Almond Crack-out Today Helps Growers with Their IPM Planning for Tomorrow

About 200 almonds are ready to be cracked open.

NOW bored into this hard shell nut.

 Crack, crack, crack…

One by one a pile of fresh almonds pulled from the floor of Valley orchards were cracked by field scout Jenna Horine. As the shells piled up, Jenna carefully examined each one and occasionally jotted down a few notes.

Each fall, Jenna embarks on this laborious, but important task for almond growers participating in the San Joaquin Sustainable Farming Project. Called crack- out, this tedious process of checking hundreds of nut samples collected from orchards in the program during the summer harvest helps determine pest management activities next year.

Bugs damaged this almond kernel.

Jenna is looking for signs of damage to the almond kernels caused by pests such as navel orangeworm (NOW), ants and peach twig borer (PTB). Sometimes, the evaluation can be tricky. Jenna points out University of California Integrated Pest Management guidelines point out that NOW and PTB often infest the same nuts. NOW bores into the nut while PTB doesn’t. As a result, NOW feeding on the kernel will mask that of the PTB.

Once Jenna is finished with the crack-out, each grower is given a record of her findings. The results also are a good way for growers to compare information with the grade sheet from the processor.

Overall, the early results indicate the nuts are coming out clean. “So far everyone did pretty well. Some people though had NOW damage,” Jenna says.

For UC IPM advisors, almond crack-out is a practice that all almond growers should embrace. It’s a lot of work, but it will pay off in the long run.

Jenna shows how NOW ate the whole nut.

Meanwhile, Jenna reminds us that growers aren’t kicking back after the harvest. This is an important IPM stage for evaluation and planning for the next season. Contrary to the disclaimers made by investment advisors, past performance can be a predictor of future results. So growers should check their monitoring records from this season and start preparing for dormant season activities.

Branch has shot hole borer damage.

Growers should be busy monitoring for weeds and almond diseases. And we can’t stress it enough: they need to remember orchard sanitation is very important, especially getting rid of those mummy nuts.

Here are a few some tips from UC IPM:

•  Look for nuts or leaves stuck in trees well after harvest. This indicates hull rot.
• Monitor for rust lesions. If you find them, apply zinc sulfate to reduce overwintering leaves.
• After the fall rains start, monitor for shot hole lesions with fruiting structures. Treat according to UC IPM guidelines.
• Survey and record results on weeds. If you plan to use a preemergence herbicide in rows, be sure to time it properly. 
  

  

  Alamond leaf rust. (UC IPM photos)

  

  Evidence of hull rot damage.

Yes, a farmer’s job is never done.