In today’s Almond Matters, brought to you by Valent U.S.A., dormancy programs are being put into action throughout the state. Field Market Development Specialist with Valent USA, Todd Burkdoll said this last year was tough one for navel orangeworm (NOW). Some orchards that deployed both mating disruption and conventional insecticide sprays experienced significant levels of NOW damage. Part of getting in front of NOW issues is getting a strong program going for overwintering pests.
“There’s two ways to tackle that. You can either knock the nuts off the ground and then work them in the ground and shred them up and work them into the soil,” Burkdoll noted. “Or you could go after them on the tree with an insecticide application.”
Timely application is critical for achieving maximum efficacy in addressing a variety of issues. Burkdoll said right now, after Thanksgiving, is typically around the time he encourages making applications. “You can get some uptake with your foliar nutrition and then definitely knock out spores of overwintering fungi,” Burkdoll explained.
Dormancy programs are an integral part of the “start clean, stay clean” philosophy. Burkdoll recognizes the economic pressures on growers, with lower crop prices, increased costs of crop protection materials, rising labor expenses, and expensive diesel fuel. However, he underscores the significance of viewing dormant applications as an investment in preventing future complications.
“You talk about putting an application on dormant wise when you really don’t see the pest, for people who haven’t done it for a while, it’s a hard pill to swallow to spend that money. But I think that it’s money well spent,” said Burkdoll. “I’ve seen the benefits of it more than the cost.”
Listen to the report below.