Growing the Valley

Encore airing of a 2018 episode: Phoebe Gordon sits down with farm advisor David Doll (with UCCE Merced at the time) to discuss tested strategies to overcome the replant problem, with a focus on almond production.

Mention of a pesticide or applied rate does not constitute a pesticide recommendation, merely a discussion of research findings. Always follow the pesticide label.

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.

Music by Muriel Gordon.

In part five of the climate change series, Phoebe sits down with Tapan Pathak and Jhalendra Rijal to discuss the results of a study they published, examining the effects of climate change on Navel Orangeworm. While the study is based off of climate and insect models, like Daniel Swain mentioned in Part 3, these models are based on fundamental physical (and in the case of navel orangeworm, biological) properties.

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.

In our 1-minute challenges we describe key almond, pistachio, prune, and walnut orchard tasks for the month of September.

On SacValleyOrchards.com (SVO) there is an article on walnut freeze (see the “How to prevent future damage” section). In walnut production – September is also a critical month for managing mold and for ethephon applications to either hasten or tighten up nut maturation. For a healthy orchard next spring, follow through on late season irrigation in your prune orchard. For other key September tasks in prunes  see the management considerations on SVO.

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.

Our concerns about how climate change will affect agriculture don’t just extend to crop performance; pest species will also be affected. In this week’s episode, Lynn Sosnoskie returns to talk about implications for weed management.

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.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Los Angeles’ Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, discusses climate models and California’s climate with Phoebe in this week’s episode. He shares what we’ve already seen, what climate scientists know will continue to happen, and clarifies a common misconception about what the future of precipitation will look like in California.

If you would like to learn more about the work that Daniel does, as well as get monthly (or so) updates on California’s climate, visit his blog at https://weatherwest.com/.

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.

Arnold Bloom, a Distinguished Professor of plant sciences at UC Davis, shares a brief overview of the science of climate change and does a deep dive into how it will affect plants, with an emphasis on crops.

You can find his online, free class on climate change here: https://www.climatechangecourse.org/

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.

In our 1-minute challenges we describe key almond, pistachio, prune, and walnut orchard tasks for the month of August.

On SacValleyOrchards.com (SVO) there is a roundup of the top almond orchard management considerations for August. David Haviland (UCCE Kern) also has a great article on almond hull split spray considerations in a tight fiscal year. In walnuts, consider the latest best practices to reduce walnut mold, particularly in a year with lots of sunburn. On SVO there is also a walnut article on insect & mite management on a budget, as well as considerations for whether to use ethephon in a lean price year. Be sure to carefully time prune harvest, to maximize profitability. Finally in prune production, be sure to follow through on late season irrigation to ensure a healthy orchard next spring.

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.

The effects of climate change are already here, and unless we cut down on carbon emissions, things will only get worse. Agriculture is an industry that is incredibly vulnerable to this threat, and is an area of intense research among scientists. While we know a lot about current and future affects, the complexity of this problem means that we won’t fully understand the impacts until they are already here. Because of this, this series is focused more on speculations based on modeling, as well as research on insect and plant responses to changes in carbon dioxide, temperatures, and earlier transitions from winter into spring (which results in less chill accumulation and earlier emergence of pests).

This introductory episode with Tapan Pathak will lay the foundation for the series. You will hear some things multiple times in different episodes, but from different perspectives.

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.