text:
First Sterile Insect
Release is a Test for
Pistachio Industry
See page 4
May 2018 Issue
In This Issue:
Ant Control is Important in Almonds
What You Need to Consider Before
Building a Walnut Huller
What Every Grower Should Know Before
Choosing a Pistachio Rootstock
Understanding Grower Liability in
Nutrient Management Planning
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By the Industry, For the Industry
Publisher: Jason Scott
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Editor: Kathy Coatney
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Associate Editor: Cecilia Parsons
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Contributing Writers & Industry Support
Almond Board Of California
Contributing Writer
Roger A. Isom
President/ CEO
Western Agricultural
Processors Association
Julie R. Johnson
Contributing Writer
Rich Kreps, CCA
Contributing Writer
Dani Lightle
UCCE Orchards Advisor,
Glenn, Butte & Tehama
Amy Wolfe
President and CEO, AgSafe
UC Cooperative Extension Advisory Board
David Doll
UCCE Farm Advisor, Merced County
Elizabeth Fichtner
UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County
Dani Lightle
UCCE Orchards Advisor, Glenn/Butte/Tehama Counties
Franz Niederholzer
UCCE Farm Advisor, Colusa/Sutter/Yuba Counties
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Sterile Insect Release Shows Promise for NOW Control in Pistachios
Walnut Husk Fly Control
What Every Grower Should Know Before Choosing a Pistachio
What You Need to Consider Before Building a Walnut Huller
Understanding Grower Liability in Nutrient Management Planning
Managing Small Bugs and Stink Bugs in Pistachios
The Benefits of Planting Honey Bee Forage in the Fall
ARB Approves Spending Plan for Agricultural Equipment
OSHA's Top Violations
Calcium-The Different Salts it Makes, Uses and Uptake
Ant Control is Important in Almonds
Update on Flooded Walnut Orchards
View our ePublication on the web at www.wcngg.com
Aiming to suppress burgeoning navel orangeworm (NOW)
populations in California pistachio orchards, the pistachio industry
is following in the footsteps of the cotton industry and continues
to pursue a sterile insect program adding another control tool for
See the full story on page 4
May 2018
By Cecilia Parsons | Associate Editor
Aiming to suppress burgeoning navel
orangeworm (NOW) populations
in California pistachio orchards, the
pistachio industry is following in the
footsteps of the cotton industry and continues
to pursue a sterile insect program
adding another control tool for growers.
Delivered to a 1,250 acre test plot in
western Kern County this spring will be
five million sterile navel orangeworm
adults. Taking a page from the cotton industry's
successful pink bollworm eradication
program, the project is aimed
a reducing numbers of NOW early in
the season to head off much larger crop
damaging NOW populations later.
Sterile Insect Releases
The release plan, said Bob Klein
director of the California Pistachio Research
Board, is for one million moths
per day to be delivered via fixed wing
aircraft, to the test plot. The releases will
be made in the early morning hours
from 500 feet up. Another 1,250 acre
block of pistachios will be used as a control.
Both blocks will continue to receive
standard NOW control with sanitation,
mating disruption and pesticide applications.
These releases, Klein said, are the
first in a three year program focused on
NOW suppression and lowering crop
damage percentage and to determine
success of the delivery method.
Sterile insect releases are being
scheduled to match emergence of native
adult NOW moths from overwintering
sites. The aim is to end the reproduction
cycle for as many NOW adults as
possible by releasing sterile NOW when
males are seeking females to mate. High
numbers of sterile insects are needed to
out-compete native NOW.
Klein said the sterile insect releases
are believed to work best early in the season
when NOW populations are lower.
The sterile Insect program is a suppression
program, Klein stressed, and if it
proves successful, can be another tool for
growers to protect their pistachio crops.
Crop Loss
Navel orangeworm (Amyelois
transitella) has caused record high crop
damage in pistachio nuts for the past two
harvest seasons, reaching two percent
in 2016 and over two percent last year.
From those crops, there were 18 million
pounds of pistachio nuts rejected by
processors each year. In addition, there
were uncounted millions of pounds of
damaged nuts left in orchards. Navel
orangeworm feeding on pistachios also
introduces the toxic mold, aflatoxin, in
the nuts, causing loss of export markets.
Loss of pistachio crop volume and
processing costs to sort out the damaged
nuts, plus market rejection due to aflatoxin
are costing pistachio growers and
processors $400 million per year, Klein
reported at the annual Pistachio Day
event. Stories about consumers finding
NOW larvae in their bags of pistachio
nuts made the rounds on the Internet
last year.
NOW Management
Pistachios are not the only nut crop
affected by NOW feeding, but their split
shells offer an easy feeding opportunity
and a depository for NOW eggs. NOW
is also a pest in almonds, but after that
crop is harvested, NOW readily moves
into pistachio orchards to feed and lay
eggs in split nuts.
Most pistachio growers have adopted
better orchard sanitation practices, are
using mating disruption and have chemical
control programs in place to combat
NOW. Each of those activities adds to
total production costs and in the case of
chemical control, growers have experienced
lower efficacy due to resistance
development to many chemicals.
Sterile Insect Research
The Administrative Committee for
Pistachios and the California Pistachio
Research Board committed funding in
2017 to continue sterile insect research.
The first step was to determine if NOW
could be raised in sufficient numbers to
Continued on Page 6
West Coast Nut May 2018
May 2018
Continued from Page 4
have an impact. The mass rearing project
has been conducted at a United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
operated facility in Phoenix, Arizona
which was used by the cotton industry
for many years to rear pink bollworm for
their sterile insect eradication program.
With funding, the Pistachio Research
Board has been able to keep the facility
open while determining if NOW can be
mass raised.
Mass raising pink bollworm, sterilizing
the adults and releasing them in
cotton fields was hugely successful, Klein
said, as the facility was able to produce
60 million per day when needed. Mass
rearing of NOW has some challenges
due to its biology.
Producing high numbers of adult
NOW are critical to the feasibility of
the sterile release project. Jeff Gibbons
with Setton Pistachio said that unlike
pink bollworm, NOW fly away after
pupating and capturing the one-third
inch size moths is difficult. Progress in
mass rearing has been made in the last
year, however, and the facility can now
produce about one million NOW a day.
Work at the facility has also included
development of a NOW diet, conducting
NOW irradiation testing for sterilizing
the moth. A new, more fertile colony of
NOW has also been established at the
Gibbons, who serves on a technical
subcommittee with Western Agricultural
Processors Association, said another
benefit of testing the efficacy of the
sterile insect release would be gaining
interest of the almond industry.
Irradiation or sterilization of the
NOW moths to be released is the final
process prior to release. Klein said the
Arizona facility now has the capacity
to irradiate only one million moths per
day. Scaling up the process will eventually
be possible, but would add to the
cost. Gibbons also said that additional
material for the radiation process would
be required. The facility can handle the
volume, he said, but costs will increase at
higher production numbers.
If this season's sterile release program
proves successful, Gibbons said
generating the numbers of sterile NOW
to cover all of the state's producing pistachio
acres would be critical to success of
the program.
Following release of the sterile NOW,
Klein said there would be a trapping
program to determine the ratio of
released and native NOW. The sterilized
moths, he said had a pink dye in their
diet prior to release and when they stick
to the trap and are squashed, they can be
identified by the pink dye. Researchers
will also monitor egg laying rate in the
almond orchard. Klein noted that the desired
result at the end of the season will
be a lower percentage of NOW damaged
nuts harvested.
A Sterile Insect Program is expected
to cost the industry $45 million per
year or about $30 per acre for growers.
The incentive for grower support are
processor bonus programs that pay 40
cents per pound for quality. With yields
of 3,000 pounds per acre, the bonus payments
can add another $1,200 per acre
for a $30 cost.
Relying on chemical controls for
NOW suppression will cost growers
more in the long run. Navel orangeworm
has a propensity to become resistant in
fewer generations, making it difficult
for chemical companies to develop new
insecticides that will be effective.
Roger Isom, president of Western
Agricultural Processors Association said
support from all commodities affected
by navel orangeworm damage would be
critical to the success of a sterile insect
program. There are still unanswered
questions about the impact the sterile
releases will have on the native NOW
population, he said.
"There has to be total buy in from
all involved in fighting this pest. There
is a high level of interest from some
and some are skeptical, but one thing is
for sure: what we are doing now is not
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West Coast Nut May 2018
When two million acres of hulls and husks
split, navel orangeworm heads straight for your
valuable crop. Intrepid Edge ® insecticide helps protect
that crop. Its two active ingredients impact all life stages of navel
orangeworm. That "multi-life stage" activity will comprehensively reduce
the entire pest population. Long-lasting and fast-acting without disrupting key
beneficial insects. Intrepid Edge is your premier insecticide at hull split.
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Husk Fly
By Dani Lightle | UCCE Orchards
Advisor, Glenn, Butte &
Tehama Counties
Walnut Husk Fly.
Photo courtesy of UC Statewide IPM
Program, University of California.
Many growers lucked out in 2017,
as walnut husk fly (WHF) didn't
bother to make much of an appearance
in most locations. That doesn't mean
we will be off the hook this year: some
pupae overwinter for two years in the
soil, and the weather conditions across
the state were much drier and possibly
less damaging to overwintering WHF as
the winter of 2016-17. Since a bad WHF
year can result in multiple sprays within
a walnut block, it's best to get a handle on
your WHF control plan prior to the first
insect trapped this season.
Walnut husk fly has one generation
per year. It overwinters as a pupa in the
soil. Adults begin to emerge in June and
continue emerging through August. The
first two weeks of a females' life, she
mates and matures eggs, after which she
oviposits in clusters in the husks of developing
walnuts. The
maggots develop over
the next three-to-five
weeks, then drop to
the soil and pupate for
the winter.
Symptoms of husk
fly damage are initially
small oviposition
stings that can be easy
to overlook, followed
by the husk turning
black and mushy
(pretty difficult to
overlook). Later season
infestations lead
to shell staining that
cannot be removed by
bleaching and cannot
be sold in-shell. Early
season infestations
result in husks that do
not separate from the
shell at harvest at all,
and may also impact
kernel quality and
West Coast Nut May 2018
High Lure
Low Lure
Hang your monitoring traps by
June 1st. A standard option is the Trécé
Pherocon AM NB yellow sticky trap
charged with an ammonium carbonate
lure. Research in 2012-13 by University
of California (UC) Berkeley entomologist
Dr. Bob Van Steenwyk and University
of California Cooperative Extension
(UCCE) Farm Advisor Janine Hasey
found that the Alpha Scents back folding
trap baited with an Alpha Scents RHA-
COM lure; Alpha Scents back folding
trap baited with a Trécé Mega lure; and
Suterra WHF trap with a Suterra WHF
lure performed as well as, or better, than
the standard ammonium carbonate lure.
