February 12, 2016
9
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California
Weather could complicate almond blossom
By TIM HEARDEN
“It’s the same question
every year, but for 2016, if
weather predictions hold true,
SACRAMENTO
—
it may be a challenge to pro-
Mid-February is almond blos-
tect blossoms from diseases
som time in California, but
while at the same time pro-
the cold and blustery weather
viding a safe environment for
anticipated this month could
bees to do their thing,” board
interfere with bee activity, in-
spokeswoman Linda Roman-
dustry insiders warn.
der said in an email.
Storms that have been roll-
While El Nino was ex-
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pected to usher in a warm
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and wet winter, many of the
copious amounts of snow in
storms that have rolled into
the Sierra Nevada, but they
California have been fed by
may coincide with a blossom
a northern jet stream, bring-
expected to be a little ahead
ing lower temperatures from
of schedule, Almond Board
Canada and producing im-
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
RI&DOLIRUQLDRI¿FLDOVVD\
pressive levels of snow.
Wet weather during the Almond trees in an orchard at the California State University-Chico
One storm that passed
bloom isn’t unusual, but bees farm blossom in late February of 2014. Weather could complicate
through on Feb. 3 was expect-
need temperatures above 55 this year’s blossom, almond industry insiders say.
ed to push snow levels as low
degrees, little wind and no
as 1,500 feet in far Northern
rain to do their business, Uni- Franz Niederholzer explains. ÀRZHUVSXWWLQJKRQH\EHHVDW California, according to the
versity of California Cooper-
Wet weather at bloom fa- more risk, the almond board National Weather Service. A
ative Extension farm adviser vors fungal infections of the explains.
manual snow survey conduct-
Capital Press
ed east of Sacramento on Feb.
2 found a snowpack that was
130 percent of normal for this
time of year.
The federal Climate Pre-
diction Center expects condi-
tions in California to dry out
and warm up over the next
two weeks, which could ig-
nite the bloom.
But wet weather will like-
ly return, as the next month
to three months are still ex-
pected to bring above-aver-
age chances of precipitation
throughout the state, accord-
ing to the center.
The almond board is
urging growers to follow a
best-practices guide it devel-
oped in 2014 after many Cal-
ifornia beekeepers lost both
adult bees and broods that
winter as a mixture of fungi-
cides used by almond grow-
ers and insecticides applied to
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The board advises grow-
ers to limit spray materials
in the tank to just fungicides,
avoiding tank-mixing with
insecticides. The one excep-
tion is the insecticide Bacillus
thuringiensis, which is shown
to be safe for adult and brood
bees, the board explains.
,IUDLQDQG¿HOGFRQGLWLRQV
limit access, growers can use
newer fungicide chemistries
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timing because they are lo-
cally systemic and provide
reach-back activity against a
recent infection, according to
a board news release.
The new pesticides can be
applied at pink bud to provide
disease protection and may be
the only bloom spray needed
under low-disease-pressure
conditions, the release ex-
plained.
Study: No alternatives to chlorpyrifos for 2 key almond pests
Capital Press
CHICO, Calif. — Re-
searchers looking for alter-
natives to the heavily scruti-
nized pesticide chlorpyrifos
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structive bugs in almond or-
chards that don’t respond to
anything else.
While other pests will re-
spond to other treatment com-
binations, leaffooted plant
bugs and stink bugs — which
both feed on and damage de-
veloping nuts — won’t, said
Pete Goodell, a University of
California Cooperative Exten-
sion pest control adviser.
A team of scientists, grow-
ers and industry representa-
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two bugs as a “critical use” of
chlorpyrifos, which the U.S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency is considering ban-
ning for agricultural use.
“Chlorpyrifos is an import-
ant tool for” integrated pest
management, Goodell said
during a Feb. 5 workshop in
Chico. “It’s used for a number
of almond pests.”
However, “chlorpyrifos
is showing up in waterways.
When something is getting in
the water, people don’t like it,”
he said.
Used on 60 crops
The EPA took comments
in the fall on its plan to re-
voke food residue tolerances
for chlorpyrifos, which is pro-
duced by Dow AgroSciences
and acts as a contact or stom-
ach poison to pests.
The agency has asserted
that humans’ exposure risk
to chlorpyrifos could exceed
safety standards “in certain
watersheds” — particular-
ly small watersheds where
the pesticide is heavily used.
Chlorpyrifos was banned in
residential use about 15 years
ago.
In California, the chemical
is used on some 60 crops in-
cluding tree nuts, oranges and
grapes, regulators say.
It’s unclear whether the
EPA would carve out crit-
ical-use exemptions while
phasing out chlorpyrifos, as
has been done for methyl
bromide and other chemicals,
said Randy Segawa, a state
Department of Pesticide Reg-
ulation program manager.
Segawa said the EPA is
taking the economic risks
from the ban into account.
“While the EPA is propos-
ing to revoke all food toler-
ances, their main concern has
been drinking water,” he said,
adding that chlorpyrifos res-
idues showing up in drinking
water hasn’t been as much of
an issue in California.
While chlorpyrifos is heav-
ily regulated in California and
its use has declined, between 1
million and 2 million pounds
of the chemical is still applied
to crops in the state each year,
DPR spokeswoman Charlotte
Fedipe has said.
In 2014, the DPR contract-
ed with the UC’s Statewide
Integrated Pest Management
Program to create communi-
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ing chlorpyrifos.
Teams focused on its use
on alfalfa, almonds, citrus
fruit and cotton, identifying
alternatives as well as instanc-
es when use of the chemical is
critical to protecting the crop.
A resulting report exam-
ined other pest-control tactics,
including pest-resistant vari-
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sanitation and other insecti-
cides.
‘Essential element’
However, the teams found
that chlorpyrifos is an “essen-
tial element” in maintaining
crop production and quality,
the report stated.
For almonds, the team
made lists of pests according
to how frequently they invade
orchards and what alternative
treatments were available,
Goodell said.
Leaffooted plant bugs and
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“key pests with no alterna-
tives,” he said.
Leaffooted bugs show up
in orchards in March or April
and feed on young nuts be-
fore the shell hardens, causing
them to abort or causing the
nut to gum internally, accord-
ing to the IPM program.
Damage by stink bugs usu-
ally occurs during the period
from May through July, when
the bugs insert their strawlike
mouthparts through the hull
and into the kernel.
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