Trees & Vines

Carbon monitoring technology by Agrology, gathers data on climate, smoke and irrigationat this vineyard in Sonoma County. The company’s other sensors measure carbon in the soil.

Photo/Courtesy of Agrology

Richard Loquaci of Madera Agricultural Services checks on vine-dried raisins in the Central Valley. The Loquaci family manages farming of Selma Pete grapes for the Madera County raisin snack company Life’s Grape.

Photo/Lori Eanes

A “mummy shake” takes place in Manteca to sanitize an orchard for the dormant season. Shaking the trees removes remaining almond mummies that can become a food source for overwintering pests.

Photo/Vicky Boyd

At the 2023 Almond Conference in Sacramento last week, attendees walk by the Almond Board of California’s custom-painted van promoting the tree nut at the trade show.

Photo/Ching Lee

At this San Joaquin County vineyard, an integrated management approach is used to limit the spread of the grapevine leafroll virus, first by controlling populations of the vine mealybug, the vector of the virus. Management efforts include scouting fields by foot, mapping infecting vines, testing samples and roguing, a technique of removing extra vines.

Photo/Courtesy LangeTwins Family Winery and Vineyards

A Pacific flatheaded borer larva is found inside a pear. The beetle pest is known to attack mainly wood but was discovered feeding on pear fruit in Lake County earlier this fall.

Photo / Clebson Gomes Goncalves

Daniel Hartwig

This palm tree in San Diego County is among more than 20,000 killed by invasive South American palm weevils.

Photo/University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources

Dane St. George, a graduate student in the Johnson Lab of Wildlife Habitat Ecology at California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt, installs a camera in an owl nest box above a Napa Valley vineyard.

Photo/Johnson Lab of Wildlife Habitat Ecology/California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt

pistachio file photo – Photo/Christine Souza

After testifying last week at a hearing held by the California Assembly Committee on Ports and Goods Movement, California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson, right, and Assembly Member Mike Gipson, D-Carson, toured the Port of Oakland.

Photo/Katie Little

California winegrape growers may have to remove 50,000 acres of vineyards to balance production, according to marketing association Allied Grape Growers. 

Gaia Daystar, warehouse associate with Spark food hub in Davis, readies locally grown pears for delivery to correctional facilities. Fresh produce is being sourced from farms across Northern California for inmate populations. Specialty crop block grants support the effort.

Photo/University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources

Asian citrus psyllid – Photo/Mike Lewis/University of California, Riverside

Ward Burroughs, who farms certified regenerative organic almonds with his wife Rosie and daughter Benina Montes, uses an off-ground twin shaker in an almond orchard. The family says the catch-and-shake method of harvesting saves on labor and replaces the use of sweepers.

Photo/Vicky Boyd

A tree shaker harvests walnuts in a San Joaquin County orchard. Thanks to milder summer temperatures and more rain this year, California walnut farmers agree their crop is much improved over the 2022 harvest. Their eyes remain on market prices and how much buyers are willing to pay.

Photo/Ching Lee

• In this file photo, huanglongbing-infected citrus tree leaves from a residential citrus tree show symptoms including blotchy, yellowing of leaves and yellow shoots.
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• Photo/Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program.

A crew near Lodi separates wood from wires and metal stakes after taking out a diseased vineyard. Some growers say burning discarded vines is the best option to prevent the spread of crop pests.

Photo/Vicky Boyd

An adult Asian citrus psyllid, left, and yellow nymphs feed on a citrus tree’s leaves and stems, leaving behind a white, waxy substance. Psyllids carrying the huanglongbing bacteria can kill citrus trees. 

Photo/Michael E. Rogers

Wine grapes are exposed to targeted smoke as part of smoke-taint study at Oregon State University.

Photo/SeanNealon/Oregon State University

University of California researchers are conducting trials at this young walnut orchard in San Joaquin County to study alternative soil-treatment methods to control nematodes and protect root growth.

Photo/Vicky Boyd<

Prunes are harvested from an orchard in Winters. After years of removing acreage, California prune growers have found their market sweet spot. With prunes earning a higher price in recent years, they now fear there will be a rush to plant more fruit, upsetting the supply-demand balance.

Photo/Ching Lee