This article is the first in a three-part series on almond production in California.
Despite the economic downturn over the past few years, almonds remain one of the last profitable crops in California agriculture. Although grapes used to be king in California, their crops have dropped throughout the last five years, while almonds have gained status, according to the Almond Board (PDF).
Over the past 10 years, the almond industry has rapidly grown with advancements in fertilizing, pruning, harvesting and other areas. According to Tom Rogers, owner of a 170-acre almond ranch in Madera, almonds are less labor-intensive compared to other crops and have become more efficient in recent years.
“When labor costs shot up during the housing boom in the early and mid-2000s, labor was extremely difficult to come through,” Rogers said. “So now we do mechanical pruning in the older trees, but in younger trees we still do hand pruning to get the shape we want.”
Improvements increase almond yield
Farmers want to limit the height and keep the center of the trees open to allow photosynthesis, which is crucial to the production of almonds. Conventional wisdom is to pull out almond trees after 20 years, but Rogers says that the advancements in technology allow trees to produce longer.
“I think we are doing a better job at pruning, and fertilizer has changed dramatically over the last 10 years,” Rogers said. “When our dad planted these trees 30 years ago, we would fertilize in December and do nothing the rest of the year. Well, we have come to realize that December is probably the worst time to fertilize.”
Due to development in the industry, farmers have realized that fertilizer is only beneficial when the soil is around 56-degrees Fahrenheit, at which microorganisms and the tree absorb the most nutrients.
“We eat three times a day; my trees eat every 2-3 weeks. [We] fertilize a little but often, and we have seen a tremendous response that way,” Rogers said. “We use solid-set sprinklers and microbes to do everything we possibly can by pumping product in. It’s a great labor-saver, because you’re not going up and down each row throwing out fertilizer.”
During the cold months, frost can become an issue once the bud is set on the tree. According to Rogers, it only takes 30 minutes of 29-degree weather to cause damage, leading to a lower-quality nut.
“We have these probes that test the soil moisture, and they connect to the Internet, so I get messages sent to my phone,” Rogers said. “There are three probes, because I irrigate the farm in three sets and two of them have complete weather stations, so I get 24-hour weather monitoring of temperatures and soil temperatures.
“At this point, the frost won’t really hurt the trees; but once there are flowers and the nut is set, there can be damage. With the sprinklers I can affect the temperature about 2-3 degrees for about two hours. My phone is set up to get frost alerts: When it’s 36 degrees, it calls me, and then we decide if we need to come out and set sprinklers or sleep and not worry about it.”
Farmers avoid hazards, complications
Last year, the industry suffered about a 20-30 percent loss in the almond crop, according to Rogers. But this year farmers have been fortunate and have only encountered frost a few times.
“We had one night [when] at 8 p.m. it was 32-degrees, and at midnight it was 28-degrees and hung there for eight hours,” Rogers said. “We ran sprinklers and we were late enough with the crop that we only had minor damage here; [for] anything that was further along, there was nothing you can do.”
According to Western Farm Press, effective irrigation is critical to the production of almonds, especially in areas where water is a valuable resource.
“Right now, we are facing the environmental community, where they are saying that we are not making the best and the most reasonable use of the water, because we are using too much,” Rogers said. “An almond tree is just like anything else: the bigger the tree, the more water. We need around four acre-feet per year to grow these.”
Because of some efforts to limit farmers’ use of water, growers have developed more efficient watering methods.
“We really know the difference if we have a light crop because of frost; we use less water,” Rogers said. “We are getting to the point where we can judge the size of the crop by how much water we are using, so more crop means more water use.”
Around the end of April, the trees begin to require more water and monitoring, otherwise they may produce shriveled nuts. If the almonds are shriveled, almost 20 percent of the crop could be lost.
“If you’re going to grow a tree, the tree will take care of the crop first; you short it a little bit, and you do not set the crop for the next year,” Rogers said. “An almond sets next year’s crop in May, June, July, so short the water and you will short the buds. This is why all of this is really exciting: We’ve really only learned all of this over the last 10 years, [and] it’s been a lot of fun.”
Nutrient monitoring adds new dimension
Aside from irrigation, nutrient balance within the soil is also an important factor for almond production, according to Blue Diamond. There are numerous elements which farmers monitor, including calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron.
“We are using a lot more microbes and a product that stimulates them [trees],” Rogers said. “What we are seeing is an increase in soil activity, and that is releasing stuff in the soil without actually adding it. So I think we are going to see a whole lot more; we use to say that you’re going to need 300-400 units of nitrogen to see it grow a one-ton crop, but we are doing it with half the units and are growing 3000 pounds.
“So we are refining what we are doing, and what I see based on the last five years is that we will be lowering the amount of nitrogen, building a balance in the soil of the nutrients. So it’s really exciting: This is something we are doing so we can do better.”
Based on all of the fairly recent technological improvements, Rogers says this is an interesting time to grow almonds in California.
“I think it’s an exciting time to be in farming, because of all the advancements,” Rogers said. “I think we do it the best and the safest of any country, and we take a beating sometimes because of problems that occur. But more times than not, the problems are off the ranch.”
For more information on almonds, visit the California Almond Board’s website. For the second installment, read the Feb. 23 article, Almond farmers sustain bees, fight pests.
