WCN Jan 2022 e

WEST COAST NUT
Your
JANUARY 2022 ISSUE
Connection to the Tree Nut Industry
SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE:
PECAN CROP FORECAST
SEE PAGE 52
IN THIS ISSUE:
PISTACHIO NITROGEN RESEARCH
SEE PAGE 6
APRIL, 2022
See page 69
JUNE, 2022
SCALE PESTS IN WALNUTS
SEE PAGE 68
SOIL HEALTH: DERIVING BENEFITS
FROM THE GROUND UP
SEE PAGE 16
APRIL, 2022
PECAN
DAY
See page 69
See page 69
PUBLICATION
Photo by American Pecan Council

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
American Pecan Council
Contributing Writer
Vicky Boyd
Contributing Writer
Danita Cahill
Contributing Writer
Kathy Coatney
Contributing Writer
Elizabeth J. Fichtner
UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare
County
Roger A. Isom
President/CEO, Western
Agricultural Processors
Association
Julie R. Johnson
Contributing Writer
Rich Kreps
CCA, SSp., Contributing Writer
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
Mitch Lies
Contributing Writer
Krista Marshall
Ph.D. Candidate, UC Davis
Catherine Merlo
Contributing Writer
Michelle Rodriguez
Safety Specialist, Western
Agricultural Processors
Association
Emily J. Symmes
Ph.D., Senior Manager of
Technical Field Services,
Suterra
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 Nitrogen Research Aims to Maximize Pistachio Yields, Reduce
Losses
12 Mite Pressure Up in Walnuts
16 Soil Health: Deriving Benefits from the Ground Up
22 Sensing Technology Advances to Improve Irrigation
Management
26 Winter Chilling of Pistachio
30 Interview with Don Barton, President of GoldRiver Orchards
34 The Future of Groundwater Management
38 Cal/OSHA’s Nighttime Lighting Requirements For Ag are Final;
Are You in Compliance?
42 Weed Control in Nut Orchards
48 The Almond Conference Highlights Opportunities and Challenges
for Industry
52 Pecan Growth During the 2020-21 Year and Projections for
2021-22
54 Boosting the Elements: Manipulate Inputs to Maximize Carbon
and Hold Water
58 Hazelnut Propagation: A Closer Look at Growing Hazelnuts from
Cuttings
62 Batting Clean-Up: Rover Robot Taps Artificial Intelligence to
Target, Remove Mummy Nuts
68 To Treat or Not to Treat: Scale Pests in Walnuts
78 Keep the Pressure on Navel Orangeworm with IPM and Mating
Disruption
SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE: Pecan Crop Forecast
American Pecan Council writes about pecan growth during the 2020-21 crop year and projections
for 2021-22.
See page 52
January 2022 www.wcngg.com 3

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Nitrogen Research Aims
to Maximize Pistachio
Yields, Reduce Losses
By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor
In his first year as a UCCE soils and pomology advisor in
Tulare County, Doug Amaral is deep into research on a timely
issue in pistachio production.
Given the importance of nitrogen in pistachio production,
the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Plan to prevent leaching of
this nutrient into groundwater, and the possibility of shortages
and higher prices for nitrogen fertilizer, Amaral’s California
Pistachio Research Board funded study can help growers
best determine exact nutrient needs in their orchards.
Amaral’s three-year study that began in 2021, “Assessing
Nitrogen Uptake to Develop Best Management Practices and
Early Leaf Sampling Protocols for Pistachio Varieties Golden
Hills and Lost Hills,” will give growers a tool to match
nitrogen applications with demand by these cultivars. The
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The nitrogen cycle: a balancing act with the goal of applying adequate
N to supply tree demand for growth and fruit production,
and to avoid nitrogen losses to the environment (adapted from
ABC N-BMP 2020 guidance.)
study also will include demand curves for nitrogen and other
essential nutrients in pistachio production. Amaral said he
is also evaluating the salinity effect on nutrient use by pistachio
trees. As part of the research project, he is validating a
sampling methodology for growers to help improve accuracy
in determining nutrient levels in their orchards.
Amaral noted that when early nitrogen use efficiency
studies were done in almonds, the range was 50% to 55%.
Improved management practices have since raised efficiency
to 80%.
Nitrogen fertilizer, which continues to rise in price, is
essential to high crop yields. However, the UC San Joaquin
Valley Trees and Vines newsletter reports that less than half
of applied N is used by the crop, with the rest lost to runoff,
leaching, denitrification and volatilization.
Look at Demand for Tree Growth
Reducing the cost of this expensive input while maximizing
yields and minimizing losses below the root zone or into
the air requires careful matching of tree demand with application.
Growers need to look at demand for tree growth and nut
production. Amaral said an understanding of tree nitrogen
demand and how it can be lost will assist in the decision-making
process.
Continued on Page 8
6 West Coast Nut January 2022

Maximizing Nut Set &
Size Under Dry Conditions
The Record-breaking drought and heat seen across California in
2021 is forecasted to continue into 2022. With drier springs comes
reduced disease pressure to almond blooms and nutlets. This often
means that fungicide applications at pink bud and bloom can be
decreased or eliminated. While it can be tempting to leave the sprayer
in the barn, almond growers’ nut set, size and yield depend on earlyseason
foliar nutrition.
Growers that want to achieve maximum economic yield, however,
would be wise to reallocate their fungicide dollars to where they can
get the best return. The value of a good nutritional program cannot
be overstated. In fact, well designed nutrient programs are even more
essential in a dry year. Without moisture from rain, pollen and flowers
desiccate rapidly. Desiccation reduces pollen’s viability shortening the
bloom receptivity window which reduces nut set and yield. Starving
the developing flowers and nutlets of essential nutrients intensifies
the reduction.
The right nutrients applied during the pink bud and bloom window
can make all the difference. Vigor-Cal-Bor-Moly, a sugar complexed
calcium foliar combined with boron and molybdenum, is an excellent
fit for pink bud and bloom time sprays to improve nut set and quality.
With a shorter bloom window, supplemental boron ensures successful
germination and pollen tube development—also known as nut set.
Molybdenum, a key component of nitrogen metabolizing enzymes
and others, facilitates stress responses, vascular development, and
growth. Symspray, Agro-K’s seaweed product, when applied during
pink bud and bloom can reduce the effects of environmental stress on
the flowers, extending bloom and increasing pollen receptivity even
when it is dry.
By adding AgroBest 9-24-3 to the tank with Vigor-Cal-Bor-Moly
during cell division, calcium and phosphate work together to promote
larger and heavier nuts. AgroBest 9-24-3 is a high phosphate/low
potassium blend that delivers the phosphate energy the tree needs
to maximize nut cell division, nut size and nut retention. AgroBest
9-24-3 is the most cost-effective liquid phosphate available. It
delivers more phosphate per dollar at peak demand timing and
is specifically designed with minimal potassium content for early
season foliar applications that won’t waste dollars or antagonize
calcium during nut and leaf cell division.
Ultimately, almond growers that leave their sprayers in the barn
will produce smaller, lighter nuts and lower yields. Reducing the
number of dry-season fungicide sprays leaves more money in the
budget for a science-driven foliar nutrition program. Reallocating
some of these funds for applications that drive higher yields and
increase nut size is a smart way to ensure the biggest benefits from
less-than-ideal environmental conditions. After all, growers still
need to maximize their economic yield, as their costs and expenses
continue to go up, not down.
While foliar nutrition is essential during the pink bud and bloom
window to maximize economic yield, it is very important throughout
the season. A dry year requires almond growers to think critically
about the key nutrients they apply at each growth stage to produce
more nuts with less water. Implementing a Science-Driven
nutrient approach this year will deliver more pounds of nuts per unit
of water resulting in higher economic returns per acre for you.
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May 25%
June 25%
Table 1. Nitrogen application timing.
Date % of Annual N Demand Greatest Comments period of crop demand
When early
July 37.5%
April 12.5%
Continued from 2.5%. Page 6
May 25%
June 25%
July 37.5%
*Post-harvest application should only occur if trees are healthy and N application was too low.
Table 2. Nitrogen Concentrations in Summer Leaf Samples.
Apply when leaves have
just emerged
st-harvest application should only occur if trees are healthy and N application was too low.
Adjust according to leaf analysis and
updated yield estimate
Adjust according to updated yield
estimate
Greatest period of crop demand
Table 2. Nitrogen Concentrations in Summer Leaf Samples.
CritCritical Value (CV)
Suggested Range
1.8% 2.2 to 2.5%
and yield. Suggested CritCritical Range Value also (CV) refers to Suggested the concentration Range for optimal
1.8% 2.2 to 2.5%
Critical Values (CV) are minimum concentrations for adequate tree growth
and yield. Suggested Range also refers to the concentration for optimal
growth. **Growth and yield is not improved with July tissue levels above
Adjust according to leaf analysis and
updated yield estimate
Adjust according to updated yield
estimate
Critical Values (CV) are minimum concentrations for adequate tree growth
growth. **Growth and yield is not improved with July tissue levels above
2.5%.
nitrogen use
efficiency studies
were done in
almonds, the
range was 50% to
55%. Improved
management
practices have
since raised
efficiency to 80%.
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A series of trials done from 2008 to 2011 set out to understand
the pattern and rate of nitrogen uptake by pistachio
trees from the soil. In high-yielding Kerman orchards,
it was estimated that for every 1,000 pounds of pistachio
fruits (hulls, shells and kernels), 28 pounds of nitrogen were
removed from the orchard.
Golden Hills, Lost Hills N Use
With plantings of Golden Hills and Lost Hills pistachio
trees now making up the bulk of new orchards in California,
Amaral is seeking to help growers be more efficient with
nitrogen applications in these cultivars while validating
earlier nitrogen use efficiency studies in Kerman done by
UC Davis’ Patrick H. Brown.
“Bob Klein with the Pistachio Research Board suggested
that the same nitrogen use studies be done in Golden Hills
and Lost Hills since this approach has not been validated
for the new pistachio cultivars, and the validation of this
methodology will support growers with a reliable fertilizer
management decision tool to apply the right rate of fertilizer
at the right time to optimize productivity and avoid environmental
losses,” Amaral said.
The nitrogen efficiency trial is being conducted in
high-yielding mature orchards in the San Joaquin Valley.
Each cultivar is being monitored for nutrient content and
yield changes to address yield variability and the possibility
that nitrogen removal rates from an orchard will vary by
site, yield or blank percentage.
Amaral said each orchard is being monitored six times
over a year, with leaves, fruit, branches and root samples
taken to assess nutrient levels. In addition to nitrogen, levels
of other essential micro and macronutrients will be noted.
To achieve maximum efficiency in nitrogen applications
in a pistachio orchard, Amaral said that timing and rate
are critical. Splitting applications over the growing season
8 West Coast Nut January 2022

leaf-out. Uptake begins after flowering
when leaves and fruit are expanding.
From full leaf expansion to early hull
split, tree nitrogen demand is met from
soil nitrogen uptake. After hull split,
tree demand and root uptake decline.
Estimated yield of a tree determines
the rate of soil nitrogen uptake while
kernels are developing. Demand for N
to support new tree growth is usually
less than the demand for nut development.
The fertilization program should
not only replace nutrients removed at
harvest, but also supply nutrients for
annual growth.
Amaral noted that different environmental
conditions in pistachio growing
regions would influence fertilization
decisions.
Following the sampling protocol guidelines is important to get around the challenges of
leaf sampling canopy variability (A). Each sampled tree must be at least 25 to 30 yards
apart (B) and only sub-terminal leaves from non-fruiting branches should be collected (C)
(courtesy D. Amaral.)
will not only prevent leaching below
the root zone, but more of the N will be
taken up by the tree, reducing costs. Although
Amaral said that data from his
research trial is not yet available, it has
been proven that nitrogen losses can be
reduced if applications are matched with
the actual tree nitrogen requirement.
As reported in SJV Trees and Vines,
very little or no nitrogen is taken up
from the soil during dormancy to early
Spring Leaf Sampling
Spring leaf sampling is a useful tool
to monitor tree nutrient status. Amaral
notes that July sampling is too late to
allow for in-season adjustment for deficiencies.
A validated model for predicting
July nitrogen levels from samples
taken in late April and May can predict
summer tissue values.
Amaral recommends collecting
sub-terminal leaves from non-fruiting
branches and collecting leaves from 18
to 20 trees per orchard. It is important
that samples be from non-fruiting
branches, Amaral said, as the tissue
Continued on Page 10
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January 2022 www.wcngg.com 9

Nitrogen in pistachio trees during ‘on’ and ‘off’ years. Before leaf-out, little N was taken
up and the trees relied on N remobilized from perennial tissue. In ‘on’ years, approximately
30% of N was taken up during spring flush (mid-March to late May) and 70% during
nut fill. N uptake was negligible between harvest and leaf senescence. In ‘off’ years, the
proportion of N taken up during spring flush was slightly higher (source: California Crop
Fertilization Guidelines: N Pistachio (cdfa.ca.gov.)) **Note that the nitrogen (N) amount
shown on Y axis is for entire orchard N content, not N recommended rate per acre.
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”
"This approach
has not been
validated for the
new pistachio
cultivars, and the
validation of this
methodology
will support
growers with a
reliable fertilizer
management
decision tool to
apply the right
rate of fertilizer
at the right time
to optimize
productivity
and avoid
environmental
losses."
—Doug Amaral, UCCE Soils
and Pomology Advisor
Continued from Page 9
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analysis can be misinterpreted.
All leaves should be combined in a single bag for submission
to a laboratory. A minimum of 180 leaves per bag is
required.
In January, a pre-season yield estimation should be done,
taking into account historic yield trends, last year’s yield, winter
chill and spring bloom weather. Annual inputs of nitrogen
from water, composts and fertilizer should be estimated.
Preliminary fertilization rates and timings should be
calculated and the first application should be made around
mid-May depending on growing region. This late-spring timing
is also time to collect and analyze leaf samples and make
a mid-season yield estimate.
Depending on the estimate and leaf analysis report, the
fertilization strategy can be adjusted for the remainder of the
year.
Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel
free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
10 West Coast Nut January 2022

