Your source for orchard news & information in the Sacramento Valley
A good understanding of the soil variability patterns is essential to optimally design and install a zone irrigation system. Rapid, non-intrusive methods of measuring soil electrical conductivity combined with global positioning systems (GPS) are used to map the soil variability patterns and provide waypoints to guide the design and installation. Continue reading
Variable soils contribute to irregular patterns of crop water stress and in turn more variable crop development and pest problems over the course of a season. One concept to irrigating highly variable soils that is gaining some adoption is zone irrigation. Zone irrigation is being used in some orchard settings in the Sacramento Valley where changes in topography are gradual and variability in soil profile depth, texture, structure, and water-holding capacity exists. Continue reading
Producers should strive to maintain sufficient tree water status to maintain any current crop-load as well as overall tree and orchard health to help support crops in the coming years. Spring freezes and reduced water supplies have significantly affected production. When considering late-season irrigation strategies for prune trees, both the current and following season’s crops must be considered. Continue reading
Potted nursery trees are here to stay, but they have challenges and a learning curve for growers accustomed to planting bare root trees. One of the major challenges is irrigating during the orchard’s first year. Continue reading
One of the motivations for making good water management decisions early in the growing season is to reduce risk of root and crown diseases that can eventually kill almond, walnut, prune, and other tree species. Early season water management influences the environment where roots grow by affecting soil temperature and aeration and can be pivotal in how much tree decline actually occurs. Continue reading
“Technology” has different meanings for different people (Figure 1). In irrigated agriculture we look towards technology to meet our changing needs and sustain our industry in the long run. However, with technology, “confusion” and a sense of overload can hinder our ability to learn and apply it. This article considers the abundance of irrigation technology and the challenges with its adoption. Some ideas are offered to cope with the sense of confusion and overload. Continue reading
Originally posted July 2018; Updated July 2019. Franz Niederholzer, UCCE Farm Advisor, Colusa and Sutter/Yuba Counties & Allan Fulton, UCCE Water Resources Advisor, Tehama, Glenn and Colusa Counties Hull rot can be a heartbreaker, appearing suddenly at harvest in orchards where … Continue reading
Written by Allan Fulton, UCCE Farm Advisor Tehama, Glenn, Colusa and Shasta counties and Richard P. Buchner, UCCE Farm Advisor Emeritus, Tehama, Glenn and Butte counties. Overly aggressive, early irrigation can saturate soils and deprive roots of necessary oxygen. Without oxygen, … Continue reading
With the storms moving through, you may not even have irrigation on your radar yet, but we’ll be into irrigation season before you know it. How should you decide when to turn the water on? Continue reading
Potted trees may be the nursery stock of the future, but they have challenges and a learning curve for growers accustomed to planting bare root trees. One of the major challenges is irrigating during the orchard’s first year. Continue reading
Methods of irrigation have also changed from flood and furrow to drip, micro sprinkler, solid set sprinkler, and buried drip. Today, there are about 203,000 acres of land in the northern Sacramento Valley irrigated with pressurized systems that were not in place approximately a decade ago. Continue reading
The University of California Cooperative Extension invites fruit and nut crop producers in the northern Sacramento Valley to attend a combination workshop/field day on Thursday, June 16, 2016. The meeting begins at the Red Bluff Elk’s Lodge, 355 Gilmore Rd Continue reading
Adapted from the article “Winter Irrigation During Drought” by Joseph H. Connell, UCCE Farm Advisor Emeritus, Butte County in the December 2008 Sacramento Valley Walnut News. We know that during the winter months walnuts can be hurt by either too … Continue reading
Adapted from the article “A new season – When to begin irrigating and how much water to apply?” by Richard P. Buchner & Allan E. Fulton, UCCE Farm Advisors, Tehama County in the April 2011 Sacramento Valley Prune News Crop … Continue reading
Irrigation Evapotranspiration (ET) Report for Tehama, Butte and Colusa county CIMIS stations. Continue reading