for energy
and as signals for multiple physiological
activities. Following the amount
of NSC in a plant over time helps to
understand how the trees are using
carbohydrates.
Jarvis-Shean explained that NSC
are either sugars or starch. Starch is the
storage form of carbohydrates. Starch
can be broken down to provide sugars.
When temperatures warm, trees
turn sugars into starch and in colder
temperatures, trees turn starch into
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‘DORMANCY ENDS
WHEN GROWTH
RESUMES IN THE
SPRING, BUT WHAT
HAPPENS DURING
THE ‘DORMANT
SEASON’ CAN HAVE
AN EFFECT ON TREE
PRODUCTIVITY.’
sugars. To keep sugars in the optimum
range, trees adjust the concentration
of enzymes that break down starches
using gene expression machinery. Trees’
effort in maintaining a balance likely
plays a role in how trees count winter
chill and emerge from dormancy.
There are still many questions about
tree physiology, carbohydrate use and
effects of winter temperatures on carbohydrate
storage.
Zwieniecki’s ongoing research is
looking at the interactions between
winter temperatures, trees’ carbohydrate
levels and production. He is looking
for the most important elements
of the interactions in order to guide
management decisions.
Nut trees evolved by storing NSC
in the fall to use to survive winter. As
temperatures warm in the spring, the
carbohydrates move to locations near
buds, and the trees use this energy
to produce flowers. This complicated
system is part of how trees adapt to
climate, Zwieniecki said.
Questions Zwieniecki is addressing
in his research are if it is a good idea to
fully load the trees with carbohydrates
in the fall, if they will be wasted, and if
high levels will drive high production.
“There are different trade offs in
these situations,” he said.
His Carbohydrate Observatory
research has found that, in the case of
almond, the amount of carbohydrates
a tree has in February is a good indicator
of yields at harvest. What happens
during other periods, including winter,
also influences carbohydrate levels.
Higher temperatures than normal
increase respiration and use of NSC by
trees. Winter temperature swings, he
found, can cause the tree to redistribute
carbohydrates, pulling them from
twigs to roots. At that location, he said
they are still stored, but not available
for trees to push flowers at the end of
dormancy.
“Once we resolve the biology of the
tree’s use of carbohydrates, then we
will know how to guide management,”
Zwieniecki said.
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article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 49

Working at Heights
Personal Fall Arrest Systems in Nut
Hulling/Processing Facilities
By MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ | Safety/Food Safety Specialist, Western
Agricultural Processors Association
As one of many post-agricultural
harvest operations, the nut hulling
and processing industry continues
to flourish in the state of California. The
demand for this commodity has been
a driving force in the growth of nut
farming as well as processing facilities
in the past few years. The increase of
nut hulling and processing operations
is accompanied by the safety challenges
these employers face to keep employees
safe and comply with Cal/OSHA regulations.
Like any other agriculture-related
business, nut processing operations
Be Brighter Off
are seasonal. This characteristic brings
forth the exposure to non-routine
safety risks. Non-routine tasks are work
tasks that are not performed on a daily
or routine basis throughout the calendar
year and take place during the “off
season”. They occur one or two times
a year and usually do not take a long
period of time to complete.
They include facility maintenance
and repair-related tasks that can expose
employees to possible falls from
heights. A few of these tasks include
entering confined spaces like deep
receiving or pre-cleaner pits, climbing
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up to baghouses located several feet
above ground, and repair or adjusting
of hard-to-reach parts on machinery
located at above heights. In some cases,
stacked bin fumigation practices may
require the need for employees to climb
the stacks to apply or adjust a tight-fitting
tarp. Employees may access these
areas through use of fixed ladders or
operation of aerial lifts. These tasks
may be performed infrequently (two or
three times a year).
Fall Hazard Assessment
The types of safety measures or controls
that will need to be implemented
are determined after a fall hazard safety
assessment of each area where employees
are exposed to above heights. This
assessment is completed for the purpose
of developing a required written
Fall Prevention Plan that will list the
applicable Cal/OSHA requirements for
use of fall protection controls, present
fall prevention policies, use of required
personal protective equipment and
employee training.
Although Cal/OSHA requires fall
protection measures when employees
are exposed to possible falls from 7.5
feet, regulated height triggers should
not be the only factor considered
while completing an assessment of
fall hazards. Situations with multiple
possibilities for falls to occur can call
for a combination of controls that may
not be required through regulation, but
will have a greater effect on preventing
injuries or deaths due to falls.
In situations where it is not possible
to implement Fall Restraint systems
(physical barriers impeding the
employee from working or moving in
close proximity to the edge of an above
heights surface, such as guardrails,
50 West Coast Nut November 2021

scaffolds, personal fall restraints, etc.)
as control measures for fall prevention,
Fall Arrest System controls must be
implemented. The most common fall
arrest system used in the nut hulling
and processing industry is referred
to as a Personal Fall Arrest System. It
is comprised of a full body harness
along with a lanyard, lifeline, rope grab
and anchorage that can withstand a
minimum weight of 5000lbs. The best
way an employer can be confident that
the selected parts of a personal fall
arrest system will be effective in safely
stopping a fall in its tracks is to fully
understand each component of the
system and how they work.
As Easy as A-B-C
Understanding each part and how it
works can be as easy as A-B-C.
Anchorage (tie off point) must be
engineered to withstand at least 5,000
lbs of dead weight and assigned a safety
factor of 2. The selection and position
of anchor points is crucial in the success
of stopping a fall without creating
additional hazards like a pendulum
(swing) effect than can result in falling
against adjacent structures. Another
item to consider is how much time
it would take for the employee to be
rescued if he or she was hanging from
a certain anchor point position. All
anchorages must be equipped with an
anchorage connector used to connect
the remaining portion of the Personal
Fall Arrest System.
Body Wear refers to the full body
harness. This harness must be engineered
and designed to withstand a
total of 1,800 lbs and distribute fall
arrest force onto the pelvis, thighs and
across the shoulders. The harness must
be equipped with a D-ring located at
the back of the harness to be positioned
between the wearer’s shoulder blades.
The D-ring itself must be engineered to
withstand a minimum of 5000 lbs and
will be used to connect the harness to
the anchorage point.
Connecting devices are used to
connect the full body harness to the
anchorage point. They can be one of
the following:
Energy (Shock) absorbing lanyards
will activate at up to six feet of free fall
and are a flexible line securing a fullbody
harness to an anchorage point.
They minimize the energy exerted on
the wearer’s body and can provide
decelerating distance from the moment
the fall is initiated.
Self-Retracting lifelines are another
efficient connection device that usually
activates after two feet of free fall and
allow for more movement horizontally
or vertically.
Connection devices are equipped
with snap hooks at each end, which
allow for connection to the anchorage
connector point and must also be
engineered to withstand a minimum
of 5,000 lbs. Although manufacturers
of components for Personal Fall
Arrest Systems may vary, they must be
Continued on Page 52
November 2021 www.wcngg.com 51

