Trees & Vines

After peaking in the 2022-23 season, U.S. walnut acreage fell and is expected to continue to slide in the coming years. Despite more trees being removed, analysts say domestic walnut production may not decline at the same speed as acreage because of better yields in the remaining orchards.

Graphic/Rabobank

A high-wire trellis system for winegrapes, at right, rises above a traditional vineyard alignment, at left. Researchers say high-wire systems provide better shade and more protection from heat and sun.

Photo/University of California, Davis

Kern County grower Mark Hall stands in a vineyard earlier this month during harvest of Flame Seedless grapes. He says the state’s unrelenting heat wave has begun to damage some varieties.

Photo/Sal Ruedas

At Merced County-based Cederlind Farms in Winton, employee Esteban Castañeda harvests the extra-early Carson variety of clingstone peaches early in the morning to beat the heat. Harvest of the state’s canned and processed peaches is expected to continue through mid-September.

Photo/Christine Souza

During a 2010 trip to the University of Agriculture Faisalabad in Pakistan, Mark Hoddle, right, a biological control specialist with the University of California, Riverside, documents success of the Tamarixia radiata wasp, a predator of the Asian citrus psyllid, which spreads citrus greening, a disease that kills citrus trees. He introduced the wasps in California to protect the citrus crop.

Photo/Christina Hoddle/University of California, Riverside

Larvae of the western grapeleaf skeletonizer feed on a grape leaf. Larval feeding skeletonizes grape leaves, resulting in loss of vine foliage, damage to fruit and reductions in crop yields.

Photo/University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources

Photo/Cecilia Parsons

Randy Baranek, project manager for the agricultural service provider Fowler Brothers, looks on as foreman Alex Noriega uses an excavator to place discarded grapevines into an air curtain burner last month in Lodi. The device has gained traction on farms as a ban on open agricultural burning nears. 

Photo/Caleb Hampton

Glenn County farmer Dennis Burreson, vice president of field operations for Musco Family Olive Co., left, inspects an orchard of table-olive trees with son Heath Burreson.

Photo/Robyn Rominger

Solano County farmer Russ Lester stands in his organic walnut orchard, which shows remnants of a leguminous cover crop that dies back in May and June. He says the cover crop fixes nitrogen to the soil, attracts beneficial insects and forms a heavy mat on the orchard floor, allowing him to use less water.

Photo/Ching Lee

Team members at the University of California Hopland Research and Extension Center introduce the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa into grapevines as part of Pierce’s disease research.

Photo/University of California Hopland Research and Extension Center

Leovigilda Velázquez picks apricots at Lucich Santos Farms in Stanislaus County. Some growers describe this year’s crop as slightly smaller than last year’s, when California harvested about 30,000 tons of the stone fruit. With processors and dry yards taking less fruit, more apricots are marketed fresh. 

Photo/Steve German

A crew loads harvested cherries from Chinchiolo Farming Co. in San Joaquin County during the 2023 season. The farm markets some of its “export-quality” fruit directly to U.S. customers through its website and ships the cherries to people’s homes.

Photo/Fred Greaves

At their Fresno County farm, growers Scott and Mandy Critchley show off their blueberry crop during harvest season. Statewide, production is estimated at a record 74.5 million pounds, according to the California Blueberry Commission. Harvest in the San Joaquin Valley is expected to run through June.

Photo/Cecilia Parsons

University of California researchers and almond growers are seeking solutions for controlling the carpophilus beetle, a newcomer to the state that is an established pest in Australia.

Photo/Jhalendra Rijal/University of California Cooperative Extension

An almond orchard blooms during pollination season in February.

Photo/Christine Souza

Kevin Sass, winemaker at Halter Ranch Vineyard Estate in Paso Robles, stands in a vineyard grown using dry farming practices. The approach relies on moisture in the soil instead of irrigation.

Photo/Courtesy Halter Ranch

Smita Sadana, a partner of Contra Costa County-based Habitera Farms, picks mulberries at the Brentwood orchard.

Photo/Paige Green

Placer County farmer Rich Ferreira walks through his organic citrus grove planted with a cover crop. He says conservation improvements he has made have benefited pollinators, soil health and the quality of his citrus crop.

Photo/Christine Souza

Almond grower Christine Gemperle says cover crops planted between orchard rows provide significant benefits for soil health, pollinators and other wildlife. Blue Diamond Growers, in partnership with Project Apis m. and its Seeds for Bees program, secured $45 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support such sustainable practices in almond orchards.

Photo/Vicky Boyd

Growers of California nut crops, including pistachios, face a new threat from Carpophilus truncatus, a beetle species that University of California researchers say has been discovered in every county in the San Joaquin Valley.

Photo/Christine Souza

Former homicide detective Gary Nanson, far right, and Los Angeles County nursery operator Roy Nagatoshi, center, have partnered for decades in extolling spiritual benefits of raising bonsai trees.

Photo/Bryan Meyer

Almond trees bloom at Nickels Soil Laboratory in Arbuckle, a working farm used for research. Because the farm relies on income from crop sales, it faces funding shortfalls as revenue drops and costs rise. It seeks financial support, such as for the fungicide being applied above, donated by Syngenta.

Photo/Ching Lee