jan-feb-2021

IN YOUR ORCHARD Plant bugs cause crop losses in two ways. When infestations occur early in the season, prior to shell hardening, nuts are literally killed and drop from the trees. After shell hardening, the nuts may remain on the tree and included in the harvested crop. Damage at harvest is observed as a “brown spot” on the kernel. A recent USDA ruling now defines damage from insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts, plant bugs, as a sunken area or depression on the kernel of at least 1/8 inch in diameter, with or without discoloration or a discolored area of the kernel of at least 1/8 inch in diameter, with or without a sunken area.” An Important Point About Reject Damage One must also consider that the reject level determined during grading reflects the weight of kernels with reject damage that remained in the delivery lot at the time of receipt. However, reject kernels are also “lost” throughout the harvesting, hulling and shelling process, reducing the overall level of damage reflected in your grower statement. For those producing meat deliveries, it has been well documented that the harvesting, shelling and cleaning process can remove approximately half of the reject kernels from the flow of product. In other words, the actual crop losses coming out of the orchard can be much higher than the level indicated on a delivery’s grade sheet, typically twice as high. Growers producing inshell do not enjoy the same “benefit”. Inshell almonds with insect damage are not typically light enough to be separated from the product flow during hulling and even the most modern technology cannot detect insect damaged kernels within inshell almonds. Thus, the damaged kernels remain in the crop at delivery, producing higher reject levels than if the crop had been shelled. For this reason, growers producing inshell should sample their crop during the harvest prior to pick-up to determine the best option for further processing when deciding whether to deliver as inshell or meats to earn the maximum value. Your Blue Diamond Regional Manager is a valuable resource who can help with this decision. The table below presents the financial impact of varying reject levels on a 2,200 pounds per acre yield, produced as meats at $2.00 per pound and includes the almond loss during the harvest and shelling process. When calculated, a one percent reject level can produce a reduction in value of nearly $1 20 per acre; at five percent, the loss is in excess of $775 per acre and at 1 0 percent, the loss is in excess of $1,300 per acre! 3 4 A L M O N D F A C T S

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