The Valley's Almond Harvest Starts with a Cloud of Dust

A smoke-like cloud of dust billows skyward, rising from deep inside a stand of almond trees.
No, it’s not some unusual mid-summer twister emerging from the orchard. Rather it’s the sign of analmond tree shaker at work.

The first almond tree shaking is taking place in the Westside.

Yes, we can officially drop the green flag on the start of the long almond harvest season in the San Joaquin Valley. Field scout Jenna Mayfield reports sighting the first tree shaking taking place in a Westside almond orchard near the Interstate 5 corridor. This region gets more summer heat and usually is the first region in the Valley to start shaking nuts off the trees.

From now until early fall, growers will be busy harvesting nuts. Starting off the harvest are the soft shell varieties such as nonpareil. The hard shell varieties such as padre and mission are shaken off the trees toward the later part of the season.

“We see shaking into October,” Jenna says. The harvest lasts into the fall for a couple reasons. First, growers plant different almond varieties in each orchard, meaning they will come back a couple times to knock off the nuts. Second, an area’s climate will impact the timing of harvest – usually the areas further east are a bit cooler and almond hull split occurs later than in the hotter locales.

It's important to pick up the almonds as soon as they dry.

Usually, the shaken almonds will dry on the ground for a week or more and then growers will sweep them up for hauling to a processor. Growers try to pick up the nuts as soon as possible to avoid pest damage. Jenna says the heat and humidity trapped under the orchard canopy can prolong the drying process on the ground, leaving the almonds vulnerable pest damage.

 For growers still waiting to start shaking their trees, there are a lot of harvest preparations still ahead. University of California extension advisors advise growers to make a final check for ants on the orchard floor. Tackling ant infestations early can save 140 pounds of nuts, based on an average yield of 2,000 pounds per acre, according to a UC study.

While ant bait is the most effective, it can take several weeks to get rid of a whole colony. If the harvest is about two weeks away, then growers can apply a conventional spray. Jenna reminds growers to continue monitoring for navel orangeworm and peachtwig borer as well.

Growers will irrigate their orchards between shaking.

The last pre-harvest irrigation should be about two weeks before shaking. This will allow the soil to be dry enough for the trees to withstand bark damage due to shaking. Farm advisors point out that the type of soil will determine the time between irrigation and shaking. Sand requires less time for drying while clay needs more time to dry.

Orchards with sandy soils, which hold less water, may require irrigation between harvesting the different varieties. Proper water management between varieties is important because this is the time the trees develop the fruit buds for the next season, UC IPM says.How do growers come up with the start time for harvest? The basic test is striking a tree limb to see how many nuts fall off. Growers should test shake a few trees. The entire orchard is ready once 99 percent of the nuts are shaken from these test trees. Growers also look for any bark damage during the tests. If there are signs of any damage, then they should wait a few days and test again. Bark damage can open the way for diseases.

Mechanical shaking can be tried out when the interior section of the orchard reaches full hull split. The best results for mature trees are when shaking is done at 100 percent hull split.

Meanwhile in the fields, our field scout Carlos Silva says growers are starting to harvest their alfalfa again. The pest on his watch list is the spotted alfalfa aphid, which can be more troublesome that the pea aphid. Counts are up for the spotted alfalfa aphid, but still short of the treatment threshold.

Spotted alfalfa aphid can be trouble.

Carlos also is spotting aphids in the cotton fields, but they aren’t a threat until the bolls start to open up. Lygus isn’t a problem right now, either. He’s finding a good number of beneficial insects such as big-eyed bugs.


The cotton plants are continuing to develop nicely. “The plants are at 12 fruiting nodes. Retention is still good,” Carlos adds.

Getting a Fix on Nitrogen Levels in Cotton Plants

When you go for an annual check-up, the doctor often orders lab tests to check what’s going on inside your body. The results may suggest you need to take supplements to boost the vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

It’s the same thing with plants. You test plant tissues, find if there are any nutrient deficiencies or imbalance and then fix the problem

Earlier this month, field scout Carlos Silva headed into the fields to pick petioles, or leaf stems, for nitrate sampling.Taking the fifth or sixth petiole from the top of the plant, he collected a total of 50 leaf stems from three different areas of each field. The samples were sent to a lab for analysis, which involves chemically monitoring the nitrate-nitrogen and phosphorous content of the cotton petioles.Nitrogen and phosphorous are essential for healthy plant growth.

Finding the right nitrogen balance can be tricky. If there’s not enough nitrogen, the fruiting areas and potential yield suffer. Too much nitrogen can lead to excessive growth, increased problems with diseases, delayed maturity and reduced quality and yield.

Here is an example of nitrogen deficiency in a cotton plant.

Here’s what the BASIC Cotton Manual says: ‘Petiole analysis will indicate a need for nitrogen about two weeks prior to the appearance of plant symptoms. If petiole-nitrate application is low during the first three weeks of bloom, a soil application, a foliar application, or both, would be recommended. Urea has been found to be an effective and safe source of nitrogen to apply to a developing cotton plant. Leaf and petiole analyses are most reliable when moisture and other stress-related factors are not influencing growth.”

