Your source for orchard news & information in the Sacramento Valley
Kat Jarvis-Shean, Orchard Systems Advisor UCCE Sacramento-Solano-Yolo Depending on where you grow and how you count, this is shaping up to be a low-to-moderate chill winter. As discussed previously in 2023 and 2024, walnuts are one of the highest chill … Continue reading
North Sac Valley: Jaime Ott, UCCE Tehama, Shasta, Glenn, Butte Counties Despite a much earlier bloom than last year, harvest started only a few days earlier. Fruit size and sugar at harvest was variable: blocks with heavy cropload or which … Continue reading
Recent years of research by the Zwieniecki lab (the Z Lab) at UC Davis, including the Carbohydrate Observatory, have been providing exciting new insights to better explain how pistachios may be counting winter chill, when budbreak occurs, and how much pistachios will yield in a given year. Continue reading
In late May 2024, unusual symptoms on leaves, including yellow spots and orange to dark red-brown blotches, were detected in an almond orchard (Nonpareil, Monterey and Fritz) on the border of Merced and Madera counties. Continue reading
Almond growers are in a long tunnel of low prices and high costs. With volatile nut prices largely out of grower control, cost management and cost-effective yield improvements offer the best hope of maintaining headway and reaching the light. Continue reading
Fertilizer management with thin margins is extra tricky with almonds because varieties can yield so differently within a year. Post-harvest can be a great time to start catching up on potassium. Continue reading
Annie Edwards and Margaret Smither-Kopperl with the USDA recently released a report on termination using a roller crimper in orchard systems. Continue reading
Autumn freeze damage in walnuts can occur when trees experience freezing temperatures prior to going into dormancy. Since 2018, we’ve learned management practices that can prevent widespread damage. Continue reading
Ethephon, also known as Ethrel®, is an ethylene-based plant growth regulator applied at walnut maturity, or shortly thereafter, which accelerates hull cracking and separation from the shell. This advances walnut harvest by four to seven days, depending on the season and variety, and nut value is increased by lighter kernel color and possibly less insect damage. Continue reading
UC IPM has released a new resource to help identify carpophilus beetle Continue reading
Your orchard is an investment – the longer it remains a productive, high-yielding orchard the higher your return on that investment Continue reading
California’s prune industry faces a significant challenge: a decline in orchard lifespan. A primary disease culprit associated with premature orchard decline is the loss of fruit-producing scaffolds likely caused by the heart rot fungus Phellinus pomaceus (formerly called P. tuberculosus). Continue reading
The three most important management decisions dictating fruit size and crop size (and therefore grower returns) are 1) cropload management, 2) irrigation, and 3) nutrient management (especially potassium). Continue reading
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
These updates are provided as reference information for Sacramento Valley orchard pest and natural enemy activity. Continue reading