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in similar
articles?
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Mite Pressure Up in Walnuts
Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys Seeing High
Numbers in Particular
By MITCH LIES | Contributing Writer
These photos of two walnut blocks in the same orchard in Colusa County, taken the first week of September in 2015, depict the damage mites can inflict on
an orchard. The photo on the right shows a healthy block. The photo on the left shows a block under heavy mite pressure. Note the leaves on the ground
and the lack of shade in the block with mite damage (photos courtesy F. Niederholzer.)
PCAs and growers reported high
mite pressure in walnuts last year,
particularly in the Sacramento and
northern San Joaquin valleys, according
to UCCE Farm Advisors Franz Niederholzer
and Luke Milliron as well as Area
IPM Advisor Jhalendra Rijal.
“Usually, in walnuts, you have some
mite activity,” said Rijal, an advisor for
the northern San Joaquin Valley. “But
usually, it is late in the season. This past
year, they started in the early part of the
season.”
Mite presence late in the season generally
is not problematic, Rijal said, given
that by then, predatory mite populations
have built up and the main damage mites
cause (loss of leaves) isn’t as important
as in early season. But, researchers said,
heavy mite pressure early in the season
should be addressed.
“An orchard’s motor is the leaves,”
said Niederholzer, farm advisor for Colusa,
Sutter and Yuba counties, “so when
you take away the leaves, you can have
more sunburned nuts and you may have
smaller nuts at harvest. You end up kind
of limping along with a reduced leaf area,
especially if the mite outbreak is earlier
in the season.
“[A mite outbreak] reduces the vigor
of an orchard and it is certainly not
something you want to have during a
drought,” he added.
Early Monitoring
Rijal advised growers to start looking
for spider mites as early as late April.
Early season scouting can be done with
less frequency than mid-season scouting,
he said, and can be concentrated on areas
most prone to mites, such as stressed
trees or near dirt roads.
By late June or early July, scouting
should be occurring weekly, according to
UC IPM guidelines, and should continue
at that pace through August. The guidelines
recommend randomly selecting
samples from ten trees in an orchard and
picking five leaflets from low branches
and five from high branches in each tree.
Treatment thresholds are based not
only on the presence of spider mites, but
also on the presence of predators and
whether a broad-spectrum insecticide
was used to control pests such as codling
moth or walnut husk fly.
In cases, where a pyrethroid was
used, for example, a miticide may be
warranted if predators are present on
fewer than 10% of mite-infested leaves
when 10% of leaves have spider mites.
Whereas absence a pyrethroid, sprays are
not recommended until 30% to 40% of
leaves are mite infested and predators are
present on fewer than 10% of mite-infested
leaves.
“The bottom line,” Rijal said, “is if
you apply broad-spectrum insecticides
early in the season, you can expect mite
activity. And whenever you are doing
mite counts or doing sampling, you also
should do it for predators, too.”
Easy to Differentiate
Rijal said it is easy to differentiate
between predator mites and the twospotted
or Pacific spider mite. “The spider
mite is always this kind of greenish
mite with two spots on their body, and
they basically hunker down on the leaf
surface and pretty much feed there,
Continued on Page 14
12 West Coast Nut January 2022

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Continued from Page 12
more like a stationary creature,” he said.
“The predator mite moves around a lot, and
the majority of these predator mites have
more like a clear body type.”
Rijal added that walnuts orchards often
have a rich diversity of predatory mite
species.
When treating for mites, Rijal advised
growers to consider using slower-acting
materials, such as growth regulators like
spirodiclofen, hexythiazox and etoxazole.
“Those do a good job when there is low to
moderate mite pressure,” he said. Other
good options he identified are bifenazate,
cyflumetofen and fenpyromixate, depending
on the orchard mite pressure and costs.
He discouraged growers from using
abamectin, particularly early in the season,
given the material’s potential negative
effect on sixspotted thrips, a predator of
spider mites.
Dust in orchards can contribute to mite
population increases, he added, so growers
should consider watering or putting down
some oil on dirt roadways. “The dust
collects on the leaves, which tends to dry
leaves, and that is favorable for mites,”
Rijal said.
Combination of Factors
Rijal and Niederholzer attributed last
summer’s mite outbreak in walnuts to a
variety of factors, including drought and
use of pyrethroids to control high codling
moth pressure.
“Pyrethroids are inexpensive and
effective, and have some obvious upsides
for growers in a down market,” Niederholzer
said. “But they have some significant
downsides from a management standpoint.”
Rijal said codling moth activity was
low in the San Joaquin Valley for much
of last summer, but not in the Sacramento
Valley, which could have driven some
spray decisions.
“Some of the collaborative studies
we are doing in the Sacramento Valley
indicate that much more codling moth
pressure, at least early in the season, is
requiring insecticide sprays,” he said. “So,
there could have been some sprays that
contributed to mite flare-ups.”
When treating for codling moth,
growers should consider using lepidopterous-specific
insecticides, Rijal said. “They
are more expensive than pyrethroids, but
in the long run, they can save you money.”
Use of neonicotinoids to control husk
fly also could have exacerbated issues with
mites last year, Niederholzer said, given
that research has shown that they can
increase the fecundity of spider mites.
Another factor in the increased mite
pressure in walnuts in the Sacramento
Valley and northern San Joaquin Valley
could be an inherent difficulty in spraying
the crop for mites. “It is harder to take care
of mites in walnuts than it is in almonds,”
Niederholzer said, “mainly because of the
size of the trees. Mature orchards can be
very tall. You have to drive really slowly to
get spray to the tree tops. You have to use
a lot of water to cover the acres of leaves in
an acre of trees. It takes a lot of time to do
a good job.
“It is a real challenge,” he said.
Still, Rijal said, the biggest reason for
the increase mite pressure last year was
probably drought.
“Probably that is the major reason why
we had a lot more mite activity from the
beginning of the season this past year,” Rijal
said. “If there are favorable conditions,
mite populations can multiply very fast.
And mites love dry conditions.”
Also, Rijal said, water-use restrictions
in place in some orchards last year could
have been a contributing factor. “It is a
two-fold thing,” he said. “They might have
used less water and there were drier conditions
early in the season. I think that was
the main reason.”
Dramatic Effect
Niederholzer added that when mites do
strike an orchard, the effect is dramatic.
“Nothing is worse than a mite outbreak
when it comes to how the orchard looks,
because you lose a lot of leaves,” he said.
“The whole orchard looks terrible in a mite
outbreak.”
Whether or not mites return to walnut
orchards next year is anybody’s guess,
according to Rijal. “You never know with
mites,” Rijal said. “It depends on spray
programs and environmental conditions.”
But, regardless of pressure, evidence
shows growers can minimize crop damage
to mites by keeping a close watch for the
pest and selecting spray materials that
reduce flare-ups.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
14 West Coast Nut January 2022

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A WORD FROM THE BOARD: THE ALMOND BOARD OF CALIFORNIA
Soil Health: Deriving Benefits from the Ground Up
Key Principles for Building Healthy Soil and Enhancing
Orchard Ecosystem Functions
By KRISTA MARSHALL | Ph.D. Candidate, UC Davis
The concept of “healthy soil” has become increasingly
popular over the last decade as researchers, government
agencies, organizations like the Almond Board, and
farmers continue learning more about the essential role soil
plays in crop productivity, air and water quality, climate regulation
and human health.
Benefits of Healthy Soils
Soils are complex and living ecosystems capable of
supporting a wide range of functions through the activities
of soil organisms (Figure 1). Among other benefits, a
well-functioning soil ecosystem can:
• Promote the retention and availability of crop nutrients,
• Build soil structure to reduce topsoil loss,
Figure 1. Soil supports a wide range of organisms (left to right) Pill bugs
help build soil structure and promote nutrient cycling by shredding & decomposing
residue. Soil microbial communities, including fungi and bacteria,
are the main engines of soil ecosystem as they contribute substantially to
many functions. Finally, earthworms are engineers of the soil because they
build soil structure. In addition, they promote nutrient cycling by decomposing
plant residues (all photos courtesy K. Marshall.)
• Alleviate compaction,
• Improve infiltration and soil water holding capacity and
• Build and sequester carbon.
Healthy soils have the potential to not only play a central
role in individual almond orchards but also support industry-wide
efforts to achieve Almond Orchard 2025 Goals.
A healthy soil ecosystem in the orchard can help growers
collectively advance toward specific goals such as improving
water and nutrient use efficiency, recycling almond coproducts
and reducing dust to improve air quality. And these
numerous benefits that ultimately contribute to long-term
orchard sustainability goals often do not come at the expense
of productivity. In fact, a growing number of studies suggest
we can build healthy soils that support multiple benefits
while maintaining or, in some cases, improving crop yields.
Uncovering Healthy Soil Management Principles
Identifying the strategies for how to build healthy soils
and enhance soil ecosystem functions are still being established
for almond orchards. To address this knowledge gap
and start developing best management practices for grow-
16 West Coast Nut January 2022

Figure 2. Orchards were selected for soil health research based on a variety of management, scales of operation and farm goals.
ers, a collaborative team of UC Davis
researchers and a UCANR extension
specialist are aiming to better define
healthy almond orchard soil in the Sacramento
Valley and identify practices
already being used to improve orchard
soil health.
Although the research was explicitly
conducted in the Sacramento Valley
region, more regional work to explore
soil health best management practices
is needed across California as almond
producing regions vary widely in
regards to soil types and climates. The
research team selected 23 orchards
across the Sacramento Valley region
that represent a variety of management,
scales of operation and farm goals
(Figure 2) to capture the diverse challenges
and innovative solutions used by
California almond growers.
There are many management practices
being promoted as ways to build
healthier soils. However, the success
and feasibility of these practices is
highly dependent on other aspects of a
grower’s operation, such as equipment
availability, harvest times, weather
patterns, access to resources and
information, and food safety precau-
Continued on Page 18
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Continued from Page 17
tions. Therefore, the team recommends
growers consider the foundational
ecological principles that underlie soil
health-building practices and, from that
information, identify specific strategies
that can be used to build healthy soils
and enhance soil ecosystem functions in
their orchards.
To determine which specific strategies
show potential in the Sacramento
Valley region, the team spent the last
two years meeting with a wide range
of almond growers whose management
reflects the below principles to address
orchard challenges and meet diverse
goals.
Principle One: Reduced Disturbance
Important
Although physical disturbances
like tillage play a role in production,
reducing these events minimizes the
destruction of the environment where
soil organisms live and perform important
functions for agriculture. Given that
reduced or zero-tillage management has
been widely adopted across almonds,
this principle is already easy for most
growers to achieve in their efforts to
improve soil health.
It should also be noted that minimizing
disturbances, such as tillage in
regions with heavy clay soil, could have
tradeoffs with soil compaction, potentially
inhibiting root growth and the
uptake of nutrients. To address these
potential tradeoffs, growers can look to
build soil organic matter and reduce
compaction, which leads us to our second
principle.
Principle Two: Maintaining Continuous
and Diverse Organic Inputs
Soil organic matter address compaction,
continuous inputs of carbon
and nutrients in organic forms, such as
amendments, mulches, animal manure
and plant residues that are essential to
enhancing soil ecosystem functions and
reaping the benefits of healthy soil. In
fact, soil organisms like bacteria, fungi
and earthworms require carbon and
nutrients to live and perform essential
soil ecosystem functions.
There are many creative ways to increase
organic inputs in agriculture. For
example, researchers documented almond
growers using compost, recycled
almond shells, growth of resident weeds
in the winter, planted cover crops and
animal manures. Although we did not
work with growers who utilized whole
orchard recycling (WOR), this practice
recycles carbon and nutrients from
aboveground biomass back into the soil
ecosystem and is a useful long-term
strategy for supporting healthy soil.
However, one of the most effective
ways to introduce more continuous and
diverse organic inputs is to maintain living
plant roots, which leads to the third
principle of building healthy soil.
Principle Three: Maximize Living Cover
Living root systems provide an effective
way to supply resources directly
into the soil. Although there are multiple
management constraints to increasing
living roots in almond orchards,
interesting strategies that are effective
and feasible for management exist. For
example, resident vegetation and planted
cover crops like ground clover and
triticale, which have shorter stands, can
be effectively managed where frost is a
concern to almond growers. Additionally,
planting and termination can be
optimized to take advantage of winter
rainfall when almond trees are dormant
and competition is low. Further, appropriate
selection of plants and their
growth periods can help ensure that
residues left on the surface are able to
sufficiently decompose before harvest.
Ultimately, finding what works for
any given almond orchard will take
time and experimentation, a recurrent
comment from growers we spoke with
who are increasing the presence of living
roots in their orchards.
Introducing more organic inputs,
especially living covers, in almond
orchards also helps promote the fourth
principle of healthy soil.
Principle Four: Keep the Soil Covered
Although this principle may require
adjustments to management, main-
Continued on Page 20
18 West Coast Nut January 2022

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Continued from Page 18
taining a surface cover is essential to
building healthy soil. Covering the soil
physically protects it from the environment,
which can reduce soil loss
by wind erosion and surface runoff.
In addition, covering the soil allows
for greater sunlight interception and
moderation of soil temperature, both of
which could help reduce water evaporation
from the soil surface.
The degree to which residues are
kept on the surface influences how
management needs to be adjusted. For
example, one grower’s cover crop was
terminated early enough to allow the
residue to decompose well ahead of
harvest, posing no challenges. Another
grower, who left a small residue layer
on the soil surface, said slowing down
during harvest (moving equipment
through the orchard at a slower pace)
allowed for sufficient nut collection.
Adoption of an off-ground harvesting
system would allow for the maintenance
of a thick residue layer, where
residues can build up over years to
protect the soil surface and provide
organic inputs (Figure 3).
Enhancing biodiversity in almond
orchard soil is also essential, and leads
to the final principle of healthy soil.
Principle Five: Support Soil Biodiversity
through Diversification
There is growing consensus amongst
the scientific community that soil
biodiversity can promote a wide range
of soil ecosystem functions. Finding
ways to support soil biodiversity, such
as diversifying the plants growing in
the soil, can be an effective strategy to
build healthy and well-functioning orchard
soils.
For example,
growers can plant
cover crop mixes
in their orchard
middles that contain
multiple species,
such as grasses, legumes,
and brassicas.
Integrating animals
to manage vegetation
has also shown great
potential as a beneficial
diversification
strategy for building
healthy soils. However,
uncertainties
remain regarding
best management
practices, management
logistics and
concerns over food
safety, questions that the Almond
Board of California will be researching
in the upcoming years.
Building healthy soils in almond orchards
is essential and enables growers
to not only address current management
challenges but also ensure their
almond productions meet long-term
productivity and sustainability goals.
Although gaps in our knowledge still
exist around what management strategies
are most effective for building
healthy soils, this research allowed us
to better understand what innovative
and feasible strategies almond growers
are already implementing to incorporate
soil health into their management.
The researchers hope to continue
their work to capture growers’ current
soil health building strategies, better
define healthy orchard soil and encourage
growers to continue experimenting
to learn what strategies work best for
their productions.
Additional Resources
The full findings from the soil health
research project will be available this
upcoming year, including academic articles,
outreach materials and factsheets
for building soil health in almond orchards.
Growers interested in learning
Figure 3. This young orchard has built a thick layer of plant residue to
protect the soil surface. A mixture of resident vegetation and planted
cover crops grow across the orchard middle and berm then is mowed
to build a residue without terminating plant growth.
more about living roots and the steps to
incorporating cover crops, specifically
in their orchards, are encouraged to
read the “Cover Crop Best Management
Practices” guide developed by
the Almond Board of California and
University of California available now
on Almonds.com/covercrops. Finally, if
growers are interested in learning more
about WOR, they can read the “Whole
Orchard Recycling Guide for California
Almond Growers” and find more
information at Almonds.com/WOR.
The integration of animals and
use of animal manure is not currently
recommended by the Almond Board
of California due to food safety concerns
and uncertainties regarding best
management practices. To comply with
food safety regulations, animals must be
removed from the orchard or manures
applied more than 90 days before harvest
if almonds are harvested off-ground
and more than 120 days before harvest
if almonds are shaken onto the ground.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us
at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
20 West Coast Nut January 2022