Continued from Page 51
compatible to work together and arrest
a fall successfully. Specifications for
Personal Fall Arrest components may
vary with applicability of Cal/OSHA
regulations depending on industry and
purpose for use. All components of
Personal Fall Arrest Systems must be
ANSI standard approved.
Do the Math
Additional evaluation that will determine
the type of Fall Arrest System
equipment that will be needed is the
calculation of the Total Fall Distance
to ensure that if a fall occurs, there is
enough clearance between the wearer’s
feet and level ground (3.5 feet or more)
at completion of fall arrest. The most
common formula used for this calculation
is defined as:
TFD=FFD+DD+HEFF+VEL+SF
Total Fall Distance (TDF)
(FFD) Free Fall Distance: the distance
traveled during a fall before the
connecting devices, such as the shock
absorbing lanyard or self-retracting
lifeline, will activate and begin to arrest
a fall.
(DD) Deceleration Distance: the fall
distance between the activation of the
fall arrest system and fall arrest completion.
Required to be 3.5 feet or less
and is listed on the manufacturers label
on shock absorbing capability.
(HEFF) Harness Effect: harness
stretch at fall arrest is usually one foot
or less and obtained from manufactures
label.
(VEL) Vertical Elongation Capability:
elongation of the chosen connective
device at initiation of deceleration.
(SF) Safety Factor: a chosen variable
that should be at least one foot.
Although the formula might seem
long and complicated, knowing the
definition of each variable will make
it easier to understand. A competent
administrator of this plan must ensure
that this calculation is performed to
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assure accuracy in the criteria that will
determine the chosen fall protection
equipment employees will use.
Effective Employee Training
Like any other type of personal protective
equipment, if a Personal Fall Arrest
System is not utilized in the correct
manner (based on company policies,
training and manufacture instructions),
it will not provide the intended protection.
This training must be provided
previous to allowing the employee to
use the equipment. Employee training
on use of a Personal Fall Arrest System
must include the following:
Explain the purpose for use of a Personal
Fall Arrest System, how it works
and how it is part of the Fall Prevention
Plan in place.
Provide a full description of each
component of the chosen Personal Fall
Arrest System.
Direction and demonstration on
how to put the full body harness on,
adjust the straps to fit adequately and
ensure that connecting devices are
secured onto the anchor points.
Demonstrations of how the full
body harness and connection devices
are used in combination with any operated
aerial lifting devices.
How to maintain and inspect the
equipment. Requirements call for frequent
inspections and specifications on
maintaining or replacing harnesses and
connection devices.
Follow all other fall prevention
practices while accessing above heights
areas, such as not overloading on tools
while climbing up or down a fixed ladder
and only exiting an aerial lift when
it is absolutely necessary and additional
training has been provided.
The Emergency and Rescue Plan
Procedures that include use of the suspension
trauma relief straps typically
equipped on the full body harness.
Emergency Rescue
A well-planned Personal Fall Arrest
System must include an Emergency
Rescue Plan to ensure that a fallen
employee is rescued as soon as possible.
This can reduce the risk of suspension
trauma. Suspension trauma can lead
52 West Coast Nut November 2021

to death from approximately 10 to 40
minutes. It occurs from prolonged
constriction of blood circulation in the
legs cause by the harness straps as the
employee hangs. An onsite rescue plan
should include training activities with
information on how to avoid post-rescue
death that can occur as a result of
suspension trauma, and ensuring that
the fallen employee receives immediate
emergency medical attention.
Permit Required Confined Spaces
Use of a Fall Arrest System can be
part of the safety controls established
for Permit Required Confined Spaces.
This is usually the case in nut hulling or
processing facilities depending on the
tasks that will be completed by the employee
while accessing confined spaces
with exposure to possible falls. Practice
of all other permit required confined
space controls, such as Lock Out/Tag
Out or Fire Prevention measures, must
also be emphasized in training activities
to ensure all Cal/OSHA requirements
are met and employee safety is
The types of safety measures or controls that will need to be implemented are determined
after a fall hazard safety assessment of each area where employees are exposed
to above heights.
effective.
Western Agricultural Processors
Association has been assisting with
development of safety plans for its
members and is continuing to explore
ways that it can contribute to the
ongoing success of the nut industry in
California. For additional information
on these services, visit our website at
www.agprocessors.org.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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The Outlook for California’s
Almond Market
Figure 2. Almond Imports, China and India, 2014-2019
The California almond
industry has seen remarkable
growth over the past couple
decades. Can additional growth and
high prices be sustained? We discuss
expected changes in demand and
supply moving forward, with implications
for the success of California’s
almond industry.
California produces nearly all
of the almonds grown in the U.S.
and is also the world’s dominant
almond producer. The remarkable
growth of the California
almond industry represents
perhaps the greatest success
story in California agriculture
in recent decades.
California’s bearing almond
acreage expanded from 418,000
in 1995 to 1,250,000 in 2020.
Production rose over this same
period from 370 million pounds
to a projected 2.8 billion pounds
for the 2020-21 crop. With a farm
production value of about $6.1
billion for the 2019-20 crop,
almonds have vaulted to third
place among California
agricultural commodities,
trailing only the dairy and
grape industries. Both
domestic and international
shipments of California
almonds have grown steadily
from 2014-15 onward, with
about two-thirds of the crop
designated for export sales. The
U.S. share of world export sales,
which is dominated by California,
By ELLEN M. BRUNO | Asst. Cooperative Extension Specialist, Department of
Agricultural and Resource 100,000 Economics, UC Berkeley,
BRITTNEY GOODRICH | Asst. Cooperative Extension Specialist, Department of
80,000
Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis
and RICHARD J. SEXTON 60,000 | Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics, UC Davis
40,000
Imports (tonnes)
20,000
also increased over 2014-18, and now Prices dropped in 2020 to $1.83
stands at about two-thirds.
per pound, an outcome we regard as
Such dramatic 0 growth in the supply
of an agricultural
an aberration due to multiple factors:
2014
product
2015
would 2016 trade disruptions
2017 2018
and reductions 2019 in
normally cause precipitous price decreases,
and, indeed, many analysts COVID-19 pandemic, trade disputes
consumers’ incomes caused by the
have erroneously forecasted this fate between the U.S. and key importing
countries, as well as a for the almond industry. It has not
record
Figure 1. Real California Almond Prices, 2010-2020
Price ($/lb)
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Year
Source: Author’s calculations using USDA NASS data.
Figure 1. The grower price per pound fluctuated considerably from 2010-2015, ranging
from a low of $1.79 per pound in 2010 to a high of $4.00 in 2014. It then settled into a
very stable range in the ensuing years, with the price fluctuating in a narrow band of
$2.39 to $2.53 from 2016 to 2018.
happened, however. The grower price
per pound fluctuated considerably
from 2010-2015, ranging from a low
of $1.79 per pound in 2010 to a high
of $4.00 in 2014. It then settled into
a very stable range in the ensuing
years, with the price fluctuating in a
narrow band of $2.39 to $2.53 from
2016 to 2018 (See Figure 1).
supply of almonds in 2020 due to
the highest per-acre yields since
2011. Since the release of the USDA
2021 California Almond Objective
Measurement Report, which projects
a smaller crop than anticipated for
2021, almond prices have rebounded
to pre-2020 levels. According to
Merlo Farming Group, Nonpareil
54 West Coast Nut November 2021

in-shell prices increased roughly 19%
from $2.33 to $2.75 per pound between
July 13, 2021 and July 18, 2021.
[subhead] Growth in Demand
Despite the dramatic expansion in
supply, prices have been relatively stable
because demand has grown as fast
as or faster than supply. Both domestic
and export markets have experienced
significant demand growth. Domestic
shipments increased from 639.4 million
pounds in 2014-15 to 774.3 million in
2019-20, an increase of 21.1%. Export
sales expanded over this same period
from 1,173 million pounds to 1,598
million, an increase of 36.2%.
Expanded sales in both China and
India are key factors in international
demand growth. Collectively, China
and India account for about 35% of the
world’s population, and each country
has experienced very rapid economic
growth. From 2010 to 2019, China’s
annual GDP growth rate ranged from
6.1% to 9.5%. India’s GDP growth rate
in 2019 was 4.2%, but from 2010 to
2018, its growth rate ranged from 6.1%
to 10.3%. By comparison, GDP growth
for the U.S. from 2010–2019 ranged
from 1.6% to 2.9%.
Figure 2. Almond Imports, China and India, 2014-2019
Imports (tonnes)
100,000
The rapid economic growth of these
high-population countries has had a
dramatic effect on world food markets.
Consumers in both countries have
sought to diversify their food consumption
and 4 include more proteins
in their diets. Almonds have been a
primary beneficiary 3.5 of these consumption
trends as
3
illustrated in (Figure
2.) While world imports of almonds
(shelled plus 2.5in-shell) expanded at a
significant 42% over the six-year period
from 2014 to 2019 based on UN Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Figure 1. Real California Almond Prices, data, 2010-2020 almond imports to China and
India (measured in shelled tonnes) expanded
106.7% and 69.6%, respectively.
However, despite the dramatic increase
in almond consumption in these
two countries, per capita consump-
Price ($/lb)
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
2
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Figure 2. Almonds have been a primary beneficiary of changing consumption trends worldwide.
Source: Author’s calculations using USDA NASS data.
Continued on Page 56
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 55

