Sac Valley Orchards

Domena A. Agyeman, UCCE Agricultural Economic Advisor; Butte, Glenn, and Tehama Counties Becky Wheeler-Dykes, UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor; Glenn, Tehama and Colusa Counties Cropload management is one of the most important practices in prune production. Timely and appropriate (fruit per tree) thinning can improve fruit size, enhance quality, increase market price, and ultimately boost grower return. However, with ...

Clarissa Reyes, Orchard Systems Advisor, Sutter, Yuba, Butte and Placer counties Peach harvest can be predicted fairly accurately by the temperatures in the first 30 days following bloom. Other factors such as weather near harvest, soil, tree nutrition, and water status can also have some effect on harvest date. On average, we accumulate about 6,000 growing degree ...

Jaime Ott, UCCE Tehama, Shasta Glenn, Butte Counties Given the early bloom and leaf-out of our walnuts this year, spring rain will put us at risk of blight. At the time of writing, we are already past catkin expansion and into leafout in the orchards I monitor. This would be a year to have started your blight ...

Walnut production costs remain elevated, and overall profitability continues to hinge on how well growers can manage key cost drivers. With margins still tight, understanding where costs have increased over time could benefit growers in identifying areas where savings may be possible.

Crown rot and root rot caused by Phytophthora species are diseases of great concern for walnut growers. Many people believe that irrigating with surface water puts your trees at risk of Phytophthora, and that irrigating with groundwater is the best way to prevent these diseases. However, a recent study of Phytophthora in irrigation water and orchard soils tells a different story.