Almond Journey

Today’s episode takes us to Maxwell, California, about halfway between Sacramento and Redding. We meet 4th generation farmer Leon Etchepare. Leon is a partner in Emerald Farms, which farms about 5,000 acres of almonds and walnuts. He has some great experiences to share about how he’s adopting mating disruption technology for navel orangeworm, and how he’s using soil probes and variable rate irrigation. 

“Just doing the math on the cost of chemicals and the cost of diesel and the cost of equipment and the increase of yield that I have because I'm not losing hardly any to navel orangeworm and it's a no brainer.” - Leon Etchepare

In Today’s episode: 

• Meet Leon Etchepare a partner in Emerald Farms and owner of Wellnut Farms
• Learn about Leon’s experience with mating disruption technology and the return on investment he has seen from implementing this technology
• Discover how Leon is experimenting with variable rate irrigation on a block that is highly variable

“We need to do a better job as an industry in getting out there why we do what we do, our stories, the challenges we face so that when the voters are voting for certain people, those people think about farming because we're getting so far away from our food.” - Leon Etchepare

Contact the Almond Board field outreach team to access more available resources by sending an email to [email protected]

ABC Update

Drew Wolter, pest management senior specialist at the Almond Board, shares how mating disruption can be a very important piece in an overall integrated pest management approach to navel orangeworm management. Research from the Almond Board of California has led to a number of resources for growers to learn more about this technology. See the link below for a video produced in collaboration with the University of California Cooperative Extension explaining mating disruption technologies.

• Mating Disruption Tools for Navel Orangeworm

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

In this episode we discuss the Seeds for Bees Program with two growers who have taken advantage of this resource. If the Seeds for Bees Program is new to you, it’s designed to encourage the use of cover crops to increase bee forage in California orchards, while improving soil health. Project Apis administers the program to provide free or subsidized cover crop seed mixes and technical support to California growers, giving them the opportunity to try out cover crops at a reduced cost. If you’re listening and interested in participating, enrollment is open until November 15th.

We visit with Samantha Lopes, operations support manager for Farmland Management Services and Turlock almond grower Kris Melgard about their involvement in the program. Samantha and Kris will talk about why they wanted to try cover crops, what results they are seeing so far, what they’ve learned, and whether or not they might recommend the program to other almond growers. 

“I work with the farm managers. We're both in nature and part of it, we depend on it and it depends on us. And so I think our goal is to improve the long-term soil health and biodiversity through our practices. This is just a simple practice that allows us to do it.” - Samantha Lopes

“You see all these flowers (in the cover crops) and then the trees are blooming at the same time. It makes everything worth it when everything comes together like that. So 100% worth it in my opinion.” - Kris Melgard

In Today’s episode: 

• Meet Samantha Lopes, operations support manager for Farmland Management Services and Turlock almond grower Kris Melgard
• Discover the Seeds for Bees Program and learn about the advantages and support it offers
• Learn about the benefits cover crops offer to almond producers beyond supporting and encouraging the bee population

ABC Update

Josette Lewis, chief scientific officer of the Almond Board of California, joins us to discuss the many programs offered to support bee friendly initiatives. Some companies are willing to pay premiums for Bee Friendly Farming certified almonds. No matter what your motivations are, the Bee+ scholarship was created by the Almond Board to get the word out about these opportunities. Wondering if cover crops might work for your operation? The Almond Board of California’s new Cover Crop Best Management Practices is a great place to start. 

Don’t forget to visit the Almonds Conference Website to get up to date information and to start planning your involvement.

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

This episode takes us to Fresno where we visit with Olam Farms senior director of agronomy, Zac Ellis. Zac is in his sixth season with Olam Farms, but he has been around almonds since he was a kid. He discusses the need to continue to push the envelope when it comes to water use efficiency, what that looks like for Olam Farms, and his experiences as a grower collaborator with a huge research effort called T-REX.

The T-REX project is part of the Almond Board of California's Irrigation Continuum of research projects, and it stands for Tree Crop Remote Sensing of Evapotranspiration EXperiment. At its core, the project is trying to answer the basic but complicated question of how do we track how much water each tree needs efficiently and affordably using remote sensing? 

“Water use efficiency is the forefront of our concern and our need for innovation. So we're really focusing on that: how we can be more efficient with using the water sources that we currently have.” - Zac Ellis

This multifaceted issue requires a cross-disciplinary research approach. Where an individual project may look at satellite imagery and water use or yield prediction in water use as examples, this project is bringing them all to the table. This is a major research effort to continue to be even more precise in water use efficiency.