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SENSING TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES TO
IMPROVE IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT
By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor
With field scale sensing of soil water using a cosmic ray neutron probe, the goal is to
evaluate the ability of the probe to accurately measure soil moisture at the orchard scale
(photo by I. Kisekka.)
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Tree nut growers seeking the ‘holy
grail’ of plant water sensing have
many options these days, but there
is no one perfect sensor that will tell
you when to irrigate, UC Davis Plant
Scientist Ken Shackel said.
Shackel led a panel of speakers on
irrigation technology and automated
monitoring at the 2021 Tree Nut Conference
held in Tulare. Speakers included
UC Davis Irrigation Specialist Isaya
Kisekka and Ryan Kaplan of Pressure
Bomb Express.
Sensor Research
Shackel, who is researching the
physiology of plant responses to water
availability, said the current sensors
available are direct, meaning they show
the current stress level of the tree, and
indirect, measuring shrinkage in a
plant. The direct sensors (FloraPulse,
Saturas, ICT) are all automated, and
the pressure bomb also provides a
direct measurement of stress. All are
attempting, Shackel said, to measure
how hard a plant is working to suck
moisture from the ground. The indirect
sensors measure shrinkage of a
tree trunk, leaves or petiole. Others
measure sap flow. Evapotranspiration
sensors and temperature sensors measure
water use or canopy temperatures.
There are other automated devices,
Schackel said, but differences between
them make comparisons difficult.
“What you want to know is, is the
information the sensors provide consistent
and reliable and does it give you
time to make irrigation decisions?”
Shackel’s research includes tree
responses to water stress, drought and
regulated deficit irrigation under field
conditions. What has been learned, he
said, is that just matching ET does not
mean trees will be unstressed. Trees
22 West Coast Nut January 2022

‘There is no one perfect
sensor that will tell you
when to irrigate.’
may use up the ‘easy’ water quickly
and may experience stress at the end
of each irrigation cycle. Daily sensor or
pressure chamber readings on typical
trees appear to be accurate enough to
manage water for an irrigation block.
Shackel said automated sensors have
the potential to agree with the pressure
chamber. Bottom line, Shackel said, is
that plant-based irrigation may require
more of a ‘response’ approach rather
than a fixed schedule, especially if deficit
irrigation is part of the plan.
An Almond Board of California-funded
study on whole tree ET
responses to mild and moderate water
stress, done in Parlier with double line
drip on deep and very well drained
soils, showed that ET was closely
matched with irrigation, but tree stress
occurred.
Precision Irrigation Technologies
Kisekka said his research focuses on
precision irrigation in nut crops with a
goal of sustainable water use. His precision
irrigation technologies can help
tree nut growers reduce water-induced
spatial variability in yield.
He is seeking to answer the questions
of when to irrigate, how much to
irrigate and where to irrigate- which
is the precision aspect. Kisekka said
growers can divide orchard blocks into
small zones with similar soil characteristics
with a challenge of developing an
irrigation schedule for each zone.
Kisekka’s research has shown that
Continued on Page 24
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January 2022 www.wcngg.com 23

Continued from Page 23
some commercially available stem water
potential sensors are accurate and produce
similar data to the pressure bomb. In addition,
some commercially available satellite evapotranspiration
is accurate and can be used for
site-specific precision irrigation management.
His recommendation is for growers to
use a combination of stem water potential to
determine the ‘when,’ soil water sensing to
manage soil water depletion, and ET to determine
how much water to apply to schedule
irrigation for each zone.
In his presentation at the Tree Nut Conference,
Kisekka outlined his research on soil
water sensing and modeling, remote sensing
of evapotranspiration and soil nitrate sensing.
Soil water status sensing and modeling
involves spatiotemporal modeling of root
zone soil moisture dynamics using machine
learning and remote sensing. His goal here
is to develop a method for upscaling point
measurements of soil water to the block scale
using machine learning.
With field scale sensing of soil water using
a cosmic ray neutron probe, the goal is to
With field scale sensing of soil water using a cosmic ray neutron probe, the goal is to
evaluate The the goal ability of soil of nitrate the probe sensing to accurately is development evaluate the ability of the probe to accurately
measure of a soil low moisture cost ion-selective at the orchard scale
(photo soil by nitrate I. Kisekka.) sensor (photo courtesy I. Kisekka.)
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measure soil moisture at the orchard scale.
Kisekka said he also hopes to understand
the impact of soil heterogeneity and
soil amendments on infiltration and root
water uptake.
His work in soil nitrate sensing
involves sensor testing and evaluation
in soil columns and deep vadose zone
monitoring of nitrate before it reaches
groundwater.
The goal of soil nitrate sensing is development
of a low cost ion-selective soil
nitrate sensor.
Streamlining Pressure Bomb Use
Kaplan, who also grows almonds,
walnuts, pistachios and prunes, said he
is building a game plan to streamline
pressure bomb use. This will enable crop
advisors to make recommendations
based on inputs.
He is looking at how much to stress
trees at different growing stages, including
bud development and hull split. He
also wants to account for “the rootstock
effect” of smaller trees with fairly shallow
root zones.
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WINTER CHILLING OF PISTACHIO
CONSEQUENCES OF LOW CHILL AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF ONLINE CHILL CALCULATORS
By ELIZABETH J. FICHTNER | UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County
Winter Outlook (December 2021- February 2022)
Temperature Outlook
Precipitation Outlook
Probability (percent chance)
Below Normal
Above Normal
Learning
33-40% Equal 33-40%
Below
40-50% Chances 40-50%
50-60%
50-60%
Likely
60-70%
60-70%
Below
70-80%
70-80%
Learning
Above
Likely
Above
Probability (percent chance)
Below Normal
Above Normal
Learning
33-40% Equal 33-40% Learning
Below
40-50%
40-50%
Chances
Above
50-60%
50-60%
Likely
60-70%
60-70% Likely
Below
70-80%
70-80% Above
Temperature an Precipitation Outlooks for December 2021-February 2022; Issued October 21, 2021.
NWS Climate Prediction Center. Map by NOAA Climate.gov
Figure 2. Predictive modeling conducted by NOAA suggests the probability that the winter of 2021-22 may be warmer than normal and
characterized by lower precipitation than normal.
The pistachio industry has thrived in the southern San
Joaquin Valley (SSJV) of California due to the unique climate
that historically contributes adequately to the accumulation
of heat units in the summer to promote crop development
and chill units in the winter to break dormancy for production
of the successive crop.
Climate Anomalies
Climate anomalies are not uncommon, with the recent 2021
summer characterized by excessive heat throughout California’s
main pistachio-growing regions (Figure 1a, see page 27).
The abnormally hot summer, characterized by over 40 days
with high temperatures at or above 100 degrees F in the SSJV
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(Figure 1b, see page 27), may now be followed by an unusually
warm winter as predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center
(Figure 2). Insufficient chill this winter may challenge pistachio
production in 2022.
On Oct. 21, 2021, the NOAA reported that predicted winter
conditions, consistent with La Nina, are likely to be warmer
than usual in the SSJV. Additionally, precipitation in the SSJV
is likely to be lower than average and drought conditions may
continue to worsen. Based on the same model, the Sacramento
Valley may expect normal winter temperatures, but is not
exempt from the probability of below-average precipitation.
Consequences of Low Chill on Pistachio
Many temperate crops, including pistachio, require a cumulative
amount of chilling to exit dormancy in the spring. The
chilling requirement is a physiological mechanism that protects
buds from the winter cold. Without a chilling requirement,
budbreak could occur during intermittent winter warming
events, thus exposing open buds, flowers or shoots to cold conditions
that may limit survival of the structure. Chill hours are
not calculated on a continuous basis, but rather in a cumulative
fashion throughout the winter.
When the chilling requirement for pistachio is not fulfilled,
vegetative and reproductive abnormalities may be observed
in the spring. Bud break may be delayed or irregular (Figure
3, see page 27), often resulting in multiple phenological stages
present on the same branch. Insufficient chill may result in
protracted progression of bud break, whereas sufficient chill is
26 West Coast Nut January 2022

Figure 3. Low chill accumulation is associated with
delayed, protracted bud break, bud abscission, bare zones
on branches and poor nut set (photo by David Doll, The
Almond Doctor.)
correlated with a more condensed duration of bud
break (Afshari et al. 2009). Lack of adequate chill has
also been associated with abscission of floral buds
as well as altered flower morphology and reduced
fruit set. Pollination rates may be reduced due to
asynchronous bloom of male and female trees as well
as poor pollen production and death of the stigma
(Crane and Takeda 1978). The resulting reduction in
fruit set is associated with an increased proportion of
blanks, unsplit nuts, late maturation, and a general
reduction in yield (Crane and Takeda 1978). As a
pollination management strategy, some growers have
opted to plant multiple male genotypes in orchards to
extend the duration of pollen availability.
Studies conducted by UC scientists determined
that ‘Peters’ males have a higher chilling requirement
Continued on Page 28
A
# of Days
# of Days
20
16
12
8
4
0
B
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
May
Frequency of Daily High Temperture > 100 F
Delano, CA
Frequency of Daily High Temperture > 100 F
Delano, CA
June
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Stratford, CA
Five Points, CA
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
July August September
Woodland, CA
Figure 1. Summer 2021 was characterized by excessive heat in pistachio-growing
regions in California. Focusing on Delano, Calif. (A), there were more days with
temperatures ≥100 degrees F in June through September than in the prior four
years. Similarly, across four regions (B), the cumulative number of days with
temperatures ≥100 degrees F was generally higher in 2021 than the prior four
years. Data source: CIMIS
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January 2022 www.wcngg.com 27

Continued from Page 27
than their ‘Kerman’ female counterpart.
‘Peters’ males require at least 900
hours below 45 degrees C to achieve 50%
bloom. The ‘Kerman’ female requires
700 hours below 45 degrees C to achieve
44% bloom (Ferguson et al. 2002). The
chilling requirements for new varieties,
such as ‘Golden Hills’ and ‘Lost Hills,’
have yet to be assessed.
Chill Models
Various chill models used by physiologists
are not laws of nature, but rather
statistical models used to represent plant
response to chill-related variables. In
short, each model simply calculates the
chill-related variable slightly differently.
The model achieving the “best fit”
may vary from year to year simply
because no two years have identical
temperature fluctuation profiles from
November through February. The simplest
model, the Chilling Hour Model, is
a summation of the hours below 45 degrees
F. It is this model that was used to
establish the 900- and 700-hour chilling
requirement for ‘Peters’ and ‘Kerman,’
respectively.
A modified model accounts only for
chilling hours accumulated between
32 degrees F and 45 degrees F; these
are called ‘Modified Chill Hours.’ Two
other models, the Utah Model and the
Dynamic Model, attempt to characterize
the influence of intermittent warmer
temperatures on chill accumulation
and are represented by ‘Chill Units’
and ‘Chill Portions,’ respectively. When
comparing the Chilling Hour Model and
the Dynamic Model, 900 chill hours converts
to approximately 69 chill portions
in California’s Central Valley (Pope et al.
2015).
Chill model calculation tools are
available online at the UC ANR Fruit
and Nut Research and Information
Center (FNRIC) website (fruitsandnuts.
ucanr.edu). To utilize these models, a
grower can click on the model of interest
and choose the CIMIS (California Irrigation
Management Information Center)
station nearest their orchard. Data from
CIMIS stations are available for four locations
in each of Tulare and Kern counties,
two locations in each of Kings and
Madera counties, and nine locations in
Fresno County. One limitation of these
calculators is the reliance on information
from CIMIS stations and not from
individual orchards and microclimates;
however, the online calculators do allow
for comparisons over successive years
by providing access to historic, archived
CIMIS data.
Chill is Not Everything
Adequate chill is not the sole determinant
of orchard productivity. A
recent study of historic yield records
demonstrated that pistachio yields did
not fall below average until chill portions
dropped below 57 (Pope et al. 2015). Recalling
that the 900 chill hours required
for ‘Peters’ converts to approximately 69
chill portions in the Central Valley, one
can conclude that it takes more than a
reduction of chill portions below 69 to
affect the yield at a state level.
Another study utilizing 30 years of
production data from three ‘Kerman’
orchards identified four main factors
responsible for over 65% of the variability
in yield (Kallsen 2017). In this
study, the main factors influencing yield
included 1) yield in the prior year; 2)
warm spring temperatures (>80 degrees
F) prior to bloom; 3) cool temperatures
(65 degrees F) from
mid-November through mid-February. If
four variables accounted for 65% of the
variability in yield in the Kallsen (2017)
study, then the other 35% of yield may be
influenced by many other orchard management
practices throughout the year.
In summary, the chill calculators are
tools that may be utilized to make comparisons
of chill accumulation between
years and assess the progress of chill
accumulation during a given season. The
model outputs are limited by the input
data sourced from CIMIS stations at discreet
locations that might not adequately
reflect the environmental parameters
of a given orchard. In addition to chill
accumulation, growers should consider
other mitigating factors, such as microclimates,
propensity for inversions and
historical yield data to assess the future
orchard productivity potential.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us
at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
28 West Coast Nut January 2022

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View from the Top
Interview with Don Barton,
President of GoldRiver Orchards
‘We’re in an Existential Battle for Our
Very Survival’
By CATHERINE MERLO | Contributing Writer
“We need to be better organized as an
industry to remind people of the value of
California agriculture to our state economy,”
says walnut grower/processor Don Barton
(photo courtesy D. Barton.)
Don Barton’s family has weathered
plenty of challenges since it began
growing walnuts in California in
1912. But the threats facing California
agriculture today may the toughest yet.
Barton grew up on the family ranch
in Escalon, about mid-way between Sacramento
and Merced. He graduated from
Stanford University and later earned an
MBA in agribusiness at Santa Clara University.
Rather than return to the family
business, he pursued a food marketing
career, working for major companies like
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. and The
H.J. Heinz Corporation.
In 2003, he left the East Coast to take
on a new responsibility: launching the
family’s GoldRiver Orchards, Inc. Today,
as its president and managing partner,
Barton oversees a company that processes
some 30 million pounds of walnuts
a year at its plant near Escalon. It works
with about 100 walnut growers and employs
60 employees at peak season. The
company markets its California walnut
products to Asia, Europe and the Middle
East, all under its GoldRiver Orchards
brand. Meanwhile, Barton Ranch continues
to grow walnuts as well as almonds
and olives for oil.
Barton’s industry knowledge broadened
during his 2017-21 tenure as
chairman of the board of Western Agricultural
Processors Association (WAPA).
He’s also served on committees for the
California Walnut Board.
Those experiences have left Barton
acutely aware of the difficulties of running
a California agricultural company.
But what haunts him is a statement
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters made
at WAPA’s annual meeting last June. In
an early November interview with West
Coast Nut magazine, Barton recalled
what Walters told the audience that day:
“In Sacramento, if you are not at the table,
you are on the menu. And agriculture, I
have news for you, you are on the menu.”
Q: How are the drought and
the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act affecting
your operation?
The water situation is the most critical
situation we face on the farming side of
our business. The main impact is not due
to SGMA. The main impact is the gross
mismanagement of water resources in
California by both the State of California
and the federal government. Most of our
production operations are near the Stanislaus
River. The flows from the Stanislaus
are regulated by the New Melones Dam
upstream of our ranch.
Twice a year since 2009, the Army
Corps of Engineers makes major releases
of fresh water from the New Melones
Reservoir down the Stanislaus River and
eventually through the Delta and into
the rising oceans. They do this ostensibly
to increase the fish populations, yet the
salmon population has not increased.
We’ve flushed an estimated 800 billion
gallons of water down the channel. That’s
fresh water that is so precious to California,
whether it’s for agriculture or
municipal use, and it’s going right into
the ocean with no measurable results.
This same water could be delivered to
farms in our area, reducing reliance on
groundwater.
The environmental advocates ignore
the fact that there are non-native
predatory species in the Delta that are
eating the salmon fry and having a major
impact on salmon populations in the
San Joaquin River system. They just don’t
seem to care. Ultimately, this terrible
policy is creating a situation where we
have, in this case, a fantastic storage
facility that is grossly underutilized
because we keep draining water out of
it, even in the midst of two of the most
severe droughts California has ever experienced.
That, far more than SGMA, is
a major challenge for us. In my view, we
have the surface water to use to keep our
groundwater basins sustainable under
SGMA, if only California and the federal
government would stop preventing its
beneficial use.
Q: Apart from water, what’s
your biggest challenge today?
It is a continuous onslaught of adversarial
actions from Sacramento, whether
they’re from the State Legislature or from
regulatory agencies that continue to
press in on agriculture. Farmers typically
want to keep our heads down. We just
want to do our job and enjoy the way of
life that we’re used to. We’re not good
at organizing. That has hurt us. We are
out-organized by the environmental
interests in this state. I believe we are in
an existential battle for our very survival.
California agriculture is a breadbasket
for the rest of the world, particularly
Continued on Page 33
30 West Coast Nut January 2022