Traps should be placed in hot spots from
previous growing seasons, on the north
side of the tree in a shady location, and
as high in the canopy as practical, with
approximately two traps per 10 acres.
Check traps two to three times per week
(plan on three times per week to catch
the first flies), and replace the sticky trap
as needed when the trap loses its stickiness
due to dust or high insect catches.
Look for colorful flies roughly the size of
a house fly (1/4 inch) with a yellow spot
on their back. Both genders have a dark
or black V at each wingtip.
Decision making for treatment timings
of WHF typically take one of three
forms (listed below from most effective
for control method timing to least effective).
Suggested treatment timings are
listed for each option (the exception is
control using GF-120®, page 10).
1. The "squish" test: identify whether
the flies in the trap are males
or females. Females can be distinguished
by the pointier abdomen
and the yellow front leg (males have
a rounded abdomen and black on
the upper part of the leg). Once
females have been identified, squish
away! Gently press on the abdomen
and squeeze out the small eggs resembling
rice grains. Once the first
female with eggs has been found,
treat as soon as possible.
2. The overall trap count method:
keep track of trap counts each trap
check (two to three times per week).
When there is a sharp increase in
WHF trap counts, treat as soon as
3. The damaged nuts method:
observe nuts in the orchard for
WHF stings. Treat when stings are
observed. This is obviously less
than ideal since crop damage has
already occurred—much of it in the
Continued on Page 10
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• NOW L 2 – High = Recommended for use in
orchards with low-abundance populations
where detection is needed and in
mating-disrupted orchards.
• NOW L 2 – Low = An all-purpose monitoring
lure recommended for use in orchards
with high-abundance populations.
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TRECE, PHEROCON and CIDETRAK are registered trademarks of Trece, Inc., Adair, OK USA • TRE-1196
May 2018
Continued from Page 9
upper canopy, which you
aren't able to see as well.
However, keeping an eye
out for stings can give you
an indication of how well
your treatment program is
doing and if adjustments
need to be made.
Control using GF-120® is
the exception to all suggested
timings listed above,
as you will want to begin
GF-120® bait treatments as
soon as catching the first
fly instead of waiting for
females with eggs or spikes
in trap catches.
All WHF treatment
options should be applied
with an insect bait (GF-120®
already has a bait included).
Because the bait lures the
fly to the treated leaves, full
coverage is not as critical unless
the orchard has a history
of high WHF damage. When
treating organic orchards,
be sure that both the active
material (e.g. Entrust®)
AND the bait are organically
acceptable. Assuming that all
flies have been killed by each
application, the treatment
interval for WHF is typically
approximately every 3
The efficacy table is a
summary of WHF efficacy
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Assail acetamiprid 4A
Athena +
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12.8 fl. oz
Athena bifenthrin + abamectin 3A 20.0 fl. oz ++
Baythroid beta-cyfluthrin 3A 2.8 fl. oz +++
Belay clothianidin 4A
Brigade +
Danitol +
bifenthrin + zeta-cypermethrin
and chlorpyrifos
fenpropathrin + clothianidin 3A + 4A
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3.0 fl. oz ++
16.0 oz +
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21.3 fl. oz + 6
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Danitol fenpropathrin 3A 21.3 fl. oz +++
Delegate spinetoram 5 3.2 oz ++
spinetoram and methoxyfenozide 5, 18 12.75 fl. oz ++
beta-cyfluthrin and imidacloprid 3A, 4A 2.8 fl. oz ++++
Malathion malathion 1B 64.0 fl. oz ---
Stallion +
Efficacy Table
zeta-cypermethrin and
chlorpyrifos + bifenthrin and
11.8 fl. oz +
12.8 fl. oz
Warrior lambda-cyhalothrin 3A 2.56 fl. oz ++
*Rating scale: ++++ Excellent Efficacy (95-100% control), +++ Good Efficacy (75-95% control), ++
Moderate Efficacy (50-75% control), + Little Efficacy (20-50% control), --- No Efficacy (0-20% control)
Continued on Page 12
West Coast Nut May 2018
Movento ® insecticide is the only foliar application with downward movement
within the tree to protect roots by suppressing nematodes. With Movento,
trees will show improved vigor and produce high yields year after year.
For more information, contact your retailer or Bayer representative or visit www.Movento.us.
© 2018 Bayer CropScience LP, 2 TW Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Always read and follow label instructions. Bayer, the Bayer Cross, and Movento
are registered trademarks of Bayer. For additional product information, call toll-free 1-866-99-BAYER (1-866-992-2937) or visit our website at www.CropScience.Bayer.us.
May 2018
Female that has undergone the squish test. Seven eggs can be seen to the right of the fly's abdomen.
Photo copyright: UC Statewide IPM Program, University of California.
Continued from Page 10
data from a decade of research by Dr. Bob Van Steenwyk and UCCE Farm Advisor
Bill Coates in a high WHF pressure orchard in San Benito County. Treatments were
applied with a hand-gun orchard sprayer operated at 200 psi with a final spray volume
of 300 gal/acre. All applications included NuLure® bait and an adjuvant at label
rates. Three to four treatments a year were applied, with timings decided using the
trap catch method described above. Each trial had four single-tree replicates. Efficacy
ratings are based on nut infestation levels on 125 nuts just prior to harvest.
More information on walnut husk fly can be found on the UC IPM Walnut
Guidelines (http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/selectnewpest.walnuts.html) or at Sac Valley
Orchards (www.sacvalleyorchards.com/walnuts).
Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
Delivering a
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trademark of HELM AG. ©2018 HELM Agro US, Inc.
West Coast Nut May 2018
Sticky trap with male (left) and female (right) walnut husk flies. The sexes can be distinguished by the forelegs, which are yellow in females and black in
males (circled). Photo copyright: UC Statewide IPM Program, University of California.
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May 2018
Pistachio acres and growers keep
increasing in numbers, but since this
crop is in relative 'infancy' compared to
other nut crops, knowledge gaps remain.
The Rootstock
The foundation of an
orchard, the rootstock,
may be one
of the least understood
of pistachio
yet it is a
dynamic part
of the industry.
in pistachio
limitations of
rootstocks and
what growers can
and cannot expect in
productivity are all important
aspects of pistachio
Cliff Beumel, executive vice president
of Sierra Gold Nurseries in Yuba
City, said rootstock availability and
Arturo Reyes operates a pistachio
nursery in the Reedley area. The
flowers were harvested from his
parent trees and will be used to
pollinate the female flowers.
All photos courtesy of
Cecilia Parsons
unknowns in their adaptability to soil
conditions and disease resistance have
spurred development of new rootstocks
since the 1970s.
Southern San Joaquin Valley pistachio
grower Brian Blackwell
noted that pistachio
rootstock breeders
and growers are still
learning about how
the trees grow over
time and how
they adapt to the
relative comfort
of California
growing conditions
to their native
Rootstock Research
University of California
Cooperative Specialist
Louise Ferguson who has conducted
extensive research into pistachio physiology
said the industry still lacks long term
rootstock trials with clonal varieties.
Rootstocks adapt the scion variety to
the soil. How well they perform in the
conditions present will determine tree
health and productivity.
Conditions are the deal breaker with
a rootstock. Soil salinity or sodicity,
freeze events and disease all affect the
ability of a rootstock to thrive. Their tolerance
or resistance to conditions when
verticillium wilt was affecting thousands
of acres of pistachios in the 1970s and
80s, the rootstock Pioneer Gold I's tolerance
to that disease saved the industry.
The Orchard Site
The orchard site, said all three sources
for this article, is the first thing a grower
should consider when choosing which
rootstock to use.
"With high sodium you go one direction,
if conditions are better, you have
other choices," Blackwell said.
"We really don't make recommendations
to growers as to what they should
plant," Beumel said. Instead his nursery
will give the grower information he
Continued on Page 16
West Coast Nut May 2018
May 2018
Continued from Page 14
needs to make a decision on planting,
given the specific conditions at the grower's
orchard site. As pistachio plantings
expand, many orchards are going into
soils and areas with harsher
growing conditions. The
trees are growing,
Beumel noted, but
their productivity
over time
will depend on
the rootstock
choice is more
grower specific
than region specific,
Beumel said. Many
growers will also try several
different rootstocks.
While rootstocks can address
certain problems like salinity, vigor or
disease resistance, he said the industry
lacks long-term side-by-side trials for
rootstocks and needs data generated by
replicated trials.
Beumel said there is a split among
several rootstock choices for planting
and not just one rootstock prevails over
all others.
In the last ten years, he said that
the majority of pistachios planted
were on either UCB1
clonal or UCB1 seedling
rootstock. Pioneer
Gold I, the first commercially
pistachio rootstock
and the new hybrid
Platinum made up
the rest of the rootstock
sales. Beumel
said some growers
who have had
success with Pioneer
Gold I have continued
to plant it. This
'tried and true' rootstock
was planted at the rate of at
least several hundred thousands of
plants a year until a few years ago and it
is still being planted today, he added.
Arturo Reyes
Platinum hybrid rootstock has
attracted a share of the market, Beumel
said, but there was a limited supply of
plants from tissue culture labs and in
the early years this rootstock was offered
only by one nursery. He estimated that
Platinum would have been planted at a
much higher rate had it been available.
This rootstock, he said, has many of
the same attributes as UCB1, but has
been observed to be more vigorous and
slightly more salt tolerant, though the industry
lacks definitive trial data on this.
Platinum also has never been associated
with Pistachio Bushy Top Syndrome
(PBTS), a point which is very important
to some growers.
Development of this syndrome in
newly planted pistachio trees has caused
growers to pull more than 20,000 acres
in the past few years and caused growers
to rethink some of their rootstock
choices. The positive news about PBTS,
Ferguson reported, is that there does not
appear to be a replant problem in the orchard.
Once affected trees are removed,
new trees will not acquire the syndrome
from the soil.
Beumel said most growers want
greater vigor, cold tolerance, and salinity
tolerance than what PG1 has traditionally
offered. They are also wary of clonal
UCB1 due to PBTS. Then, he said, there
is a belief by some growers that seedling
Continued on Page 18
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West Coast Nut May 2018
May 2018
Continued from Page 16
UCB1 has too much variability.
Rootstocks and Alternate
Ferguson said rootstocks do have
some effect on nut quality and yield in
pistachio production. The larger tree
size of UCB1 means it can produce more
nuts per acre.
