Your source for orchard news & information in the Sacramento Valley
Luke Milliron, UCCE Orchards Advisor, Butte, Glenn, Tehama Counties 2025 Observations at Bloom: My former colleague Dani Lightle wisely noted that what stands out in the early years of a variety trial is not what looks good – it’s what … Continue reading
Luke Milliron, UCCE Orchards Butte, Glenn, Tehama Phoebe Gordon, UCCE Madera and Merced Roger Duncan UCCE Stanislaus, Emeritus What varieties do we know the most about? New almond varieties are always coming out from public and private breeding programs around … Continue reading
Luke Milliron, UCCE Orchard Advisor Butte, Glenn, Tehama Franz Niederholzer, UCCE Orchard Advisor Colusa, Sutter-Yuba Jaime Ott, UCCE Orchards Advisor Tehama, Butte, Glenn, Shasta The Skinny: Your rootstock choice should guard against your greatest fear for your new orchard, whether … Continue reading
Over the past eight years, Sacramento Valley growers have encountered challenges managing Monterey almond trees: yellowed curled leaf, leafing failure, flowering failure, and Bot/Phomopsis dieback. Continue reading
Damage can occur with sudden autumn freeze, before trees go into dormancy. With sudden autumn freeze occurring in three of the last five years, preparations for these freeze events need to be a regular part of every walnut grower’s summer and fall orchard operations. Continue reading
A careful approach to irrigation in 2023 is one way to both save money and help ensure you have a healthy and productive orchard. Continue reading
More details on the examples in “Healthier Orchards with A Careful Start of Irrigation in 2023.” Continue reading
In the Sacramento Valley, an autumn freeze has damaged walnut orchards every November for the last four years. Read this article for tips on freeze protection in your walnut orchard. Continue reading
Every year is a Cytospora canker year, and unfortunately, some years are also bacterial canker years. This spring farm advisors observed bacterial canker infections, read below for prevention practices. Continue reading
For any pest or disease like walnut blight that requires pesticide application to keep in check, there are four key pillars to successful management: timing, material, rate, and coverage. Read more for the latest updates for managing walnut blight in 2022. Continue reading
It can be difficult to know when to replace or remove tree cartons. Being too early (photo 1) or late (photo 2) with carton removal has been the source of numerous farm advisor calls over the years. Continue reading
Bacterial blast (Pseudomonas syringe), although thankfully not a problem every year (hopefully including 2022), can be tremendously damaging to almond yields. For example, significant crop damage was reported in the Sacramento Valley in 2017 and 2018, and in the San Joaquin Valley in 2017 and 2019. These grower reports of past crop loss supported a Section 18 emergency request for the use of kasugamycin on almonds during bloom. Continue reading
The higher the yield per acre early in the life of an orchard, the sooner the orchard covers development costs and returns a net profit to the grower. With new, well-anchored prune rootstocks now in the market, especially Krymsk 86 and Viking, it is worth reviewing young orchard pruning trial data. Continue reading
Cankers caused by fungi of Cytospora spp. can severely limit prune production; reducing grower income and potentially leading to early orchard removal due to scaffold and/or tree loss. This article provides information about how to control Cytospora in your orchard. Continue reading
Read this article for walnut orchard management tasks to keep in mind in November. Continue reading