Jaime Ott discusses the resurgence of prune brownline in the northern Sacramento Valley. In addition to prune, Jaime reminds us to be on the lookout for symptoms of Tomato ringspot virus in almond, peach, and cherry. Also caused by Tomato ringspot virus: Learn about Yellow Bud Mosaic in almond and peaches Learn about Cherry Stem Pitting     Come to an upcoming extension meeting! Sacramento Valley San Joaquin Valley (scroll to the bottom) The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Califo ..read more

Houston Wilson, Professor of Cooperative Extension in entomology with UC Riverside, gives us our semi-yearly update on Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) work in Navel Orangeworm, through work completed in 2024. It’s a long (20 year or so) long road, but may provide an additional tool in the IPM toolbox for controlling navel orangeworm. Listen to find out more! Come to an upcoming extension meeting! Sacramento Valley San Joaquin Valley (scroll to the bottom) Mention of an agrichemical does not constitute a recommendation, merely the sharing of research findings. Always follow the label. The label ..read more

Incorporating large amounts of woody biomass into soil, such as in whole orchard recycling (WOR), can promote carbon sequestration, nutrient recycling, and ecosystem health in agricultural fields. Yet uncertainty regarding the effects of WOR on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics influences management decisions. Recently, Mae Culumber, Ph.D. with UC Cooperative Extension, Suduan Gao, Ph.D. with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and others performed research to evaluate the effects of woodchip size and interaction with nitrogen fertilization on carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions as ..read more

Soil health is broad term that encompasses a important topic: functional soil that can support human activities, animals, and plants. Measuring soil health can be difficult even for soil scientists, but in today’s episode, Sarah Light shares some tools that growers, PCAs, and CCAs can use to judge soil health in their or their clients’ orchards. Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, a ..read more

In 2023 UCANR advisors and specialists got an unusual number of farm calls on branch cankers in almonds, many of which turned out to be aerial phytophthora. Florent Trouillas with UC Davis goes over the pathogen, its lifecycle, and the conditions in 2023 that led to this outbreak. Come to an upcoming extension meeting! Sacramento Valley San Joaquin Valley (scroll to the bottom) Mention of an agrichemical does not constitute a recommendation, merely the sharing of research findings. Always follow the label. The label is law. Find out more at ipm.ucanr.edu. The views, thoughts, and opinions expr ..read more

Luke Milliron discusses the growing list of problems with the Monterey almond variety in the northern Sacramento Valley. Leafing failure (what is it) Leafing failure (what might be causing it) Flowering failure Come to an upcoming extension meeting! Sacramento Valley San Joaquin Valley (scroll to the bottom) The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. The "University of California" name and all f ..read more

Cover crops! They’re not just for almonds (despite the bulk of California orchard cover crop research being in that crop). Daniele Zaccaria has been conducting research on cover crops in California pistachio orchards and shares what he has found, including some interesting possibilities as to why they found higher yields in orchards with cover crops. Come to an upcoming extension meeting! Sacramento Valley San Joaquin Valley (scroll to the bottom) Mention of an agrichemical does not constitute a recommendation, merely the sharing of research findings. Always follow the label. The label is law ..read more

Luke Milliron and Ken Shackel (UC Davis) sit down to talk about the decade plus of research investigating when to start irrigation in the spring for walnut orchards. If you want to learn more about incorporating the pressure chamber to improve orchard health and cut costs - contact your local farm advisor or Luke at (530) 828-9666 Come to an upcoming extension meeting! Sacramento Valley San Joaquin Valley (scroll to the bottom) The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material a ..read more

In a world where it feels like we have a new invasive pest every month, sometimes it’s hard for an arthropod to stand out. Last year, the nut industries were put on notice by Carpophilus truncatus, a tiny beetle that has commandeered big attention. Lucky for us (and unluckily for the Australians), we aren’t alone in trying to figure out how to keep this beetle under control. Houston Wilson shares what we know about its spread in the state, and what we can learn from Down Under. Come to an upcoming extension meeting! Sacramento Valley San Joaquin Valley (scroll to the bottom) Mention of an agri ..read more

Sarah Castro (UC Davis) discusses how new prune varieties can improve a grower’s bottom line! scastro @ ucdavis.edu Insta: @cali.prunebreeder Initial episode on the prune breeding program with Sarah Come to an upcoming extension meeting! Sacramento Valley San Joaquin Valley (scroll to the bottom) The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. The "University of California" name and all forms and abb ..read more