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Barton said a priority for California ag in 2022 is solving the state’s export issues (photo by
Vicky Boyd.)
Continued from Page 30
with specialty crops. But you can easily
foresee scenarios where that won’t be the
case 20, 25, 30 years from now. We’ve got
to fight to hold on to our way of life.
Q: What can you do about it?
One way we’re trying to address
this, in a state where three-quarters of
the State Legislature are Democrats, is
to engage with moderate Democrats,
particularly those from urban districts,
who don’t know a lot about agriculture
but are willing to learn. We bring them
out to our farms and processing facilities
to dispel some of the perceptions out
there and show them that, first of all, we
are employing a lot of people in California.
Secondly, that we are good stewards
of the land. And thirdly, that there is a
viable place for farming and agriculture
in California. We don’t have the glamour
of Hollywood. We don’t have the power
of Silicon Valley. But we are still a significant
part of California industry, and
we’re one of the largest exporters in California
and the U.S. We’re worth fighting
for, if we can convince enough politicians
to fight for us.
Q: What are your priorities for 2022?
Our first priority is trying to figure
out how to continue to serve our customers
so that, ultimately, we can serve our
growers. The mainstream media tend to
focus on supply chain issues with regard
to imports. But growers and processors
are having a terrible time getting our
product shipped to overseas markets. A
recent report ranking the efficiency of
ports around the world showed that of
351 ports worldwide, Los Angeles ranks
#328 and Long Beach ranks #333. That’s
embarrassing, and it has huge social costs
for the American economy. These shipping
challenges are huge. In our 18 years
as a walnut processor, I can’t remember
a challenge as significant as this supply
chain issue we’re facing. We are shipping
goods but only at a rate of about half
of what we would normally be doing at
this time of year. We’re building up a lot
of inventory. We’ve got our warehouses
packed full of finished goods. They’re
under contract, ready to ship. But finding
empty containers and getting those
shipped on time is a huge challenge.
Q: In closing, is there anything
else you’d like to say?
I’d just like to re-emphasize that
the challenges that agriculture faces in
California are real and they are severe.
They will require leaders in California
agriculture to come together. We’ve got
to do a better job of organizing, speaking
out, of making sure that our elected officials
know the importance of California
agriculture to the California economy.
If the environmentalists have their way,
honestly, you can foresee a future where
the Central Valley of California, which is
agriculture, if that disappears, you will
have a Dust Bowl. It will be an economic
disaster for the state, and the impact will
ripple across worldwide markets, because
California’s products are traded worldwide.
At some point, we need the help of
regular citizens and certainly, we need
to be better organized as an industry to
remind people of the value of California
agriculture to our state economy.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
January 2022 www.wcngg.com 33

The Future of
Groundwater
Management
Satellite monitoring
of crop water use
for groundwater
management is the
next wave.
By KATHY COATNEY | Contributing Writer
Most experts agree that using satellites to monitor
groundwater is the future for California agriculture.
Satellite measurements are accurate enough to determine
water usage of a given crop, which has led Groundwater
Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) to look at this as a way to
monitor groundwater.
Satellite monitoring of crop water use for groundwater
management is the wave of the future, according to Joel Kimmelshue,
Ph.D., principal agricultural scientist for Land IQ,
and it is a method that the regulatory agencies are using.
Tracking of evapotranspiration (ET) through infrared
technology for mapping has been around for quite some time,
but satellites would actually use regional snapshots of an area
or a simple vegetative index, then come up with calculations
based on the amount of water a given crop needs.
Mike Wade, executive director for the California Farm
Water Coalition, said, “I think between these satellites that are
able to measure groundwater and others that measure crop
evapotranspiration through infrared spectrometer photography,
what I have heard is the experts believe they will be
able to accurately monitor groundwater use without metering
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every pump.”
Water Monitoring Research
Dan Howes, a professor at the Irrigation Training and Research
Center (ITRC) at California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo, has been doing research on using satellites to
assess plant water use for quite some time.
“There’s been work on assessing plant water consumption,
evapotranspiration, using remote sensing, specifically satellites,
since I’d say the late 1990s, early 2000s,” Howes said, adding
Landsat has been the primary remote sensing data tool.
Landsat 8 is an American Earth observation satellite that
launched in February 2013 and is the eighth satellite in the
Landsat program. Currently, Landsat 8 has 11 bands of data
Continued on Page 36
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Continued from Page 34
that can be used for different purposes, including monitoring
for plant water use. The ITRC uses a surface energy balance
process based on data from Landsat and ground-based weather
data to compute actual evapotranspiration. There are other
methodologies also being used for this type of analysis.
The research was originally intended as water management
for irrigation districts or water agencies to answer questions
like, “I know how much water I’m bringing in, I have meters on
that, and I know how much water flows out of the downstream
end, but what’s going on with the plants? How much do the
plants actually need, and how is that matching with how much
I’m bringing in?” Howes said.
“Since the 1940s and 50s, we’ve been trying to do that in
different methods, and this was just another leap forward in
our traditional assessment of plant water use for design, for
management, and then, yes, for farmers, too, for irrigation
scheduling. You do have to realize that what we provide, and
what we all try to provide for, especially for this groundwater
monitoring, is the actual ET (as opposed to the potential ET),”
Howes said.
Howes and others are currently in the implementation stage.
Satellite data is already being used in several capacities from
water analysis to water rights, Howes said.
“We started this whole program of using remote sensing
to assess evapotranspiration for groundwater monitoring, for
groundwater regulation through the Sustainable Groundwater
License No. 251698
Management Act (SGMA). And then companies obviously took
off from there, and so now, as they take over, we go into more
of an expert oversight role,” Howes said, “where we’ll act as the
unbiased expert that is called out to make an assessment when
needed.”
Ground Truthing
Kimmelshue said Land IQ provides information on how
much water has evapotranspired, or how much water the crops
use, not what water is applied. “The fundamental mechanism
that we use is critical. It is what we call heavy ground truthing
which anchors/calibrates our modeling efforts to actual ground
measurements of ET for the most accurate estimates of crop
water use possible,” he said.
Ground truthing and the collection of ground truth data
enables calibration of remote-sensing data and aids in a more
accurate and defensible interpretation and analysis of what is
being sensed.
Land IQ has over 100 climatic stations in the southern San
Joaquin Valley that measure the parameters necessary to calculate
actual ET, then satellite imagery is used to extrapolate the
ground truthing measurements across the rest of the landscape,
Kimmelshue explained.
“When you’re using remote sensing and looking across an
entire landscape, to have data points on the ground that tie you
or anchor you to the ground is really valuable, because rather
than kind of guessing what it is, you’re measuring what it is,”
Kimmelshue said.
What Land IQ provides is more of a water management tool,
Kimmelshue continued. “Think about a grower wanting to irrigate
a whole season, and the grower only has a certain amount
of water that they can pump, an allocation in other words,”
Kimmelshue said. “They can use these results to track how
they’re doing throughout an irrigation season and determine if
they are above or below their allocation.”
Land IQ works for grower representative organizations,
water irrigation districts, GSAs and various commodity groups
that in turn share this information with their growers.
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In the Coachella Valley, an avocado grower is experimenting
with a pressure sensor that measures the water pressure
of the tree. Working with the university and understanding
plant physiology, research has found that when the pressure
in the tree reaches a certain level, the tree needs water, and it’s
irrigated, Wade said.
This grower is taking that to the next level, Wade continued.
He’s working to develop an irrigation management system that
takes the information directly from the probe so that the tree
can essentially determine when to irrigate itself.
The theory is, with the right mechanics and electronics,
when the sensor reaches a certain level, it can trigger the
irrigation system to turn on, then irrigate to the point where
the pressure of the tree reaches the sustainable level, then turn
off. In essence, the tree can decide when and how much water it
needs based on its own demand.
“If it’s hotter, maybe it’s going to irrigate more often. If it’s
not hot, it senses that and it won’t irrigate,” Wade said.
36 West Coast Nut January 2022

“That’s just one of the other new
technologies that are out there that could
develop into something that is almost
hands-off in terms of meeting crop water
needs,” he continued, adding that this
technology could possibly transfer into
almonds, walnuts and pistachios.
Groundwater Monitoring
What does satellite monitoring of
groundwater mean for farmers? “Well,
I think what it’ll do is it will make the
Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act more accurate,” Wade said, “and
SGMA needed some methodology to
accurately measure groundwater extraction
and satellites can do that.”
How this will be translated into
regulatory oversight at the local level
isn’t known yet, Wade continued. “But
I think on the positive side, that means
we will be able to meet the needs of the
groundwater management act, hopefully
on time, over the next 20 years.
“With the right tools, if they (GSAs)
can see that block is using more water
than the region should be using, and
I’m sure there will be a buffer, but if it’s
considerably more, then they’re going
to be able to tell that you’re probably
Examples of Land IQ’s field-by-field monthly crop evapotranspiration results for two
summer months.
pumping more groundwater than what
the sustainable yield is,” Wade said.
“The vast majority of the industry
wants to do a good job, and farmers are
remarkable people as a whole. If they’re
given a goal, this is what we need to
achieve, they’ll figure out how to do it.
And I think most farmers want to do the
right thing, and they’re going to work toward
achieving that,” Wade said, adding
that with farmers achieving this on their
own, it means less regulation down the
road.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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January 2022 www.wcngg.com 37

Cal/OSHA’s Nighttime
Lighting Requirements For
Ag Are Final; Are You in
Compliance?
By ROGER A. ISOM | President/CEO, Western Agricultural Processors Association and
MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ | Safety Specialist, Western Agricultural Processors Association
New lighting workplace standards
aim to protect agricultural workers
who harvest, operate vehicles and
perform other jobs between sunset
and sunrise. (all photos courtesy
Western Agricultural Processors
Association.)
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Are you operating at night around the huller or on
the farm? In June 2020, the Standards Board for the California
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(Cal/OSHA) adopted new lighting workplace standards for
protecting agricultural workers who harvest, operate vehicles
and perform other jobs between sunset and sunrise. The new
regulation requires agricultural employers to evaluate areas of
outdoor worksites to determine if the present lighting levels are
within the specifications established by the standard.
The goal in establishing this requirement is to implement
protective measures that improve visibility of workers by
operators of farm equipment and vehicles, and ensure workers
have adequate lighting depending on the area they are operating
in and the task they are preforming. Supervisors must conduct
safety meetings at the beginning of every shift to inform
workers about their surroundings and high traffic areas.
General Requirements
Agricultural equipment, including tractors, harvesters and
trucks, must have at least one headlight to illuminate the front
of the equipment at least 50 feet in front of the equipment. For
all other operations occurring at night, the standard requires
agricultural employers to meet specific illumination levels
(Table 1, see page 40).
Required illumination levels can be met by providing
hands-free portable lighting and/or area lighting. It is important
to note that these illumination levels should be
Continued on Page 40
38 West Coast Nut January 2022

TEAM
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Continued from Page 38
measured by a meter. These meters can
be purchased from typical equipment
supply companies like Grainger. Look
for meters from Flir, Extech or similar.
The Association recommends
conducting a site assessment, by taking
light measurements at night in those
areas where activities can or may occur
in. A critical area is the loading or unloading
of stockpile bins onto or from
trucks. Be sure to take light measurements
in these critical areas. Once you
know the actual light levels, you can
decide on how to address any deficiencies
or make changes to avoid low-light
areas. A well conducted site assessment
is critical to a successful plan.
Safety Meetings
There is a specific requirement for
“safety meetings” for this regulation. It
mandates that supervisory employees
conduct a safety meeting at the begin-
Table 1. Cal/OSHA Lighting Requirements for Agricultural Operations at Night
Foot-candles Lux Operations, Areas or Tasks
3
5
10
20
32.29
53.82
107.64
215.30
Meeting area and meal/rest area
Outdoor areas
Pathways leading to and around
restrooms and drinking water stations
Inside restroom facilities
Storage areas accessed by employees
Intermittently exposed or exposed point
of operation equipment
Operating visible moving parts of
machinery
Task lighting for operations involving the
use of tools that can potentially cause
cuts, lacerations or punches
Task lighting for maintenance work on
equipment
40 West Coast Nut January 2022

conditions, such as fog in the winter,
sometimes makes it difficult to see people.
Reflective clothing helps improve
visibility immensely.
While this is another one of those
California-only regulations, there
are some aspects of this regulation
that make sense, such as wearing the
reflective vest or other clothing. Being
visible is the most critical point here,
and the reflective clothing will
definitely help.
For those that need assistance in
meeting these requirements or need
help understanding this rule, please feel
free to contact the Association Offices.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
Class 2 high-visibility vests that
meet this standard are inexpensive
and readily available.
ning of each shift to inform employees
of the location of the restrooms,
drinking water, designated break areas
and additional hazards, such as nearby
bodies of water and high-traffic areas.
For most tree nut facilities, this should
not be a huge issue as these typically
don’t change much, but it is important
to make sure employees know these areas
and are reminded of them. Farming
or field operations may have additional
information to cover with employees as
work crews move to different worksite
locations. While not required, the
Association strongly encourages you to
document these meeting as well as who
attended them.
Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE)
This particular regulation mandates
the employer provide and require
workers to wear Class 2 high-visibility
garments conforming to the specifications
of the American National Standard
for High-Visibility Safety Apparel
and Accessories (ANSI/ISEA) 107-2015
for any work activities that occur between
sunset and sunrise. This requirement
is a good safety practice as Class
2 high-visibility vests that meet this
standard are inexpensive and readily
available. Many tree nut facilities make
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January 2022 www.wcngg.com 41

