Growing the Valley

In the 200th episode of Growing the Valley Podcast – Sarah Castro (UC Davis) discusses exciting new varieties in the prune breeding program.

Phoebe, Luke, and Roger Duncan (UCCE Stanislaus) discuss the latest results out of their respective regional almond variety trial sites.

Spotted Lanternfly is in the United States and could pose a threat to some of the specialty crops we grow here in California. Surendra Dara explains what it is, where it has been found, and what crops are most vulnerable in today’s episode. Image courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Website. You can find out more about upcoming events at: https://www.sjvtandv.com/upcoming-events and https://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/events/ Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only.  The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandv

Whole Orchard Recycling Update with Mae Culumber and Brent Holtz

Phoebe and Luke step up to the plate once again to see who wins this month’s one minute challenge! They also discuss farm call trends and other issues. San Joaquin Valley event list: https://www.sjvtandv.com/upcoming-events Sacramento Valley event list: https://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/events/list/ Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only.  The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandv

In today’s episode, Phoebe talks with Spencer Cooper of the Almond Board of California on how to go from running water through your orchard to precise irrigation timing and management. While Spencer works for the ABC, the basics of irrigation management are the same for every crop, so make sure to listen to this episode to find out why the shovel, soil auger, and water meter are core technologies that every grower should be using to manage their orchard. Music by Muriel Gordon. We would like to thank the Almond Board of California and the California Pistachio Research Board for providing funding for this podcast.

Mallika Nocco (Specialist at UC Davis) discusses ETa with Phoebe, as well as some research she is doing to try to develop a method for managing irrigation in an orchard with remote sensing. Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only.  The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandv

Climate change is a threat to high chill crops like walnuts, and we know very little about how these plants will react (they’re too big to do controlled climate studies on!). Katherine Jarvis-Shean was funded to examine how walnuts respond to low chill winters, and whether rest breaking agents may help in a low chill year. In this episode, she describes the clever way she reduces winter chill accumulation in walnut trees, and early results. Mention of a trade name is not an endorsement or recommendation, discussion of some of the products in the episode is for research uses only. Always check the label before applying. Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only.  The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandv

Dr. Roger Baldwin (UCCE Specialist: Human-Wildlife Conflict Resolution) discusses management of vertebrate pests: ground squirrels, voles, moles, roof rats, and deer mice.   Resource links for managing vertebrate pests in agricultural systems:   Ground squirrels: http://www.groundsquirrelbmp.com/  Voles: http://vpcrac.org/files/4314/7612/1259/Meadow_vole_chapter.pdf  Deer Mice: http://vpcrac.org/files/3114/7612/0294/Deer_mice.pdf Roof rats and deer mice: https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8513.pdf; http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74106.html Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only.  The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandv

Proper spray application is an easily overlooked and critically important aspect of integrated pest management. Lynn Wunderlich (UCCE Central Sierra) discusses some of the fundamentals of orchard air blast sprayer calibration and spray application.   None of the discussion of spray application constitutes a recommendation. You can find more information on spray application at the Canadian website: https://sprayers101.com/.

Phoebe sits down with Judith Stahl and Kent Daane (both with UC Berkeley) to discuss plant bugs: life history, damage, and the potential to use trap crops to manage these pests. More information on controlling plant bugs in almonds and pistachios can be found on the UCIPM website; there are separate pages for stink bugs and leaffooted bugs, and in pistachio, small bugs. Mention of a trade name is not an endorsement or recommendation. Always check the label before applying. Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only.  The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandv

Phoebe and Luke go over April tasks for almonds, prunes, pistachios, and walnuts. Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only.  The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandv

Roger Duncan (UCCE Stanislaus) and Dr. Ken Shackel (UC Davis Plant Sciences) discuss methods of determining when to initiate spring irrigation and current start-of-irrigation experiments in almond based on previous finding in walnut.

Elizabeth Fichtner, UCCE Tulare County, shares information on managing nitrogen in olive orchards. Careful management is required, as excess nitrogen can negatively impact olive quality. Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only.  The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Follow us on Twitter! @SacOrchards and @SJVtandv

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.