Post-harvest irrigation for almond growers starts the success of next year’s crop. Senior Manager of Irrigation and Water Efficacy for the Almond Board, Spenser Cooper, tells us why it’s so important.
“The trees are going through bud differentiation and so they are establishing next year’s crop this year and it’s important to get the water back and get the nutrients back to the trees,” Cooper said.
Cooper is involved in helping growers with the intricacies of irrigation. “I am working on the grower’s side to help educate growers about tools that are out there to help improve irrigation management and their efficiency,” Cooper said. “Just making them aware of the tools and how to use them.”
Cooper went into detail about the irrigation scheduler tool. “There is an irrigation scheduler tool that the Almond Board of California has put together where growers can put in their varieties, their irrigation type and it helps calculate and estimate how much water they’re going to need to apply each week throughout the season,” Cooper said.
There are a few ways to learn more about the irrigation tools available to growers. “Growers can go to our website at Almonds.com,” Cooper said. “Or they can email me directly at scooper@almondboard.com and I can get them the information.”
Growers can learn more about the irrigation tools, and many aspects of irrigation at the annual Almond Conference. The conference is December 6-8 at the Sacramento Convention Center. Advance registration is encouraged. You can register online at the almond conference website.