Continued from Page 55
tion in each (0.14 pounds in China and
0.16 pounds in India) is only about 6%
of per capita consumption in the U.S.
(2.33 pounds). The Asia-Pacific market
now accounts for 27% of California
almond shipments. However, these
consumption comparisons show that
significant growth potential remains
for almonds in these major markets as
well as for other emerging economies
as incomes grow and people seek to
diversify their consumption beyond
traditional staples.
Although the domestic (U.S.) and
Western European markets, which have
been the traditional leading markets
for almond exports, are mature markets,
there is also evidence of growth
in these markets in recent years and
potential for more growth in future
years. As noted, domestic shipments
of almonds expanded 21.1% over the
last five years. The two leading Western
European importers are Spain and
Germany. Spanish almond imports
expanded 32.5% in the past five years,
while German demand growth has
been much slower, 3.5% over the past
five years. Spain has historically been a
major almond producer and developed
a substantial manufacturing industry
for almond products. As Spain’s own
production has waned, it has been
necessary to import almonds to sustain
these industries. Thus, growth in Spanish
imports is both demand-based and
also reflective of the decline in Spain’s
own production.
In addition, the almond industry
benefits from the recent popularity of
plant-based proteins as an alternative
to traditional meat and dairy products.
The Plant-Based Foods Association
claims $7 billion in sales in the past
Domestic shipments of almonds expanded 21.1% over the last five years (photo by Cathy Merlo.)
year and 27% year-over-year growth in
2020. One market research firm, Grand
View Research, predicts a compounded
annual growth rate (CAGR) for almond
milk of 14.3% through 2025 (https://bit.
ly/36QC7nt).
Changes in Supply
Given the rapid growth that we
anticipate in almond demand moving
forward, fueled by economic growth in
high-population, emerging economies
and by new product uses for almonds,
the remaining piece of the puzzle is to
understand how supply is likely to respond
moving forward. There are three
essential components to consider: 1)
acres of almond production in California;
2) California almond yields; and 3)
almond production and exports from
competing countries.
The USDA projects California bearing
almond acreage to be 1,330,000 in
2021, an all-time high. However, signs
indicate that the rapid growth in the
California industry is abating. New
plantings of almonds have decreased in
magnitude each year since 2015 when
42,824 acres were planted to almonds,
with only 14,808 acres planted in 2020.
A common assumption in the industry
is that an almond orchard has a life of
25 to 30 years, meaning orchards planted
in the early to mid-1990s are nearing
the end of their productive lives. The
rapid expansion of the industry began
during this period, with almond
plantings from 1994 to 1999 averaging
25,316 annually.
The rate of new plantings experienced
in 2019 (22,142 acres) and 2020
(14,808 acres), if representative of
future trends, would not compensate
for the acres that will be removed at the
end of their productive lives, meaning
that growth in California’s almond
acreage may soon be ending. Many
factors could explain the decline in
planting despite the industry’s continued
profitability, including concerns
about access to irrigation water, a heavy
reliance on the U.S. beekeeping industry
for pollination services, and limited
availability of lands suitable for planting
almonds. California’s Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act of 2014
augurs likely cutbacks in groundwater
availability for huge swathes of California’s
agricultural lands. Almonds
are an especially “thirsty” crop and are
likely to be impacted by these cutbacks.
Almond yields in California expanded
dramatically in the 1990s,
fueling the supply growth along with
expanded acreage. Although yields
have been variable, they continued, on
average, to expand through the early
2000s, reaching a maximum of 2,540
pounds per acre in 2011. Since then,
however, yields have stabilized and
even may have trended slightly downwards.
Declining yields are likely in
part a result of a higher proportion of
young orchards due to rapid acreage
expansion from 2012 to 2015. Other
potential contributors include changes
to the growing-season climate and the
planting of new acreage on land less
suitable for almonds. Data for 2019 and
2020 indicate yields of 2,170 and 2,490
pounds per acre, 370 and 50 pounds
less, respectively, than at the 2011 peak.
Exports of almonds from countries
other than the U.S. have been
stable over the past five years, with no
apparent trend, and, in total, represent

Yields have plateaued in recent years as growers turn to more
marginal land for planting new orchards (photo courtesy USDA ARS.)
only about half of what the U.S. exports. Traditional almond
producers and exporters such as Spain, Iran, Morocco, Syria,
Turkey and Italy have aging, low-yielding trees and show
little potential for expanded production. Today, production
in these countries mainly serves their domestic markets.
The one country where almond acreage and production
is expanding is Australia. The Almond Board of Australia
(ABA) reports 55,000 hectares (136,000 acres) planted to almonds,
with 2020 production totaling 111 thousand tonnes,
the largest harvest to date. The ABA forecasts that Australian
almond production could reach 175 thousand tonnes (385.8
million pounds) by 2026, approximately 13% of the 2020
California production.
Australia’s almonds are mainly grown in the Murray-Darling
Basin region, and over half of Australia’s almond
exports are to China and Hong Kong (which is a significant
re-exporter). The Murray-Darling Basin is Australia’s major
agricultural region, but it faces many challenges due to a lack
of water resources. Australia’s Almond Board indicates that
almond orchard expansion has slowed, and almond growers
in the basin have called for a moratorium on further almond
plantings in the basin due to fears of water shortages. Australia
represents one of the only threats to California’s hegemony
in the market, but this threat is muted by water issues in
the Murray-Darling Basin.
Concluding Remarks
Although market conditions for almonds deteriorated beginning
in June 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, trade
disputes between the U.S. and key almond-importing countries,
and the exceptionally large 2020 California harvest, we
do not regard any of these developments as reflecting a longterm
trend. Normal yields and normal market conditions
should cause prices to return to pre-pandemic levels; in fact,
this seems to have occurred with recent rebounds in market
prices.
In summary, market conditions are likely to remain
strong for almonds moving forward. We anticipate continued
significant growth in export sales driven by China, India,
Vietnam and other fast-growing emerging economies. The
domestic market also has potential for solid growth based on
the health benefits associated with eating almonds and the
rapidly growing market for plant-based alternatives to meat
and dairy.
We expect the growth in California’s production to slow
moving forward. Plantings have slowed to the point where,
at the present pace, they are unlikely to match removals as
trees planted in the early to mid-1990s reach the end of their
useful lives. The main threat for emergent competition in the
export market is from Australia, but it appears that Australia’s
ability to expand production is limited due to water
scarcity issues.
This article first appeared in ARE Update. The authors of this
article can be reached at ebruno@berkeley.edu, bkgoodrich@
ucdavis.edu, and rich@primal.ucdavis.edu, respectively.
Additional Information
U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural
Statistics Service. 2021. 2020 California Almond Acreage
Report. Available at: https://bit.ly/3wUXK0x .
Davies, Anne. 2019. “Tough Nut to Crack: The Almond
Boom and Its Drain on the Murray-Darling.” The Guardian.
Available at: https://bit.ly/3hWPdpm .
Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel
free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 57

