Ag Alert April 28, 2021

Harvest Continued from Page 7

“We can start thinking about soil health andnot having thealmost desert-likecon- ditionwe need to have for current harvest practices,” he said. Windfall is one concern. Brown said that amounts to less than 1% of the nuts in an orchard in the “vast majority of cases, but can infrequently be up to 20%, predominantly in late-harvested, over-dry cultivars.” He said early-harvested nuts have high moisture content and will need drying,

and added that tree health benefits of avoiding dust during early harvest have not been determined. Brown said two of the three alterna- tive harvesting scenarios address food safety issues by eliminating orchard floor contact, and that the earlier harvest also reduces aflatoxin infestation. Zhongli Panof theUCDavisDepartment of Biological andAgricultural Engineering said prompt mechanical drying stops in- festation of in-hull nuts and shows no im-

pact onquality. He saidmany commercial dryers canbe used for drying fresh, in-hull almonds. Research was conducted using tunnel dryingatCamposBrothers, stadiumdrying at EmeraldFarmand trailer drying atWest ValleyCo., using varying temperatures. Some almondswere dried at a constant temperature of 60 degrees Celsius. Others usedwhathecalleda“stepwise”approach, inwhich theywere first driedat 90degrees and followed by 60 degrees C. There was great variability in drying time, from 5.8 hours to 74.4 hours. Using columndryers cut drying time tobetween 2.5 and 5.3 hours. Pan said the energy cost averaged just over 1 cent per pound. The cost for trailer drying ranged from0.17 cents to 3.2 cents per pound. He saidhigh temperatures reduceddry- ing time but increased energy cost, and that effective stepwise high-temperature drying can further reduce drying time. Almonds from the off-ground harvest had less insect damage and were cleaner, comparedtoconventionalharvest,hesaid. Irwin Donis-Gonzalez of the UC Davis Department of Biological andAgricultural Engineering discussed aeration of stock- piled almonds. Hesaidopenstockpileswillnot circulate airunless it is forcedwithadistributor, and that usinganA-framechannel through the stockpile does not provide a pathway for natural air tocirculate.Hesaidhe isswitch- ing to covered stockpiles that will force a central exit. “Alternatively, better air distribution methods can potentially be developed,” Donis-Gonzalez said, adding that he and a team of fellow U.S. researchers are working with researchers in Australia on drying stockpiles. (Denni s Pol lock i s a repor t er in F r e s no . He ma y b e c on t a c t e d a t agcompollock@yahoo.com.) Almond Board sets grower visits Traveling in a colorful van nicknamed “Fritz,” members of the Almond Board of California outreach and education team will visit almond-growing regions start- ing next week, to distribute resource and promotionalmaterials toalmondgrowers. The board said it would provide its 2020 Research Update and several new pieces, including brochures on nitrogen best management practices; application “quicktips” inEnglishandSpanish; aguide to whole-orchard recycling; and Almond ProductionResource Cards. The “industry roadshow” begins May 4 with stops in Corning, Orland and Durham. In subsequent days, the van will visit Williams, Woodland, Arbuckle, Waterford, Atwater, Merced, Escalon, Patterson, Lodi, Madera, Firebaugh, Fresno, Lemoore and Shafter. Specificsaboutdates, timesandlocations maybe foundatAlmonds.com/Events.

Earlyharvest—twoorthreeweekspriorto thecurrentharvesttime—hasnonegativeef- fectonyieldorquality, saidPatrickBrownof theUCDavisDepartmentofPlantSciences. It also holds promise for reducing pest damage, he said, and may allow the in- creasedability touseorganicamendments and reduce herbicides. Brown said off-ground harvest also can help improve orchard floormanagement.

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8 Ag Alert April 28, 2021