From the Fields

We just completed our bloom in both the almonds recently and prunes the last couple of days. In the almonds, the bloom conditions were the best that we have seen in years: no frost during bloom, mild temperatures so the bees were able to work long hours every day during bloom, no rain so minimal sprays needed to control diseases and great overlap of different varieties' bloom for the cross-pollination needed to set a crop. Right now, the trees are loaded with nutlets and waiting to see how much will drop off as occurs every year.

Prunes just completed their bloom and we escaped the critical temperature of 80 degrees or more. High temperatures during bloom result in poor crops. In mid-March, frost was forecast, which could have damaged both crops. Luckily, most areas were right on the edge of sustaining damage, but looks like we escaped damage. There was some water turned on and helicopter flying going on to protect the crops from frost damage.

The long-term concern on everyone's mind is the virus situation right now and how it is impacting exports, with the cutbacks of shipping to international ports resulting in downward pressure on pricing for most commodities. Time will tell on how we will survive during these difficult times.

Be safe, everyone.