“The lab results are really useful for the growers,” Carlos says. Growers will use the data to make decisions on future fertilizer applications.

Growers are irrigating their cotton fields for the second time.

Meanwhile in the field, Carlos reports growers are starting to irrigate their cotton fields again. The plants are showing 11 to 12 fruiting branches and pest pressures are in check for now. But Carlos says growers will start keeping a close eye on aphids as bolls start cracking open in the coming weeks. He is finding aphid populations in about a quarter of the fields he monitors weekly

In alfalfa, the plants are about 15 to 18 inches high. In the next week or two, it will be time to harvest again. While worms and caterpillars remain a concern, growers have held back on treating their fields. Their thinking, Carlos says, is why spend money on chemicals when the next cutting is coming up soon.

Uncle Sam Offers Financial Relief to Cotton Growers

Cotton growers will tell you times have been economically challenging the past five years.

You can blame sagging prices and global oversupply. In fact, the crop last fall hit its lowest price in a half-decade, selling for 60 cents a pound vs. 88 cents a pound in 2011. The National Cotton Council of Americapredicted most growers lost money in 2015.

The situation has been dire enough for some growers that they’ve resorted to selling their equipment and even their land. Ouch.

Well, enter Uncle Sam with a program to help with domestic marketing of the fiber while providing some financial relief for 2015 cotton growers. There’s only a couple weeks left for 2015 cotton producers to submit an application to participate in a $300 million Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program.

While the Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program makes payments to cotton producers for cotton ginning costs, the benefits of the program will be felt by the broader marketing chain associated with cotton and cottonseed, including cotton gins, cooperatives, marketers and cottonseed crushers and the rural communities that depend on them.

Under the cost-share program, eligible cotton producers can receive a one-time cost share payment, which is based on a producer’s 2015 cotton acres reported to FSA, multiplied by 40 percent of the average ginning cost for each production region. The West region, which includes California, will receive $97.41 per acre of Pima or Upland cotton planted in 2015. For example, a San Joaquin Valley grower who reports 100 acres would receive $9,741.

Strong production has contributed to an oversupply of cotton.

Completed forms must be received by the local FSA office no later than August 5. Payments will be processed as applications and other eligibility forms are received, and are expected to begin in July.

Here are the locations of FSA offices for Madera, Merced and Fresno counties

MADERA SERVICE CENTER
425 N GATEWAY DR STE E
MADERA, CA 93637-3163

 MERCED SERVICE CENTER
2926 G STREET, SUITE 103
MERCED, CA 95340

FRESNO SERVICE CENTER
4625 W JENNIFER AVE STE 109
FRESNO, CA 93722

To learn more about the Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/cgcs or contact a local FSA county office. To find your local FSA county office, visit http://offices.usda.gov. 

Meanwhile in the fields, field scout Carlos Silva says lygus pest pressure eased in cotton in the past week. Many growers are telling us they haven’t sprayed their fields all season. That’s good news. Let’s hope the pest numbers continue to stay low in the coming weeks.

In alfalfa, beet armyworms counts remain a concern, but their presence is still below the treatment threshold. Most growers figure they’ll be harvesting soon so spending money on treatment applications isn’t worth it. Otherwise, there are no major pest worries for alfalfa growers, Carlos says.

The Future Is Now: A Big Year for Lygus Bugs in Cotton

“I was not predicting the future, I was trying to prevent it.”
― Author Ray Bradbury

Lygus bug finds a home in alfalfa.

Dr. Pete Goodell saw the signs back in the winter as he surveyed fields around the Valley. There were lots of green growth spurred by a nice rainy season and a relatively dry, mild February.

“I found adult lygus in weedy fields…which was really, really early. I would anticipate lygus in cotton would be as bad as it was last year – maybe a little worse,” Pete told us in early March.

You might say just like Ray Bradbury, the UC IPM advisor was trying to prevent the future as well – for cotton growers in this case. Pete’s goal is getting growers to be more proactive in their pest management practices and protect valuable crop.

Here is an example of lygus damage to cotton. (UGA photo)

Field scout Carlos Silva can vouch for Pete. He is finding cotton fields on the treatment threshold for lygus bugs. His sweep net is collecting five to seven lygus counts per 50 sweeps. One farmer told Carlos that he has foundbug counts as high as 10 counts. “That’s pretty high.

There have been a few farmers that have had to treat their fields. We want to get a foothold on the pests. This is the time when lygus bugs are the biggest pest threat to cotton. The bugs can cause squares to fall off and bolls to never mature properly.

Right now, lygus bugs remain the pest de jour. 

Overall, cotton plants are continuing to develop nicely. Carlos reports eight to 10 fruiting branches on plants. “Cotton is growing fast.”

Beet armyworm in alfalfa (UC IPM photo)

In alfalfa, the crop is growing quickly as well, Carlos reports.

 One field is is already at 18 inches tall. Growers are keeping an eye out for beet armyworms from now until September. These pests can skeletonize foliage and leave a field tattered looking, degrading the crop’s quality.

UC IPM says armyworms can be controlled by natural enemies such as bigeyed bugs, minute pirate bugs and lacewings. “Early harvest, border cutting, and biological control are important components of a management program that will prevent damage from armyworms,” UC IPM says.