In today’s Almond Matters, brought to you by Valent, growers have a number of tools available to help guide pest management treatments. Using degree-day calculations in combination with traps can be an effective means for timing applications. Field Market Development Specialist for Valent USA, Todd Burkdoll described having success using the degree-day calculator tool available from the UC IPM program.
“That’s a pretty good tool to use. I’ve used it pretty effectively for several years now and it gives you a pretty good indication. It’s not exact, but it gives you a pretty good approximation of when to start treating,” Burkdoll noted. “You plug in where your site is at, it pulls data in from your specific site, or a weather station close by where your location is. You’re able to look at the number of degree-days which have transpired, basically, to determine when to spray.”
Pheromone traps help to collect male insects in order to establish a biofix for pests such as Navel Orangeworm and Peach Twig Borer. Using information collected through trapping and data from the degree-day calculator helps growers plan accordingly. Tracking the development of insect populations and implementing a management program can be exceptionally helpful later in the season. “If you do a timely spray based on the degree-days and the traps you can do a pretty good job and you can use the softer chemistries,” Burkdoll noted.
Egg traps can also help producers to better time treatment applications. Mating disruption devices are also often deployed to mitigate pest pressures by confusing the male insects. Some of the more sophisticated devices are actually tied into degree-day models and the biofix for specific insects. “Using the tools and technology that’s out there it’ll save time and effort and it really fine-tunes any type of management program you choose to execute,” said Burkdoll.
Listen to the report below.