In today’s Almond Matters, brought to you by Valent USA Corporation, almond producers are well into planning and prepping orchards for next season. One important step during winter is to control weeds.
Producers are well aware of the nuisance of weeds. Valent Manager of Field Development Pat Clay explains why weed control is so important when planning for the upcoming season, especially in young orchards. “The number-one goal there will be reducing competition for those new trees. The weeds are going to compete with the trees for water, nutrients and those types of things, so anything you can do to reduce that competition is going to help those trees get off to a good start and well on your way to optimizing production early,” Clay said.
The use of cover crops is becoming more popular, but weeds in those areas aren’t the problem. Clay said the focus is on the weeds close to the trees. “Cover crops or different things between the tree rows are practiced a lot here in California,” he said. “What we are talking about here is a band, or an area, in close proximity to the trees where you want to manage the growth and keep the competition to a minimum.”