What are you doing for your orchard’s financial longevity?
Your orchard is an investment – the longer it remains a productive, high-yielding orchard the higher your return on that investment Continue reading
Author Archives: Franz Niederholzer
Making money at harvest
Sustainable net return to grower is the measure of success in farming. Because profit margins shrink with increasing costs, small income increases (that don’t impact overall orchard health) can have major benefits to an operation’s bottom line. Continue reading
First Hull Split Spray: Timing and Practice
Franz Niederholzer, UCCE Farm Advisor, Colusa and Sutter/Yuba Counties Sudan Gyawaly, UC IPM Advisor, Sacramento Valley David Haviland, UCCE Entomology Advisor, Kern County Hull split for the 2024 almond crop is just ahead. Successful hull split spraying lowers NOW damage … Continue reading
Disease management decisions in low-income year(s)
Several steps must all be done correctly for fungicide sprays to be most effective. Missing one step can severely limit the outcome (and cost the grower a lot of money). Continue reading
Planning for a big crop in tight times
Maintaining income in a low-price year will require growing a large, high-quality crop. Continue reading
Canker Management After Pruning/Hedging: Spray Now or Pay Later.
A chronic disease like Cytospora canker is a leading killer of prune orchards. Practices that promote its spread start early in life, and spray timing is key.
Bacterial blast/canker: What do we know?
Bacterial canker/blast infections are most damaging, and potentially lethal, in stressed trees. Currently, there are limited control options for bacterial canker/blast in almonds. Read about factors influencing management practices and decisions. Continue reading
NOW Reality Check
Times change. Weather changes. Manage navel orangeworm accordingly. Continue reading
Potassium review
Don’t sleep on K for your orchard(s). It could cost you! Continue reading
Getting the best grower returns at harvest
With high fruit sets and good growing conditions in 2023, maximize grower income by focusing on harvest timing and field sizing. The keys to a timely harvest are 1) get the largest, high-quality fruit to the dryer and 2) field sort to keep small, low value fruit out of the bins. Continue reading
Twelve ways to ruin a prune orchard.
Good production of large fruit and sustained tree health are critical to maintaining profitable production. The following points highlight problems contributing to orchard decline. Continue reading
Weather after 30 days after bloom helps plan thinning and harvest.
Bloom date and cropload per tree still have the largest influence on harvest date and fruit size potential, but knowing GDH30 accumulation can be used to fine tune harvest and thinning planning. However, given cooler weather in the 30 days following 50% full bloom, knowing growing degree hours can better inform thinning planning. Continue reading
The most important task of the year.
There is no more important activity in prune growing than checking the crop load in late April (or early May this year?). Knowing the crop load (fruit/tree) in an orchard is the most critical piece of data needed to decide if shaker thinning is needed. Continue reading
Bloom weather and prune fruit set: what we know so far
Crop failure in years with extreme bloom weather (cool or hot) challenges successful prune growing in California. A new bloom weather model is a good starting point to predicting crop potential and, eventually, managing risk of crop failure. Continue reading
March Prune Orchard Management Considerations
It is looking like spring outside, and prune bloom is picking up. Keep reading for prune orchard management tasks to keep in mind this month. Continue reading