From the Fields ®
To contribute to From the Fields, submit your name, county of membership and contact information to agalert@cfbf.com.
Caroline Yelle Solano County beekeeper
Kevin Herman Fresno, Madera and Merced counties tree crop grower
With strong honeybees coming out of winter, we had a good bee survival rate, so we are super happy about it. This is probably related to the late rain we had last spring, which created better resources for the bees. Almond bloom was better this year than last year, when we had few windows for pollination. This year, we had good windows of pollination, with three to four days of honey flow or nectar coming into the hives. Some beekeepers made al- mond honey, which is pretty rare. The honey from the almond is super dark and bitter. My mentor told me that 30 years ago, they used to make almond honey, but that hasn’t happened in years. The honeybees were so happy in the almonds that we had to do swarm con- trol. The bees built up their numbers fast, so I needed to make sure they stayed in the boxes and didn’t leave to find another house. I had hives stacked four high, when typically, we only stack them two high. With a three-day window of dry conditions, my husband and I spent 36 straight hours moving bees into the almonds. At one point, it was 4 o’clock in the morning, and there were beekeepers out doing the same. One beekeeper was stuck in the mud up to the axle, so we stopped to pull him out. Beekeepers were looking for empty trucks and forklifts because available gear for moving bees was being used at the same time. Typically, you have a window of a few weeks or more, but those three days were intense. Two weeks ago, we removed our bees from the almonds in Dixon, so I’m a little later doing that than other beekeepers. Because the bees are so strong, I will start splitting them to make more colonies as soon as possible. The first queens of the season are coming this week from the queen breeder, so I’ll be making more hives for the next month.
We’ve wrapped up our pruning, and we’re completing the mulching of the pruning clippings on almonds, pistachios, figs—pretty much everything. Fortunately, we have not had to do much irrigation yet with the late spring rains we’ve been having. We are getting ready to start our first fertilizer applications and some fungicide applications. The almond crop looks a little spotty. I’ve got some ranches that have great crops, and I’ve got some that are just OK. I wish I knew why. Talking to my friends, the consensus is that it’s probably going to be a pretty good-sized crop. Pistachios are just leafing out, and I think it’s going to be a good crop, but not a great one, certainly less than last year. The walnuts are starting to wake up, and bloom is just starting. Once again, it looks like a nice crop, but last year was huge, and I don’t think it’s going to be as big this year. On figs, there’s what they call the first crop and then the main crop. The first crop comes off last year’s wood, and you can see that pretty well right now. I’m sounding like a broken record because last year we had a really big first crop, and this year it’s just a good first crop. It appears to not be as big as last year. We have good groundwater conditions though, and the reservoirs are nice and full. I’m a little frustrated that the government is not releasing more than 35% to us right now, considering the circumstances. Almond sales have been really strong, which is a pleasant change. Pistachio sales are just astronomical. We’re 58% ahead of last year, so it’s really good be- cause last year was our biggest crop ever. Fig sales are kind of slow right now. I’m not sure why. That’s a mixed bag from one crop to another.
Del Hanson San Diego County vintner and manzanita grower
In January, we got permitted to build a winery and tasting room. Our hope is to open in the first quarter of 2025. Our farm is in Alpine, and the tasting room is going to be in Santee. For years, we tried to build it in the unincorporated area of San Diego County, but there were too many reg- ulatory hurdles. That’s why we ended up not being able to put the tasting room at our farm. We grow 2 acres of winegrapes and 15 acres of manzanita, which we also make wine from. I’ve been making manzanita wine for 10 years and fine-tuning the recipe over the last couple years. It’s comparable to sauvignon blanc, though our first release is going to be sweetened, so it tastes more like a sweet cider. There are some hobbyists making manzanita wine. But as far as I know, we’ll be the first and only commercial producers on the planet. We did our first full harvest of the manzanita in September and October. Manzanita is a native Southwestern plant. It does not require any irrigation. The fruit can sit on the tree for months. We’re hoping we can save it in a cold room and use it when our winery opens. You typically have to harvest grapes when the sugar level is right and be ready to process that grape within a day or two. Until the winery opens, we’re dropping all our grapes because it’s not worth it to harvest such a small quantity. We’re wrapping up our winter pruning. Our biggest farming cost is labor. We’re on the far east side of San Diego County. The farm la- bor companies in San Diego don’t like coming out to us. I have a much easier time getting labor from the Imperial Valley. I end up paying two hours extra per day for travel time for each worker because they’re sitting in a car for two hours.
4 Ag Alert April 3, 2024
Powered by FlippingBook