Rootstocks can also make a difference
when mechanical pruning is
used to mitigate the effects of alternate
Recent data produced by Bob Beede
demonstrates alternate bearing in trees
on UCB1 and PG 2 rootstock, the predecessor
to Platinum, responded equally
well to pruning entering the on or off
crop year.
Alternate bearing in mature trees
on the PGI, and now commercially
unavailable Atlantica rootstock, will be
decreased by about 50 percent if pruned
entering the off crop year.
Variability, Ferguson
said, is one of the disadvantages
of seedling
rootstocks. There will
not be the absolute
tree uniformity that
clonal propagation
can provide, but there
is also less chance of
losing an entire orchard
to a disease or
pest if the rootstock is
susceptible. She said
the recent PBTS is an
his seedling UCB1 rootstocks with his
propagation process.
Reyes only propagates UCB1 seedling
rootstocks and said he uses strict
controls to help ensure their genetic uniformity.
His parent trees are enclosed at
bloom, pollen is collected and the flowers
are hand pollinated. Seeds collected
are planted in containers and as they
emerge and grow, they are inspected for
off-type characteristics.
Reyes said he sorts out about 5-10
percent of the seedlings for vigor and
Reyes, who participated in rootstock
research at the nearby UC Kearney Agriculture
Research and Education facility
said earlier production is also one of the
key traits of UCB1 rootstocks provide to
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
Clones, selected
from a known
and proven quality,
produced in rootstock
trials can produce
a superior tree, but
there are still some
genetic unknowns.
There have also been
compatibility issues
with newer scions.
Arturo Reyes, who
operates a pistachio
nursery in the Reedley
area, believes he
strives to achieve very
low variability with
West Coast Nut May 2018
May 2018
What You Need
to Consider
Building a
Walnut Huller
By Kathy Coatney | Editor
Upgraded equipment that was added in recent
years that includes touch screen technology.
All photos courtesy of Kathy Coatney.
wet harvest is a concern for many
A walnut growers. Will I have a home
for my nuts or will I be left out in the
A major motivation for growers to move
into hulling is ensuring their own nuts,
according to Bill Carriere, president of
Carrier Family Farms in Glenn, California.
Carriere farms
have been hulling
walnuts since 1974.
Installing a huller
is a big capital outlay,
Carriere continued.
"Some of it is basically
just insurance that
you have a home for
your walnuts at the
time you want it."
Individual Versus
Roger Isom, CEO
of the Western Agricultural
Association (WAPA)
said, the first thing
to consider is are you
doing just your own
nuts, or are you going
to do a commercial
operation that includes
your nuts and
other growers?
With a Commercial
operation size
alone comes with
more problems, Isom
• More energy usage
• More permitting,
depending the location
• More labor issues
Carriere said he thinks the bigger the
better to a certain degree, just because of
the economy of scale.
"There are hullers out there that
have very little of their own production.
They're strictly a custom operation, but
that's unique," Carriere said.
"We used to say if you had 300-500
acres you could build a huller, and run
it yourself, and bring in a few outside
growers," Carriere said, but today his
gut feeling is that more acreage may be
needed to make it pencil out.
"In the old days, it was very common
to see a huller just for the grower and
doing his own. Most of the installations
I see going in today, if they're going to
the expense of building a huller, it's for
multiple growers," Isom said, adding the
only way to make it pencil out is with a
commercial operation.
"You've got to run it 45, if not 60
days, and put a lot of nuts through it to
help pay for that capital expenditure that
you're putting out," Isom said.
Carriere said that a huller is a huge
West Coast Nut May 2018
investment that will only be in operation
for a month and a half maybe, and at
capacity for three weeks.
"The rest of the time it's going to sit
there and rust," Carriere said.
"We've looked into a lot of other
options on how to utilize the equipment
or the building," Carriere said, but in the
end, nothing else really worked for us.
Alan Reiff, Owner of Wizard Manufacturing
Inc. in Chico, California,
agreed the majority of growers take this
step for the sake of control.
"It really smoothes out your harvest
practices when you have your own processing
facility," Reiff said.
Spread out the Harvest
Another reason to have other growers
is to spread out the harvest, Carriere
It's also important to have earlier
varieties, not just later varieties like
Chandlers, Carriere continued.
"If you have your own production,
you can get more control. For example,
we spray quite a bit of Ethephon (used to
accelerate hull cracking and separation
from the shell) on our own production
so that we bring it in early. So, when the
rush hits, we're kind of done with ours,
or at least well into it. And then some orchards
we don't spray, and we try to keep
them for last just to spread that window
out as much as possible," Carriere said.
Installing a huller/dryer is a decent
investment, and with a properly sized
facility the initial investment, including
interest, can be recouped in seven to
eight years, Reiff said.
It's important not to over size them
or under size them, because then it's not
a good investment, Reiff said. And the
longer the huller/dryer is in operation,
the sooner the investment is recouped.
"Typically, the reason you can run it
longer is not more products, but more
varieties," Reiff said.
With just one variety, it's a 14 day
season, but with two or three varieties it
can be up to a 28 day season, Reiff said.
When a grower is running a farming
operation, a lot of the work is contracted
out for everything from pruning to
harvest, Isom said.
"When you're talking about running
a huller or dehydrator, now all of the
sudden you've got full time employees,"
Isom said.
And this change means:
• Personnel policies—what do
those policies mean
• A lower overtime trigger—
these employees can't be
worked like they were in the
• Sexual harassment policy
• Finding competent employees
Continued on Page 22
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May 2018
Shelled walnuts going through a laser sorter at
Carriere Family Farms, Inc., in Glenn, California.
Continued from Page 21
As labor becomes tighter and tighter,
finding labor is difficult, but there is also
competition from neighboring farms,
Isom said.
You may offer $12 an hour, but the
grower down the street is paying $12.50
an hour, so you may have to increase
wages just to get employees, Isom said.
"Along with that, your labor pool is
shrinking. You might be taking people
that probably aren't the first ones you'd
want to hire," Isom said.
"So, what does that mean?" Isom
It could mean you'll have a higher
potential for more accidents, Isom said.
"We've seen a whole host of issues
with people that you probably would
have passed on before, but because the
labor pool is small, you'll take whoever
you can get. And so that's a huge issue,"
Isom said.
"Hiring temp labor to come in to
do some of the major jobs at a huller is
problematic, unless they just randomly
have that experience," Carriere said.
"You can hire sorters, you can hire
people to sweep, you can hire somebody
to shovel something, or pick up sticks, or
whatever, but bringing somebody in to
run the huller, he needs to be one of your
permanent employees in my opinion,"
Carriere said.
Carrier also recommends planning
ahead because the companies that build
the huller are generally booked out a
long way in advance.
"If we want to add significant parts
or pieces of equipment to our hulling
operation, we definitely need to let them
know earlier rather than later," Carriere
Between designing and permits you
want to be at least 18 months out, Carriere
"It's all planning. The nice part about
what we've talked about here a lot is,
when you plant an orchard, assuming
you did your preplanning there as well,
now you have four years before that
kicks in with significant
volume," Carriere
said, adding this
gives you time to
plan your huller.
Carriere said,
we continue to
plan. We know how
many trees are in
the ground and how
much production is
expected off of those
non-bearing trees.
We also track
what we're going to
tear out or replace,
and then we talk to
all of our growers
and ask how many
acres they planted
last year, and if they
are planning on
bringing them to us
and what variety,
Carriere said.
"We try to plan all
that," Carriere said.
Running a huller
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brings a lot more scrutiny than would
potentially be seen on the farm, Isom
There will be inspections, and depending
on where the huller is located,
there will be inspections from:
• The air district
• The California Department of
Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
as part of the Food Safety
Modernization Act (FSMA)
Continued on Page 24
Lic# 251698
West Coast Nut May 2018
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Applying Agro-K's unique comprehensive micronutrient package, Zinc Plus +5 D.L., in
combination with late husk fly and codling moth sprays and other early season peak
demand nutrients (phosphate and boron) build bud strength for good over wintering
and ensure critical yield influencing nutrients are plentiful and available when the tree
breaks dormancy next spring. Building nutrient levels in the buds this year, leads to more
uniform bud break, faster early growth with larger leaves that have more photosynthetic
capability and stronger flower buds for better set. The end result… higher yields, larger
and heavier nuts next season.
Building nutrient levels this year sends trees and buds into winter with more strength
and energy reserves available next spring at bud break when cool soils limit uptake
and nutrient availability. Applying Zinc Plus +5 D.L. with Agrobest 0-20-26 with late
husk fly/codling moth applications will ensure the tree has zinc, manganese, iron and
other critical early nutrients ahead of spring peak demand timing to support leaf and
root development. By beginning to manage next year's nutrient needs this year, Zinc
Plus +5 D.L. helps prepare your trees for the goal of higher yields – with larger, higher
quality nuts, while also helping minimize alternate bearing issues.
Zinc Plus +5 D.L. and AgroBest 0-20-26 are compatible with most pesticides and foliar
nutrient tank mixes. For more information, call 800-328-2418, visit www.agro-k.com,
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May 2018
Continued from Page 22
• The Department of Labor or
Cal/OSHA (Division of Occupational
Safety and Health) if
there is an accident or complaint
"Typically, if you're only doing your
own, all those same things apply," Isom
said, but you're probably not as big an
operation, so you don't need as many
people, and it is less likely that some of
these things will occur.
automation may be the answer.
"I think people are willing to
spend a little more money now for
increased automation to avoid the
(labor) issues," Isom said.
Isom uses robotic sorters as an
example. Initially, the technology
wasn't quite there, but it's pretty
much mastered now, and one
company has replaced 32 people
with two machines that cost a $1
million each.
Shelled walnuts at Carriere Family Farms, Inc.,
in Glenn, California.
"If you're commercially doing outside
product, there's no doubt you're going to
need an air pollution permit, whichever
county you may be in," Isom said.
The Sacramento Valley is probably
less onerous than San Joaquin Valley,
or the Yolo/Solano Air Quality Management
districts where there's a lot of
scrutiny, Isom said.
Automation does raise costs initially,
but with things like wages, overtime, and
worker's compensation, Isom thinks that
The company estimates it will
pay back that expenditure in three
years with the savings from salary,
sick leave, overtime, and workers
compensation, Isom said.
Carriere agreed that more and
more automation is the future.
"Strictly from the labor perspective,
if not for accuracy," he said.
Equipment upgrades are not
cheap, Carriere said, but one thing
we do is rent our camera sorter.
"They (the company) come
and get it after harvest, and take it back,
and give it all the software upgrades, and
bring it back right before harvest and
reinstall it," Carriere said.
"The direction is toward more and
more technology to minimize labor and
human error," Reiff said.
Reiff said, growers are investing in
redundant color sorting systems and
eliminating all human hand sort labor.
