IN YOUR ORCHARD
THE BEE BOX
Cover Crops in Almonds, What We Know and What We Don’t Overview of a Recent Research Paper With more farmers adopting cover cropping each year, it is important to understand its benefits, implications, and current unknowns. An article recently published in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation by UC Davis researcher, Dr. Vivian Wauters et al. titled “Developing cover crop systems for California almonds: Current knowledge and uncertainties” covers what we currently know and don’t know about cover crops in almond orchards.¹ Although the practice of cover cropping in almonds is still relatively new, researchers are dedicating time, thought, and experimentation to this practice, expanding the science to answer our questions. Here are takeaways from the article, which includes several cover crop questions and concerns, and how the scientists addressed them.
California Almond Orchards and Cover Crops: The Big Picture Almond orchards are a highly productive crop which dominates the California landscape. While a bare orchard floor is required for harvest, there is a window for using cover crops during the winter season which can provide a variety of benefits for the orchard, the grower, and pollinators. Below ground, cover crops can loosen compacted soil, increase organic matter, improve water infiltration, increase microbial diversity, and, depending on cover crop variety, potentially reduce nematode populations. Above ground, cover crops can suppress weeds, slow soil water evaporation, and support beneficial insect populations, such as pollinators and predators and parasites of pest insects. More specifically, a flowering cover crop can hugely benefit the honey bees present in the orchard before, during, and after bloom by providing ample nutrition that stimulates population growth and supports a healthy workforce of bees for almond pollination.
Erik Stanek, Blue Diamond Growers’ Sustainability Specialist, stands in a field of blooming cover crop. Photo Credit: Dr. Dan Sonke
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ALMOND FACTS
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