“The biggest value proposition in doing this type of collaboration is just the ability to bring different areas of expertise into the field and get different perspectives on very similar problems. And when we find that we're able to actually collaborate….. these different perspectives bring a whole new set of solutions.” - Zac Ellis

In Today’s episode:

• Meet Zac Ellis, Senior Director of Agronomy at Olam Farms
• Learn about the water scarcity Olam Farms is facing and the efforts they are making to mitigate its concern
• Explore the T-REX project and the water efficiency research it is exploring

ABC Update

The focus of today’s episode is all about striving to unlock the next level of water use efficiency. But what should not be overlooked, says Tom Devol, is how much progress has already been made in this area. Tom is the senior manager for field outreach and education at the Almond Board. As initiatives such as the T-REX project are underway, there are also tools being developed that growers can use in the near term. Including a new slide rule calculator. These will be sent out in a mass mailing with the How We Grow publication, but if you want one ahead of that time, just send an email to [email protected] and they will get one sent to you.

Don’t forget to visit the Almonds Conference Website to get up to date information and to start planning your involvement.

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

Today’s episode takes us outside of Turlock, California to the orchard of Cal Mast. Cal comes from a dairy background and purchased his 45-acre almond orchard in 2018. Over the past couple of years, Cal has spent hours researching the considerations for designing an almond orchard. He shares with us what changes he’s making, and where he finds information to make such important orchard planning decisions.

“This is truly a long-term investment….I'm not planning to replant this thing again. I want to see what I can do to make this orchard outlive me.” - Cal Mast 

Being his first almond orchard, Cal considers himself a student of the process. He has enthusiastically spoken with neighbors, devoured materials from extension and other groups, attended meetings, and reached out to various industry leaders for advice.

“I'm pleased with the contacts that I've made, the people I've gotten to know, and I've not even found all the stuff that's out there yet... I just appreciate the fact that there are people in this industry and in the allied industries...that are there to help you.” - Cal Mast=

In Today’s episode:

• Meet Cal Mast, dairyman and almond farmer just outside of Turlock, California
• Learn about Cal’s introduction to farming almonds and the many considerations he has encountered when designing the planting of his orchard
• Discover the resources Cal took advantage of to make the best decisions for his operation

Find your Almond Board field outreach rep to access more available resources by sending an email to [email protected]

ABC Update

In today’s ABC Update, Sebastian Saa, Almond Board of California associate director, joins us to discuss designing an orchard that reflects the latest in research and technology, and takes into consideration where the industry is headed in the coming decades. He distills many of these important considerations down into a six step approach: 

1. Whole orchard recycling
2. Testing the soil
3. Irrigation considerations
4. Rootstock Selection
5. Variety Selection
6. Tree Density

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

In this episode, we visit Kern County almond grower Bret Sill of Sill Properties to talk about harvesting technology. Bret’s family has been farming in the Shafter area for nearly 100 years. Bret attributes some of their success to the fact that they embrace innovation and technology, which recently has meant new irrigation technology, autonomous sprayers, and low dust harvest equipment.

“When we take it to the huller, we have a cleaner product for them to run. And now with freight being an issue and the hullers charging for freight, we can take advantage of this new, better efficient equipment that’s going to give us a cleaner product.” - Bret Sill

Sill Properties continues to take advantage of the incentives available for low dust equipment from the San Juaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

“There’s so much technology out there. You’ve got to see what’s going to work for you and for your farm, because if not we’d go broke trying to use all of the technology that’s out there. It’s just deciphering what I think I can use that’s going to be good for me and for our farm.” - Bret Sill

In Today’s episode:

●     Meet Bret Sill, the ranch manager of Sill Properties

●     Learn about Sill Properties, its origin and Bret’s involvement in its management

●     Discover the benefits Bret acquired from the Almond Leadership Program

●     Explore the new equipment and technology they are implementing on their operation and the incentives to support these upgrades

ABC Update

In today’s ABC Update, Jesse Roseman, principal analyst for the Almond Board, joins us to discuss ongoing projects to improve air quality and dust management in orchards. Jesse shares the research projects of the Almond Board that cross over into this regulatory space and the incentives for producers that will help defray the cost of some of the low-dust equipment.

●     Reducing Harvest Dust

●     Harvest Dust Technical Guide

●     Low-Dust Nut Harvester Replacement Program

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

Matt Angell introduces us to some of the climate-smart farming practices he is exploring and his approach to water conservation. Matt is a third-generation farmer and the managing partner for both Madera Pumps and US Water Well. As technology has evolved, Matt has experimented with ways to use data and sensors to become more efficient with water. Matt offers his principles of resource management with the “5 M’s”: map, monitor, measurement, management, and market. 

“I think this whole conversation is something that scares everybody significantly. So it's not something that people want to talk about. And when there's no conversation, there's no clarity. You know, people aren't solving problems. - Matt Angell

As someone who runs both a pump company and a water well repair and restoration services company, Matt knows quite a bit about groundwater. He would like to see a more widespread conversation regarding groundwater overdraft.

In Today’s episode:

●     Meet Matt Angell, third generation farmer and water entrepreneur

●     What climate-smart farming means on Matt’s operation

●     How Matt has utilized the “5 M’s” to improve his water efficiency

●     Matt’s idea for a “H.E.R.O.” grower that is rewarded for efficiency

●     Why more conversation is needed about groundwater challenges

ABC Update

In today’s ABC Update, principal analyst Jesse Roseman joins us to talk about climate smart agriculture, and the new Cover Crop Best Management Practices guide produced by the Almond Board of California.

