Growing the Valley

In the second part of this unofficial series, Phoebe discusses mechanical harvesting of olives with Louise Ferguson, Mediterranean Tree Crops Specialist at UC Davis. They discuss issues with harvesting table vs oil olives, tree structure, machinery, and more. Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Phoebe interviews Louise Ferguson, the Mediterranean Tree Crop Specialist with UC Davis. We talk about what we currently know about pistachio alternate bearing, as well as research on pruning methods that can help reduce the severity of alternate bearing. Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Phoebe and Luke square off once again. What do you need to know for August tasks? Who wins? Did Luke even set a timer? Listen to find out! The one-minute challenge discussion is for informational purposes only and is not a pesticide or management recommendation. Find out more at ipm.ucanr.edu. Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music

Pecans aren’t widely planted in California, and many pecan pests and diseases are not present in the state (note: if acreage goes up, this will likely change!). Phoebe Gordon and Dr. Richard Heerema of New Mexico State University discuss the major pests that you can expect to find in a California pecan orchard: black pecan aphids, yellow aphids (which can be two different species), and stink bugs. Mention of a trade name is not an endorsement or recommendation. Always check the label before application. Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Phoebe talks with Richard Heerema, the pecan specialist for New Mexico State University, about pecan botany and physiology, and why it may not be as good of a choice for areas prone to flooding as you think it might be. This is an episode for those who are thinking of planting pecans but have not done so. Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

How can we get the most use out of the management tools discussed in this irrigation series? Potentially by bringing greater precision with zone irrigation and individually irrigating different almond varieties. While returning by train from an irrigation meeting, Dr. Catherine Mae Culumber UCCE Nut Crop farm advisor in Fresno County discusses with Luke Milliron her exciting research into precision and regulated deficit irrigation of almond.

Phoebe and Luke are back with walnut, prune, almond and pistachio tasks for July!

Phoebe discusses irrigation pumps, including their capacity and maintenance, with Jon Chilcote, a USDA NRCS team engineer for the Southern San Joaquin Valley. The website for the Department of Water Resources groundwater data: http://wdl.water.ca.gov/waterdatalibrary/ There are several additional resources you can find on our episode page. Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Phoebe talks with Dan Munk, the irrigation and cotton advisor for Fresno County. They discuss what to take into account when designing a system, soil texture, and common pitfalls in system design. For more specific UCANR publications, free and otherwise: https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Items.aspx?hierId=260400 Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

UC Davis Plant Science Professor Astrid Volder sits down with Phoebe and Luke to talk irrigation and fertilization implications of our improved understanding of tree crop root systems.

Bob Beede, Emeritus UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor from Kings County gives his take on upcoming orchard tasks, with an emphasis on walnut, pistachio and almond orchards in the San Joaquin Valley.

There’s a new hull rot organism in town. Well, it’s not quite new, but it’s been out of town for a while and it’s back. The pathogen is called Aspergillus niger, and we don’t know a lot about it. Mohammad Yaghmour is looking into it, and he chats with Phoebe about the little we know, as well as general best practices for preventing hull rot. For more information on general hull rot, you can visit: https://www2.ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/almond/Hull-Rot/ Mention of a pesticide or trade name is not a recommendation nor an endorsement, and not mentioning a pesticide or trade name is not a lack of endorsement. We would like to thank the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for providing funding for the podcast. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Bob Van Steenwyk from UC Berkeley shares the basics of walnut husk fly management. Mention of pesticides are solely to provide examples and do not constitute a recommendation. Always follow the pesticide label. Thanks to the Pistachio Board of California and Almond Board of California for their generous financial support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Phoebe sits down with David Haviland, the entomology advisor for Kern County. They talk about spider mite control, why it’s harder to keep mite populations down in the San Joaquin Valley than the Sacramento one, how many sprays you should be doing in a year, and why spider mite populations have more to do with natural predators than pesticide use. Mention of a pesticide is not a written recommendation. Always check the label before you apply. Thank you to the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for their contributions to this podcast. Music by Muriel Gordon.

The pressure chamber is the gold standard for measuring plant water status. Ken Shackel (UC Davis Plant Sciences) discusses why using the pressure chamber can hugely refine your irrigation management. Allan Fulton (UCCE Irrigation Advisor) tells us about research in walnut showing that delaying irrigation with the pressure chamber can save water and may improve root health without sacrificing yield.