Mark Turmon was raised on his family’s Thompson seedless raisin vineyard in Fresno County near Caruthers, Calif., and like many of his peers moved down a different farming path in adulthood to California almonds. Turmon today grows 1,600 acres of almonds on the West Side of the San Joaquin Valley and hulls, shells and markets almonds worldwide from growers throughout the central San Joaquin Valley.
Dryland grain growth and development improved from recent rains. However, crops were irrigated since more precipitation was needed to sustain growth....More
The United States produces more than 80 percent of the world’s pecans, and the overseas market for U.S. pecans is growing. U.S. pecan exports reached more than 50,000 metric tons in just the first 11 months of 2011. Hong Kong, Mexico and the European Union are the three largest export markets, representing more than 70 percent of the overall world market for U.S. pecans....More
Properly managing nitrogen fertilizers in almonds means paying attention to the “Four R’s”. This sounds relatively simple, but the devil is in the details....More
Pre-emergent spraying, irrigation, orchard removal, planting, and pruning continued in California nut orchards. Growers also applied some fertilizers, herbicides, and soil amendments. Walnut orchards were pruned....More
It’s crucial to start the growing season with the soil profile fully stocked with available water. In most of our almond orchards this means moisture down to a depth of about 4 feet....More
The more you prune a tree the lower the yield will be and the less you prune the heavier the yield. This does not mean that you shouldn’t prune almond trees. The dormant pruning done to an almond tree after its first and second growing seasons is the most important it will ever receive....More
In the past 10 years, thousand cankers disease has caused widespread deaths of walnut trees in the Western U.S., although scientists pegged it as the cause only recently, in 2008....More
