Cover Crop
New Tool Helps Growers Choose the Right Cover Crops for Western Conditions
A new online tool is giving growers across the West a practical way to select cover crops suited to their farms’ unique conditions.
West Coast Nut Reporting
Soils
52 Stories · Page 2 of 6
Orchard Management
Active Soil Biology Boosts Plant Nutrition and Yields
Your soil is teeming with biology. Or at least it should be. I’ve read reports that soil can harbor more than a billion individual cells of bacteria…
Nutrition
Using CO₂ and Fungal Ratios to Gauge Soil Health
Our soil is alive. It can be teeming with biology from micro to macroorganisms. These “bugs” can be detrimental for plants that cause and carry…
New Tech
Is Drone Seeding the Future for Cover Crops?
Seeding cover crops in tree nut orchards presents a unique challenge, largely due to timing. By the time growers are ready to seed, the ground is…
Soils
Five Things to Know About Using Biochar as a Soil Amendment
The U.S. Biochar Initiative, an organization focused on developing end-use markets for biochar, states biochar applications on soil can increase…
Pistachios
Resilient Pistachio Orchards Start with Healthy Soils
What does “healthy soil” actually mean in a pistachio orchard, and how can growers measure it in a way that drives decisions, not just lab reports?…
Irrigation
Tree Nut Growers Have to Be More Precise to Keep Yields Up
Congratulations on another good harvest! Growers are the backbone of our existence and the reason the United States, and more importantly the…
Nutrition
Fixing and Retaining Soil Nutrients Over Winter
As temperatures cool and California’s rainy season begins, plant and microbial activity slows. This reduced biological activity, combined with…
Almonds
Nickels Soil Lab, a Research Legacy Rooted in California’s Toughest Soils
In the heart of Arbuckle, Calif., Nickels Soil Lab has quietly shaped the way tree nut growers farm for more than six decades. From drip irrigation…
Soils
Biosolarization Process in Orchards Reaping Crop Benefits
Biosolarization, the practice of using a soil amendment, heat and water to suppress soil pathogens, pests and weeds rather than a chemical…