IPM’s Role in Crop Quality
Cost-effective pest management is the
key to maximizing return per acre.
By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor
Quality expectations are high,
market competition is intense and
production costs are up. “Where
does that leave tree nut growers and
their pest control advisors?” asks UCCE
Farm Advisor Franz Niederholzer.
In a Yuba-Sutter counties webinar
series, Niederholzer noted that while
markets are generally strong, maximizing
net returns per acre is especially
critical to economic sustainability in
the almond industry.
Cost-effective pest management,
Niederholzer stressed, is the key to
maximizing return per acre.
Insect pests that can cause economic
damage in tree nuts fall into
two categories: mobile and immobile.
Leading the way on the mobile list of
annual pests is, to no surprise, navel
orangeworm (NOW). Codling moth (in
walnuts), peach twig borer and Oriental
fruit moth round out the annual list.
Stink bugs are listed as occasional pests
in tree nuts. The immobile list of pests
includes protein ants, web spinning
mites and scale.
Mobile Insect Pests
In Niederholzer’s hierarchy of tree
crop insect and mite pests, NOW and
codling moth are listed as difficult and
challenging in terms of management.
Biological control opportunities for
Pheromone traps and damaged nuts are used to track codling moth (photo by
Jack Kelly Clark, UC Statewide IPM Program.)
Good sanitation in the fall or early
winter sets the stage for reducing
orchard NOW populations and gives
other control measures a better chance
of being effective (photo courtesy Joel
Siegel, USDA-ARS.)
NOW and codling moth are limited.
NOW’s ability to affect crop quality
and cause market loss makes this pest’s
control critical.
Multiple approaches for monitoring
NOW are important to accurately
track pressure in an orchard. Mummy
counts, egg traps, pheromone traps, evidence
of damage and harvest samples
are all methods of determining NOW
populations. Pheromone traps and
damaged nuts are used to track codling
moth. Peach twig borer can be monitored
by looking for emerging larvae at
bloom, pheromone traps and harvest
samples. Understanding the life cycle
of worm pests helps with targeting
management methods, Niederholzer
said. NOW infests almonds at hull
split. Their prime overwintering sites
are mummy nuts on the tree or ground.
Codling moth infests nuts early in the
season, peach twig borer infests later in
the season.
Niederholzer notes that there are
many NOW control practices used or
in development. Control from each
is not equal, and one practice cannot
make up for deficiencies in another.
Orchard sanitation, timely harvest,
hull split sprays, spring sprays, mating
disruption and traps and combinations
of these are used to keep crop damage
at low levels. Harvest samples from
windrowed nuts can give growers and
PCAs an idea of how well the year’s
control program worked.
58 West Coast Nut November 2021

Orchard sanitation and timely
harvest are the two NOW management
practices that are vital to preventing
crop damage. Good sanitation in the
fall or early winter sets the stage for reducing
orchard NOW populations and
gives other control measures a better
chance of being effective. Niederholzer
said cost per acre for orchard sanitation
is about $235, while timely harvest
adds no additional production costs.
Early harvest plays a part in reducing
the amount of damage from NOW and
protein ants.
Hull split sprays can help reduce
NOW numbers, but won’t eliminate
this pest in the orchard. Sprays in June
and July add $35 to $86 per acre in
production costs. Due to NOW’s high
mobility and the chances of NOW
flying in from other orchards, reduction
in populations will be 50% at best.
In addition, Niederholzer said that
broad-spectrum materials, which are
less costly, cut down on predators for
biological control of other insect pests.
Softer materials are more expensive,
but biological control of other pests
remains an option.
‘
Hull split sprays can help reduce
NOW numbers, but won’t eliminate
this pest in the orchard.
’
Immobile Insect Pests
Immobile pests, such as ants, mites
and scale, can be annual or occasional
pests. Scale and mites are good
candidates for biological control if
orchards are managed without use
of broad-spectrum insecticides. This
allows populations of beneficial insects
that prey on scale or mites to increase
in the orchard.
Niederholzer said the management
of immobile orchard pests should focus
on monitoring for population levels
followed by pesticide selection and
delivery.
In the case of protein feeding ants,
the percent of almond damage depends
on the ant population and how long
the nuts are on the orchard floor after
shaking. In a graph, the number of ant
colony entrances in a 5,000-squarefoot
section of the orchard and the
number of days the nuts are left on the
ground can estimate crop damage. If
45 colony entrances are identified, the
Continued on Page 61
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Scale and mites are good candidates for biological control if orchards are managed
without use of broad-spectrum insecticides (photo by Jack Kelly Clark, UC
Statewide IPM Program.)
Continued from Page 59
crop damage can go from 1.4% in four
days on the ground to 7% if nuts are
on the ground for 21 days. Concerning
economic damage, lost crop per acre,
given a 2,500-pound crop at $2.50 a
pound, goes from $87 in the four-day
time frame to $437 in the 21-day time
frame in the 45-colony scenario.
Crop damage due to ants can go
undetected in the orchard unless a
harvest sample is taken before nuts are
picked up.
Ant bait is a good IPM practice, Niederholzer
said, but it must be used correctly
to achieve ant control. It should
be applied to dry soil, and irrigation
should not be done for at least 48 hours
after bait is distributed. Baits also lose
their attractiveness to ants over time
and should not be stored. Weed management
to minimize seed production
removes another food source for ants,
making baits more effective in control.
Hull split sprays and irrigation in
the summer can take precedence over
ant control, Niederholzer warned.
Esteem, Clinch and Extinguish baits all
need to be applied at least four weeks
pre-harvest.
Beneficial insects and mites can
provide biological control of spider
mites. Web spinning mites are an
annual concern in almond production.
Management practices include monitoring
to track mite populations as well
as predator mite populations. Dry and
dusty orchard edges are the most likely
areas for mite infestations. Niederholzer
said to wait until UC thresholds
are reached to begin miticide sprays. A
two-spray program is $80 to $100 per
acre including spray costs.
When it comes to decisions on spider
mite control, UCCE IPM Advisor
David Haviland said that predator trap
cards can assist in monitoring for predator
numbers. Finding three six-spotted
thrips on the predator cards in a week
means mite populations will remain at
the current level or go down, allowing a
savings on a pesticide application.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
November 2021 www.wcngg.com 61

