Growing almonds requires a lot of water, a resource heavily regulated in some areas.
It led researchers at UC Davis to roll up their sleeves and see just how much stress an almond tree can take.
“We had two sites, we have six years in one and three years in another, and found that we could wait a substantial amount of time, more than one month after growers normally start irrigating. We have not seen any bad effects on yields, but we have seen a better tree appearance in the trees. Now, we haven’t actually seen any serious symptoms, but at least delaying irrigation for long times has had no detrimental effect and some positive effects,” said Ken Shackel.
No worries there, but starting irrigation too late can cause issues. Shackel calls it the “bank account effect,” when the trees take up too much water too quickly, and then do not have enough to get through harvest.
Treat storage as risk management and logistics, and budget to break even since export growth is unlikely to absorb bigger U.S. corn and soybean crops.
October 13, 2025 04:34 PM
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Tidal Grow Agri-Science joins us to celebrate Global Fertilizer Day, sharing how innovation continues to drive American agriculture forward.
October 13, 2025 12:20 PM
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“A can for your favorite pie, bread, or whatever, it is probably Illinois-grown.”
October 10, 2025 10:35 AM
Expect a steady corn grind and selective basis strength where exports and local blending stay active.
October 09, 2025 05:10 PM
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The Washington Tree Fruit Association says this is not surprising and notes the USDA has offered a lifeline to growers while they transition away from the cannery market.
October 09, 2025 04:33 PM
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CoBank Lead Grains Economist Tanner Ehmke joins us to share insight and concerns over current grain storage capacity as export demand lags.
October 09, 2025 01:36 PM
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