Growing the Valley

Ben Faber, Subtropical and Horticulture advisor for Ventura County shares his experiences with avocado orchards damaged by fire. While this isn’t a topic that applies to most orchard growers, it is such an interesting and unique topic that we wanted to share it with our listeners. Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Luke and Phoebe discuss post-bloom almond tasks, and pre-bloom walnut, prune, and pistachio tasks. They also talk about what to do if there’s a warm prune bloom as well as their observations this spring. Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board for their support. Music is by Muriel Gordon.

UC Davis graduate student Drew Wolter discusses the management challenges and opportunity for summer weed grasses.

Tom Gradziel discusses his almond breeding program at UC Davis and risk management in variety selection.

After the Sacramento Valley Cling Peach meeting, I sat down with Tom Gradziel to discuss his cling peach breeding program at UC Davis. We discuss key industry challenges that Gradziel is working to meet with his breeding objectives.

We got a question about a comment Phoebe made about adjuvants in the episode about fungicides and bee safety. Listen for the question and response.

Dogs have incredibly sensitive noses and can be used to sniff out a lot of things, and tree diseases are one of them! Tim Gottwald talks about his work using dogs to identify trees infected with Huanglongbing and Plum Pox Virus. Listen to learn more! visit https://www.sjvtandv.com/ and http://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/events/ to learn about upcoming UCCE extension events. Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board for their support. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Updated 2.10.2020 Sprays during bloom are critical for the prevention of several almond diseases, however they can have a negative effect on bees, particularly when combined with insecticides. Reed Johnson of the Ohio State University has been examining the effect of tank mixes (Funded by the Almond Board of California). Listen to learn more. Bee safety information from the Almond Board: https://www.almonds.com/pollination Mention of a trade name is for research purposes and is not an endorsement or recommendation. Always check the label before applying. Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board.

Pollination is necessary for the production of the almond fruit, and bees are how it happens! Elina Nino talks about the basics of bee biology, what we know and don’t know, and talks a little bit about bee theft. https://www.sjvtandv.com/ http://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/events/ Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board. Music by Muriel Gordon.

Brad Hanson has been looking at increasing the efficacy of grass herbicides and details his work using sequential applications for better weed control. Mention of trade names is to report research results and is not an endorsement or recommendation. Always check the label before applying. http://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/events/ www.sjvtandv.com Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board for their support. Music is by Muriel Gordon.

Last February after the annual walnut crack out meeting, I sat down with Chuck Leslie and Dr. Pat Brown of the UC Davis walnut improvement program. We first discussed the major achievements and recent outcomes of the breeding program with Chuck Leslie before turning to Pat Brown to discuss marker assisted breeding and how it is making the program more efficient.

Emily Symmes, Jhalendra Rijal, Kris Tollerup, and David Haviland provide some thoughts on what they saw in 2019. Find out more about winter meetings held across California at: http://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/events/ https://sjvtandv.com Mention of a trade name is not an endorsement or recommendation. Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board for their support.

There’s a lot of work to be done with the Sterile Insect Program, and Houston Wilson, Chuck Burks, and their teams are on it! Houston details some more of the work that they’ve done in 2019 to improve the recovery rate of sterilized moths. Thank you to the Almond Board of California, the California Pistachio Research Board, the California Prune Board, and the California Walnut Board for their support. Music is by Muriel Gordon.

Brad gives some thoughts on weed control issues he’s seen in 2019 and previous years, which mostly have to do with heavier than needed herbicide applications, often leading to crop injury. He also briefly discusses sequential herbicide applications, also discussed by Drew Wolter. Mention of a trade name is not an endorsement or recommendation. Thank you to the California Pistachio Research Board and the Almond Board of California for their support. Music is by Muriel Gordon.

Dr. Catherine Mae Culumber (UCCE Fresno) discusses her experience diagnosing boron toxicity in almond over a series of farm calls.