UNDERSTANDING HOW NITROGEN IS UTILIZED
IMPROVES NITROGEN-USE EFFICIENCY FOR
ALMOND GROWERS
By MITCH LIES | Contributing Writer
California almond growers are
embracing opportunities to improve
nitrogen use efficiency and
should be applauded for doing so, according
to Patrick H. Brown, a professor
in the Department of Plant Sciences
at UC Davis. But, he said, more can be
done, and only through recognition of
how nitrogen is utilized by the tree can
growers reach 100% efficiency.
The biggest key to realizing optimum
performance and minimum
loss, Brown said, is a recognition that
nitrogen uptake in trees is directly
correspondent to yield. That concept
was discussed in a research paper that
Brown, fellow UC Davis Plant Sciences
Professor Emilio Laca and three graduate
students published in 2012, and
it has been widely adopted by almond
growers.
In the paper, the researchers documented
that in a typical orchard, for
every 1,000 pounds of kernel yield, 68
pounds of nitrogen is required. “Add
to that some allowance for tree growth
and apply it efficiently and you have a
recipe for great productivity and minimum
N loss,” Brown said.
The paper, which has been widely
circulated over the last decade, also
brought forward the concept of sampling
leaf tissue in April as opposed to
the standard sampling timing of July or
August, another change that has found
advocates.
Unlike when sampling in August,
April sampling enables growers to
adjust nitrogen programs based on
projected yields, Brown said. “It enables
a grower to say, ‘I am just coming into
Pulling leaf samples in April, rather than in July or August, allows a grower to adjust their
nitrogen budget for the current season (all photos by Andres Olivos and Sebastian Saa.)
spring, I can see it is a bumper crop
this year, my leaf tissue suggests I have
marginal nitrogen, so I better increase
my nitrogen a little bit to compensate
for that,’ or the same in reverse,” Brown
said.
When sampling in August, it typically
is too late for growers to adjust
a nitrogen budget for the current year,
Brown said, as growers have already
applied nearly all of the nitrogen they
are going to apply for that year’s crop.
“And, frankly,” Brown said, “it is too
early to give information about the next
year, because you can’t predict next
year’s nutrition demand, because that is
going to depend on how many nuts get
set on the tree. And you cannot know
in August of 2020 how many nuts you
are going to have in the tree in August
of 2021.”
Brown added that in cases where
leaf tissue analysis shows a nitrogen
deficiency, adding nitrogen may not
always be the solution.
Nitrogen Budget
If your leaf is short of nitrogen, you
should first look at your N budget. And
if your budget shows you have given
the tree plenty of nitrogen, then what
you need to do is find out where it went.
And if it is being lost, improve your
application methods, your uniformity
and increase your efficiency, rather
than put on more nitrogen,” Brown
said. “Try to work out where did I go
wrong? How come my trees are yellow
even though I followed the N budget
properly?
“A grower should never look at a
leaf-tissue analysis and say, ‘Oh, I need
more nitrogen,’” Brown said. “They
should first say, ‘Well, let me have a
62 West Coast Nut November 2021

“
You are much
better off
putting on
multiple
applications.
– Patrick H. Brown, UC Davis
”
look at my budget. Was I under budget?
And if I am not underbudgeted, why are
these leaves yellow? Let’s look at my efficiency.’
That is the thought process and
it is the only way we are going to get
around nitrate pollution of the groundwater
and all of the problems that that
is causing us.”
Brown added that overapplying
nitrogen serves no benefit. “Growers
cannot enhance productivity by overapplying
nitrogen,” he said. “Like chickens
in an egg farm, you feed them what
they need, and you aren’t going to get
more eggs by feeding them more than
what they need.”
Brown characterized the almond
industry’s embrace of nitrogen use efficiency
in recent years as a “wonderful
development.”
“If you go back 20 years and ask an
average almond grower what they do,
they would say they apply 250 to 275
pounds of nitrogen,” Brown said. “And
if you said, ‘But you have a five-year-old
orchard and a 15-year-old orchard, one
yielding 3,000 pounds and one 1,500
pounds. Should they both get the same?’
And they would say, ‘Maybe not, but
it’s not easy to know for sure and it is
Continued on Page 64
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 63

When testing leaf samples for nitrogen, it is important for growers to follow the correct sampling strategy as outlined in the Almond Board
of California publication titled ‘Nitrogen Best Management Practices’.
Continued from Page 63
easier to avoid loss by erring on the
high side.’
“Now they are thinking and saying,
‘Okay, this is only the fifth leaf. It is
only 1,500 pounds, and I’m only going
to give it this much nitrogen. Or it is a
19-year-old orchard and it is on its
way out, so I am going to give it less,’”
Brown said. “Many growers have done
that.”
When determining a nitrogen budget,
Brown said growers should factor
in the residual nitrogen in a system,
primarily the nitrogen found in irrigation
water.
“Nitrogen in irrigation water is
an excellent and free N fertilizer and
should be included in your total annual
N budget,” the researchers wrote in the
2012 paper.
Proper timing of nitrogen applications
is another key to achieving
maximum results from your nitrogen
budget, Brown said, with the first application
optimally going on no earlier
than 50% leaf-out.
“Trees don’t start using nitrogen
from the soil until their leaves are 50%
expanded,” Brown said. “Prior to that,
they are growing off the nitrogen they
stored the prior year.”
When sampling leaves, Brown said
it is important for growers to pull multiple
samples. The 2012 research paper
recommends growers take 18 to 20
samples from trees at least 30 feet apart
in any one orchard.
“That gives you a statistically valid
average for that portion of the orchard,”
Brown said.
Further information on sampling
techniques can be found in the Almond
Board of California publication
titled ‘Nitrogen Best Management
Practices’ at almonds.com/sites/default/
files/2020-12/ABC_Nitrogen_8.5x11_
vmags.pdf.
Continued on Page 66
64 West Coast Nut November 2021

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April sampling enables growers to adjust nitrogen programs based on projected yields.
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“
Growers cannot
enhance
productivity
by overapplying
nitrogen.
– Patrick H. Brown, UC Davis
Continued from Page 64
”
The 2012 UC Davis research paper
also advised growers to apply nitrogen
in several small doses during the
season rather than in one shot, another
concept that has been embraced by
growers in recent years and one that
Brown believes is another key to optimizing
nitrogen performance.
“If you’ve got an orchard that needs
200 pounds of nitrogen and you put
200 pounds on the ground in January,
on paper, that might look balanced,”
Brown said. “In reality, much of that
200 pounds is going to be pushed below
the rootzone before the tree needs it in
June or July.
“You are much better off putting on
multiple applications,” he said.
Brown, who was awarded the
Dennis R. Hoagland Award from the
American Society for Plant Biology and
the Leo M. Walsh Soil Fertility Distinguished
Lectureship from Soil Science
of America last May, said that orchard
variability can make it difficult for
growers to maximize nitrogen benefits
in a way that minimizes losses. But, he
said, “It can be done.”
“It is going to take more work than
just throwing it all on the ground and
hoping for the best,” Brown said. “But
absolutely, a grower can achieve great
productivity and high efficiencies of nitrogen
in drip irrigation or microsprinkler
systems.”
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
66 West Coast Nut November 2021

