The Raisin Bargaining Association has released its April bunch count, down 19 percent from the same time last season. Schutz isn’t surprised as vines recover from the big 2011 crop.  He has been treating his vineyards to prevent powdery mildew, and so far, pressure from the disease has been average. Once the shoots had pushed out about 2 to 3 inches, he started spraying vines with wettable sulfur and copper fungicide every 10 to 14 days. In addition to providing powdery mildew control, the copper also helps prevent phomopsis.  By the time the shoots reach about 12 to14 inches in length, phomopsis is no longer much of a threat, he says. That’s when he’ll replace the copper with a sterol inhibitor fungicide. He’ll alternate that treatment with applications of sulfur, in the form of either dust or wettable powder, until veraison.  Spider mites are his main pest problems, usually becoming a concern in midsummer when weather turns hot.

Last year at harvest, Schutz saw vine mealybugs in his vineyards for the first time. So, around the third week of this month, he’ll spray to control them.  He irrigates mostly with drip systems, although he flood irrigates a few vines. He pumps water, but is concerned that growers who count on surface water, but are not going to receive a full allotment, will resort to groundwater pumping. “If those growers who normally don’t pump water begin pumping this year, the water table could drop,” he says.

Schutz is looking for a higher raisin price this season, even though last year’s $1,700 per ton price was a historical high. He expects the field price to be firmed around Aug. 1.  He is encouraged by a 3 percent increase over 2011 in raisin sales for the first six months of the current marketing year. Demand for Thompson juice is also trending up.  Last year, raisin grape growers received $265 a ton for green Thompsons. “Now, people are starting to talk about a $300 a ton green price for this year,” Schutz says. “That’s just a rumor — but it’s a positive sign. I’m not hearing of a lower number than last year.”

The Miguel Torres winery, which aims to produces “premium” wines, began its 2012 harvest at the end of March. Other vineyards started in late February and the harvesting season can extend until late May. After a disappointing 2011 in which yields were down 15 per cent on the preceding year, Chile is hoping for a bumper crop from its vital wine-making industry this time around. Last season, the drought altered the flavour, colour and aroma of wines from the main vine-growing regions. “The drought affects mostly the development of the maturity of fruits,” Fernando Almeda, chief wine maker at the Miguel Torres winery, told AFP. “One problem is what we call ‘sunburn’, when grapes subjected to direct sunlight tend to get a little coffee-coloured, a little brown, and this influences the flavour.”

“Lack of water will increase the quality and concentration of wine aromas,” Almeda said. The white wines from Chile, such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer, are expected to be produced in larger quantities than last year but “a little less fresh,less total acidity, a higher alcohol content and lower aromatic intensity,” Almeda said.

Vineyards that grow grapes for red wines are expected to vary in their production levels. Grapes watered only with rainwaterare likely to report low yields because ofthe ongoing drought while irrigated vineyards will maintain higher production, Almeda said.

Industry experts predict an increase in Chile’s wine exports this year. Chile produces 3.4 per cent of the world’s wine from 116,000 acres of grapes and ranks first among what the wine industry calls ‘new world’ producers, which includes Argentina, Australia, the US, and South Africa.

The industry remains dominated by France, Italy and Spain, which control 54 per cent of the world market. In 2011, Chile exported 664 billion litres of wine and 473 million bottles, mostly to the US, Britain and Canada. Among the exports were the Merlot and Carmenere wines that bear the unique characteristic of being derived from a grape of French origin. An 1867 plant disease destroyed the grapes in European vineyards,meaning they are grown only in Chile now.

To date, the Tea Shot Hole Borer has been reported on 18 different plant species worldwide, including avocado, tea, citrus, guava, lychee, mango, persimmon, pomegranate, macadamia and silk oak. Eskalen explained that the beetle and fungus have a symbiotic relationship. “When the beetle burrows into the tree, it inoculates the host plant with the fungus it carries in its mouth parts,” he said. “The fungus then attacks the vascular tissue of the tree, disturbing water and nutrient flow, and eventually causing branch dieback. The beetle larvae live in galleries within the tree and feed on the fungus.”