They're also investing in automated bin
filling and automated dryer controls to
eliminate the need for labor to fill bins
and monitor moisture content.
Do the Math
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Isom advised growers before making
this investment to do the math, not just
short term, but into the future.
"You can't look at just the year ahead.
You've got to be looking five-10 years
down the road before you make that
investment," Isom said.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
West Coast Nut May 2018
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May 2018
Understanding Grower
Liability in Nutrient
Management Planning
Almond orchard in bloom. Photo
courtesy of Kathy Coatney.
Tree nut crops cover millions of acres
in California, making growers' use
of irrigation water and nitrogen fertilizer
come under increasing scrutiny by state
regulators. The latest mandate from the
State Water Board directs growers who
have irrigated crops to test their domestic
water wells for nitrates. The testing
and reporting are responsibilities of the
grower, not their water quality coalition.
More than a Century
of Service to the
Nut Industry
New Rule
This new rule was adopted by the
State Water Resources Control Board on
February 7, 2018.
State-certified laboratories must collect
the samples and analyze for nitrates.
If the sample exceeds the state's nitrate
drinking water standard, the landowner
must report that information to all users
of that water within 10 days. If a coalition
member is renting a farm and is
responsible for a house on the property,
they must report the nitrate exceedance
to the property owner within 24 hours.
The state requires documentation the
reporting was done.
Parry Klassen, manager of the East
San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition
West Coast Nut May 2018
(ESJWQC) notes that this new domestic
well testing mandate places a spotlight
on growers as the results of the testing
are posted on a State Water Board
The well test requirement is another
out of pocket expense for growers. Klassen
said there are a number of laboratories
certified to do the testing, and he
expects costs to vary based on location
of the wells distance of a farm from the
laboratory and number of wells. Growers
can expect to pay $200 to $300 per well
for sampling and analysis, he said.
Irrigation and Nitrogen
Management Plan
sound irrigation and nitrogen application
practices to prevent groundwater
contamination. The coalition's report
to the state does not identify individual
growers and their plans, but the coalition
will analyze plans looking for water or
nitrogen applications that are outside
of normal parameters. Klassen said
that while some grower reports can be
"outliers" compared to other INMPs,
some variability is expected each year
due to different growing conditions. The
reports by themselves do not trigger any
regulatory process, he said, but provide
an opportunity for improving nitrogen
and water use efficiency.
New Language
New language added to the revised
regulation addresses a fear by many
Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs) that
they are liable if they sign an INMP. The
new language clarifies that the person
signing the INMP certifies that the plan
was prepared under their supervision
and the information and data reported
is, to the best of their knowledge to be
accurate and complete. When a CCA
signs the plan, they are allowed to rely
on the information and data provided by
Continued on Page 28
Growers are also now responsible for
adding an irrigation reporting component
to Irrigation and Nitrogen Management
Plan (INMP) which is filled out
and kept on the farm. Selected information
from the INMP is then due for the
2019 crop on March 1, 2020 for ES-
JWQC members. The new requirements
will likely be in a place a year later in
other coalition regions. The INMP must
be completed by all coalition members,
not just those farming land in state-declared
"high vulnerability" areas. However,
the INMP must still be certified by
a crop advisor for land in high vulnerability
areas. Growers can also sign off on
the plan if they have completed the certification
training. A high vulnerability
region is where the coalition determines
that the groundwater may be at risk of
having nitrate at a concentration that
exceeds the drinking water standard.
Klassen said the coalitions are revising
the INMP template and summary report
based on the new requirements.
Previously, growers were required to
have a nitrogen management plan and
if their land was in a high vulnerability
area, submit an annual report to their
Now, plans must be in place in 2019
and beginning in 2020, growers in high
vulnerability areas must submit their
INMP summary reports to their coalition
in the event that the Regional Water
Board has the revised orders in place for
all water quality coalitions by the end of
this year. Growers in low vulnerability
areas must begin submitting their INMP
by March 2021.
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In the plan, the state wants to know
if the grower or farm manager is using
May 2018
East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition
(ESJWQC) member meeting in Modesto,
California. Photo courtesy of Parry Klassen,
Executive Director, ESJWQC.
Continued from Page 27
the grower and are not required to verify.
Additionally, CCAs will not be held
liable if the grower does not adhere to
the plan. Growers will be held liable if
they do not submit a plan.
The one positive change in the water
board requirements for the Irrigated
Lands Regulatory Program is that
growers only need to complete a farm
management plan every five years rather
than annually.
Klassen said the INMPs stay on the
farm and are not submitted to the coalition
or regional water board. Growers
still must keep records of data including
evapotranspiration, nitrogen applied
from all sources and total water applied
to crops. Klassen, who also writes
Watershed Coalition News, reports that
growers have been fined for ignoring
earlier program requirements. Fines for
failure to obtain regulatory coverage for
discharges from irrigated cropland have
been levied against growers who either
did not obtain a permit to discharge
or who had not joined a water quality
coalition. Klassen reported that the East
San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition was
targeted first by state regulators because
it was the first to obtain a Waste Discharge
Requirement permit in 2012. To
date across the Central Valley, he said all
growers except one have become members
of a coalition.
Nitrogen Crop Coefficients
Klassen said coalitions are now in
the process of developing nitrogen crop
coefficients that estimate nitrogen uptake
and typical ranges of nitrogen use for
crops grown in the area. That information
for almonds is already in place
according to Gabriele Ludwig, Almond
Board of California's (ABC) director of
Sustainability and Environmental Affairs.
The focus is on helping growers become
more efficient with their water and
nitrogen use, she said,
but development of
the crop coefficients
also helps growers
assess demand for water
and nitrogen plus
timing of nitrogen
Almond growers
also have tools
available to assist with
achieving efficiency
in water and nitrogen
use. Ludwig said
the existing almond
Nitrogen Calculator
and Irrigation Calculator,
found on the
ABC web site would
be updated to provide
reports that meet the
new INMP requirements.
Spencer Cooper,
senior manager for
Irrigation and Water
Efficiency at ABC said
the tools would take
some of the pressure
off almond growers,
making the develop-
ment of their INMP plans easier.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
West Coast Nut May 2018
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b-2 stage (deep V split)
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maintains nutrients in solution longer for increased and superior leaf
uptake of both P and K. Phosphonate free, SIZER's nutrient analysis
is completely available to the plant system while being European
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repeatedly applied prior and up to early bud and spur wood
development for tree nut crops as well as tree fruit. SIZER 4-20-22
is a clear liquid Di Potassium Poly Phosphate with an alkaline pH
range of 7.5-8.3 and may be applied in combination with other
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In recent U.C. research on Almond Hull Rot, foliar applications of alkaline fertilizers, specifically Di Potassium
Phosphate were similarly effective as fungicide treatments and significantly reduced the disease. While
research rates of 1.5 -2 quarts were utilized, SIZER can be applied at rates up to 1 gallon/acre with little to no
phytotoxicity. Di Potassium Phosphate may have the ability to neutralize the fumaric acid that contributes to
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May 2018
Managing Small
Bugs and Stink
Bugs in Pistachios
Small bugs can cause large amounts of
damage in pistachio nut crops.
These early season pistachio pests
include Calocoris bug, Phytocoris bug,
Lygus bug and California buckeye bug.
At the 2018 Pistachio Day event, Kent
Daane, Cooperative Extension Specialist
at UC Berkeley and Kearney Agriculture
Research and Education Center, said
these bugs can only cause crop damage
for short period of time early in the
growing season if they build to large
numbers and damage more nuts than
the cluster would normally drop off.
Pistachio nuts are vulnerable to small
bug feeding from bloom until the shell
begins to harden. Cooler springtime
weather can delay shell hardening and
lengthen the time the nutlets are vulnerable
to small bug damage.
What to Look for
spots on the thorax. It prefers weedy
hosts and migrates into pistachio trees
as ground covers dry or are cultivated
in the spring. It over winters in the egg
stage on weedy host plants and produces
one generation per year.
Lygus adult colors vary from brown
to green and they also have a yellowish
triangular shaped area on the back between
the wings. Lygus can move from
drying weedy vegetation or harvested
forage crops in the spring into pistachio
orchards. When rainfall and spring
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Daane said when in the nymph stage,
it could be difficult to tell small bugs
apart from beneficial insects such as the
big eye bug. Adult Phytocoris, Calocoris
and lygus bugs are all about one quarter
inch in length. Buckeye bugs are slightly
Adult calorcoris have green color
bodies and their wings have a reddish
brown tint, becoming black where they
overlap. Calocoris also has two black
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West Coast Nut May 2018
temperatures are ideal for the growth of
broadleaf weeds, lygus numbers can be
very high.
Pistachio orchard. Photo courtesy of Cecilia Parsons.
Phytocoris overwinter in the egg
stage on one-year-old fruitwood on
pistachio and other deciduous trees.
These small bugs are grey in color with
flecks of black and white. They also have
long antennae and legs and move rapidly
when disturbed. Phytocoris can be a pest
species or a beneficial, depending on
numbers. This small bug is a predator
of other insects including immature soft
scale in March and April. They also feed
on navel orangeworm eggs in spring.
Buckeye bug adults are straw colored
and slightly hunched. They overwinter
as eggs at the base or leaf petiole scars
on one-year-old pistachio wood. The
nymphs are greenish with brown markings
on the back. These small bugs are
identified by a long, hairy first antennal
segment and brown and white bands
on the legs and antennae. California
buckeye bugs have only been found in
orchards near their native plant host
California buckeye.
Evidence of small bug feeding will
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be large numbers of BB size dropped
nuts. Before shell hardening, small bugs
can insert their mouthparts into the nut
causing epicarp lesions which appear on
the inside of the nut as white netting.
Damage to small nuts results in blackening
and nut drop. As nuts enlarge, the
hull turns brown and necrotic and the
outside will often have a sunken appearance.
On the inside of the nut there will
be a small black spot or irregular-shaped
pit in the area where the bugs fed on soft
shell tissues. Nuts that continue to grow
after small bug feeding may have stained
shells which lowers value.
Daane said when there is ground
cover in an orchard and it dries or is
mowed early in the season, small bugs
move into the trees where they feed and
drop large numbers of nuts, affecting
fruit set. If numbers are low, the trees
can compensate for the dropped nutlets.
But, Daane said in large numbers they
can cause so many nuts to drop that fruit
set is affected.
Stinkbugs can be important early in
the season—just like the small bugs—
but can continue to damage nuts later
into the season because of their larger
mouthparts. They may overwinter in the
orchard or fly in when other host plants
become dry. These bug species typically
have two generations per year.