November 2021 www.wcngg.com 67

Monitoring and Controlling Leafrollers in Hazelnuts
By DANITA CAHILL | Contributing Writer
The European leafroller, archips
rosana, is an evasive species known
in Oregon as the filbert leafroller, or
the hazelnut-filbert leafroller. The telltale
sign of an infestation of leafrollers
in a hazelnut orchard is tightly rolled
leaves, but unfortunately, after the larvae
have rolled the leaves, the damage
has already been done.
An adult leafroller is a 1/2-inch to
3/4-inch-long moth. It’s dark brown in
color with darker lines across the wings.
Females lay flat, irregular masses of eggs
on bark or branches in July. By springtime,
the egg masses turn grayish in
color. The larvae hatch in early spring.
The larvae, or worms, of the hazelnut-filbert
leafroller begin chewing on
the leaves and buds of hazelnut trees
immediately after hatch. The green
worms with brown heads feed on the
new growth for four to six weeks. Their
last feeding site is also where the worms
pupate. They roll up leaves with sticky
silk and pupate inside.
Hazelnut-filbert leafrollers also damage
fruit trees. Leaf damage isn’t so much
a problem, but flower and fruit damage
in apple and pear crops can cause serious
commercial damage.
Monitoring for Leafrollers
According to the Pacific Northwest
Pest Management Handbook compiled
by Oregon State University Extension
Service, Washington State University
Extension and University of Idaho
Extension, hazelnut growers should start
monitoring for leafrollers in mid-March.
Check three terminals and three leaf
clusters per terminal. Consider each terminal
a sampling unit. Look for feeding
damage on tender new growth. Also start
checking for tightly rolled leaves. Treat
for larvae when infestation count shows
up on 20% to 25% of sampling units.
To check for adult moths, start in
mid-May using one pheromone trap for
each five acres of orchard. Place traps six
feet up in the tree canopy. Treat for adult
moths when the traps catch 40 moths per
week.
Biological Control
Biological control includes encouraging
beneficial insects, such as parasitic
wasps, spiders and brown lacewings.
Lacewings, order Neuroptera, can be
recognized by the complex vein pattern
of spots and specks on their otherwise
see-through wings, making them somewhat
resemble lace. Their wings are held
roof-like over their bodies. Lacewing
adults and their larvae eat soft-bodied
insects and mites.
Lacewing larvae are 1/3 of an inch or
less and look almost like tiny alligators
with a long neck and bodies tapering at
the tail. Lacewing larvae are cream colored
or gray with two brown or reddish
stripes or rows of spots running down
the top of their body.
Cold temperatures help control leafrollers.
Winters with low temps keep the
insect numbers down.
Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki
can be used as a biological control with
results ranging from poor to satisfactory.
Often, biological control is enough
to manage leafrollers. Chemical control
may not even be necessary.
Chemical Control
If using chemical control, apply in the
early spring when hazelnut leaves are 3/4
of an inch to one inch long. Pesticide is
more effective if applied when the worms
are still small. There are many different
chemical controls to consider, but several
are extremely toxic to fish and aquatic
habitat. Also, several have restricted use
in Oregon.
Jason Whitehead and his family farm
2,300 acres in Scio and Lacomb, Ore.
in the Mid-Willamette Valley. Their
operation, JRW Farms, is largely grass
seed, but currently includes 400 acres of
hazelnuts. Whitehead also grows his own
hazelnut nursery stock.
“We’re harvesting something from
June until November 1,” Whitehead said.
He’s looking to cut back and has plans to
soon cut out the grass seed completely
and cut back his hazelnuts to about 130
acres.
Begin monitoring for leafrollers in mid-
March (all photos by D. Cahill.)
Young hazelnut trees suffer more damage
from leafrollers than older trees.
Before buying his first 86-acre chunk
of land in 2005, Whitehead worked for
other farmers. A farmer that employed
him when Whitehead was in high school
grew hazelnuts. Whitehead enjoyed
working in the hazelnut orchards. He
found driving the tractor through the
trees peaceful.
As far as leafroller issues in hazelnuts
go, “They’re more of a problem in young
trees,” Whitehead said. For control, he
follows chemical labels.
“I don’t target them in big trees,”
Whitehead said, adding that for older
trees, he targets sprays more for hazelnut-Filbertworm
moth and brown
marmorated stink bug.
Filbert Leafroller Moth or
a Filbertworm Moth?
How do you tell the difference between
hazelnut-filbert leafroller moths
and the hazelnut-Filbertworm moth?
68 West Coast Nut November 2021

Hazelnut-filbert
Leafroller Lifecycle
Jason Whitehead, wife Rachael and their
cattle dogs.
The leafroller moth is brown with darker
brown strips and stripes across its wings,
while the hazelnut-Filbertworm moth
can range in color from reddish to gray.
The biggest clue to spotting a hazelnut-Filbertworm
moth is to look for the
telltale metallic golden bands across each
forewing.
The larvae of the hazelnut-Filbertworm
pupate in the spring and the adults
emerge from early summer through midfall,
usually mid-June through October,
so the two species have some overlapping
time as adult moths during summertime
in the orchard.
According to the Pacific Northwest
Pest Management Handbook, growers
Rolled leaves show damage from the
hazelnut-filbert leafroller.
should start hanging pheromone traps
for hazelnut-Filbertworm moths in mid-
May to catch the first of the emerging
moths. Hang four traps for the first 10
acres and one trap after that for each
additional four acres. Hang the traps in
the upper third of the canopy. Hanging
traps high is important for best results
because pheromone is heavier than air,
so it moves downward. Take control action
when two or three moths are caught
per trap, or five moths are caught in any
one trap.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
One generation of
leafrollers per season.
Larvae hatch and begin
feeding on tender leaves
and buds in early spring.
The worms feed for
four to six weeks.
Worms pupate in rolled leaves
at their final feeding spot.
In early summer the larvae
emerge as moths.
Adult female moths lay eggs
on bark or branches in July.
Eggs overwinter to
hatch in early spring.
PLANBEFOREPLANTING.COM
November 2021 www.wcngg.com 69

A WORD FROM THE BOARD: THE ALMOND BOARD OF CALIFORNIA
THE PRACTICAL WISDOM OF CLIMATE-
SMART AGRICULTURE PRACTICES
By ALMOND BOARD OF CALIFORNIA | Contributing Writer
”
Climate-smart agriculture.”
While not common parlance
under the tree canopy yet, many
growers are increasingly adopting
practices recognized as climate-smart
because they make sense for improving
soil quality or efficiency. Plus, there are
more economic incentives to implement
them today than ever before.
So, what is climate-smart agriculture?
Basically, it’s any management
practice that reduces greenhouse gas
emissions or keeps them out of the atmosphere,
also known as sequestration.
This includes practices that use water
and nitrogen efficiently, improvements
to energy efficiency, and using renewable
fuel or contributing to biofuels
with co-products. However, most of
the excitement is around sequestering
carbon in the soil; that is, practices that
build up and maintain higher levels of
organic matter.
“If we had this conversation 30
years ago, I think people would agree
on these practices; they’re just meant
to be,” said Ben King, a Colusa-based
almond grower, managing principal
of Pacific Gold Agriculture, LLC and a
member of the Almond Board of California’s
(ABC) Bee Health and Pollination
Workgroup. “Sustainability and
climate-smart ag is about keeping your
ground fertile for future generations. I
don’t think we’re that far off between
what we do and what’s being discussed.”
Agriculture as Part of the
Climate Solution
With nearly 900 million acres of
working lands across the U.S., agriculture
is uniquely positioned to assist
various initiatives aimed at curbing
greenhouse gas emissions. This is due
partly to the ability to sequester carbon
in soil.
“A lot of food companies have
figured out that climate change is a
real risk to their business and they are
stepping in, setting voluntary goals
to reduce emissions from their operations,”
said Gabriele Ludwig, ABC’s
director of Sustainability and Environmental
Affairs.
In 2020, General Mills announced it
would reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by 30% across its value chain over the
next decade, while Hershey’s recently
announced it would seek a 25% reduction
by 2030. Nestlé aims for a 20%
emissions reduction by 2025 and a 50%
reduction by 2030, followed by achieving
net-zero emissions by 2050.
“For food companies to meet their
aggressive climate goals, they need
help both upstream and downstream
in their value chain,” Ludwig said.
“Upstream would be from growers and
downstream would be from things like
food waste and recycling or reusing
Whole-orchard recycling supports two of the industry’s Almond Orchard 2025
Goals, achieving zero waste and increasing water holding capacity (photo
courtesy Brent Holtz, UCCE.)
packaging.”
So, what does upstream help look
like when it comes to climate-smart
agriculture practices?
“The thinking is if there’s a focus
on soil quality improvements through
Continued on Page 72
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organic matter inputs, it not only benefits the environment,
but also helps the grower,” Ludwig said. “The tangible
agronomic benefits may be better water infiltration and/or
increased water holding capacity in soils. Companies like
these practices because they often provide co-benefits such
as reduced erosion or movement of nitrogen.”
Examples of organic matter inputs in orchards include
cover crops, composted manure or green-waste applications,
chipping of prunings and whole orchard recycling. Recently
completed research into whole orchard recycling from UC
Davis showed an improvement in water holding capacity, the
addition of nitrogen in the soil over time and a 19% cumulative
nut yield increase over five years.
Other UC research has been looking at the impact of
composted manure and green-waste to soils. Depending on
the source of the compost, growers may be able to reduce
applications of synthetic nitrogen by up to 20% due to
increased water holding capacity. This helps keep nitrogen
where roots have a greater chance to take it up, making nitrogen
less likely to leach into groundwater.
Cover Crops: Climate-Smart Practice
with Multiple Benefits
In Colusa, King has been a long-time advocate for the
use of cover crops in and around almond orchards. He says
their strategic use adds organic material to the soil, with the
License No. 251698
Whole-orchard recycling offers a variety of environmental
benefits (photo courtesy Almond Board of California.)
added benefit of providing much-needed habitat for wild and
managed pollinators.
King planted cover crops in all 350 acres of his almond
orchards this past year to reap the soil and pollinator benefits
offered by the practice. As the cover crops grow, King
welcomes all pollinators into his orchard, noting that “what’s
good for a bumble bee is good for a honey bee; there’s not
a bad pollinator.” After the cover crops have done their job
of feeding pollinators, and soil microbes from their roots, it
is mowed in the spring, where it will breakdown to return
organic matter to the soil.
“We planted what’s called a soil builder, which has some
mustard, legumes and some barley,” King said. “The stuff
we planted earlier turned out pretty good, without much
precipitation. Going into May, we had a stand that was about
four feet high from just rain. I see the difference in the water
holding capacity of my soils where I’ve had cover crops more
regularly from year to year.”
To help with the cost of planting his cover crops, King
leveraged the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s
(CDFA) Healthy Soils Program, which provides financial
incentives to farmers to implement various practices that
sequester carbon. Since 2017, more than $9 million dollars
has been awarded to almond-specific projects.
“The Healthy Soils Program covered my seed costs and
some of the costs to plant it,” King said. “We need this kind
of program at a much larger scale.”
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Climate-Smart Ag: More than Organic Matter
According to an ABC-funded lifecycle assessment of
California almonds, nitrogen and water use are the top two
contributors to the almond industry’s carbon footprint (all of
agriculture in California accounts for 8% of greenhouse gas
emissions in the state.)
When synthetic nitrogen fertilizer arrives for use in an
orchard, it brings with it a carbon footprint due to the fossil-fuel
based energy used in its production. ABC’s Ludwig
noted that growers have little control over that process;
72 West Coast Nut November 2021

