Work Continues In Almond Orchards

Now that almond harvest is over. There's a lot of work still being done in those orchards.

Alan Sano operates Alan Sano Farms in the Merced area. And he's working on getting some amendments and nutrients into the ground.

“Yeah, well, the pruning is done. We put some gypsum on for the soil to avoid the cracking of the soil, and we also put some potash on the soil,” said Sano.

And the winter rains, if they come, will help get that material into the soil.

And he's hoping to get some cooler weather to get those trees in the dormancy.

Yeah. “That's the thing. If we get dormancy, that's another issue, however it’s finally cooled down a little,” he said.

And Sano says he's planning on putting down some pre-emergent herbicides. “I was going to spray last week, but I figured it didn't look like a rain much. So, I'm just going to wait until another system comes in, but it looks like two weeks it looks dry,” noted Sano. And it needs that moisture to activate those pre-emergent herbicides

Sano said he plans start with some mummy nut shaking, and sanitation to prevent navel orangeworm infestations next year. “Last year, my friend came out with an idea and he extended the axel on the shaker to put duals on the back. The duals will float on the wet ground easier and make shaking more efficient,” Sano said.

“Because in the Merced area, most of its minimum tillage, just mow the grass and level it out. And they don't do any hardly any disking. When it rains, when these mummy nuts, we have to get a little bit of moisture, get some weight and it dries off. And so, the mummy nuts shake off easily,” explained Sano.