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As mentioned, stinkbugs do feed on
pistachio nuts early in the season, but
they cause damage with their stronger
mouthparts late in the season, piercing
the hardened shells to feed. Their
feeding not only causes crop damage, it
also spreads pathogens in the orchard.
Botryospaeria and fungal pathogens are
known to be spread by stinkbugs, Daane
said. The feeding damage also contributes
to off grade nuts at harvest. There
may not be obvious signs externally, but
Continued on Page 32
May 2018
Continued from Page 31
kernel necrosis causes darkened nutmeat.
Brown pinpoint marks are signs of
stinkbug feeding in July and August.
Four common stinkbugs species in
pistachios are the red-shouldered stink
bug, green stink bug, Uhler's stink bug
and Say's stink bug. The red-shouldered
stink bug is mostly green and may have
a red band across the shoulder at times.
During the winter it can be brown in
color. The green stink bug, while in the
nymph stages can have several different
colors and patterns prior to the fifth
instar stage when it finally has a green
appearance and wing pads develop late
in that stage.
Uhlers and Says stinkbugs are look
somewhat similar to the green stinkbug.
In the nymph stage, Daane said, they
can all vary in colors and be difficult to
correctly identify. He suggested using an
online "Bug Guide" to help with identification.
An invasive stinkbug, the brown
marmorated stinkbug (BMSB), may also
pose a threat to pistachios. Last year,
BMSB was found in Fresno County and
to date has been trapped in 34 California
counties. It has been proven to feed on
pistachio nuts and cause kernel necrosis
in a laboratory. To date, it has not been
found in commercial pistachio orchards,
but it has been found in California
almonds—so it is a pest of interest to
pistachio growers.
Brown marmorated stinkbug has
mottled brown coloring and white
stripes on its antennae. It can be mistaken
for a beneficial stinkbug. Growers
who suspect they have this stinkbug in
their orchards should take them to the
county agriculture commissioner for
identification, Daane said.
This large bug has built up large
numbers on the East Coast where it has
become a pest in many crops. Daane
said the concern is that BMSB will be
able to build large numbers in the Central
Valley and move into nut orchards
where it can feed aggressively. Hot, dry
summers in the Central Valley, Daane
said, could be the limiting factor to
BMSB expansion. In studying the BMSB
population in Sacramento for over a
year, he said trap counts show a dip in
July and August.
Monitoring for Bugs
Studies show that monitoring for
small bugs is best done with a sweep
net. Using a beat tray after an insecticide
spray can indicate large bug numbers.
Monitoring for crop damage also
indicates feeding and percent of crop
damage. Critical times for monitoring
are April to June in pistachios and March
to May in almonds.
Daane recommended monitoring
each year to measure year-to-year
changes in populations. If sampling finds
lots of small bugs early and some large
bugs early to mid season, insecticides are
the most reliable option. Pyrethroids are
a common choice for control, but they
may cause other pest insect populations
to rise. If navel orangeworm is present,
the sprays may contribute to resistance
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May 2018
The Benefits
of Planting
Forage in the Fall
By Almond Board of California
If you're looking for ways to improve
your soil, while at the same time enhance
the vitality of honey bees during
bloom, you might think of planting
cover crops this fall.
That's the message from Billy Synk,
director of pollination programs for
Project Apis m., an organization that
funds projects and directs research to
improve the health of honey bee populations
while also improving crop production.
Earlier this year, Synk hosted on-farm
workshops to show almond
growers how planting
flowering cover
crops between
rows of trees or
on the perimeters
of orchards
may improve
bee health as
they provide
an alternate
of honey bee
nutrition before
and after almond
Billy Synk stands in front of cover
crops during a workshop at Tarke
Farming. All photos courtesy of
Almond Board of California
"Why would an almond grower want
to plant a cover? For the bees' sake,"
Synk said during a field day at Tarke
Farming near Sutter.
Project Apis m. offers a program
called Seeds for Bees,
which designs and provides
seed mixes and
methods to establish forage
that supports pollinators.
The program's offerings include
the PAm Clover
Mix, which includes
Balansa, Crimson and
several other types of
clover, and the PAm
Mustard Mix, which
has three different
types of white
and yellow
as well as
forage seeds
are planted
in the fall, they
should germinate
with normal precipitation
in fall and
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West Coast Nut May 2018
early winter so that they're blooming by
January, in time for almond bloom. The
advantage of having bees "boosted" by
forage is that it provides a robust source
of nutrition that nurtures more vigorous
foragers, Synk said.
Synk explained that colonies trucked
to California often haven't had contact
with a flower in months. However,
growers need not worry that forage will
distract honey bees from pollinating
their almond trees. Almonds provide
honey bees with large quantities of
high-quality pollen in a relatively small
area, making it very easy for bees to
collect, as opposed to hard-to-get pollen
on a cover crop.
Having other pollen sources available,
such as attractive pollen from forage,
promotes a pollen-collecting cycle
and keeps bees working and stimulated.
This cycle motivates the queen to lay
more eggs and the bees to collect more
pollen to feed their young, allowing
colony populations to expand rapidly
and ultimately create a larger fieldworker
Continuing studies funded by Almond
Board of California have examined
the health, growth and survival of
honey bee colonies that were fed supplemental
feeds and forage. The results indicate
that planting forage could increase
queen and colony survival, as well as
provide healthier colonies.
Aside from bee health, cover crops
also help prevent soil erosion and "keep
precious top soil on site," Synk said.
As all growers must now have a
nitrogen management plan
under the state's Irrigated
Lands Regulatory
Program, cover crops
can play a key role in
protecting surface
water quality, partly
by supplementing
nitrogen without the
use of fertilizers.
"It's a win-win situation,"
said Synk. "You're
not going to get every one
of the attributes every year,
but there are always some benefits."
For Tarke Farming owner Michael
Tarke, this was the first year he planted
Michael Tarke, owner of
Tarke Farming, hosted a
workshop on cover crops
for growers with Project
Apis m. in February.
cover crops. He planted different varieties
in several rows between his almond
trees and on a strip of land next to his
orchard. He said a pest control advisor
told him about the Seeds for Bees
"I had just wanted to do it as a soil
amendment, but we have about 4,000
bee hives, so it'll benefit the bees, too,"
Tarke said.
There is "a bit of a learning
curve" for growers, particularly
if they're used to
a bare-ground management
system, said Tom
Johnson, an agronomist
for Kamprath
Seeds in Manteca. He
explained that to get
mustards to bloom
on time, they have to
be planted by October,
which isn't always possible
if early rains come.
There's also a "comfort factor" to
Continued on Page 36
May 2018
Tom Johnson, an
agronomist for Kamprath
Seeds in Manteca, discusses
key considerations for
planting a winter cover
crop in the orchard.
Continued from Page 35
Available in 10, 20 and
40 acre container sizes!
consider for growers who encounter the
cover crop as they're doing their normal
orchard activities, such as sweeping,
Johnson said. The mixes Seeds for Bees
offer can be planted in every fourth row
and still cover the orchard adequately, he
said. If row plantings are not an option
for the orchard, forage can be planted
along orchard margins or in open fields
nearby. Hedgerows, with their long
bloom periods, are also an option to
provide bee forage, beneficial insects and
soil benefits.
Another important consideration is
the water requirement for forage. When
sowed in the fall and winter, most cover
crops should germinate with normal
precipitation levels. However, seedling
growth should be monitored to determine
if irrigation will be needed to
supplement rainfall in dry years.
Contact Billy Synk at Project Apis
m. (email@example.com) to sign up
for the Seeds for Bees program and visit
Almonds.com/BeeBMPs for the handout,
"Forage Your Way to Better Honey
Bee Health."
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
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West Coast Nut May 2018
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ARB Approves
Spending Plan for
Roger A. Isom, President/CEO
Western Agricultural Processors Association
The culmination of tough legislation,
and six months of negotiations has
resulted in the approval of $135 million
for agricultural equipment in California.
This momentous event occurred
at the California Air Resources Board
(CARB) hearing in Riverside in March.
This funding will replace agricultural
tractors and harvesters, ag trucks and
ag irrigation pump engines. While this
is a major development statewide, this
is absolutely critical in the San Joaquin
Valley because the California Air
Resources Board is forced to consider a
mandatory tractor replacement regulation
in the San Joaquin Valley, due to
the imposition of incredibly restrictive
federal ambient air quality standards
by Federal Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Without federal action to
delay those standards, CARB is obligated
to consider all potential measures,
including a mandatory tractor replacement
rule, such as those already being
implemented on trucks and construction
The Western Agricultural Processors
Association (WAPA) pushed for this
funding, as it is the only way agriculture
can comply without being forced
out of business. At the hearing, WAPA
President/CEO Roger Isom stated "the
West Coast Nut May 2018
problem with agriculture is that we have
no way to pass along the cost." Also
commenting was WAPA Board member
Dan Pronsolino of Dunnigan Hills
Hulling and Shelling who highlighted
the competition issue by pointing to an
example of one of the industry's world
competitors, commenting that "a similar
hulling operation in Australia recently
purchased a brand new loader from China
that had a Tier 0 engine in it, making
the purchase price one-sixth of the
price of one equipped with a Tier 4 final
engine." Nonetheless, this is a major
win for air districts throughout the state,
especially the smaller rural air districts
like those in the Sacramento Valley, who
typically only get a few hundred thousand
dollars annually. The funding plan
was approved unanimously and money
should start flowing to the air districts in
the late spring.
Funding Sources
Most of this funding will work like
the existing Carl Moyer Program in
each District, but some funding will not
have the same restrictions depending on
the air district. For example, one new
program being developed is one that
Air District
Funding Allocation
Bay Area $
Butte $
Colusa $
Eastern Kern $
Feather River $
Glenn $
Imperial $
Monterey Bay $
Sacramento Metro $
San Diego $
San Joaquin Valley $
San Luis Obispo $
Santa Barbara $
South Coast $
Tehama $
Ventura $
Yolo Solano $
Districts with less than 1% $
Continued on Page 40
May 2018
Continued from Page 39
would replace existing diesel and gasoline
utility terrain Vehicles (UTVs) with
an electric UTV, such as electric John
Deere Gators, or other electric vehicles.
This is new to agriculture, but has been
available to municipalities in some Air
Districts for a couple of years now.
As for the regulation, CARB and
the SJVAPCD claim they need more to
achieve attainment of a very low standard
set by the Federal EPA, and that the
last untapped source is agriculture. So,
what should we expect from CARB in
terms of a tractor regulation? Well, the
good news is that agriculture has done
a tremendous job utilizing incentives
in advance of any regulation. When
CARB first announced they were going
to have a tractor regulation, they put
forth a potential goal of 5 to 10 tons
per day of NOx emission reductions
by 2017. Through the use of incentives
from programs like the Carl Moyer
Diesel Emission Reduction Program, the
United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and
the Federal EPA Diesel Emission Reduction
Act (DERA) funding, agriculture
has replaced over 6,500 tractors and harvesters,
and thereby reduced NOx emissions
by almost 17 tons per day! This has
been so successful, CARB has indicated
they will give consideration to the use of
incentives in setting the backstop dates.