Like threespike goosegrass, alkaliweed has the potential
to become a looming threat in nut orchards,
and both are resistant to glyphosate and many other
herbicides (photo by Kurt Hembree, UCCE.)
Threespike goosegrass has cropped up in both the San Joaquin and Sacramento
valleys and is a growing concern for weed science researchers such
as Hanson (photo by B. Hanson.)
WEED CONTROL IN NUT ORCHARDS
KEEP AN EYE ON RESISTANCE, SCOUT SEVERAL TIMES THROUGHOUT THE SEASON
By JULIE R. JOHNSON | Contributing Writer
Identifying the weeds in an orchard
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Brad Hanson, during a presentation at
the Tehama County Agriculture Producer’s
Day.
Hanson said an integrated approach
that starts with proper identification is
the best approach.
“I think it’s important to understand
the weed problem you’re trying to manage,
consider what management option
you have, and seek integrated approaches
to weed management using chemical,
cultural, biological/cultural and physical
manipulations of the cropping system,”
he said.
Following identification, one of the
next steps in weed control and man-
Continued on Page 44
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control (photo courtesy B. Hanson.)
42 West Coast Nut January 2022

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Continued from Page 42
agement is to select registered herbicides with activity on the
grower’s specific weed spectrum, followed by properly applying
that material.
“More isn’t always better,” he said when it comes to applying
herbicides. “If you use a herbicide program that isn’t appropriate
for the weeds in your orchard, or if you apply it poorly or at
the wrong time, you are wasting your time and money.”
He addresses this issue by recommending growers ask
themselves a series of questions in considering ways to reduce
herbicide weed management intensity:
What product(s) and strategies are being used? Are they the
best for the weed problem and your goals?
What rate(s) are they being applied? Could a lower use rate
(at a better timing) achieve the goal? Could a lower-use-rate
product replace a higher-use-rate product?
How frequently are herbicides applied in the orchard? Could
a better-designed program or slightly relaxed threshold reduce
applications by one or more per year?
How many sprayed acres versus orchard acres for each application?
Could more narrow strips be used to reduce overall
herbicide treated area?
In reference to his last posed question, Hanson explained,
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would an eight-foot strip versus a 10-foot strip be sufficient? If
so, that could amount to a 9% reduction in treated area in 22-
foot row spacing, which could result is a number of benefits.
In addition, he asked, what about the middles of the orchard?
“Is your current middles herbicide program necessary?”
Hanson asked. “Could other less-intense approaches be used
instead, or to supplement, middles vegetation management?”
In terms of herbicides, it comes down to a formula of the
right product, at the right time, in the right amount and place.
Preemergence Herbicides
The “right time” can often entail the use of preemergence
herbicides before the weed has emerged.
Preemergence herbicides are applied to bare soil and affect
germinating seeds and seedlings. “Typically, these are the herbicides
that are applied in the fall, winter or early spring before
weeds emerge, and they usually affect weeds just as they germinate
or are just beginning to emerge from the soil,” Hanson
explained. “Often, people mistakenly think these herbicides kill
seeds or sterilize the soil, which is not actually the case.”
This takes place by the herbicide being absorbed by the
seedling root, shoot or both. “Some pre herbicides translocate
within the plant, while others do not,” he said. “The whole point
of residual preemergence herbicides is they persist in the soil
for a period of time and affect weeds that germinate after the
application, at times weeks or even months later.”
Residual activity is rate-dependent and even soil-dependent
in some cases, Hanson added.
However, there isn’t a monolithic group of preemergence
chemicals on the market, so the grower and pest control advisors
need to be knowledgeable about the strengths, weaknesses,
and risks of the different herbicides that can be used preemergence.
Preemergence chemical properties vary in volatility, photosensitivity,
mobility, binding affinity to soil, leaching risks and
more.
“I think integrated weed management programs that include
preemergence herbicides make a lot of sense for orchard
cropping systems,” Hanson said. “There are different modes
of action in the preemergence herbicide sector compared to
postemergence materials which gives us some help for managing
resistant weeds. This reduces the need for later-season weed
control”.
Herbicide Resistance
Walnut and almond growers’ most commonly-used herbicide,
glyphosate, is becoming less effective among several weed
species due to resistance, Hanson explained.
Glyphosate has confirmed resistance in broadleaves including
horseweed and hairy fleabane and in grasses including
ryegrass, annual bluegrass and junglerice.
Potential resistance is also suspected in broadleaves such as
lambsquarters and alkaliweed and in the grasses, threespike
44 West Coast Nut January 2022

goosegrass, feather fingergrass, windmillgrass,
sprangletop and witchgrass.
In recent years, researchers are also
seeing increasing issues with multiple,
or “stacked,” resistance in isolated weeds,
Hanson said.
“In most cases, that involves resistance
to a second herbicide, such as paraquat,
in addition to glyphosate,” he added.
“We’ve seen this in weeds such as Conyza,
Lolium and Poa so far.
“We are doing okay managing glyphosate
resistance in major T&V (tree and
vine) crops with the use of pre-herbicides
plus other post herbicides, often plus glyphosate.
However, there is some concern
about additional selection pressure for
glufosinate and paraquat resistance, and
in summer grasses, we may see increased
pressure on ACCase-inhibiting herbicides.”
Among some good news, so far,
Hanson said, they have not seen issues
of resistance with PPO (Protoporphyrinogen
oxidase) inhibiting-herbicides, pre
or post, ALS inhibitors, CBI and mitotic
inhibitor and HPPD inhibitors.
Tank Mixes, Sequences and Rotations
Hanson said that managing for herbicide-resistant
weeds requires monitoring
and record-keeping to understand weed
history in the orchard, rotating among
multiple modes of action and, where
necessary, thinking differently about
applications to get residual control with
preemergents through the summer.
“Tank mixes, sequences and rotations
remain important,” he added.
He recommends mixtures to broaden
activity and also trying to overlap on key
species.
“Sequences used in tree crops can
introduce several opportunities and sites
of action,” Hanson recommends. “’I want
us to control weeds, but not over-apply
coverage.’ It’s a matter of economics, crop
safety, and environmental consideration.”
In addition, growers should separately
consider preemergence and post-treatment
windows and rotation chemistries
in both, which is especially important in
thinking about multiple resistance, he
added.
Weed ID
When considering herbicide resistance
and management, Hanson advises
field scouting for weed identification to
catch problems early.
“I can’t emphasize this enough,” he
said. “This is a practice that needs to take
place several times per season.”
Weed identification helps growers
create control decisions on actual weed
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“Control the weeds you know you
have or will have,” Hanson said. “Identify
new weed problems when they are small,
such as new invasive species, resistant
biotypes, and such. That way, you can
use more intensive control strategies on
the pockets that need it rather than fieldwide.”
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ooks, online and through industry advisors, to help in identifying
weeds. One online option is the “Weed Research and
Information Center” at wric.ucdavis.edu and then clicking the
site “weed ID tool”.
Can the industry manage weeds effectively without glyphosate,
asks Hanson. “Glyphosate has a lot of weed control
attributes, especially in terms of bang-for-the-buck, but has not
really been an effective stand-alone program for years,” he said.
“Tree nut and vineyard systems have a number of herbicide options;
however, it will take good management, and costs are
likely to increase to some degree.”
Cover Crop Weed Management
While the practice of cover crops in orchards is not a highly
used weed management practice in California, there are
some benefits (and drawbacks) to consider.
Benefits include building soil health, nitrogen credits, bee
forage and help in controlling weed pressure.
Drawbacks to the practice, according to research, involve
residues at harvest, interference with sanitation and navel orangeworm
pressure, increased water usage and frost risks.
Two keys to cover crop success is seed mix selection and
cover crop management. Criteria to consider when choosing
species:
Cover crops are one of the non-chemical options in the fight
against weed pressure (photo by B. Hanson.)
▶
▶
▶
▶
▶
Main objectives: pollinator habitat, pest control, soil health
Orchard’s irrigation system and water demand of
cover crop species
Soil type and tillage
Biodiversity and functions of the cover crop
Price and availability of seeds
Continued from Page 45
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Threespike Goosegrass and Alkaliweed
There are two weed species that have shown up in both the
San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento Valley that Hanson said
are of relatively new concern to orchard growers.
The threespike goosegrass is an annual to short-lived perennial
that emerges in early spring to early summer. It is of a low
growing stature, but very prolific, Hanson said.
“It is tolerant of glyphosate, especially once established,” he
added. “Since it’s a perennial, it’s also hard to control with
most of our preemergence herbicides once established, although
those products can work well on new seedlings.”
In a series of field trials, researchers have found that sequential
programs of preemergence herbicides to reduce seedling
recruitment followed by an ACCase-inhibiting herbicide to
control the established plants can be quite effective.
Alkaliweed is related to morning glories and bindweed. It is
a perennial plant that dies back to the crown in the winter, then
produces seed and regrows from underground buds.
Control of the weed is difficult as it has very hairy leaf surfaces,
making it hard to wet in applications.
There is poor control of alkaliweed with glyphosate and
contact herbicides suppress but do not control the weed.
Alkaliweed likes saline/alkaline areas and is becoming an
increasing issue in pistachio orchards.
Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel
free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
46 West Coast Nut January 2022

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The Almond Conference
Highlights Opportunities
and Challenges for Industry
By MARNI KATZ | Editor
Almond Board’s Geoff Bogart moderated a panel on agriculutral export delays at this year’s Almond Conference in December.
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The California almond industry
confronted the challenges facing
the industry at this year’s Almond
Conference while also offering up a
number of solutions to help the industry
move forward. While some of the
industry’s challenges are external—water,
crushing supply chain disruptions,
increases in input costs—others are
self-imposed, namely a precarious imbalance
in supply and demand.
Several sessions at this year’s first
in-person conference in two years
focused on efforts to build demand,
through novel approaches to domestic
marketing and building and expanding
on important export markets. In
addition, a well-attended session on
breaking the export log jam focused
on the supply chain issues impacting
the industry and how or when it will
ever be resolved. Experts at this year’s
Almond Industry conference seemed
to agree that the way out of the current
price situation for almond growers is
through it, by balancing out supply and
demand and building relationships
to break down obstacles at home and
abroad.
48 West Coast Nut January 2022

Supply Chain Issues
In a session titled Ag Export
Delays: Any Light at the End of
the Tunnel, the Almond Board’s
Geoff Bogart noted that there
is a dim light but it is a very
long tunnel. As of early December,
the situation at ports, rail
ramps and roads continued
to deteriorate, causing delays
in shipments, according to
Joshua Woods of Blue Diamond
Growers.
Jonathan Hoff at Monte
Vista Farming said the crisis is
creating a cash conversion cycle
longer than ever before, making
it harder to pay growers in a
timely manner.
“It’s critical we figure out
this puzzle and that we keep
things going. The issues we are
facing are huge and its going
to require a massive effort
from every stakeholder that is
involved,” said Hoff, chair of the
ABC Technical and Regulatory
Affairs Committee.
Katie Stack, with Grizzly Nut and
the board of directors of the Almond
Alliance, said the Alliance is focusing
on getting empty containers filled with
almonds and back on vessels. That
includes strategies to store almonds
closer to ports, break the log jam in
trucks and chassis and develop strategic
partnerships with labor and trucking
groups.
Andrew Hwang of the Port of
Oakland said that California almonds
are an important segment for the port
and that congestion at the port is being
exacerbated by a shortage of trucks and
containers. He stressed that the crisis
should compel companies to shore up
their logistics planning now and in the
future.
“Logistics has been looked on as a
pass through part of the business, but
companies who have traditionally
complex logistics programs have been
hurt less, so there needs to be a strategic
alignment of logistics programs
with the rest of the business,” Hwang
advised.
Brian Ezell of the Wonderful Company
and chair of ABC’s Global Market
Development Committee said these
unprecedented transportation and port
issues continue to plague shipments.
“We started feeling the pains of it
about a year ago, but I kind of felt like
as an industry, we had learned some
tricks and knew how to deal with the
issues, and we had record shipments
month after month,” Ezell said. But
recent months have become much
tougher.
Ezell said that while external forces
such as water, tariffs, transportation
issues and input costs are external and
beyond growers’ control, supply issues
must still be addressed. A supply increase
of 37% over the last two years is
not sustainable. Ezell said the industry
is built to absorb a supply growth rate
of about 6.5% to 7% before efforts to
build demand can no longer offset that
growth and prices suffer.
Exports Lead the Way
Meanwhile, global demand for almonds,
despite these trade and logistics
challenges, continues to be a bright spot
for the industry. About 70% of California
almonds are destined for export
markets. ABC’s Emily Fleishman said
strategic marketing objects to build
long-term worldwide demand will help
buoy the financial wellbeing of the
industry. The Almond Board works to
choose the right markets currently and
in the future to build demand. She said
the Board is looking beyond growth
in the top 10 markets to new regions
including, South American, the Middle
East, Africa and even Russia, to build
demand for future production.
While conditions on the ground
and at sea have been challenging for
exports, those markets will continue
to lead the way for California almond
handlers. India is particularly hopeful
in terms of its place as the number-one
export market for California almonds
and in terms of its untapped market
potential.
“The India market is tailor-made
for our industry,” according to Warren
Cohen, VP of global sales for Blue Di-
Continued on Page 50
January 2022 www.wcngg.com 49

Continued from Page 49
amond Growers. Almonds
fit well into India’s health
conscious eating trends
and there are vast areas
of India that have not yet
been touched by the market
potential of California
almonds.
Consumption in India
saw a 42% increase in one
year and, while there are
several kinks in the trade
relationship, consumption
is still higher than that for
all EU nations combined.
While India has a number
of trade challenges, U.S.
trade representatives are
working to set the stage
for regular engagement on
Warren Cohen of Blue Diamond Growers, at left, said India will continue to be a key parter in future export
trade with India, said Joan
growth for California almonds.
Hurst with the USDA’s
Foreign Ag Service.
A growing middle class
and improved economy and infrastructure
are removing access barriers to
Indian consumers.
“The good news is there is still so
much potential and upside to be had in
the market,” Fleishman said.
Domestic Growth
Domestic market growth will also
be key to continued industry success,
and Fleishman noted that younger
consumers will be an important target
for domestic marketing programs. The
Almond Board plans to engage millennials
through a partnership with Marvel
Studios featuring a cross promotion
with the upcoming Thor “cinematic
universe”.
Fleishman said that while almonds
are a $30 billion global category in
grocery stores, it has the potential to
exceed $164 billion within a decade.
Comments about this article? We want to hear
from you. Feel free to email us at article@
jcsmarketinginc.com
50 West Coast Nut January 2022

