In today’s Almond Matters, brought to you by Valent, almond crop conditions appear to be in good standing as summer approaches. This year had significantly more rainfall than last season which caused some complications in early spring applications, but as temperatures start warming up orchards appear to be on track for a good year.
“Looking pretty good right now. The weather recently has been a bit more favorable; it’s dried out, it’s warmed up a little bit, and things are looking pretty pleasant,” said Blue Diamond Growers Director of Member Relations Mel Machado. “I’m not alarmed by anything at this point. While the bloom was not particularly a comfortable thing to experience, as we come out of it orchards are looking pretty good. The crop loads look pretty good.”
Bloom was a little bit later compared to last year and temperatures remained lower for a while right after bloom. However, the warm weather that followed helped move things along to a point that is more in-line with the overall average. “I’d say we’re more than likely on-par with ‘normal’; what most people would consider to be normal,” Machado noted.
Growers are paying particular attention to navel orangeworm (NOW), as some sanitation efforts might have been complicated due to wet orchard conditions. Machado highlighted mating confusion as becoming more of an enticing method for NOW mitigation. “There’s quite a few orchards with significant mummy loads on them. Growers are watching that,” said Machado. “We just have to be very diligent on our spray timings when we get to the hull-split.”
Despite some delays in spring applications, it appears that almond crop conditions are on track for a more average growing season. “We won’t know obviously for sure until we get into harvest, but people are a little more optimistic right now than they were, say a month ago,” said Machado.
Listen to the report below.