With this new $135 million shot in the
arm, agriculture can go a long way in
keeping ahead of the next regulation.
But will this be enough to keep a
farmer from having to replace his equipment
before its time?
Keep in mind, this money does not
pay the full cost of the equipment. To
date the incentive moneys have only paid
roughly 50 percent of the cost of the new
tractor on average. Incentives are great,
but farmers still have to come up with
half the money, and that could prove
challenging as all productions costs (i.e.
fuel, labor, energy, etc.) continue to rise.
And since no other area in the country,
or world for that matter, will have a similar
regulation, the economic imbalance
for California growers will only worsen.
All the more important to have this
funding approved this past month!
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
West Coast Nut May 2018
Zinc Plus +5 D.L.
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Looking to Increase Almond Yields in 2019?
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The best time to nutritionally impact next year's almond crop. Don't forget to take
advantage of the free ride available with your Hull Split (NOW) sprays to nutritionally
set the stage for maximum yield in 2019. Post-harvest while leaves are still in good
condition is also a great time to "reload" your trees nutritionally for 2019.
Many almond growers with late varieties or early leaf drop who rely on custom spray
application often find post-harvest applications difficult logistically. Growers in this
situation can take advantage of Agro-K nutritional tools during hull split applications
to help prepare their trees for future nutritional demands next season. Applying
Zinc Plus +5 D.L., at hull split with other early-season peak demand nutrients like
phosphorus and boron, build bud strength and provide critical nutrients for next year's
developing buds so they are available when the tree breaks dormancy next spring.
Building nutrient levels in the buds this year, leads to more uniform bud break,
faster early growth with larger leaves that have more photosynthetic capability and
stronger flower buds for increased nut set. In addition, trees that are not nutritionally
stressed experience less post bloom nut drop. Maximizing yield starts with nut
set and post bloom nut retention. Ensuring peak nutrient demand timing is met
leads to higher nut set and retention. The end result… higher yields, larger and
heavier nuts next season.
Building nutrient levels this year sends trees and buds into winter with more strength
and energy reserves that will be available to the tree next spring at bud break when
cool soils limit uptake and nutrient availability. Applying Zinc Plus +5 D.L. with
AgroBest 0-20-26 and Top-Set D.L. at hull split and/or post-harvest will ensure the
tree has all critical early season nutrients needed ahead of spring peak demand timing
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May 2018
OSHA's Top Violations
By Amy Wolfe, MPPA, CFRE
President and CEO, AgSafe
The food and farming industry
still ranks among the top 10 most
hazardous industries in which to work.
While some hazards are just inherent
in the work we do, it is imperative that
we take steps towards prevention. In reviewing
the top Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) agricultural
violations in California, October
2016 through September 2017, we can
better tackle the areas of safety that need
our attention. The chart below shows the
top four violated code sections and the
corresponding fine penalties.
Armed with this information, we can
dig into the code, its requirements and
more importantly, refocus our company
efforts, including training our employees
on these critical safety elements.
Heat Illness Prevention
The heat illness prevention program
is designed to outline water, rest, shade,
and emergency response requirements,
while serving as a useful tool for both
employees and supervisors alike.
What needs to be included in
the program?
The plan must include the following
elements and incorporate specific details
as to how you will ensure that the provisions
are met:
• The designated person(s) that
have the authority and responsibility
for implementing the
plan in the field
• Procedures for providing sufficient
• Procedures for providing access
to shade
• High-heat procedures
• Emergency response procedures
-Don't forget your lone
workers (e.g. irrigators)
• Acclimatization methods and
• When drafting your plan, it is
important to consider the size
of your crew, the length of the
work day, the ambient temperatures,
and any additional
personal protective equipment
(PPE) that contributes as an
additional source of heat.
• The plan needs to be in English
and also the language understood
by the majority of the
employees and must be located
at the worksite and accessible
to employees.
Adequate shade means blockage of
direct sunlight. One indicator that blockage
is sufficient is when objects do not
cast a shadow in the area of blocked sunlight.
Shade is not adequate when heat in
the area of shade defeats the purpose of
shade, which is to allow the body to cool.
For example, a car sitting in the sun does
not provide acceptable shade to a person
inside it, unless the car is running with
air conditioning. Shade may be provided
by any natural or artificial means that it
does not expose employees to unsafe or
unhealthy conditions and that it does
not deter or discourage access or use.
• Shade needs to be available
when the temperature exceeds
80 degree Fahrenheit.
• How do you know when
temperatures hit 80 degrees?
Cal/OSHA urges employers
to not rely on your cell phone
because it does not reflect the
site specific temperatures. Best
practice, invest in an outdoor
• The amount of shade present
shall be at least enough to
accommodate the number of
employees on recovery or rest
periods, so that they can sit in
West Coast Nut May 2018
Number of
265 Title 8
Section 3395
166 Title 8
Section 3203
89 Title 8
Section 3457
24 Title 8
Code Description
Heat Illness Prevention Program $733,200
Injury Illness Prevention Program $269,885
Field Sanitation $76,915
Operation of Agricultural Equipment $170,705
Section 3441
a normal posture fully in the
shade without having to be
in physical contact with each
• The shade shall be located as
close as practicable to the areas
where employees are working.
• Shade also needs to be
available, even when the
temperature does not exceed
80 degrees Fahrenheit, upon
employee request.
Employees shall have access to
potable drinking water. It must be fresh,
pure, suitably cool, and provided to
employees free of charge. The water shall
be located as close as practicable to the
areas where employees are working.
Where drinking water is not plumbed or
otherwise continuously supplied, it shall
be provided in a sufficient quantity at the
beginning of the work shift to provide
one quart per employee per hour for
drinking for the entire shift. Employers
may begin the shift with smaller quantities
of water if they have effective procedures
for replenishment during the shift
as needed to allow employees to drink
one quart or more per hour.
Continued on Page 44
May 2018
Continued from Page 43
For more information on the
program and training requirements,
visit CalOSHA's heat illness prevention
eTool at: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/
Injury Illness Prevention
Employers are required to have an
Injury Illness Prevention Program, an
IIPP. The IIPP serves as the foundational
safety program. It requires employers to
identity hazards in the workplace and
have systems that prevent injuries and
incidents associated with these identified
hazards. An effective IIPP improves the
safety and health in your workplace and
reduces costs through good management
and employee involvement. Your IIPP
must include the following information:
1. Responsibility—Identify who is
responsible for implementing the
2. Compliance—Include a system
for ensuring that employees comply
with safe and healthy work practices.
3. Communication—Include a
system for communicating with
employees in a form readily understandable
by all affected employees
on matters relating to occupational
safety and health, including provisions
designed to encourage employees
to inform the employer of
hazards at the worksite without fear
of reprisal.
4. Hazard Assessment—Include
procedures for identifying and evaluating
work place hazards including
scheduled periodic inspections to
identify unsafe conditions and work
5. Accident/Exposure Investigation—Include
a procedure to
investigate occupational injury or
occupational illness.
6. Hazard Correction—Include
methods and/or procedures for
correcting unsafe or unhealthy
conditions, work practices and work
procedures in a timely manner
based on the severity of the hazard.
7. Training and Instruction—For all
employees, before they perform the
work, and whenever there is a new
or changed procedure.
8. Recordkeeping—All trainings,
investigations and inspections.
For more information on the requirements
of an IIPP visit CalOSHA's
eTool at: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/
Operation of Agricultural
In this section, employers are
required to train employees on how to
safely operate agricultural equipment
like forklifts, tractors, all-terrain vehicles
(ATVs), and utility terrain vehicles
(UTVs). Requirements also include:
• No removing of guards
• No permitting additional
• Inspection prior to daily use
• For the complete regulation,
visit: https://www.dir.ca.gov/
West Coast Nut May 2018
Field Sanitation
The field sanitation regulation
requires employers to provide drinking
water and toilet and handwashing facilities
for their workers. Here is a snapshot
of the requirements:
Provide potable drinking water
• Readily accessible
• Water shall be fresh and
pure, suitably cool
• Dispensed in single-use
drinking cups
• In sufficient amounts, taking
into account the air temperature,
humidity, and the
nature of the work performed,
to meet the needs of
all employees.
• Water shall be free of charge
to all employees
Toilet and handwashing facilities
• Separate toilet facilities for
each sex shall be provided
for each twenty (20) employees
or fraction thereof. One
handwashing facility shall
be provided for each twenty
(20) employees or fraction
thereof. Where there are less
than five employees, separate
toilet rooms for each sex are
not required provided toilet
rooms can be locked from
the inside and contain at
least one water closet.
Must meet the following standards:
• Appropriately screened
• Well ventilated with lockable
• The facilities shall be located
within a one-quarter
(1/4) mile walk or
within five (5) minutes,
whichever is shorter.
• Provide toilet paper and
kept clean
Handwashing facilities
• Pure, wholesome and
potable water shall be
available for handwashing
• Provide soap and signage
that the water is for washing
For the complete field sanitation
regulation, visit: https://www.dir.ca.gov/
This is merely a brief overview of
CalOSHA regulations that effect the
food and farming industries. If you have
questions about the specifics, including
sample policies, visit www.agsafe.org,
call (209) 526-4400 or send an email to
AgSafe is a 501c3 nonprofit providing
training, education, outreach and tools
in the areas of worker safety, human resources,
food safety, and pesticide safety
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May 2018
Adequate Calcium ensures better fruit set.
All photos courtesy of Rich Kreps
The Different Salts it Makes, Uses and Uptake
By Rich Kreps, CCA
Calcium is crucial to so many functions
at the cellular level in agronomy.
We depend on its availability and
absorption for root growth, cellular
strength, cellular division, stress and
fruit development just to name a few.
Many farmers are continually manipulating
their farms to keep calcium at
optimal levels. "My soil shows decent
calcium levels, but my tissues seem to be
deficient." As crop advisors we hear this
often and have to take a look at a fields
history to deduce the cause of the issue.
Technological advances in testing and
farming practices have given us more
tools to take a closer look at how to best
apply and use calcium.