Although the beetle was first detected in Los Angeles County in 2003, reports of its negative impact on tree health were paid no attention until February 2012, when Eskalen found both the beetle and fungus on a backyard avocado tree showing dieback symptoms in South Gate, Los Angeles County. The Agricultural Commissioner of Los Angeles County and the California Food and Drug Administration have confirmed the identity of the beetle. “This is the very same fungus that caused avocado dieback in Israel,” Eskalen said. “The California Avocado Commission is concerned about the economic damage this fungus can do to the industry here in California.  read more

Budwood can be brought into this country legally but will require permits and protocols from a number of government agencies starting with the United States Department of Agriculture, and in California will eventually involve the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the California Citrus Clonal Protection Program (www.ccpp.ucr.edu).

While it may seem harsh, any tree that was created from budwood illegally brought into California should be killed immediately in advance of the arrival of the Asian citrus psyllid vector of this disease into the San Joaquin Valley. Cutting the tree down at ground level may not be enough (but it is a good start). New suckers from the stump will still harbor the disease. Monitor the stump, and destroy suckers immediately until nothing new regrows. It is probably not a bad idea to disinfect tools after use on the infected tree. Always use and follow all safety features, guidelines and instructions when using hand or power tools such as axes, handsaws, chainsaws, clippers, loppers, grinders and chippers.

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) launched the cooperative pilot program to fund water conservation and water use efficiency projects last year. Due to the success of the program, Reclamation and NRCS partnered once again to expand the benefits of the collaboration.

With NRCS support, Reclamation selected five projects for funding, totaling $2.3 million under its Agricultural Conservation and Efficiency Grants program. The selected projects will increase district-level efficiencies and facilitate farm water conservation and water use efficiency. NRCS will provide up to an additional $3 million in funding, and technical assistance to growers in the selected districts, for eligible on-farm conservation practices. (Adding $3 million from NRCS to Reclamation’s $2.3 million in funding, a total of $5.3 million is being provided to enhance water conservation.) NRCS will work with each district to determine the appropriate application periods for the district’s eligible growers.

The five recipients of the funding are the Henry Miller Reclamation District 2131, Firebaugh Canal Water District, Tulare Irrigation District, Rancho California Water District and Central California Irrigation District. read more

This forecast is based on a telephone survey conducted April 19 through May 1 from a sample of almond growers. Of the 458 growers sampled, 283 reported. Acreage from these reports accounted for 27 percent of the total bearing acreage.  The 2012 almond crop is shaping up nicely, NASS reports.  February was warm and dry across the state creating favorable bloom conditions for almond trees. While the bloom period was shorter than last year, the excellent weather made up for the shorter overlap and bloom load was high.  Chilling hours were plentiful.

An early March frost resulted in some spotty damage in the southern San Joaquin Valley (SJV). An early April hailstorm affected orchards in Merced County.  Weather in the Sacramento Valley has been near ideal.  A heavier than normal drop was reported in the SJV.  Low disease and insect pressure were reported.

For many years, export raisins sold for less than domestic raisins. Each year raisin packers and growers evaluate the crop size and the potential market, setting a “free tonnage” or the percentage of raisins for which a grower can expect to receive the field price. Supplies over that free tonnage go into a reserve pool. Export raisins are sold out of that pool at a discount with federal market development assistance to increase consumption overseas.  This long-time practice is paying off based on reports given recently by overseas representatives of the Raisins Administrative Committee when several export raisins market agents reported on a wide array of activities to promote California raisins from London to Seoul.  read more

“These research projects will help leverage limited resources to produce quick results on important issues in California,” said Neal Van Alfen, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis. “They are also building stronger connections among researchers throughout the state and providing hands-on learning opportunities for students.”