"
"The thinking is if there’s
a focus on soil quality
improvements through
organic matter inputs,
it not only benefits the
environment, but also
helps the grower.”
– Gabriele Ludwig, Almond
Board of California
however, some fertilizer companies are working to decarbonize
the energy used to produce nitrogen fertilizer, which may
allow growers to choose lower carbon footprint fertilizers in
the future.
Once applied, nitrogen can be converted by soil microbes
to nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas with a global warming
potential nearly 300 times greater than carbon dioxide. However,
practices that improve nitrogen use efficiency can also
help reduce nitrous oxide emissions. For almonds, such practices
include matching the amount of nitrogen applied (from
both synthetic and organic sources) to projected yield, using
April leaf sampling, applying nitrogen in more frequent and
smaller amounts, and making sure the irrigation system is
functioning as advertised to avoid over- or under-irrigation.
According to the almond lifecycle assessment, greenhouse
gases associated with water are from the energy it takes for
pumping it. That includes moving it around the state and
into the orchard, pumping groundwater and/or pressurizing
the water for microirrigation systems. Thus, efforts to ensure
that pumps and irrigation systems are functioning efficiently
are also climate-smart practices.
Another aspect is the form of energy used for pumping
and pressurizing. Moving from diesel to electric motors
reduces greenhouse gas emissions both by avoiding the use
of fossil fuels and because the electricity used to run these
pumps has a declining carbon footprint as a result of California’s
implementation of its Renewables Portfolio Standard
Program (SB 1078). This program mandates that 60% of the
state’s electricity be generated from renewable sources by
2030. And some growers are even producing their own energy
with solar panels.
Furthermore, there is a link between practices that increase
soil organic matter and the energy used for irrigation.
Research has indicated that increasing soil organic matter by
1% can increase soil-available water holding capacity by 3.7%.
That increased water holding capacity can provide more flexibility
as to when a grower irrigates, such as timing irrigation
to match lower electrical rate schedules or when energy is
supplied onsite by solar or wind. And in heavier soils, practices
that improve water infiltration can help avoid runoff or
needing to irrigate more frequently for short periods of time.
Getting Credit Where Credit is Due
The California Almond Sustainability Program (Casp) enters
its 11 th year of helping individual growers, handlers and
the broader industry track and improve practices. Dr. Dan
Sonke, Director of Sustainability at Blue Diamond Growers,
is deeply familiar with CASP, having worked on the development
of the program’s first five modules as a consultant at
the program’s inception.
“CASP aligns very well with climate-smart ag practices,”
said Sonke, who is also a member of the ABC Sustainability
Workgroup. “There’s an interconnectedness you see in the
CASP modules. When growers are asked about energy use,
there are also questions about pesticide use because it takes
energy to make pesticides. If you’re using integrated pest
management practices to reduce pesticides, you’re reducing
energy use, which has climate implications. CASP was
designed to highlight the system-wide thinking that cli-
T5
Continued on Page 74
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November 2021 www.wcngg.com 73

