Newsletter Page Version Ag Alert July 21, 2021

Walnuts Continued from Page 3

in the walnut business expect reduced yields for this year’s walnut crop, with some orchards “more severely reduced and maybe years of recovery for those blocks,”Milliron said. “Iwouldn’t expect tonecessarilyseeany problemswith theoverall (crop)numbers. There’s a lot of new acreage coming on- line,”Milliron said. Michelle McNeil Connelly, executive director and CEO at California Walnut Board&Commission, said thewalnut sec- torwill have abetter estimateof this year’s walnut production following the releaseof U.S. Department of AgricultureCalifornia Walnut Objective Measurement report on Aug. 27. “It is incredibly hard to tell at this point what the impact of the freeze is on the overall crop, as there is no consistency in what is being seen across regions andmi- croclimates,”Connelly said. “Wewill know more as CASS (California Agricultural Statistics Service) begins work for the ob- jectivemeasurement.” The 2020 California walnut crop was about 780,000 tons, up frompreviousyears due to increased plantings that happened over the past seven years, with themajori- ty happening between 2013 and 2016, ac- cording to the CaliforniaWalnut Board & Commission. Californiawalnut acreage is about 380,000 bearing acres. (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)

that reasons for the tremendousamountof damagearenot totally clear. “Twoor three years agowepersonallyhaddamage from frost thatwasprettydevastating.Wehad to cut a goodnumber of trees back, probably 50 to 70%down, just to get live growth.” Farm advisors believe that the cause of freeze damage to walnuts is related to wild swings inweather that happened in November 2020. InearlyNovember, tem- peratures were around 80 degrees, and they droppedwell below freezing onNov. 10 and Nov. 12. UC Davis plant physiol- ogist Maciej Zwieniecki explained that during the warmdaytime temperatures, limbs contain starch, which does not provide protection from freezing. 2020 is the third consecutive year of walnut freeze damage in California, according to farm advisors. Freeze damage, which was first ob- served in the spring, is most severe in Butte, Glenn and Tehama counties Millironsaid, withother damage reported in Lake, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Yolo and Yuba counties. Lake County farmer David Rosenthal, who was not directly affected since he does not grow walnuts, said he was sur- prisedby the scope of the damage toLake County orchards. “Driving throughLakeCounty, the trees look dead,” he said. “These look like old, abandoned trees that have been dead for

UCCE farm advisors and walnut growers are dealing with the effects of freeze damage to walnut trees that threaten to reduce yields. These trees are in Chico.

some time, but the reality is they were all alive last year and now they’re not.” Rachel Elkins, UCCE farm advisor emeritus, Lake andMendocino counties, reported that some orchards have been through several consecutive years of drought-related winter injury events. In visitingorchards, shesaid, treeswithbetter water status going into the fall andwinter, mainly due to irrigation, weremore likely toemerge fromdormancy inbetter shape.

Lauenroth said “there seems to be no rhyme or reason” for the sporadic nature of the damage across the orchard. “If all of the trees froze, you’dthink they’d all be the same, so to see one tree good and then the next tree bad and two trees good and two trees bad, it’s so strange,” he said. “I went up to the highest part of the orchard and there’smore dead trees there than anywhere else in the orchard. I guar- antee that highest spot didn’t freeze.” Due to thedamagedwalnut trees, those

Agricultural Market Review

Quotations are the latest available for the week ending July 16, 2021 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. 93-96 122 119-120 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 47.52 107.78 110.44 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales No Quote 195-279.77 230-281.56 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock 9.25 (Tulare-Fresno) No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 63.28 78.72 79.94 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per cwt. trucked 8.42 7.97 8.04 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 180-205 (S) 225-305 (P/S) 215-310 (P/S) Region 2, Sacramento Valley 180-220 (G) No Quote No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley 280 (S) 280-300 (S) 248-315 (S) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley 185-200 (G/P) 140 (straw) 230-265 (G/P) Region 5, Southern California 255 (P) 240-270 (P) 225 (G) Region 6, Southeast Interior 150-195 (G/P) 180-210 (G/P) 225 (P) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote No Quote

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Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

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Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

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8.50-9.50 11.85 Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. 11.75 (No. 1)

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July 21, 2021 Ag Alert 15