Researchers involved in this year’s projects are from UC Davis, UC Berkeley and California State University campuses at Chico, Fresno, Humboldt, Pomona, Sonoma, San Marcos and San Luis Obispo. The awarded projects, with principal investigators, are listed below:

• “Estimating residential water demand functions in urban California regions” — Economists from UC Berkeley and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will estimate residential water demand of municipalities and water companies that serve 19 million people in the Bay Area and Southern California. (Maximilian Auffhammer, Stephen Hamilton)
• “Reintroduced mammals and plant invaders as key drivers of ecosystem processes in coastal and interior grasslands” — Researchers from Sonoma State University and UC Davis will study how reintroducing tule elk and reducing invasive Harding grass affects the availability of soil nutrients and the composition of plant communities. (Caroline Christian, J. Hall Cushman, Valerie Eviner)
• “Genetics of plant defense responses to pesticides and spider mites on grapes” — Scientists from UC Davis and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will conduct laboratory, greenhouse and field studies to learn more about factors affecting grapevine response to spider mites, including cultivar resistance, drought impact and pesticide exposure. (Michael Costello, Richard Karban, Andrew Walker, Jeffrey Wong)
• “Defining the functions of polyphenol oxidase in walnut” — Through genetic analysis, researchers at CSU San Marcos and UC Davis seek to learn more about an enzyme involved in the postharvest browning of cut or bruised fruit. (Matthew Escobar, Monica Britton, Abhaya Dandekar)
• “Modeling the costs of hazardous fuel reduction thinning treatments and removal of woody biomass for energy” — Researchers from Humboldt State University, UC Davis, and the U.S. Forest Service will develop a model to estimate the costs of removing hazardous wildland fuels with different equipment and systems over a wide range of forest stand, site and road conditions. (Han-Sup Han, Bruce Hartsough)
• “Restoration of pollinator communities and pollination function in riparian habitats” — Researchers from California State University, Chico, and UC Davis will characterize native pollinator communities at restored riparian habitats within the Central Valley and test whether successful restoration of pollinator communities also leads to restoration of pollination. (Christopher Ivey, Neal Williams)
• “Estimating alfalfa’s impact on regional nitrogen budgets and nitrate leaching losses in the Central Valley of California” — Researchers from California State University, Fresno, and UC Davis will collect alfalfa and non-legume plants from irrigated fields and also identify San Joaquin Valley farm sites for a multi-year study of alfalfa’s impact on regional nitrogen budgets, groundwater nitrate leaching, and nitrogen requirements of rotation crops. (Bruce Roberts, Stuart Pettygrove, Daniel Putnam)
• “Community and ecosystem response to elevated nitrogen in managed grassland ecosystems” — Restoration ecologists from Cal Poly Pomona and UC Berkeley will investigate how elevated nitrogen levels affect competition among native and exotic plant species with regard to fuel characteristics at UC’s South Coast Research and Extension Center. (Erin Questad, Katharine Suding)

One grower in Yuma has about 20 acres of olive trees in south Yuma Valley that have been in the ground for more than two years and could potentially have some olives this fall for milling into oil. In addition, there’s about 100 acres planted in Imperial County in the Westmorland-Calipatria area that had some olives milled last year. And there’s some acreage of mature trees in northern Mexico east of Mexicali that can be seen from the All American Canal, Wright said.

There is no doubt agricultural trade has played an important role in the economy. During the last 10 years, for example, U.S. farm exports have more than doubled—even growing by leaps and bounds during the recession. This holds true for California, where agricultural exports continue to be a bright spot in the state’s economy.

The U.S. has engaged in multiple trade agreements during the last two decades that have resulted in new foreign partners and markets for California’s agricultural production. Recent deals between the U.S. and Panama, Colombia and Korea have demonstrated our nation’s commitment to this cause. President Obama’s National Export Initiative, announced in his State of the Union address in 2010, aims to double exports by the end of 2014.

Market access is the only way to reach that goal. read more