• After shaking or poling, mummies must be destroyed using a flail mower at a slow enough speed to guarantee their destruction before NOW moths emerge. • New methods of mitigating NOW involving mating disruption have shown promise and have been adopted by many growers. • Hull split treatments in the final effort to control NOW prior to the harvest must be conducted in a timely manner. ( See sidebar ) Growers with orchards planted with Butte and Padre tend to focus less on damage caused by NOW, given the typically better shell seal these varieties provide. Many have discovered that while the Padre is virtually impervious to NOW, the shell of the Butte can allow NOW to penetrate and cause damage. More importantly, both NOW Hull Split Strategies by Joel Siegel 1. Spraying when the nuts become vulnerable is the key for successful control. Nuts tend to split from the orchard edge moving inwards 2. Read the insecticide label and use the maximum rate that you can afford. The maximum rate will give you extended coverage 3. It should take no longer than 5 days to spray your orchard at the proper speed of 2 MPH. If it will take more than 5 days, consider air application or a combination of ground and air. 4. You can use air application for the first hull split spray when nuts split from the top of the tree downwards. Follow the air application by a second ground application 10-14 days later, depending on the insecticide label 5. In tall trees (>25 ft) consider an air application to cover the upper canopy. If you go by ground, increase water volume 6. To maximize an insecticide with adult activity, spray by night when the adults are active 7. Do not spray successive generations of NOW with the same insecticide family.
to ensure that almonds delivered from their orchards do not present a possible allergen hazard. While on the subject of allergens, special attention must be given to peanuts. Peanuts are grown in California on small scale plots in the Central Valley and care must be given if your orchard is adjacent to any planting of the legume. With that said, the greatest hazard for contamination comes from incidental introduction into the orchards carried in by employees, typically in their meals. Simply stated, peanuts must never be allowed to enter an almond orchard at any time.
Rejects
When considering crop quality, growers tend to focus most on reject levels, either from insects in the form of Navel Orangeworm
(NOW), Peach Twig Borer (PTB), or ants. Many years of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) research serves as the foundation to assist growers in making pest management decisions for insect control and the counsel of a good Pest Control Advisor (PCA) is virtually priceless when making pest management decisions. While the cost of controlling insect infestations can be substantial, the rewards for producing low reject deliveries are equally substantial when compared to the potential losses. Much work has been done since the 2017 crop, when NOW caused significant losses for growers throughout the Central Valley. • Orchard sanitation continues to be the cornerstone of a strong NOW management program. Growers should target a maximum of no more than one mummy per tree remaining through the winter
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MAY–JUNE 2022
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