Setting a Baseline
Of course, being the good farmers
that you are, you have taken soil tests
and set a baseline for your parts per
million (PPM) of calcium and its base
saturation. I have dealt with soil with
ppm from 600 to 5,600. Knowing that
soil weighs 2,000,000 pounds per acre
for every six inches of depth, those
differences range from 4,800 pounds
to 44,800 total pounds of calcium from
the surface to two feet deep! We've seen
great crops grown on both of those soil
parameters. So what's next?
As a general rule of thumb we like
to see calcium in the 60-70 percent base
saturation range. If we are lucky, our
magnesium levels are below 20 percent
and above 12 percent. Even better, when
we see our potassium levels at two times
our sodium levels our crop advisors will
Continued on Page 48
West Coast Nut May 2018
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Cations Result
Potassium 143 ppm 1.7 %
Plant Nutrient Recomendations
3,427 ppm
371 ppm
167 ppm
80.6 %
14.3 %
208.0 Lbs/Acre Sulfur *
3.4 % < 3.1
Soil test: Acetate Extraction and Water Soluble
Base Saturation Acetate Extraction Water Extraction Extraction
Your % Optimal % Low Normal High
Result % Total Ratio
2.1 Lbs/Acre
Total Nitrogen
Bray Phosphorus
Potassium 0.10 meq 1.1
3.49 meq
1.47 meq
3.75 meq
2.71 %
2.04 %
4.81 %
51.61 %
ESP SAR C:N Ca: Mg
3.5 2.4 9.2
Continued from Page 46
tell us to stick our trees in the ground
and water them. But what happens when
those levels aren't ideal? And why does
my neighbor seem to have great crops
and his calcium is at 80 percent base
saturation and his potassium is less than
his sodium? Is there more to the story?
The answer from a crop advisor is, "Of
course there is."
Using the Tools at Hand
In creating nutrient plans for our
growers, we are only as good as the
tools we have at our disposal. One of the
new tests we should be able to ask for
from our laboratories is a water test in
addition to the acetate extraction. In the
past we have taken the number on the
base saturation acetate extraction as a bit
of an absolute; that is, the test number
is the total cation concentration of that
soil. A scientist friend of mine was even
more baffled when he ran a soil acid
extraction test on the same soil sample
12 times, only to find a slight reduction
in the base saturation numbers! That
tells me the number is more dependent
on what has been weathered and become
available at that time. There are so many
micro layers to soils, especially high clay
soils, that tie up nutrients or have them
buried in their layers. By asking for a soil
test run with a water rinse, mimicking
a fertigation event, we can see what is
truly available, and what is tied up. And
if you really want to get a handle on your
specific situation, grab a water sample off
your pump at the time of the soil sample
and have them use that water for the
water extraction test. I would imagine
you'll be shocked on what your trees
actually have at their disposal for uptake
in the soil solution.
You now ask yourself what do I do
with that information? What products
are at my disposal and which will make
the biggest impact. In the Midwest, lime
is the soil amendment of choice. Limestone
is typically mined and heated to
form quicklime or slaked lime: calcium
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Insects Shell fragments Rubber Wood Glass fragments
oxide or calcium hydroxide. They're both
highly caustic and will raise a low pH
soil, so in acidic soils that works. Here
in the west, our pH levels are typically
6.5-8.5. Growers are very cautious to
use lime. However, in smaller amounts
200-400 pounds (not tons!) at 40 percent
calcium we can make fairly quick
adjustments to the calcium in the feeder
roots. Add smaller amounts more often.
West Coast Nut May 2018
Gypsum is typically applied in tons and
at 23 percent calcium, it needs to be
applied heavier than lime to make an
impact. It also has sulfate so the sulfur
will help keep the soil pH the same as
before it was applied. But at 0.26 percent
soluble you aren't getting much soluble
calcium for the crop. It does tend to
condition soil and will help flocculate
it to aid in water penetration. Calcium
carbonate is becoming more popular but
remember, that is limestone, so it needs
to be very fine and still weathered to become
available. Dolomite lime will help
if you also need magnesium (12 percent)
in your soil. Calcium Thiosulfate is a
nice addition as it is six percent calcium
and 10 percent sulfur (both sulfate and
elemental sulfur) by weight and 100
percent soluble. It works well through
micro irrigation. Quick fixes to tissues
can be made with calcium and nitrogen
based products, but be careful to not
overdo it. Rank vegetative growth will
bring a whole new set of problems and
you may waste any extra nitrogen that is
not absorbed.
Constant Demand
It's important to note that calcium,
unlike nitrogen,
phosphorus, and
potassium (NPK)
tends to rise in the
tissues throughout
the season. Plants
have a constant demand
for calcium
as cellular building
blocks. But remember,
calcium is a
key ingredient to
concrete. Add some
water, phosphate,
sand, clay and viola,
you have bricks in
your field. Be sure
to add what you
need throughout
the season and incorporate
it into the
soil mechanically
or with irrigation
water. Space it out
in conjunction with
your phosphate applications
and run
shorter irrigation sets when fertigating.
You'll see those tissue numbers come as
well as your yields, and your trees will
thank you for it.
Calcium increases nut size
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
May 2018
is Important in Almonds
By Kathy Coatney | Editor
Ant control is important for almond
orchards, especially with young
trees, according to Chris Morgner, crop
consultant with Agri-Valley in Merced,
Young Trees
For the most part the ants don't climb
into the tree and damage the nuts while
they're still hanging on the tree, Morgner
There is an exception to that—third,
fourth, and sometimes the fifth leaf can
have ants climb into the trees. This can
be the toughest years for ant control,
Morgner said.
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When the bark is smooth in the early
years, the ants will climb into the trees,
Morgner said.
"Once the tree gets older, the bark
becomes pretty rough, and they can't
really get a good trail going up that tree,"
Morgner said, so they don't climb the
tree much.
Some of the worst ant damage Morgner
has seen was in a third leaf orchard.
Third leaf trees are being harvested with
crops of 500-1,000 pounds, sometimes
f l. Performance
ul. Performance
West Coast Nut May 2018
more. Growers are going to harvest
that crop, and they're counting on that
harvest, so controlling ants is critical,
Morgner said.
A decade ago, most almond growers
used flood irrigation, but all new plantings
for the past 10 years have gone to
some kind of low pressure system—micro
or drip irrigation, Morgner said.
"I would say that transitioning from
flood to low pressure irrigation systems,
definitely ants became a little more of an
issue," Morgner said, adding while there
have always been ant issues, it seems to
have increased the last 10-15 years.
It's important to identify which ants
are in the orchard as only certain ants
will cause damage.
"There are times when you find some
ants, or you see ants, and you kind of
question is this an ant that's going to
damage the crop," Morgner said.
The best way to make this determination
is by using ant traps. The traps are
small plastic tubes with holes drilled into
them and caps on the end. Almonds are
placed inside, and the ants crawl through
the holes to eat the almonds, Morgner
The ants that damage the almonds
are protein feeding ants. "We don't have
damage from the California Gray ant,
which is actually a predator," Morgner
said, adding the Argentine ant doesn't
appear to cause any problems either.
Kris Tollerup, University of California
Cooperative Extension (UCCE) area
wide advisor, Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) at Kearney Ag Center, said,
"There are maybe 10 species of ants that
occur in almond orchards that have been
collected, but of that, only two are the
primary ones."
Tollerup said the two predominant
species that cause damage to almonds
are the Southern fire ant and the Pavement
ant, plus the Thief ant, which is a
more minor problem.
"I don't see it (Thief ant) as being a
huge issue for growers, but there may be
Continued on Page 52
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May 2018
Solenopsis xyloni.
Photo courtesy of www.antweb.org
Continued from Page 51
some orchards that have a pretty significant
population of Thief ants," Tollerup
The Southern fire ant is the main
problem, and once you are familiar
with them, they're fairly easy to identify,
Morgner said.
The Southern fire ants are very
aggressive when disturbed. They're ferocious,
and they will come out and attack,
Morgner said.
"If you put your hand down and you
start getting bit, you know they're fire
ants," Morgner said.
Morgner uses ant traps to monitor
ant populations and to determine the
success of the treatments. This year, in
particular, it seemed there was a little
more activity from the ants, even after
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We saw a little more ant activity, but
not enough to do damage at harvest,
Morgner said.
Late April and into May, the ants are
near the surface and very active, Morgner
"A lot of times we'll treat in late May
and treat again before harvest—two
applications. And young orchards, third,
fourth leaf, sometimes fifth (leaf), they
almost always get two applications,"
Morgner said.
"Once it gets hot, they (the ants) go a
little deeper and they aren't as active on
the surface when it's hot," Morgner said.
This means you can have an ant population
out there and not really be aware of
it with a casual walk through. Morgner
That is why it's important to trap for
them. Don't trust a visual no ants seen
and assume there are no ants in the
orchard, Morgner said.
When the trees are shaken at harvest,
a fairly large area of the ground around
West Coast Nut May 2018
Ant feeding damage. Photo courtesy
of Kris Tollerup.
get the nuts off the ground as soon as
possible when harvesting.
"Don't let them linger. When they're
ready to pick up, try to get them off as
fast as you can," Tollerup said, because
the longer they're on the ground the
greater the risk of damage.
the tree is disturbed, which jolts the ants
and sends out a scout, Morgner said.
"All of the sudden there's a smorgasbord
up there. All these nuts on the
ground, so they come out and of course
within a few days, they're luxuriating on
the nuts that are on the ground," Morgner
said, and yet another reason to be
monitoring and checking for them.
Harvest Sampling
Morgner does sampling after harvest
to determine where the damage came
from—whether it's ants, navel orangeworm,
or some other pest. He takes
samples from the harvested crop after it's
swept and keeps a tally of what actually
caused the damage using four categories—navel
orangeworm, peach twig
borer, big bug/plant bug and ants.
We want to know the major pest
problems for each block, Morgner
said. "That helps us the following
year to follow up and form a
better focused kind of attack if
you will."
Tollerup agreed and advised
growers and pest control advisors
(PCAs) to go out in the field
and really assess when the nuts
are first on the ground and see if
there are ants out there.
"Right before they pick them
up, do a nut sample," Tollerup said.
By doing this, growers won't be
caught off guard the following year
with a greater ant problem than they
realized. And knowing what you're treating
is part of an IPM program, Tollerup
Take a hard look at ants, Tollerup
advises, because they don't blow in and
out. "If you have an infested orchard, it
doesn't all of the sudden become uninfested
the following year unless there's
some drastic weather event," he said.
Ant Control
Tollerup said the main cultural
practice for ant control in almonds is to
Ants will damage the nutmeat of
the almond. "They (ants) can basically
eat all of the nutmeat and just leave the
pellicle," Tollerup said.
Morgner agreed a prompt harvest is
about the only management practice for
controlling ants, after that, baiting is the
best option. Younger trees generally get
two treatments, while older trees receive
one treatment—but there are exceptions.
