Search Results for: zone irrigation

Weekly Crop Evapotranspiration (Crop ET) Reports Are Available to Assist Farm Water Management

Posted on April 5 2019 by Allan Fulton

The Northern Region of the California Department of Water Resources and the University of California Cooperative Extension in Tehama and Glenn counties have teamed up to provide Weekly ET Reports to agricultural water users. Reports include water use information for a variety of crops. This article outlines background information about the reports and ways to use them in on-farm water management. Continue reading →

Using a Pressure Chamber is Worthwhile

Posted on July 25 2018 by Allan Fulton

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 →

What to Do this Spring for Flood Damaged Trees

Posted on March 28 2018 by Janine Hasey

2017 brought us unprecedented high and fluctuating water flows in the Sacramento and Feather Rivers, damaging orchards from direct flooding and indirectly via under-levee seepage. Many trees had a long exposure to waterlogged conditions through the winter and spring. This article discusses strategies for minimizing losses in 2018 in flood-impacted orchards. Continue reading →

Regional Changes in Groundwater Levels: Multi-year Drought Followed by Record Setting Wet Year

Posted on October 9 2017 by Allan Fulton

Trends in cumulative spring groundwater change by county are shown for a shallow well monitoring network and an intermediate well monitoring network across five northern Sacramento Valley counties.  The period of interest includes the spring of 2011 which was a wet water year, 2012 through 2016 which were a series of dry or critically dry water years, followed by 2017 which has been a record-setting wet year. Continue reading →

Soil Moisture Sensor Selection is Confusing

Posted on September 6 2017 by Sacramento Valley Orchards

So, every few weeks the question comes up of whether to install soil moisture meters which leads to the question of which to buy and install or have installed.  And then come the questions of what do the readings mean and why aren’t the readings consistent?  Or maybe this question arrives after the grower has installed the sensors or system and the values don’t conform to a known or knowable pattern. Continue reading →

Summer Flooded Orchard Damage Update, Part 2: Management Considerations

Posted on June 26 2017 by Janine Hasey

In 2017, high and fluctuating water flows, unprecedented for their duration, passed through the Sacramento and Feather Rivers. Orchards were hurt by these flows due to direct flooding, indirect flooding via under-levee seepage, and loss of land through river bank erosion. Many orchards had standing water from January through mid-May. In other orchards, ditches overflowed with nowhere to pump water out. Part 2 of this article discusses best practices to consider for orchard management after a flood event. Continue reading →

Yellowing Krymsk?

Posted on May 9 2017 by Dani Lightle

The continued saturation of tree root zones may lead to nutrient deficiency symptoms from reduced root activity. Sometimes these deficiencies are transient and symptoms resolve as the soil dries out and warms up. However, if the season progresses and the soils warm up but stay oversaturated, the symptoms may persist or trees may show the “yellowing Krymsk” problem. Continue reading →

Flooded Orchards, Part 2: Reflections on Past Flooding Events

Posted on April 14 2017 by Janine Hasey

Experiences with the 1986 and 1997 levee breaks in Yuba and Sutter Counties and other “high–water” events over the past thirty years afford us some expectations for the types and extents of tree damage that may result from orchard flooding in 2017. Here we reflect on the floods in 1986 and 1997 and considers ways in which specific conditions associated with those floods seemed to affect orchard outcomes. Continue reading →

The Latest on Managing Bot Canker and Blight in Walnut – 2016 Research Updates

Posted on April 11 2017 by Janine Hasey

Rainfall favors Botryosphaeria (Bot) and Phomopsis canker and blight of walnut when temperatures are over 50° F, so be alert to disease spread this spring and summer. Bot reduces yields by killing small fruit wood and large branches and directly infecting the nut. The focus of this article is on 2016 Bot research findings. Continue reading →