®
IMAGINATION
INNOVATION
SCIENCE IN ACTION

A WORD FROM THE BOARD: AMERICAN PECAN COUNCIL
Pecan Growth During the 2020-21 Year
and Projections for 2021-22
By AMERICAN PECAN COUNCIL | Contributing Writer
Every year, the American Pecan Council (APC) as the Federal
Marketing Order (FMO) for the U.S. pecan industry
creates a marketing policy statement that includes recaps
and projections for the upcoming fiscal year. Each year, these
marketing policy statements are approved during the August
council meeting in preparation for the pecan industry’s new
fiscal year beginning October 1. In this article, we will dive into
some key data and analytics of the U.S. pecan industry gathered
this past year and visit the current projections for the 2021-22
crop year.
Low Consumption with More Supply Coming
When the pecan industry came together and formed the
FMO, pecans came in at 15% top-of-mind awareness among
U.S. consumers. Prior to the FMO, research showed that U.S.
pecan consumption was stagnant while other tree nuts with
established programs were experiencing growth. We saw from
this research that there would be exponential growth in global
pecan supply, almost double by the year 2027. At the current
rates without the FMO, global pecan supply was projected to
exceed demand by 15%. With that being said, the U.S. pecan
industry, across 15 different states, came together and unified
marketing efforts to combat the supply growth and raise topof-mind
awareness for and overall consumption of pecans. The
marketing strategy from the start of the FMO was to echo these
efforts and goals.
Data illuminated the beginning success of the young FMO
work. In the first two years, pecan consumption increased 16%.
Since then, consumption has continued to climb by 20%. The
increase in consumption and demand means more product is
moving from the supply that is only projected to go up. We will
take a look at the movement of handler inventory later in this
article.
2020-21 Crop Size
Because mandatory data is new for the pecan industry, the
FMO is still establishing baselines and trends from the current
data received. Based on the August 2021 Year-End Inventory
Report, the total U.S. crop came in at roughly 330 million
pounds. This is one of the highest reported crops thus far
compared to previous crop years, further driving home how
necessary it is to offset growing supply with increased demand
for pecans.
Growth Despite a Pandemic
In 2020, COVID-19 brought the food service industry to a
near stop. This affected food industries across the world. With
the projected global pecan supply, it was a concern that this
new hurdle would also put a halt in the movement of inventory.
With stay-at-home orders and scaled-back gatherings leading
to people staying home and cooking more, it was imperative to
reach consumers right where they were. Pecan’s digital marketing
strategy aligned well with the adjusted consumer behaviors
to continue to keep pecans top-of-mind and move the pecan
crop production through the pandemic. Below is some industry
data that highlights these efforts.
52 West Coast Nut January 2022

Net Open Position as of August 31st
2020-2021 46,614,520
2019-2020
61,084,050
2018-2019
88,315,223
Based on the August 2021 Year-End Inventory
Report, the total U.S. crop came in at roughly 330
million pounds, one of the highest reported crops
thus far compared to previous crop years (all photos
courtesy American Pecan Council.)
- 20,000,000 40,000,000 60,000,000 80,000,000 100,000,000
As of August 31, 2021, the net open position, which represents how much uncommitted
inventory was out and available for the marketplace, was down 19% from the 2019
crop year. This is encouraging because it shows inventory is moving and combatting
potential of excess supply.
Pecan Industry Position Reports
The first annual industry report was
published for the 2016 crop year. The first
monthly data reports were published for
the 2018 crop year. This data has been
crucial to the industry for setting baselines
and to begin tracking and analyzing
trends. These reports include stats on
shelled meat and inshell shipments, inventory,
commitments, net open position
at the end of each month, imports and
exports. On top of that, APC gathers data
on product that is shipped to Mexico to
be shelled and then returned as shelled
meats so that it is not double counted as
an export and import, a common occurrence
in the industry.
Total shipments were up from 233
million pounds in the 2019 crop year to
433 million pounds in the 2020 crop year.
When we focus in on the total inshell retail/grocery/wholesale/export
shipments,
we see an increase of 48% from the 2019-
20 crop year.
As of August 31, 2021, the net open
position, which represents how much
uncommitted inventory was out and
available for the marketplace, was down
19% from the 2019 crop year. This is
encouraging because it shows inventory
is moving and combatting potential of
excess supply.
On top of that, pecan’s total exports
for the 2020-21 crop have increased
from prior crop years. Some of the top
exporting countries were China, Canada,
Germany, Mexico, France, South Korea,
U.K., Italy and Spain.
Current Crop Sizing Projections
APC has projected a total of 315
million pounds for the 2021-22 crop year,
which takes into account that pecans are
an alternate bearing crop. The feedback
received thus far regarding this year’s
crop, which began September 1, 2021, is
that harvest started later than usual and
the crop is coming in slow compared to
prior years. We don’t quite know if the
delayed start has affected the crop yet.
We will continue to monitor the crop size
through the year. You can view the pecan
industry’s monthly position reports at
Americanpecan.com under the data and
analytics tab.
We would love to hear from you! If
you have any questions, please feel free
to reach out to the Council office or email
Director of Industry Relations Emma Garner
at egarner@americanpecan.com.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
January 2022 www.wcngg.com 53

Boosting the Elements
Manipulate Inputs to Maximize Carbon and Hold Water
By RICH KREPS | CCA, SSp., Contributing Writer
It’s been a long harvest.
Your trees just ran a marathon, and so did you.
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Compost can be applied to soils after harvest and in the spring to
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As crop advisors and farmers, we are constantly
trying to find the magic tricks to growing crops and
maximizing yields. We discuss the timing of nutrient
and crop protection applications. We hold open forums at
coffee shops before the crack of dawn on how to properly
irrigate at a specific time of the year and for a specific reason.
And we aspire to get to a metaphysical level of understanding
of how to make 17 nutrients work in perfect Zen harmony to
create the perfect crop, for less. On occasion, someone strikes
the gong and we are brought back from our tantric meditational
fixation of all things nutrition to realize a plant is 96%
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The other 17 elements play
an important part of trying to making those three elements
work. And it isn’t cheap.
A plant is 23% lignin, 40% cellulose and 33% hemicellulose.
Without getting deep into the chemical weeds here,
think of lignin as the structure of a plant. Lignin is very
insoluble, a very heterogenous polymer of phenols. Its diversity
allows it to become a very stable part of a plant. Picture
it mostly as the bark. Cellulose is the more malleable carbon
molecules that build the original structures of cells. If we
were to think of them as a building, cellulose would be the
2x4s that create the original structure. Lignin would be the
plywood sheathing and stucco. All the plumbing and electrical
would be the hemicellulose. They are more specifically
functioning structural parts of a plant with other functions
like carrying water and electricity. So what?
Maximizing Carbon
The “what” is all of these structural chains of molecules
and functional groups are held together by carbon. How can
we increase our carbon usage and save money on inputs and
water at the same time? Carbon. Sugars, starches, fats, oils
and phenols all make up the “organic” part of chemistry.
They are “carbon-based”. Our focus in plant nutrition is to
get a plant to be very efficient at manipulating carbon dioxide
and water to create food. If we think of carbon like the
kids toys of yesterday, “Jacks”, we see the attachment points
that allow carbon to grab onto other elements. Carbon is
what makes life work. Fats, sugars, food and structure all
come from different formulations of a plant using water and
CO 2
.
I wanted to point all that out because the meat and potatoes
of our crops are three elements: C, H and O. We help
manipulate those three elements by adding at least 17 other
nutrients to the mix to make it all happen. If we add too
much of a specific nutrient, say manganese, that contributes
to an overabundance of an enzyme, say pyruvate carboxylase,
and we go too heavy on specific reactions like energy
production. In enhanced energy production, we may use
up our phosphorus reserves more quickly making ATP and
not have enough when specific processes need to happen
after bloom when P demand is high. Now in layman’s terms.
Let’s say we go heavier on coffee in the morning than usual.
Alertness increases, fats get burned, sugars get burned,
heart rate increases, and then we crash before lunch. Action
and reaction. The same thing happens with our macronutrients.
When we apply too much N, P, K, Ca and even Mg or
S, the process can go into hyperdrive. How many times have
you seen solid growth in an orchard only to have medio-
Continued on Page 56
54 West Coast Nut January 2022

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Continued from Page 54
cre yields? Big trees, no nuts. We went vegetative instead of
producing fruit. If we focus more on providing carbon with
our inputs, we should be able to stabilize our production and
even reduce our inputs of other nutrients and water.
What inputs can we manipulate to maximize carbon?
Compost
We can apply compost to soils after harvest and in the spring.
It’s best to incorporate it onto the soil to avoid excess volatilization.
Compost will also enhance the diversity of our soil
biome as well as feed it. It is important to source a quality
mature compost. If you open the truck or pull the tarp and it
wreaks of ammonia, send it back.
Green Waste
Growing cover crops can add many more tons of material
to a field and increase deep carbon incorporation with root
structures. Cover crops can greatly increase the organic matter
in soil, reduce temperatures on soil surfaces and stabilize
soil structures.
Leonardite
We can spread leonardite directly onto our fields to increase
organic matter. Leonardite is highly stable and a rich carbon
source. It will take longer to break down, so don’t expect
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Growing cover crops can add many more tons of material to a
field and increase deep carbon incorporation with root structures
(photo courtesy Nichols Farms.)
immediate, dramatic results; however, continual applications
can enhance soil organic matter and add structure. Oftentimes,
we add an array of sugars to our NPK inputs. These
carbon chains allow nutrients to increase their absorption,
to “chelate” nutrients, and become a slower release molecule.
Organic acids, such as humic and fulvic, are a great way to
increase soil organic matter. These forms are more expensive
as they skip the middle man. Leonardite and compost
breakdown further to humic acids and then to fulvic acids.
Adding those acids directly costs more as someone already
refined it, but they get to work immediately.
The Extra Benefits
A 1% increase in soil organic matter will hold 20,000
gallons more water per acre. If you have 140 trees per acre,
that’s 140 more gallons potentially stored in the root zone
each irrigation. In California, that may be the game changer
as to whether we can farm or not with no surface water
deliveries. Extra carbon in the soil feeds the microbiology
that lives there. And as those organisms live, breathe and die,
more stable carbon can be stored in our soil. As they feed on
carbon sources, the nutrients consumed with them are also
stabilized and exchanged with plants for root exudates. This
symbiotic relationship can actually perpetuate itself. Increasing
our carbon sources will also allow us to make more
sugars and oils. An almond sitting on an orchard floor and
drying out will weigh less if its initial water content was way
higher than its oil content. We can increase yields.
Everything we do with our essential nutrients are all in
an effort to increase the amount of energy we harvest in the
food we produce. That energy is mostly C, H, and O. Gentle,
balanced manipulation of those elements will not only save
us some money, but allow our trees to produce our crops in a
more healthy fashion. Saving money on water and nutrition
this year may just be the key to saving farming in the west.
Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel
free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com
56 West Coast Nut January 2022

THE BEST WAY TO MANAGE PATHOGENS
BEFORE THEY BECOME AN ISSUE.
TriClor is chloropicrin based and can be used as a standalone or as a complement to Telone® depending
on your orchard redevelopment needs. When targeting soil borne disease and nematodes, TriClor
and Telone® can be applied in a single pass. This reduces application costs, promotes early root development,
and improves soil health. For more information about TriClor and Telone or to schedule an
application contact TriCal, Inc.
669-327-5076
www.TriCal.com
Authorized distributor for Telone®
*TriClor and Telone are federally Restricted Use Pesticides.

HAZELNUT PROPAGATION: A
CLOSER LOOK AT GROWING
HAZELNUTS FROM CUTTINGS
By DANITA CAHILL | Contributing Writer
Hazelnut softwood cuttings root best during the late spring and early summer growing period (all photos by D. Cahill.)
There are several different methods
for propagating hazelnuts. Two
of the methods growers can try is
with cuttings or by layering. There are
also different techniques within each
method.
Before propagating hazelnuts, it’s
important to note that most of the new
varieties of hazelnuts that come from
the Oregon State University (OSU)
breeding program are protected by
plant patents. These varieties cannot be
legally propagated for commercial use
without a license, whether the plants
are intended for use by the grower
themselves or for sale to other hazelnut
growers. Contact OSU for more information
about licensing. With that said,
the following is a look at growing new
plants using cuttings.
Softwood Cuttings
Softwood cuttings are small shoots
taken from the current year’s growth
off of a mother plant, or from a stock
plant kept specifically for propagation
purposes. Take softwood cuttings
during the active growing season. Use
root suckers because they will root and
grow more vigorously than shoots taken
from other parts of the tree such as
the trunk or branches. Choose sucker
shoots that are roughly the diameter
of a pencil and about six inches long.
Remove the shoots using a clean, sharp
tool.
While collecting the shoots, keep
them moist and out of direct sunlight.
You can use a bucket half-filled with
damp sawdust. Stick the cuttings into
the sawdust as you work. Keep the
bucket in the shade or cover it with a
damp towel as you move from tree to
tree. You don’t want the cuttings to dry
out before you get them stuck into the
growing medium. It’s also important
to keep the shoots oriented as to which
end is the top and which is the bottom.
Cuttings will not root if they are stuck
upside down. For reference, buds tend
to point up.
Dip the bottom 0.5 to 1 inch of the
shoots in rooting hormone containing
indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), which is a
synthetic auxin hormone root stimulant
(auxin is a natural plant hormone
that causes cells to elongate in shoots
and aides in regulating plant growth.)
IBA comes in different concentrates.
Choose one with a concentration of 500
to 1,000 parts per million (ppm). Use
a dibbling tool or your fingers to first
form a hole and then stick the shoot
into the porous growing medium; a
peat moss and perlite mix works well.
Make the hole a little larger than the
diameter of the cutting. That way, the
Continued on Page 60
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Both softwood cuttings and micro-cuttings root quicker and easier with the aid of
bottom heat from a propagation mat.
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Continued from Page 58
rooting hormone doesn’t rub off when
sticking the cutting. Place the bottom
end of the cutting in the hole and gently
firm the soil around the stem.
Hazelnut softwood cuttings root
best during the late spring and early
summer growing period. May and
June are good months to try your hand
at rooting softwood cuttings. Roots
should form sometime between the
second and eighth week after sticking.
Micropropagation is a technique
used in a sterile laboratory setting,
although there are DIY kits available
for growers who want to give it a whirl
at home.
As the name suggests, micro-cuttings
are tiny. They can be an inch or
less in length. Growers can order micro-cuttings
either rooted or unrooted.
If ordering the unrooted cuttings, they
can be coaxed into rooting any time
of year with artificial light, although
delivery of cuttings during the spring
and summer growing season is the
most popular.
Hardwood Cuttings
Like with softwood, hardwood cuttings
should be taken from root suckers
for best rooting and better performance
later in the field. Growing hazelnut
trees from hardwood cuttings is both
simpler and more difficult than rooting
them from softwood cuttings. It’s
simpler because hardwood cuttings are
taken during the tree’s dormant season,
making watering easier to manage. It’s
more difficult because hazelnut hardwood
is notoriously tough to root.
However, where there’s a will, there’s
a way. According to OSU archival
content written by Jeff Olsen and Dave
Smith, there has been some hardwood
cutting success with hazelnuts by
choosing late-season, underground
growth. Choose underground suckers
found growing in the sawdust mound
around trees used for tie-off layering,
or underground around stock plants.
These suckers are tiny with a diameter
as small as 0.25 inches and a length
of four to eight inches. They may root
more easily than typical aboveground
tissue because they are etiolated. This
means the suckers have never been
exposed to sunlight and the open-air
environment, Olsen and Smith explain.
Gather the tiny suckers and cut
them into even smaller lengths, around
two inches. Be sure to keep track
of which end is the top (apical) and
which is the bottom (basal) so you can
orientate them correctly in the growing
medium. If other chores interrupt
before you get the freshly cut suckers
stuck into cell trays or small pots, you
can place them in a plastic bag and
refrigerate them for a brief time.
Hardwood cuttings benefit from 75
degrees F bottom heat from a propagation
mat. They take longer to root than
softwood cuttings. Expect to wait six
to eight weeks for new leaves to begin
growing, a sign of successful rooting.
Care of Cuttings
Keeping moisture levels stable in
both the soil root zone area and in the
air around the cuttings is imperative
for rooting success. Nurseries use misters
or fog systems to control humidity
levels. This requires either a greenhouse
or an indoor growing facility with
60 West Coast Nut January 2022