While age is an important factor in determining
the number of treatments, soil
types may also come into play, especially
heavier ground with clay soils tend to
have higher ant populations, Morgner
"We occasionally have these mature
orchards that we need to also put two
treatments on, but usually after you've
Continued on Page 54
May 2018
Tetramorium caespitum.
Photo courtesy of Michael Branstetter
from www.antweb.org.
Continued from Page 53
been treating a time or two you get
pretty good control, so one treatment
usually works fine," Morgner said.
"One (treatment) is the norm, but
we're not afraid to put two on, especially
with the young blocks where we see
problems," Morgner said.
Comments about this article? We want
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
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May 2018
Brad Foster, a walnut grower in the Marysville
area uses a canoe to make his way through
severely flooded orchards in the winter and
spring of 2017. The floods were the result of
record rainfall and snowpack, and the collapse of
the Oroville Dam Spillway at the Feather River.
Photo courtesy of Brad Foster.
The winter and spring of 2017 produced
the third highest recorded
rainfall and snowpack in northern California
resulting in several major flood
events in the region. One of the hardest
hit areas was Yuba and Sutter Counties
where four major river systems flow—
the Feather, Sacramento, Yuba and Bear
A recipe for disaster was created that
year when the collapse of the Oroville
Dam Spillway joined forces with the extreme
rainfall to produce a deluge down
the Feather River that pummeled several
river-bottom walnut orchards with longterm
For many growers the results have
been devastating.
Janine Hasey, University of California
Cooperative Extension (UCCE) farm
advisor for Sutter, Yuba, and Colusa
Counties, said the water flows from the
Sacramento and Feather rivers damaged
orchards from direct flooding and indirectly
via under-levee seepage.
Marysville walnut grower Brad Foster,
who farms acreage surrounding the
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Marysville area, including 400 acres of
walnuts in river-bottom land adjacent to
the Feather River, said he had trees under
river water for upwards of two weeks
and as a result lost at least 100 trees due
to waterlogging, and expects additional
losses due to disease directly related to
the continuous saturation.
Foster said nearly every walnut ranch
below Oroville clear down to south of
Yuba City along the river-bottom areas
was impacted by the high water one way
or the other, and growers below Yuba
City got double hit because they were hit
by the Feather and Sacramento rivers.
At times, Foster noted, there was water
10 feet deep flowing rapidly through
sections of his orchards.
According to Hasey, she has never
seen this type of situation in 35 years.
"There were acres of pecans under
water for two months, but they love the
water and weren't harmed as far as we
can tell so far," Foster added.
In addition to damage to trees,
growers also saw damage as soil was
washed away by the surging rivers. "Not
only have we suffered a loss of trees, and
high-quality soil, but I also lost two ag
wells in the flood zones," Foster said.
Last year Foster did very little irrigating,
but this year is different. "I'm going
to need those two wells repaired, and
that adds up to more money lost from
the flooding," he said.
Adding salt to the wound, Foster and
other growers lost acres of riverbank
that served as natural buffers between
orchards and the river.
The financial cost from damages has
been substantial, so much so, Foster
said, some growers have joined together
to sue the state for the losses resulting
from the collapse of the Oroville Dam
"I can't even say we are in a state of
recovery at this point," he added. "It is
still a wait-and-see situation. It's really
Research and Results
During the 2017 flood, Hasey said
she took water samples from a variety of
flood and seepage sites, Sacramento and
Continued on Page 58
Some of the trees in the flooded areas are nearly
girdled with black canker, or Phytophthora.
Researchers have taken samples to determine
was species of the disease are attacking the
trees. This picture of an impacted walnut tree was
taken by Janine Hasey, UCCE Farm Advisor for
Sutter, Yuba, and Colusa counties, in August 2017.
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Continued from Page 57
Feather river water, and samples from
trees to confirm aerial Phytophthora,
sampling roots in a waterlogged young
orchard, and observing conditions where
trees died or survived.
Hasey explained in an article she
published with fellow researchers Greg
Browne, United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) plant pathologist,
UC Davis, Astrid Volder, plant sciences,
UC (University of California) Davis, and
Bruce Lampien, UCCE walnut specialist,
UC Davis, thousands of trees were lost
to waterlogging, or anoxia, meaning lack
of oxygen.
"Dormant trees often survive winter
flooding due to low soil temperatures,
low root respiration, cold water, and a
lack of active roots," Hasey said. "Walnut
root activity begins about a month after
leaf out, which is in May for Chandler,
and peaks in the summer. Last year,
however, many orchards were still flooded
into May or even longer."
Some trees survived the flood conditions
due to temperature or continued
water movement which maintained high
enough levels of oxygen in the water
that roots could still survive.
"Also, orchards in river bottoms and
near rivers where seepage occurred are
often on lighter sandy or sandy loam
soils and oxygen diffuses more readily
through lighter soils compared to clay
soils," Hasey reported.
Researchers found survival rate for
trees was poor where the water table was
close to the surface at the end of summer
last year.
In addition, Hasey and the team of
experts said shoots from adventitious
buds were seen in late June continuing
through summer and fall on many waterlogged
"These latent buds sprout when
needed from trunks, limbs, or roots,"
she explained. "Trees with vigorous
shoot growth from these buds especially
in lower limb/upper trunk area in late
summer-fall often have the best chance
This walnut tree suffering from black, oozing,
cankers due to flooding in 2017, shows areas
where Janine Hasey and a team of experts took
samples for research purposes in an effort to help
growers recover from the crisis. Photo courtesy of
Janine Hasey.
West Coast Nut May 2018
of survival the year after flooding."
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Foster said what many growers in the
flood zones have been seeing is significant
amounts of dark bleeding spots on
their post-flood walnut trees.
"We have all these black spots on our
trees, cankers, and that is what we are up
against at this point, and it's too early to
tell how many trees we may lose to this
problem," he added.
they are in fact just
getting bigger and
that is going to affect
a lot of acreage if
it doesn't stop," he
added. "In my ranch
alone, there is a
swatch of about 100
acres suffering from
the black spots."
Hasey said the
trees girdled or
nearly girdled with
aerial Phytophthora
"may not survive, but
some scion cankers
may stop or 'die out'
in heat, and phosphonate (phosphite)
treatments may be beneficial against
Phytophthora citricola.
What's Next
Hasey and Browne advocate a "wait
and see" approach, keeping trees as long
as they are economically productive.
"In saturated soils, fine roots die,
and depending on the extent of flood-
Continued on Page 60
Growers and researchers are seeing black
bleeding spots on the roots and trunks of walnut
trees in orchards flooded along the Feather River
and Sacramento River last year. Photo courtesy of
Brad Foster.
Hasey said the "water mold" Phytophthora
is found in surface water and
infested soils.
From tissue samples and water
samples taken last spring from impacted
orchards, researchers have determined
aerial Phytophthora to be the cause of
the dark bleeding areas on the trees—
two species have been isolated from the
samples, Phytophthora citricola and
Phytophthora gonapodyides.
Along with Foster's observations,
Hasey also saw trees differing in severity
of infection, some nearly girdled with
aerial Phytophthora.
Foster said where the flooding
washed soil away from trees root systems
he saw black spots and bleeding breaking
out all around the lower parts of the
trees, some up to three feet high on the
tree trunk.
"Now that we've put the ground back
around our trees I can't tell you exactly
what is going on in the root systems, or
the damage occurring because they are
covered up. But the black spots on the
trees that we can see aren't going away,
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Continued from Page 59
ing, larger roots can die as well. It takes
time for the roots to regain functionality
and re-start new fine root production
after flooding," Hasey added.
She suggest growers may consider
"topping" trees with vigorous shoot
growth on lower limbs, but cautioned,
trees with little new shoot growth often
don't survive the season after flooding,
so topping may not be advantageous in
those circumstances.
"Usually, after topping, you can tell
within one season if its going to work,"
Hasey added.
She also provides advice concerning
irrigation this year following last year's
flood, as "water management in such
settings is very difficult."
Hasey advises growers to replace trees killed from Phytophthora, due to flooding in 2017, with clonal
Paradox RXI rootstock as is pictured here in flood seepage zone. Photo courtesy of Janine Hasey
"It is easy to saturate the soil, particularly
when the water table is close,
so irrigate judiciously, ideally the using
both soil moisture monitoring and plant
Continued on Page 62
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Continued from Page 60
pressure chamber data to aid in determining
irrigation duration and frequency,"
Hasey said.
In addition, she cautions growers
need to be aware that pressure chamber
measurements may not be appropriate
where roots have been compromised, as
the observed water stress in the tree may
be the result of the inability of the root
system to take up water rather than low
water availability in the soil.
During May through early August
where roots are active, Hasey suggests
applying nitrogen fertilizer in small
amounts where trees have been topped
or have new shoot growth.
Foster said, "It's kind of scary, we just
don't know what to expect. This is a situation
we haven't ever dealt with before
and the farm advisors are doing all they
can to help us out."
It is unlikely this tree from a flooded orchard will survive, according to Janine Hasey, UCCE Farm
Advisor for Sutter, Yuba and Colusa counties. Photo courtesy of Janine Hasey.
Comments about this article? We want
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West Coast Nut May 2018
New retail programs are designed to stimulate consumer
purchase by making the connection between our advertising and
marketing efforts and the shopper experience at point of purchase.
During American Heart Month in February, California Walnuts will
provide in-store support for retailers in select markets with header
cards, shelf talkers, loyalty card offers, in-store demos, TV tags and
radio spots. All materials emphasize our message of heart-health*,
simplicity, and versatility.
Food Manufacturers
To build awareness and interest in California walnuts as an ingredient
in packaged foods, print and digital ads will target food manufacturers.
The ads will communicate their premium image and heart-healthy goodness.
Premium baked goods, sauces, and spreads containing walnuts are large
categories with signifi cant growth opportunities.
2013 2017
We're spreading the word
of consumers would purchase a food
product knowing it contains walnuts.
2017 Attitude & Usage Study
of consumers are more likely to
purchase walnuts with the California
walnuts logo on the package.
2017 Branding Research Study
*Heart -Check food certification does not apply to recipes unless expressly stated
See heartcheckmark.org/guidelines. Supportive but not conclusive research shows
that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low
cholesterol diet and not resulting in increased calorie intake, may reduce the risk of
coronary heart disease. (FDA) One ounce of walnuts provides 18g of total fat, 2.5g of
monounsaturated fat, 13g of polyunsaturated fat including 2.5g of alpha-linolenic
acid - the plant-based omega-3.
Per one ounce serving
May 2018
Don't leave out this critical
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West Coast Nut May 2018