From the Fields - Nick Short

By Nick Short, Stanislaus County almond grower 

February marked the start of another bloom season. It seemed to be a flash almond bloom here in the Central Valley. With the amount of rain we received so far this year and other weather factors, this has shaped up to be an interesting bloom. It felt like we left work on a Friday with only about 15% to 20% bloom, and by the time we got to work on Monday, we were almost at full bloom.

The rain has made our cultural practices difficult to complete. We have been able to get our crop protection materials applied to help mitigate any fungus or bacteria growth. We completed all our winter sanitation practices, including mummy shaking and mulching, as well as pruning where necessary.

With the prices of almonds where they are, a lot of farmers are taking a hard look at what is necessary these days. We have seen a lot of orchards being removed in our area. Unfortunately, this is the best time to complete the redevelopments. We will be developing some new ground in the fall and praying that in the next few years, the market firms up.

Overall, we are hopeful we can keep the crop that we are seeing on the trees and that prices will continue to improve. Other commodities in our area are moving along as well. Dairy farmers have their winter oats looking good and other tree orchards such as peaches and cherries are waiting for their bloom to start.

In terms of water supply, the local reservoirs are at sustainable levels and we will wait to see how the snowmelt affects things. Last year, we dealt with high water levels in some of our local rivers, which in turn led to some farmers losing entire blocks. Though we are thankful and happy to see the rain, dare I say, sometimes too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.