David Doll5 CommentsMay 2, 2014General

Happy 100th Birthday, UC Cooperative Extension

In 1914, the Smith-Lever act establish funding for localized farm advisors to extend information to farmers and rural areas to increase farm productivity. Over the past 100 years, UC advisors across California have been integrated into many communities, providing guidance for agricultural productivity, youth development (4-H), human nutrition, and urban horticulture (UC Master Gardeners). The almond industry has benefited from the work of these effort. With over 60 years of research and collaboration of the UC ANR, The Almond Board of California, and almond farmers statewide have increased production from less than 1000 lbs/acre to a statewide average of 2400 lbs/acre. Significant contributions of UC research include:

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David Doll2 CommentsNovember 22, 2013General

End of Year Expense Considerations

At this time of the year, many farmers are looking through the books and realizing the financial return of their orchard operations. With a profit, money can be spent on orchard improvements and equipment, which often have tax saving benefits.  In the case of a negative return, operations should be reviewed and a strategy should be developed and implemented to make the orchard profitable. Regardless of returns, the following should be considered to help make orchard operations run more efficiently for next (and future) seasons.

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David Doll0 commentsJuly 9, 2013General

Almonds and VOCs – Reminder!

Written by Tunyalee Martin, UC IPM It’s that time of year again when hot weather fuels the creation of ozone, or smog. Some pesticides emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to ozone formation. Using pesticides that release VOCs may be restricted in certain California locations between May 1 and October 31. If you plan to apply a pesticide, use the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s VOC calculators to determine emissions from fumigant and nonfumigant pesticides. Get there by clicking on the Air Quality button at the top of each treatment table in the UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Almond.

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Franz Niederholzer9 CommentsMay 26, 2013General

It’s the Nut Price, Dummy

I got a call from a savvy nut grower in the north Sacramento Valley a couple of weeks ago.  He knows his way around the world money markets as well as an almond orchard.  We talked about a number of topics, and the high price of ag land came up.  “Where is this going to end?” he asked.  We agreed that nut prices are up, way up, in some cases, but what nut price he asked, would cover the huge price tag on some pieces of land, some pushing $20,000/acre?  I didn’t know, but thought I’d try to find out.  Here’s what I learned.

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David Doll4 CommentsFebruary 6, 2013General, Horticulture, Technology

Meeting Time: Understanding Figures and Statistics

It is that time of the year where it seems like there is some type of meeting every week. In many of these meetings, data is presented to show the effectiveness of the products versus other products or a control. Statistics are often used to determine if there is a true difference between the treatments by taking into account the field variability within the data set. It may be asked, “What do you mean by true difference?” In this case, a true statistical difference is not due to random chance or variability within the plot, but rather due to the treatment applied.

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David Doll0 commentsDecember 11, 2012General, Insects

On-line Learning Resource Available for UC IPM Year Round IPM Programs

Written by Peter Goodell, UC IPM Specialist, Kearney Ag Center The UC Statewide IPM Program has announced the availability of an on-line tutorial to aid in the use of Year Round IPM Programs. Year Round IPM Programs were developed as another means to retrieve information from the comprehensive Pest Management Guidelines. While the Guidelines are organized by pest, the Year Round Program condenses a year’s worth of management activities for key pests into one checklist arranged by season or crop stage. Over half the crop groups in the Guidelines have a Year Round program associated with it,almond being one.

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David Doll0 commentsAugust 18, 2009General

Almond Production Cost and Return Studies

Ever wondered what it costs to establish an orchard? Cost studies by the Agricultural Economics Department at UC Davis are available for the following regions:Conventional Micro-sprinkler Orchard in Northern San Joaquin Valley;Conventional Flood Irrigated Orchard in Northern San Joaquin Valley;Organic Sprinkler Irrigated Orchard in Northern San Joaquin Valley;Conventional Micro-sprinkler Orchard in Southern San Joaquin Valley;and Conventional Low Volume-sprinkler Orchard in Sacramento Valley.

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