●     Cover Crop Best Management Practices

●     Grower Incentive Opportunities

●     Contact the field outreach team: [email protected].

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

In this episode we meet Luke Hicks of LH Farm Service, a custom harvesting and orchard sanitation company. Luke shares about harvest operations, how he built his business from scratch, what equipment he uses and why, and where he sees harvest operations going in the future.

“For me, it's rewarding to get a guy's crop from the field to the processor. That's what makes me feel good and doing the best job we can. That's what I really enjoy about it.” - Luke Hicks

Luke discusses his custom harvesting business and how he makes sure his crews harvest efficiently, safely and effectively. He offers insight about important issues like harvest efficiency, equipment, labor and serving farmer customers. Ultimately, customer support and best-handling of his clients’ trees have helped him select the best equipment for his business.  

“I take extra care. We're handling somebody else's crop. I know that their livelihood is in our hands, it’s the care of their trees. It's up to us.” - Luke Hicks

ABC Update

In today’s ABC Update, principal analyst Jesse Roseman discusses Harvest Best Management Practices (BMPs). He shares why these BMPs are important, how they add value to almond growers and where to access these resources. 

Get a copy of the Harvest Best Management Practices by contacting the field outreach team: [email protected]. 

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by The Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

In this episode we visit with Burford Ranch assistant manager Sal Parra, Jr. Sal grew up on the farm where he now lives and works alongside his father to manage 2,800 acres of almonds in western Fresno County.

Especially in a year like this one, finding ways to continually get “more crop per drop” is a top priority. Over the years, Burford Ranch has transitioned from flood irrigation to microsprinklers and drip. While increasing their water use efficiency over the past few decades they’ve also been able to double their yields. The most recent step Sal took to improve his water use efficiency was to install dendrometers, devices that are mounted on the trees themselves to track water uptake by measuring changes in the trunk diameter.

“With the dendrometers, it's literally real time. It's telling you a better story of what that tree is going through. I think for me, that was really convincing and I thought,

Now this is a game changer.’” - Sal Parra Jr.

Sal shares that through increased monitoring and irrigation technology he now “can water by need and fertilize by need” rather than assumptions and calendar month. This allows him to tailor his inputs to the “actual variety and actual tree” and therefore greatly increase his efficiency for this and future crops. “The trees were just healthier all year.”

“I think what it really comes down to is that you're having good data to work off of that can help you make micro adjustments that over the long run give you savings. And so for us, that was huge, that was critical at a time where we really needed to go in that direction because of the pressure of not having the water.” - Sal Parra Jr.

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

In this episode we visit with Joe Gardiner, sales manager at Treehouse California Almonds, and partner in Gardiner Farms and Pacific Ag Land Management. These experiences give Joe a full value chain perspective of the almond industry, and his passion for the future of the industry has brought new ideas and perspectives to the Almond Board. 

“I love this industry. I think there's a huge group of amazing people that all work their tails off trying to do things the right way. There's a lot of blue sky ahead, but it doesn't come without some turbulent air.” - Joe Gardiner

The Gardiner family is a great example of the interconnectedness of the almond industry with ventures in beekeeping, processing, marketing and producing almonds. “We’re all definitely connected, heavily reliant on each other but out of each other’s way on a day to day business,” says Joe. 

“If we keep these farms healthy, keep a strong return back to the growers, keep them plugging along then the handlers are going to do well, the shipping companies are going to do well, the chemical companies will do well, and the bee companies will do well. It really comes back to that. Farm is the base of this industry. It's not the other way around. - Joe Gardiner

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by The Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

On today’s episode we visit with Dave Phippen of Travaille & Phippen. Travaille & Phippen is a partnership that started with a family of almond growers and vertically integrated over time. As his father moved towards retirement from their almond and winegrape operation, Dave and his brother Scott took over. Spotting an opportunity in almond hulling, their cousin Bud Travaille joined Dave and Scott to form Travaille & Phippen. 

“As we hulled and shelled product for other growers, I learned that there were other growers that were actually doing a better job than I was, getting more production per acre. We quickly went to be introduced to those growers and learned what they're doing that we weren't doing. And we became better growers.” - Dave Phippen

For Dave, his perspective of what’s possible really changed when he got involved with the leadership of the Almond Board. Dave shares more of the insights he has collected in his journey from grower to huller to sheller to processor. 

“The only impediment to moving more almonds into the global markets was the grower's ability and desire to fund the research and development of those markets. That changed my scope and my imagination to what the almond industry in California could really do because it places it back in grower hands.” - Dave Phippen

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• California Almond Sustainability Program (CASP)
• Upcoming Almond Events and Meetings
• Email to learn more about participating on a committee of the Almond Board

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.