Author Archives: Allan Fulton

Advances in On-Farm Water Management

Irrigated agriculture acreage in the northern Sacramento Valley has grown substantially over the past decade, with gains largely driven by new orchard plantings. Despite these substantial gains in irrigated agriculture, actual water demand has remained relatively stable. This video showcases many irrigation management technologies on-display at a walnut irrigation field day conducted in June 2018.  Continue reading

Using a Pressure Chamber is Worthwhile

Visual cues of crop stress are among the most basic observations that can be used to manage irrigation in orchard crops. However, these cues can be somewhat subjective and are often expressed after plant stress is higher than desired. Measuring midday stem water potential (SWP) using a pressure chamber is a quantitative method for evaluating plant water status. Continue reading