Why is California's central valley ideal for fruit and nut agriculture?

We needed to find out an answer for this question before we acquired some agricultural land. I mean, you see farms and orchards all over california, from coastal areas to very interior regions. I guess you could always farm something wherever there is (good) water. But, what exactly makes CA the largest supplier of stone fruit and nuts? Well, this is what we discovered.

California has two most productive growing areas for fruits and nuts: Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley. Together they make up Central Valley. 

Q. Why is Central Valley the most productive agricultural region?

A. The right soil and the right prevailing climate (much like mediterranean):

• Loam soils -- nutrient rich, retain moisture, still allow excess water to drain away
• Mild, wet winters -- provide trees with stress-free rest, help them gain strength
• Warm, dry springs -- promote blooms and bee activity, resulting in higher fruit set
• Hot, dry summers -- offer crop disease protection

And, of course, abundant water supply! Central Valley is supported by two major river systems, viz., the Sacramento river and the San Joaquin river along with many of their tributaries. In addition, San Joaquin valley is fed by Don Pedro Reservoir which collects snow-melt water from The Sierras.

Weed spray time for peaches.. Really? Again?

Weed spray will be applied in strips along each side of row of trees here is a breakdown of cost.

ASC Plus (buffer) -- $5.00/ac
Zinc 9% Chelete (nutrient) -- $12.48/ac

Alecto (grass killer) -- $19.32/ac
Dri Clean (broad leaf killer) -- $11.02/ac
Goal (cheese weeded control) -- $4.32/ac
Surflan (residual grass killer) -- $35.70/ac

I have been told that we will continue to use spray peach orchard in bloom, post-bloom, pre-harvest and post-harvest, etc..

Some prevalent weeds in our Whitmore ranch: (Click for bigger views)

Foxtails:





White Clover:

To fence or not to fence..

That is the question. I know it is not a common practice for california farms to put a fence around them. I get it. It is a big expense and does not translate into tangible productivity or profitability.

My personal gut feeling tells me I should go ahead and put a strong fence. The kind of fence that will not even allow small animals like dogs and rabbits to enter the farm. Here is my rationale:

1. Helps eliminate produce contamination: Think about it. When there is no fence, animals freely trespass, leave those browny "gifts"  wherever they please. Most of the time, it won't pose a problem. But, there is a possibility that harmful bacteria may make the journey into produce on the ground, causing e.coli and such stuff. Having a strong fence minimizes this risk.
2. Politely keeps those horseback riders away: Farms and orchards are inviting places for gentlemen looking for a nice ground to stroll on their horses. I am sorry but I do not like it even a bit. Given ours is an almond orchard, there is a great hazard of them bumping into tree branches and injuring themselves and their horses. And, yes, I don't like strangers walking into my house without knocking first either.
3. Stops illegal trash dumping on farm grounds: Sure, they can still dump it along the fence. Still, it is likely that they will go someplace else to dump their century old sofas and old rags.

I hope I made my case..

How trees manufacture food for us?

In the presence of sunlight, this is what happens in a tree/plant.

Carbon Dioxide + Water -----> Carbohydrates + Oxygen

xCO2 + xH2O  ---> Cx(H2O)x  + xO2
e.g. 

Why sunlight? Because the above transformation requires energy (endothermic) which it takes from sunlight.

In other words, a tree converts light energy in sunlight into chemical energy stored in carbohydrates (sugars and starches). When we eat that fruit or nut, chemical bonds in carbohydrates are broken down by acids in our stomach releasing that energy to us.

Wow.. How beautiful!!

Let us look at it more closely..

Leaves have chlorophyll. Chlorophyll absorbs red and blue light from the sunlight so the leaves appear green. Several chlorophyll molecules are attached to a single Chloroplast where the photosynthesis occurs. In other words, chloroplast is an engine that runs on batteries called chlorophyll molecules.

Recap: Chloroplasts transform carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and carbohydrates, which have a general formula of Cx(H2O)x. The energy for this is supplied by the batteries called Chlorophyll molecules.

Thus, the energy of the light absorbed by chlorophyll is converted into chemical energy stored in carbohydrates (sugars and starches). This chemical energy drives the biochemical reactions that enable plants to grow, flower, and produce seed.

I have no idea if I made sense here..

Beauty in winter dormancy when trees rest for next production cycle

A conversation with Bobby's uncle, a long time almond farmer

My wife's colleague, Bobby was kind enough to set me up for a meeting with his uncle who lives in Modesto and has been a long time farmer. I wanted to get some guidance and advice for farm management in general.

- Peach farming is not as easy as almond farming. Pruning, thinning costs add up. Needs a lot of manual labor to do all activities thru peach picking.

- Try to get a single contract with a canning company. Otherwise, you will end up selling some peaches to one canary, some to another, etc.

- To plant almonds, you need to put in the order for almond trees well
in advance. If you do that, they will give you 10% discount in price.

- Maintaining almond farm is simpler. You can manage by yourself and having one person at the property.

- Adverting in Modesto Bee for farm managers/contractors is not a bad idea unless you can get some candidates via referrals. 

- Educating myself by attending information sessions conducted by Stanislaus Agriculture Commision is a great idea. Even, I should attempt to clear exams and get a Pesticide Applicator License. This would save money.

One would expect the trees to be green and the ground to be brown..

That's because this orchard is all flood irrigated so vegetation sprouts all over the ground. In this area of the orchard, white clover weeds claim all the floor giving rise to "green ground cover."

More than 50% California farms and orchards are flood irrigated, BTW. In future, we would like to install sprinklers or the drip, but our irrigation district TID told us to hold off on that because those systems stop the free flow of water in the district pipes that bring water to the orchard. Apparently, this puts quite a pressure on those old pipes causing them to crack or break. They have a long term plan of replacing old district pipes. In the meantime, either we use flood irrigation with district water, or drip/sprinkler with ground water. We do have two plentiful ground wells. So, that's that!

If you are wondering why there are paved roads (seen in the last pic) inside the orchard, here is the reason -- Peaches are delicate and they bruise easily. So, it is important to have smooth roads to transport them. And it doesn't hurt to have your orchard in proximity of the canning facility either.