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WALNUT GROWERS
Consider Quality & Quantity
of This Year's Crop
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By: Julie R. Johnson
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Walnut blight continues to be a problem for many growers in the state, according to Luke Milliron, UCCE farm advisor for Butte, Tehama, and Glenn
counties. Photos 1, 2, and 3 courtesy of Luke Milliron.
During the heat of the summer
months it was a little too early
for growers to predict what this year's
walnut crop was going to look like.
Luke Milliron, University of California
Cooperative Extension (UCCE)
farm advisor for Glenn, Butte and
Tehama counties, agrees, however, he
had heard complaints the crop looked
light compared to last year.
“There have also been concerns for
quality due to excessive heat (another
summer of on-going triple-digit
temperatures), sunburn and over-irrigation,”
he added. “But there are
factors for high quality as well, such
as smoky conditions from wildfires
protecting against sunburn and carefully
managed irrigation.”
Over the past 10 years California
growers have added 70,000 bearing
acres of walnuts. In 2017 the state
harvested about 615,000 tons of
walnuts from about 365,000 acres, reported
the United States Department
of Agriculture. And the development
of new walnut orchards continues to
increase as researchers produce walnut
varieties conducive to marginal soil
quality. Today rows of walnut trees can
be seen growing in the rolling foothills
along the Sacramento Valley, ground
once considered usable for livestock
grazing and not much more.
Brad Call, walnut grower in Los Molinas,
said he is expecting a good harvest
in both quality and quantity.
“My crop looks good so far, my main
concern right now is pricing,” he added.
“It is too early to know at this time what
prices will be, but I really don't think
they will be as good as last year. Time
will tell.”
Last year the grower price was about
$1.30 per pound, a 30 percent increase
from the previous year. However, the
fear of government tariffs looms heavy
in the process.
Visalia walnut grower, Jeff Rachel, said
his crop has been so heavy this year he
has had to do some summer tipping,
which he didn't do last year.
“I had to go in and trim the limbs or I
was going to lose some,” he added.
Weather
“The full effect of this year's weather
won't be realized until the crop is in,”
Milliron said. “An unusual pattern of
winter temperatures, such as a warm
December, may have contributed to
the wide spread of bloom, leaf-out and
subsequent nut size.”
Dani Lightle, UCCE farm advisor for
Glenn and Butte counties, said she had
heard of very few reports of winter kill
this year.
“There wasn't much in the way of cold
damage to the susceptible young orchards
that we have seen in some years,”
she added.
Milliron explained, a wet spring, with
rains during bloom and leaf-out may
have led to another year of high walnut
blight pressure in some regions.
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West Coast Nut September 2018