Keeping the young trees healthy takes careful monitoring of soil moisture levels.
Roots cannot dry out or become waterlogged.
artificial lights set on timers to replicate
natural daylight hours.
Both softwood cuttings and micro-cuttings
root quicker and easier
with the aid of bottom heat from a
propagation mat. Set the thermostat to
75 to 80 degrees F.
Once cuttings are rooted and showing
new growth, it’s time to repot them
into four- to five-inch nursery containers.
Gradually acclimate the young
trees away from the misting system, but
continue to grow them inside a greenhouse.
“Wean the rooted cuttings from the
mist environment so they have leaves
that are adapted to general greenhouse
conditions,” Olsen and Smith said.
“Attention to detail and gradual change
in the growing conditions are crucial.
Hazelnuts do not tolerate sudden shifts
in humidity and light intensity and
will stop growing if they encounter too
much change. Eventually, you will grow
the new plants in the greenhouse with
appropriate watering, fertilization and
pest control.”
Keeping the young trees healthy
takes careful monitoring of soil moisture
levels. Roots cannot dry out or
become waterlogged. Protect the cuttings
from freezing temperatures before
and after rooting. Plants grown in
containers are more adversely affected
by freezing temperatures than plants
growing in the insulated ground.
Although growing hazelnut trees
from cuttings requires more attention
and skill than layering techniques,
growers might find they enjoy the
challenge.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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Batting Clean-Up
Rover Robot Taps Artificial Intelligence to Target,
Remove Mummy Nuts
By VICKY BOYD | Contributing Writer
The self-propelled Rover uses onboard cameras to “see” mummies in the tree. A computer then uses artificial intelligence to target and remove the
mummies with biodegradable pellets powered by air blasts (all photos courtesy InsightTRAC.)
The Roomba, a robotic floor
sweeper, has been a hot Christmas
gift for the past few years for
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The brain child of Anna Haldewang,
InsightTRAC founder and CEO, the
Rover uses mounted cameras to “see”
mummies. It then knocks them from
trees by firing biodegradable pellets
powered by air blasts. The machine is
designed to eliminate polling crews
and possibly winter shaking, depending
on the number of unharvested nuts
left on trees.
And unlike human mummy removal,
the Rover can operate around the
clock for a couple of days before its pellet
supply and 18-gallon gas tank need
to be refilled. During a season, it can
cover about 425 acres, a comparable
pace to a polling crew of eight people
working nine-hour days, Haldewang
said.
But the machine can work during
daylight and in the dark and doesn’t
call in sick or need breaks. A single
technician oversees operation of the
Rover using a tablet to monitor its
course.
Going Commercial
In late fall 2021, Haldewang sought
five to eight growers to host demonstrations
in January in the state’s three
main almond growing regions. Later
this winter, she plans to conduct a preliminary
trial with pistachios, which
Continued on Page 64
62 West Coast Nut January 2022

Omar Navarro
559-470-4914
onavarro@agromillora.com
Main Office
530-846-0404
cbeumel@agromillora.com

Continued from Page 62
also have issues with navel orangeworm
overwintering in mummies.
“We then want to branch out into
walnuts, then branch out into other
crops,” she said. “We’re looking into
other seasonal activities we can do
around the orchard.”
Haldewang has already started
taking orders for the Rover. If all goes
according to schedule, she plans to
make the first deliveries the last quarter
of 2022.
The one unknown is current supply
chain disruptions. “That’s definitely
been a challenge, especially as we near
the period of production,” she said.
“We’ve had to wait on other suppliers
to bring in the components. It’s been a
challenge, but I’m proud of the team.”
The True Cost of Mummies
Extension specialists have long
recommended almond growers in the
Sacramento Valley strive for fewer than
two mummies per tree. In the central
and southern San Joaquin Valley, they
recommend a target of one or fewer
mummies per tree. The reason for their
concerns is mummies can provide
overwintering habitat for NOW larvae.
They also can provide egg-laying sites
for the first moth flight in the spring.
By removing and destroying this
habitat, growers typically start the
season with much lower NOW populations.
Dr. Sebastian Saa, senior manager
for agricultural research for the
Almond Board of California, hasn’t
seen the Rover in action. But he said
the almond board welcomes novel and
cheaper methods to aid winter sanitation.
“We understand that this cultural
practice is key to implementing a full
integrated pest management approach
to control navel orangeworm, our key
insect challenge,” he said. “Winter sanitation
is not only an expensive cultural
cost for our growers but also a treatment
that is hard to do right; effective
sanitation with less than two mummy
nuts per tree.”
Doing nothing and leaving mummies
on the trees also can hit growers
hard financially. Blue Diamond’s Mel
Machado estimates that NOW damage
at 2% reject levels can translate to
losses of $336 to $436 per acre.
With hourly wages of more than $30
per hour, Australian almond growers
are also looking at automation to
manage their expenses. Although they
don’t have NOW, they do have Carpophilus
beetle and carob moth, considered
Australian almonds’ most serious
insect pests. But much like NOW, the
two Australian insect pests overwinter
in mummy nuts.
As a result, Haldewang said, growers
Down Under are equally interested
in her Rover automation. With the
Australian almond season opposite
California’s, she’s able to double up on
demonstrations and collect twice as
much data per year. Haldewang also
plans to conduct demonstrations in
Australian almond orchards in June.
Continued on Page 66
64 West Coast Nut January 2022

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Continued from Page 64
The Evolution of the Rover
As an amateur beekeeper in Indiana,
Haldewang had heard about the plight
of honeybees and thought about using
drone pollination to augment the millions
of beehives required during the
six to eight weeks of California almond
pollination.
After talking to California almond
growers and industry representatives,
she learned of the pressing mummy nut
issue and refocused her efforts. Haldewang
admitted she didn’t have the
technological background to develop
such robotics, but she credited her team
for bringing the needed engineering
know-how.
The first hurdle to overcome was
how to remove the mummies on the
tree. About 15 people came together in
a room to brainstorm.
“No idea was off the table,” she said.
They narrowed the candidates down
to five that included an air jet, a water
jet and a bristle brush. Eventually, they
weeded out the bristle brush because
If growers had a clean harvest and only a few mummies per tree, they could enlist the Rover
alone to remove the remainders.
of the difficulty pulling it through the
tree. A water jet only worked if the
machine was a few feet away from the
mummy nut. Plus, with the current
drought, Haldewang said she didn’t
want to potentially increase water use
in an orchard.
A system similar to a pellet gun that
used biodegradable plastic pellets powered
by air blasts seemed to be the most
effective at removing mummies.
Collecting Photos of Mummies
Beginning in 2019, Haldewang
began the arduous task of collecting
over 20,000 images of mummy nuts to
create a database.
“I did it all by hand,” she said,
laughing. Using a make-shift system
comprising a light and laptop strapped
to her, Haldewang walked orchards
taking photos at specific distances and
angles that mimicked how the Rover
would see mummies.
Digital cameras on the Rover view
a mummy nut and relay the information.
Using artificial intelligence and
drawing from the image database, the
computer “brain” within the Rover can
accurately identify and remove mummies
up to 30 feet away.
As the Rover goes through orchards
on its duties, it continues to collect
mummy nut images, improving upon
the image database, she said. At the end
of the clean-up activities, the Rover can
produce maps, showing growers where
the most and least number of mummies
were in the orchard.
“Over time, the grower is able to see
patterns in their orchard,” Haldewang
said. “Maybe [the higher mummy
numbers are] related to stress in this
area due to irrigation. This data is going
to be really powerful to answer other
questions as well as in other seasons.”
Winter Demonstrations
Haldewang began work on the original
Rover prototype in 2019. She put it
66 West Coast Nut January 2022

through demonstrations in a couple of
California almond orchards with a few
grower and industry members during
the 2020-21 winter. Based on their suggestions,
she and her engineering team
added the improvements and launched
what she refers to as Rover 2.0.
Instead of having cameras strapped
to the machine as the original one did,
the latest prototype has the imaging
technology integrated into the body
design. But much like the original
machine, the latest version retained the
4-foot-wide footprint with tracks to
navigate potentially muddy orchards.
The Rover is powered by an electric motor
with an on-board gas generator.
Haldewang foresees growers using
the machine in two ways. If they have
a higher number of mummies, they’d
mechanically shake first, then use the
Rover to clean up the last few nuts. This
would be much as they would with a
hand polling crew.
If growers had a clean harvest and
only a few mummies per tree, they
could enlist the Rover alone to remove
Antles_WCN_Ad1C_101920.pdf 1 10/19/20 11:47 PM
Anne Haldewang, founder and CEO of InsightTRAC, developed the concept of a robotic
mummy nut remover after visiting with California growers and industry representatives. She
assembled a team of technology experts to help bring the project to fruition.
the remainders.
“If you have 50 per tree, it will take
three hours to get through an acre,” she
said. “If you have side-by-side polers
versus us, we would be slower. But
where we pick up that time is we operate
24/7. We don’t take breaks. We keep
at it long after they’re gone for the day.”
InsightTRAC plans to market the
Rover directly to growers with larger
acreage or to custom operators who
want to provide an added service to
their grower-customers.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
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January 2022 www.wcngg.com 67

To Treat or Not to Treat:
Scale Pests in Walnuts
By MITCH LIES | Contributing Writer
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the importance of dormant monitoring for scale
pests in walnuts.
UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines advise growers and
crop consultants to monitor scaffolds, limbs, branches and
prunings in the dormant period for San Jose scale, Italian
pear scale and, most prominently, for walnut scale and frosted
scale. At high populations, walnut and frosted scales can
reduce yields and quality and create issues with other plant
pests, particularly Botryosphaeria.
Both scales inflict damage by sucking plant juices from
leaves and twigs and reducing growth and vigor. “This
Continued on Page 70
68 West Coast Nut January 2022

Important Information ABOUT UPCOMING TRADESHOWS
POSTPONED UNTIL:
APRIL 2022
YUBA CITY, CA
POSTPONED UNTIL:
APRIL 2022
YUBA CITY, CA
POSTPONED UNTIL:
JUNE 2022
ORLAND, CA
NORTH VALLEY
Nut Conference
REGISTRATION IS STILL OPEN AT WCNGG.COM/EVENTS
After much consideration and with the best intentions for our industry and everyone
involved, I have decided, in cooperation with the Walnut Board, CA Pecan Board, and the
UC Cooperative Extension, to postpone the North Valley Nut Conference on January 5th,
Pecan Day on January 12th and the California Walnut Conference on January 13th and
14th, 2022 due to increasing health and safety risks and mandated restrictions set forth by
our local government officials. My goal is to provide the most successful outcomes for our
attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and presenters. My hope is that by a future date (outlined
below) the restrictions and concerns will lessen to a point where we can all fully benefit from
holding a live in-person event.
We will keep you informed after the holiday season on exact dates within those months. Thank you for your understanding
and patience. I hope everyone has a great holiday season and look forward to a new adventure in 2022.
Jason Scott | Publisher
The California Walnut Board values the health and wellbeing of our industry members which
is why we support postponing the California Walnut Conference to a later date when the risks
of COVID will hopefully be lower and we can better assure the safety of all in attendance.
Michelle Connelly | Executive Director,
California Walnut Board and Commission

Continued from Page 68
manner of feeding creates entry points
for pathogens and UC Plant Pathology
Specialist Dr. Themis Michailides
has correlated scale infestation with
increased incidence of Botryosphaeria
infection in walnuts,” said Emily Symmes,
Ph.D., former UCCE IPM advisor
and current Senior Manager of Technical
Field Services for Suterra.
Symptoms of trees infested with
walnut scale include a water-stressed
appearance and die back of fruiting
wood on lateral bearing cultivars. High
populations of frosted scale reduce
terminal growth and vigor, resulting in
smaller nuts and poor kernel quality.
Additionally, the frosted scale can
secrete large amounts of honeydew that
covers nuts and contributes to growth
of sooty mold, increasing chances of
sunburn.
Research has shown that when
monitoring for the pests, growers and
PCAs should simultaneously look for
biological control activity. “Evidence of
parasitism is fairly easy to identify as
small holes on the scale bodies where
Dead walnut scale adult (photo by E. Symmes.)
70 West Coast Nut January 2022

the adult parasitoid has exited its host,”
Symmes said.
Guidelines call for examining a
minimum of 100 branches and tree
scaffolds from throughout an orchard,
and to make observations at varying
heights. “Getting up in the tree canopy
on a pruning tower can be an excellent
means of monitoring tree tops, which
is important as infestation can vary at
different heights in the tree canopy,”
Symmes said.
Parasitized walnut scale adult (photo courtesy UC Statewide IPM Program.)
Continued on Page 72
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Healthy (non-parasitized) frosted scale nymphs (photo courtesy UC Statewide IPM Program.)
Continued from Page 71
Walnut Scale
According to UC Davis literature,
the walnut scale is the most important
armored scale pest of walnuts. It has
two generations per year in the Central
Valley, overwintering primarily in
the second-instar stage. In spring, the
scales resume development and adult
males emerge as tiny winged insects,
while females remain immobile under
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the scale cover. After mating, females
lay eggs in May that will typically hatch
in two to three days. Crawlers will
disperse before settling down to feed
and secrete the white scale cover. The
cover color will change to gray in about
a week.
The first generation typically
completes development by mid-July.
Second-generation eggs are laid around
mid-August and the crawlers will again
disperse before molting prior to overwintering.
When looking for walnut scale
in the dormant period, look for daisy-shaped
groups of male crawlers
under the margins of circular female
covers. When lifting the scale cover,
look for a yellowish body with indented
margins. These features distinguish
walnut scale from other armored scales
on walnuts.
It is also important when scouting
for walnut scale to confirm that the
majority of the population is still active
prior to making any treatment decisions,
Symmes said. “The scale cover
can stay attached to the plant tissue
even when the insect beneath is no
longer alive,” Symmes said.
She advised growers and PCAs to
remove the scale cover with a small
blade or a fingernail and examine the
Continued on Page 74
72 West Coast Nut January 2022

