Spring Pistachio Assessment
By Derek Toschi, CCA, CAIS With a cooler spring and wet winter, the 2023 California pistachio crop faces different challenges than previous years. The cooler weather has delayed the crop in many parts of the state and the March rain kept soil saturated longer into the season and lowered early season irrigation requirements. Irrigation timing […]
March Almond Assessment
By Derek Toschi, CCA, CAIS The wet weather has continued into the 2023 spring in much of California which has presented new challenges we haven’t faced in recent years. Most of my almond irrigation consulting is done along SR 99 between Mettler and Kingsburg. Right now, I am seeing region differences in water uptake and […]
January Almond Assessment
By Travis Goldman, CCA, CAIS The 2022/2023 winter has been a significant change of pace for all of us in California. Just last year I was writing rehydration irrigation recommendations and schedules for the month of January to combat dry soil profiles to prevent stress before vascular rehydration. This January I am faced with a […]
Water Use Efficiency: Cutting Out the Excess
By Travis Goldman Hortau’s polymer tensiometers have redefined how fields can be managed year-round with real time data. The power of knowing when a field needs water and when water can be turned off enhances the efficiency of an operation. Having precision irrigation data directly cuts out excess pumping. There are a lot of promises […]
Using Soil Tension Data to Track Early Root Water Uptake
By Travis Goldman In the almond industry everyone is excited for bloom but to an irrigation advisor our excitement starts with root flush and early bud swell. As early as January 10th bud swell was being seen in Shasta and Nonpareil varieties on the western side of the San Joaquin Valley. Since then other varieties […]
Post-Harvest Irrigation in Wine Grapes
By Travis Goldman Post-Harvest irrigation management in wine grapes is just as important as any other permanent crop. Despite the fact the vine is no longer supporting grapes, we still have to maintain proper water availability to the vine to support vine function. By reducing stress our vines, we will allow the crop to continue […]
