Thursday, January 08, 2009

Tour shows farmers using environmentally friendlier techniques

By JOHN HOLLAND
jholland@modbee.com

last updated: February 23, 2008 04:01:21 AM

HICKMAN -- The rain kept bees from pollinating almond blossoms Friday, but there was a buzz about something else.

The Almond Board of California held its fourth annual tour to show regulators and the media what growers are doing for the environment.

They spray less pesticide than in the past. They try to capture irrigation runoff so it does not taint streams. They chip their pruned limbs and till them into the soil, rather than burning them in the open air.

"We live in this area," said Jim Wagner, who works on pest control at Braden Farms, host of the tour. "We have children in this area. We aren't going to do anything negative."

The Almond Board, based in Modesto, has done research on environmental issues as part of its effort to promote the industry. Almonds are second only to milk in gross income among farm products in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, bringing an estimated $833 million to growers in 2006.

About 80 people, including people from federal and state agencies, filled a pair of tour buses to see what has been done at Braden Farms. The company has about 13,000 acres of almonds in Stanislaus and Mer-ced counties; the tour was in a portion in the foothills east of Hickman.

Chief Executive Officer Dick Braden pointed to hillside orchards where strips of grass have helped hold water and soil during this winter's big storms.

During the dry months from spring to fall, six water tankers are on hand to spray his 200 miles of dirt roads so they do not produce dust, he said.

Wagner said pest populations are monitored to determine whether spraying is needed, rather than doing it according to a strict calendar. A second tree-shaking is done after each harvest to remove lingering nuts, which otherwise could harbor navel orangeworms, an almond pest, he said.

When pesticides are needed, he said, Braden Farms uses chemicals that are less harsh than in the past.

Improved spray rigs help reduce the amount of pesticides needed, along with the growers' costs, said Ken Giles, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering at the University of California at Davis.

He talked about a sprayer that uses sound waves to detect the tree limbs, so only they get sprayed, not the ground.

"The spray that doesn't hit the ground is saved in the tank, so every tankload goes farther," Giles said.

Wagner said Braden Farms uses "micro-irrigation," small sprinklers that direct the water to the tree roots. Fertilizer is applied through this same system, reducing the amount needed, he said.

Growers are under a state mandate to phase out burning of orchard prunings by 2010. About 80 percent of that debris statewide is being chipped instead, said Dave Baker, director of member relations for Blue Diamond Growers and chairman of the Almond Board's environmental committee.

Baker also cited efforts to reduce the dust clouds that can rise during the harvest, when machines shake trees and sweep up the fallen nuts.

Pamela Creedon, executive officer of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, said she was glad to see an industry trying to take care of the environment.

"We're regulators; there's no hiding that at all," she said, "but we do look at solutions and how we can do this so it's a win-win."

Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at jholland@modbee.com or 578-2385.

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