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Continued from Page 72
body beneath. “If it is bright yellow and
‘squishy,’ it is still alive,” she said. “Dead
scales will be darker yellow to translucent
and often slough off easily when
removing the scale cover.”
Frosted Scale
Frosted scale, which is considered
the most important soft scale pest of
walnuts, has only one generation per
year. It overwinters as a nymph on
twigs and small branches. The nymphs,
or crawlers, emerge from beneath scale
covers from late May through June and
settle mostly on the underside of leaves.
From there they will feed during summer
months. In the fall, nymphs molt
and move back to twigs.
When monitoring for frosted scale
during the dormant period, UC IPM
guidelines call for examining the
previous season’s growth on randomly
selected trees throughout an orchard.
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Parasitized frosted scale nymph (photo courtesy UC Statewide IPM Program.)
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nymphs are parasitized.
When looking for evidence of the
parasites, look for nymphs that are
almost black and have convex covers.
Unparasitized nymphs, conversely,
are flat and opaque. Several parasites
commonly emerge from a single parasitized
adult scale, leaving a perforated
cover. Past research has shown that
parasitoid populations can increase
over time, and researchers recommend
growers consider holding off on insecticide
treatment as long as possible
to allow for parasitoid populations to
build. When insecticides are deemed
necessary, Symmes advised growers to
choose the most selective chemistries
available to preserve the predator and
parasitoid populations.
Also, consider orchard management
history when gauging whether to treat.
Low to moderate numbers of either
walnut or frosted scales are not considered
a significant threat to orchards,
according to the IPM guidelines, particularly
if biological control agents are
present. Careful monitoring and knowing
the history of pest pressure cycles
in the orchard can help inform whether
it is prudent to rely solely on natural
enemies in a given year, Symmes said.
Delayed-Dormant Treatment
If treating for the pests, UC IPM
74 West Coast Nut January 2022

Walnut scale crawlers trapped on double-sided tape, high magnification (photo by E. Symmes.)
Guidelines recommend doing so in the
delayed-dormant period before shoot
growth begins, especially if using an
insect growth regulator. Further, the
guidelines recommend placing double-sided
sticky tape around limbs near
adult scales in early spring to monitor
for crawler emergence.
For walnut scale consider performing
a follow-up treatment if finding yellow,
mite-sized crawlers congregating
on the edges of sticky tapes. For frosted
scale, a follow-up treatment may be
necessary if finding eggs under adult
females on the sticky tape and crawlers
actively moving beneath the scale. Eggs
will be white and shiny in appearance,
resembling tiny grains of rice.
Monitoring over several years has
shown that crawler emergence is variable,
coming as early as the third week
of April and as late as the third week of
May, so crawler treatment should not
be timed by the calendar, according to
Symmes.
Various insecticide options can
be used to control scales, including
buprofezin, pyriproxyfen, spirotetra-
Continued on Page 76
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Frosted scale with eggs (photo by E. Symmes.) Frosted scale with crawlers (photo by E.
Symmes.)
Continued from Page 75
mat, bifenthrin/imidacloprid and acetamiprid, according
to the UC IPM Guidelines. Among these, buprofezin and
T5
100-PTO-horsepower
pyriproxyfen during the dormant or crawler periods are
most effective and are selective choices that can help mitigate
non-target impacts to natural enemies, according to
Symmes.
Narrow range oils can suppress low to moderate numbers
of walnut scale during summer months, but can be
destructive to walnut aphid parasite. Guidelines advise
growers to refrain from applying oils if trees are suffering
from low soil moisture or other stress factors or if temperatures
are expected to exceed 90 degrees F at the time of
application.
For frosted scale, narrow range oil can be effective
during the delayed dormant period, but should be applied
only after buds begin to swell as a dilute application in at
least 300 gallons per acre. As with the walnut scale, an application
in summer will suppress low to moderate numbers.
Deciding whether to treat for scale pests can be a difficult
decision, particularly when profit margins are low and
biological control agents often keep the pests in check. But,
at times, not treating can be more costly than spending
money on an insecticide.
“Research has shown that a good insecticide application
can provide suppression of walnut and frosted scale for
multiple seasons, so annual treatments may not be needed
in every orchard,” Symmes said.
Symmes added that through dormant monitoring,
growers can get a good idea of whether they should treat for
these pests or let biological control agents do their work for
them.
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Keep the Pressure on Navel Orangeworm
with IPM and Mating Disruption
By EMILY J. SYMMES | Ph.D., Senior Manager of Technical Field Services, Suterra
The 2022 growing season will likely
continue to present uncertainties
around supply chain, availability of
critical crop inputs like fertilizers, costs
of materials and access to labor, among
others. One unfortunate certainty that
California nut crop growers have come to
expect is the potential for navel orangeworm
(NOW) to cause economic damage
in almonds, pistachios and walnuts.
For the past several decades, NOW has
been a primary insect pest in these crops.
Despite the perennial threat of NOW,
the outlook for this pest is increasingly
encouraging. Advances in research and
technology, coupled with historically
proven practices, have equipped growers
and their crop advisers with options to
develop customized and effective integrated
pest management (IPM) strategies
for NOW in their orchards.
Mating disruption is one technological
advancement that provides nut crop
producers with an additional effective
tool to reduce NOW populations, protect
yields and deliver a high-quality crop.
Recent estimates indicate that approximately
40% of almond acreage and 50%
to 60% of pistachio acreage are using
some form of mating disruption. Adoption
rates are increasing year over year
as successes and return on investment
are realized. Multiple years of industry
and academic research has shown that
incorporating mating disruption into an
IPM program for NOW will reduce crop
damage by 50% or more in a single year
with further reductions over multiple
years of use.
In addition to the direct benefits of
mating disruption, it is important to
note that this approach increases the
efficacy and return on investment of
other pest management tactics because
there are fewer pests in the environment
to kill or remove with insecticides and
other inputs.
Harvest damage evaluations are critical to evaluating the overall IPM program (photos
courtesy E.J. Symmes.)
Insect Behavior Modifier
In the case of NOW specifically, mating
disruption works by inhibiting the
ability of male NOW to locate females
for reproduction. This non-toxic mode
of action reduces the number of viable
offspring in each generation that pheromone
mating disruptants are effective in
the orchard.
The physiology of pheromone-based
communication among insects and the
behaviors elicited are highly specific to
a given species and innately tied to their
evolutionary success. For this reason, we
can exploit this part of their biology for
purposes of pest management, reducing
populations in a consistent and reproduceable
manner with mating disruption
products.
Population Potential and
Mating Disruption
Population growth rates in insects
when uncontrolled can be exponential,
given the high reproductive potential
of each individual female. For example,
consider a basic model for NOW
population growth rates assuming an
initial population of 100 individual
NOW, a 50:50 male-to-female sex ratio
in the population and an average of 100
eggs per female (a conservative estimate
for NOW.) In the absence of mating
disruption and other mortality factors,
this would result in 250,000 NOW in the
second generation, 12.5 million NOW
in the third generation, and 625 million
NOW in the fourth generation.
With highly effective mating disruption
(95% reduction in offspring each
generation), those numbers become 625
in generation two, 1563 in generation
three, and 3906 in generation four. If
mating disruption increases to 98%
reduction in offspring each generation,
the model demonstrates a negative
population growth rate, with 50, 25, and
13 offspring in generations two, three,
and four, respectively. While this model
does not account for natural mortality,
induced mortality (e.g., insecticide
inputs during the season), sanitation
efforts impacting the initial population
density, or migration into or out of the
orchard, the trajectory of each population
potential growth curve remains
consistent and illustrates the efficacy of
mating disruption.
Sanitation Remains a
Critical Baseline
The model above is based on an initial
population of 100 individual NOW.
Layering in other critical baseline IPM
inputs such as sanitation will impact the
initial population density and ultimate
NOW numbers each generation, although
population growth models will
remain consistent depending on whether
mating disruption is included or not.
Consider sanitation efforts that
result in an initial population of 15
78 West Coast Nut January 2022

individual NOW rather than 100. Under
the same model assumptions as above,
without mating disruption, the population
potential is 1.875 million NOW in
generation three. With highly effective
mating disruption, 586 third generation
NOW will be possible, and with excellent
mating disruption that number drops to
4. This further illustrates the value of a
comprehensive IPM program for NOW
and the impact of incorporating mating
disruption and sanitation as baseline
tactics.
Monitoring for NOW in Mating
Disrupted Orchards
Monitoring to obtain knowledge for
decision-support is crucial for any IPM
program. There are several options for
monitoring NOW and understanding
the utility of each method is important,
especially in mating disrupted orchards.
Research has shown that a combination
of monitoring methods is the best strategy
for informing NOW control input
needs and timing. In mating disrupted
orchards, the presence of pheromone in
the environment impacts male capture
in traps baited with only pheromone
lures; therefore, additional reliance on
alternative monitoring approaches is
needed. Below is a brief summary of how
different monitoring methods can be
used in mating disrupted orchards.
Pheromone traps target adult males
only and should be deployed in mating
disruption blocks to indicate mating
disruptant activity. Significant trap
suppression in each flight is expected
for season-long products (aerosols and
medium-density emitters) and for up
to 30 days after application of sprayable
pheromones. Increases in pheromone
trap capture can inform best timing for
application or re-application of sprayable
pheromones.
Egg traps can be used in mating
disrupted orchards as they are used in
non-mating disrupted orchards because
female trap location ability is not impacted
by mating disruption. Utility of
egg traps includes establishing biofixes,
degree-day modeling and informing
insecticide timing. Egg traps are not
an effective method to measure mating
disruption efficacy as females lay eggs
whether they have mated or not, meaning
eggs deposited on egg traps may or
may not be viable.
Kairomone (e.g., bait bag or Peterson
traps) can be used in mating
disrupted orchards in the same way as
they are used in non-mating disrupted
orchards because female trap location
ability is not impacted by mating disruption.
These traps target adult females
almost exclusively and are considered
less sensitive than pheromone traps,
meaning they have a smaller attractive
radius and often catch a much lower
total number of moths relative to pheromone
traps, where mating disruption is
not present and suppressing pheromone
trap capture. Kairomone-based traps can
be used to track female flight activity under
mating disruption but have not been
shown to indicate efficacy of mating
disruption.
PPO+Pheromone traps are presently
considered the most effective for monitoring
NOW flights in mating disruption
blocks. Phenyl propionate (PPO) lures
paired in a trap with a standard NOW
pheromone lure attract both males and
females and are used to track flight
activity in mating disrupted orchards.
PPO+pheromone trap data has not been
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shown to be indicative of mating disruption
efficacy.
Mummy samples and infest rates
should be conducted during the late
fall to winter to help guide sanitation
priorities and estimate block-specific
pest pressure going into the next season.
This knowledge can help inform mating
disruption approaches and plan other
NOW control strategies.
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Continued on Page 80
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January 2022 www.wcngg.com 79

Continued from Page 79
Crop phenology is monitored to
determine peak in-season crop vulnerability
(e.g., the onset of hullsplit through
harvest in almonds) and can be paired
with visual observations of egg laying
directly on the crop. This window of
in-season crop susceptibility is a critical
time for potential insecticide applications
as well as possible targets for timing
sprayable pheromone applications.
Harvest damage evaluations are
critical to evaluating the overall IPM
program. Processor grade sheets provide
good information for the grower
but may lack specificity regarding the
exact nature of damage. Obtaining and
cracking out in-orchard harvest samples
provides the best information about
sources of crop damage as well as a more
accurate measure of crop lost to NOW
as NOW-damaged nuts may not make it
all the way through harvest processes for
grade sheet inclusion.
Incorporating Mating Disruption
There are multiple pheromone
delivery systems available in the market.
Growers and crop advisers are
encouraged to investigate each of the
pheromone systems in detail and choose
a product that best fits the pest management
needs of each individual operation.
Aerosol emitters (typically one per acre),
medium-density dispensers (typically 15
to 28 per acre) and a sprayable microencapsulated
formulation (up to 30-day
field life) are the three commercially
available options. The active ingredient
(pheromone) is the same molecule
across all NOW mating disruption
options. However, even within similar
delivery mechanisms (e.g., aerosols),
it is important to note that there are
intrinsic differences among products.
Co-formulants and pheromone purity as
well as the device itself (e.g., durability,
stability, placement, consistent release
mechanism) can result in differences of
pheromone release in the environment
and thus the effectiveness of disruption
in reducing populations and crop
damage. The decision on which platform
and product is best suited for a given
operation should be based on conversations
among growers, their PCAs and
product manufacturer technical representatives
to fully understand the quality,
reliability and consistency of pheromone
emission.
Keep the Pressure on NOW
It is important to acknowledge
that IPM for pests of all types (insects,
mites, diseases, weeds and vertebrates)
exists within the larger scope of the
overall agricultural enterprise. In this
context, which could be termed Integrated
Production Management (IProM),
numerous elements interact to ultimately
impact the degree of success in each
individual operation. These include, but
are not limited to, environmental conditions,
water availability and irrigation
management, soil structure and health,
horticultural characteristics and practices,
plant nutrition and pest management,
and overall operational activities. In
some cases, it may be possible to control
or influence these elements to varying
degrees. In others like weather conditions,
for example, agriculturalists must
play the hand dealt. Crop producers
are no strangers to this concept and are
experts at adapting to challenging and
shifting circumstances.
The 2022 growing season will likely
present challenges particularly related to
the availability of water and fertilizers,
both of which not only impact overall
plant health and crop yields but can
increase the negative impacts of pests
and diseases, including NOW. Additionally,
if lower crop yields are expected, it
becomes increasingly important to the
bottom line to ensure that the highest
quality crop is delivered in order to receive
the maximum premiums possible.
When it comes to the threat of
economic damage caused by navel
orangeworm, it is critical to continue to
manage the aspects that can be controlled.
One of the primary features of
an IPM approach to pest management
is to achieve long-term mitigation of
pests and their damage. Mating disruption
as a pest management tactic is one
Continued on Page 82
80 West Coast Nut January 2022

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The most trusted mating disruption pheromone for navel orangeworm.
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Continued from Page 80
Recent estimates indicate that approximately 40% of almond acreage and 50% to 60% of
pistachio acreage are using some form of mating disruption to control navel orangeworm.
that delivers on this concept by driving
populations down generation after generation
and year after year. Be cautious
when considering discontinuing its use,
whether due to reduced pest pressure or
the need for cost-saving measures due
to production and market uncertainties.
Consider the longer-term impacts and
your investment to date as well as the
fact that mating disruption is, at least in
part, responsible for downward trends
in NOW populations that many growers
have been experiencing. Carefully
evaluate whether other types of less
desirable or more costly inputs can be
reduced while maintaining a disruption
environment.
Flexibility in mating disruption product
choice may be increasingly important
in 2022. The choice to commit to season-long
products, such as aerosols and
meso emitters, is made by early spring. If
circumstances in a given operation are
extremely uncertain (e.g., water allocation
to be able to farm effectively for the
entire season), it is reasonable to take
a wait-and-see approach for crop input
selection. The sprayable pheromone formulation
allows for such flexibility. Crop
producers can still gain the benefits of
a mating disruption mode of action by
applying products later in the season
targeting one or more specific flights.
Over the course of the past few
seasons, we have heard from academics,
extension agents, growers and PCAs
alike that NOW IPM programs incorporating
mating disruption are working
to suppress populations and generate
quality bonuses, and that the industry
should continue to keep the pressure
on when it comes to this pest. There are
many wonderful resources available for
growers, operation managers and PCAs
to support successful adoption of mating
disruption into your IPM program.
Manufacturer technical service representatives,
cooperative extension agents and
others are readily available to meet with
you and help determine the best fit for
your operation and how to get the most
out of your investment.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
article@jcsmarketinginc.com
82 West Coast Nut January 2022

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