How test plots in Modesto-area almond orchard will help effort to improve soil
Farmers and scientists gathered at an almond orchard southwest of Modesto to help launch the Better Soil Alliance.
Research plots on the 40 acres off Grayson Road are part of the effort to sustain the earth that grows the area’s top-grossing crop.
The alliance was started by Yara, a fertilizer supplier founded in Norway in 1905, and Heliae Agriculture, a newer company that focuses on microbial health, based in Gilbert, Arizona.
The partners talked about the alliance during a mid-October event at the site, dubbed the Yara Incubator Farm.
“We really want to build this into a center of excellence of learning,” said Debbie Watts, vice president at Yara North America.
The alliance grew out of the idea that fertility means more than just applying the synthetic nitrogen and other products that emerged after World War II.
Yara describes its current products as enhancing fungi and other microbial life in the soil and improving its structure to better hold water. Heliae, founded in 2008, specializes in the soil-building prowess of algae.
The research orchard was planted in 2014 and is approaching its peak productivity for almonds. The 2021 trials involved Yara fertilizers delivered in varying amounts, compared with a “baseline” block of trees, manager Devin Clarke said.
The top performers were Yara-enriched trees that yielded 14% more crop than the baseline, he said. This block also had the lowest percentage of defective nuts and the highest water use efficiency.
All this translated to a 13% higher return on investment. That could impress the Central Valley growers who produce the vast majority of the world’s almonds.
The alliance hopes to share its findings with the Modesto-based Almond Board of California, along with university researchers and other parties.
“Improving soil quality serves as the foundation to improving water use that helps optimize crop yield and quality,” said Norm Davy, chief revenue officer at Heliae, in a news release. “Between the increased consumer demand for almonds and tightening water supply in California, growers need solutions that increase yield and improve soil health and soil structure for future crops.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