Continued from Page 73
It’s been a long harvest.
Your trees just ran a marathon, and so did you.
mate-smart agriculture requires.”
Handlers such as Blue Diamond Growers report that buyers
increasingly ask about, and make decisions based on, environmental
and sustainability issues. An important change
in recent years is the request for data, rather than anecdotal
accounts, to verify sustainability claims. Sonke says this is
where CASP is critically important for the almond industry
to stay relevant and ahead of the curve.
“To remain a nutritious ingredient or snack of choice, we
want to have the data to prove the good story we have as an
industry,” Sonke said. “We know we have a good story. We
just need the data to document it so we can remind customers
and consumers as to the goodness of almonds, not just
from a nutrition and taste standpoint, but also a sustainability
standpoint.”
Sonke shared that since CASP is such an integral tool to
communicate the progress of its growers to its customers,
Blue Diamond Growers made the recent announcement that
it will provide financial incentives to growers to participate
in the program. More information about CASP is available at
SustainableAlmondGrowing.org.
Later this year, ABC will begin a pilot project with Ecosystem
Services Market Consortium (ESMC), a non-profit
that is developing carbon markets to link companies and
growers. In addition to state and federal incentive programs,
private partnerships will pay growers directly for implementing
climate-smart practices such as using compost, whole
orchard recycling, and/or cover crops. Growers interested in
participating in the ABC-ESMC pilot project should contact
ABC’s Gabriele Ludwig at GLudwig@almondboard.com.
Last, but not least, growing trees is climate smart! However,
agricultural trees do not get credit for their greenhouse
gas reductions for several reasons. One is that the inputs
previously discussed (water and nitrogen) often have emissions
associated with them. And for actual carbon markets,
one of the key criteria is that practices must be “additional”
for payment eligibility.
“It comes down to if trees are grown for a business benefit,
society or companies will not pay a grower for that because
that’s business as usual,” Ludwig said. “Practices that are
credited or rewarded monetarily must be something above
and beyond what a grower would normally do.”
References
UC Davis Whole Orchard Recycling, Biomass recycling for sustainability
and resilience of almond production: https://orchardrecycling.
ucdavis.edu/
Effect of Partial Fertilizer Substitution with Organic Matter Amendments
on Nutrient Cycling,” Almond Board of California 2020 Research
Update: https://www.almonds.com/sites/default/files/2020-12/
ResearchUpdate_121620202.pdf#page=26
See California Pollinator Coalition article in this edition of How We
Grow.
“Greenhouse Gas and Energy Footprint of California Almond Production”
Kendall A, et al. (2015) J. of Industrial Ecology: https://sarep.
ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk5751/files/inline-files/kendall-lifecycleassessment-ghgemissionsforalmondp.pdf
Growers can use the free Nitrogen Calculator in the California
Almond Sustainability Program (CASP): https://www.sustainablealmondgrowing.org/Home/ToolsBenefits/tabid/220/Default.aspx
“Nitrogen Best Management Practices” Almond Board of California
(2020): https://www.almonds.com/almond-industry/orchard-management/soil-health-and-nutrients/nutrient-management
Enhance dormancy this season and
ensure adequate chill hours with
Ultra Gro Crop Shield
“Effects of Implementation of Soil Health Management Practices on
Infiltration, Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity (K sat
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Smith C, et al. (2015): https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/PA_NRCS-
Consumption/download?cid=nrcseprd1289235&ext=pdf
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Bridging the Ag Tech Divide
Setting Business Goals to Guide
Your Ag Tech Investments
By SETH HANSEN | CCA, Contributing Writer
Do you sometimes feel like we are
living in two alternate realities
when it comes to ag technology?
Does it seem hard to reconcile your daily
experiences with the advanced vision
of farming portrayed in commercials
and trade shows? On the tech-enabled
farm, every employee is recording helpful
observations on their smartphone for
later analysis. Automated equipment is
precisely applying biological pesticides,
and irrigation schedules have been calculated
and executed to perfectly match
crop demand. Obviously, this results in
ever-increasing yields and profitability.
The reality you encounter each day
out on the ranch, however, is much different.
You step out of the pickup and
walk into a chronically underperforming
field. You can tell the yield is off
again this season, but there is no data
readily available to compare what you
did this season to whatever produced
your high yield three years ago.
Your workforce is stretched thin and
spray applications are rarely completed
on time, so you increase rates and
add materials or follow-up sprays to
compensate for poor performance.
Irrigation scheduling in your world is
frantically trying to complete a round
of watering fast enough to start again
before the leaves begin wilting. In the
end, you usually eke out a modest profit,
but you aren’t setting any records and
are worried about rising water costs
and having enough capital to redevelop
aging orchards.
At this point, the three most relevant
questions a grower must ask are:
▶ What areas of my operation should
I focus on?
▶ Which ag tech tools will get me
there?
If You’re Not Moving Forward,
You’re Falling Behind
As you evaluate the current state of
ag tech, you will no doubt encounter a
lot of hype. Each year, venture capital
▶
Do I really need to improve my
operation?
The staggering number and diversity of ag tech providers can be challenging to navigate without
a 1: clear The staggering plan and set number of requirements and diversity (photo of agtech courtesy providers A. Magenheim.) can be challenging to navigate without
Image
a clear plan and set of requirements. Photo courtesy of Aaron Magenheim.
76 West Coast Nut November 2021

funds and investors, often with little
knowledge of the agriculture industry,
dump billions of dollars into ag tech
startups. Some of these technologies
and companies will not become commercially
viable, and examples of these
are abundant.
But many are proving successful,
and growers, even internationally in
competitive markets, are leveraging
technology to their advantage. Aaron
Magenheim, CEO and co-founder of
Growers Insight, regularly consults
with tree nut growers on technology
planning and implementation, and
keeps a close eye on the ag tech “ecosystem”
and commodity markets
around the globe. He feels strongly that
American growers must recognize the
increasing market pressure from international
competitors and continue to
invest in technology and infrastructure.
“In other countries, governments
work a lot closer with their private
sector, and that includes investing in
technology and trade,” he said.
As international governments
and private companies cooperatively
invest in ag tech, they become stronger
competitors in the global market. Do
not let past success or familiar practices
lull you into complacency in a shifting
global economy. Continuously look for
opportunities to improve and the right
technologies to assist in that process in
order to remain competitive.
a budget for the initial and ongoing
investment.
This kind of long-term planning can
be challenging. There may be attainable
goals for your business that you don’t
even realize are possible. Perhaps you
need to look outside of your business to
see other opportunities for change.
“The big challenge is that people
don’t take the time to understand the
possibilities that are out there, how other
people have solved similar problems,
and then what their operation looks
like in the future,” Magenheim said.
Your goals should be specific and
achievable, but avoid aiming too small
when you set them. Try visiting other
regions or countries with similar crops,
or ask a technology consultant for help.
It is alright that you don’t have all the
answers. If you are committed to being
in business for the long haul, then taking
the time to investigate, dream and
set realistic goals and implementation
plans for your business is worth it.
Hitting the Mark
Finally, and only after you are
convinced your operation needs to
advance, after you set an ambitious but
achievable goal and develop a stepwise
implementation plan should you now
invest in technology to help you get
there. Even this stage of the process
can be daunting, but use your plan to
guide you to the right technology and
partners. Magenheim compares the
process to trying to navigate to a distant
location without using a map.
“If you don’t have a plan showing
the two best ways to get there, you’re
going to take 15 different backroads
that dump you out into the middle
of nowhere, run into dead ends and
backtrack.” If you have a set of goals,
an implementation plan with basic
technology requirements and a budget,
it will help you navigate the plethora of
technology options.
Furthermore, just because your
Continued on Page 78
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Setting a Target
If you believe there is a need for improvement
on your farm, before investing
in any technology, you must begin
with setting some goals. The key to this
process is first starting with the longterm
goals of your business. Where do
you need to be in terms of profitability
and what level of total production is
required, considering the range of nut
prices in recent years? What hurdles
could prevent you from reaching those
goals? Are your major issues rising
labor and input costs? What changes
would you have to make to manage
those and achieve your goals? Make the
goals as clear as possible so that you
can develop a step-by-step implementation
plan to meet that goal. If you identify
the types of technology you need
to find, list basic requirements and set
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Continued from Page 77
long-term business goals and technology
requirements are ambitious, it does
not mean that you cannot start small.
Sometimes, it is best to walk before
you run, which in ag tech can prevent
you from overwhelming your employees
and making investments you later
regret.
Take, for example, finding basic
software to accurately and easily track
costs on a field-by-field basis. You and
each employee can quickly jot a digital
note to record every spray, irrigation
event, tree training or cultivation that
happens. Although it may not appear
to revolutionize your operation, it may
actually help you identify problems you
were unaware of and opportunities for
improvement.
Magenheim often observes that,
“Few growers try to figure out budgets
versus actuals. So, as long as they are
relatively close at the end of the year
on the whole budget, it doesn’t matter
if they spent double what they thought
on this field and half on that field. But
what is the point of putting a budget
together and how do you know where
to improve?” An annual spend of a
couple hundred dollars for activity
and cost-tracking software could help
you identify thousands being lost by
equipment downtime, employee performance
disparities, irrigation scheduling
problems or product procurement
issues.
Building on Success
This kind of technology can add
further value as it guides you to and
helps you evaluate the performance of
subsequent ag tech investments. The
newly implemented technology and
practices can be measured against your
previous methods because you have
baseline financial data for comparison.
As the management consultant Peter
Drucker famously stated, “If you can’t
measure it, you can’t improve it.”
By setting ambitious business
goals, stepwise plans to achieve them,
and starting with small, manageable
technology steps toward those goals,
you will be able to achieve successes
and build upon them. A few successful
implementations under your belt will
give you greater clarity and confidence
that your business goals and technology
roadmap are leading you in the
right direction. Before long, you may
find that your farm is that “farm of the
future” that seemed so far from reality.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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