Leaf sample nutrient analysis at Carpenter -- Good news and Not-so-good news!

In our area,  the key nutrients for almonds that can be limiting factors of production are Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Boron (B) and Zinc (Zn).

Good new is that, all of our nutrients fall within acceptable ranges except for potassium.

University of California recommended levels are as follows and the results of the two samples at Carpenter are as follows:

N -- 2.72 and 2.58% (Recommended N 2.2 - 2.5% )
K -- 1.26 and 1.29% (Recommended K 1.4%)

B -- 30 and 32 ppm (Recommended 30-65 ppm) 

Zn -- 30 and 30 ppm (Recommended Zb >15 ppm)

Not-so-good news is that the best producing orchards have levels of potassium well above the recommended level of 1.4%.  And potash is not cheap! 

When we were on "Field run", we noticed "Crack out"..

OK. These are just almond industry jargons that are usually found in a huller's receiving report. Huller is the guy who you haul off your shaken almonds to.

"Field run" refers to the product as we harvested it and includes the meats, shells, hulls and any other debris that we might have picked up with the nuts such as sticks or dirt clods. 

"Crack out" is the term used for the percentage of what we delivered that is actual almond meats. The crack out is influenced by how clean the loads are, that is, how much debris is sent out (our loads were fairly clean, no rocks, dirt, etc.). It also varies from year to year due to growing conditions and how thick the hulls are. 

Typically, crack outs run in the 20% to 25% range for Nonpariel. Ours is a little lower than that. 

The cost of replacing the stolen filter pods is several thousand dollars.. Ouch!

We have added razor wire coils inside the lockup area, and a security patrol is inspecting three times a night. So far it is working, it has been more than a month without a theft.  :) 

We will add an alarm to the lockup area and I think we can cut back the patrols after September.

Pre harvest pooja.

Beefing up the security at Carpenter ranch after the theft

Unfortunately the thieves who took the two pods know that they are made of stainless steel, but maybe they are dumb enough to be tricked by the color into thinking we changed to plastic. We are adding two strands of coiled razor wire around the interior of the lockup area. We are installing an alarm that will be motion-activated and will sound a loud siren and start a bright strobe-light flashing. A patrol service will be visiting the site and inspecting the lockup at random intervals three times per night.

A couple pictures showing the missing filter pods and the replacements. I think the black plastic replacements look fine and will be uninteresting to thieves. You can see the pods and the manifold are all made of shiny stainless steel. The pipes into and out of the manifold are dull stainless steel. We plan to paint the remaining shiny pods black to match the replacement pods. 

  

A respectable thief never leaves empty handed.

One line summary: Break-in at Carpenter. Filter pods stolen.

THEFT:

Sigh.. Yesterday, we discovered that sometime after 2 pm Saturday thieves had again cut their way into the lockup area. They did not harm the property fence since they were on bicycles (a common modus operandi).

We no longer have a fuel tank in there, and the shed is nearly impenetrable. That leaves the filter station as a target. Four of the eight "pods" were unbolted and removed. 

AFTERMATH:

We found two of them nearby in the orchard. Two evidently was all they could handle on their bicycles (they are quite heavy). 

Tomorrow two replacements will be delivered. We ordered plastic (high strength polycarbonate) because the stainless steel is what the thieves are after. However, even in the plastic, each pod is kinda expensive. The sheriff came out and took a report. 

SECURITY MEASURES:

We are worried about the remaining pods so Lane spent the night out there last night. With an occupied truck there, nobody comes around. 

We are contracting with a patrol service to make three drive-bys each night. They will begin tonight. Next Monday the fence company will again repair the chain link fence and they will install two more razor wire coils at the ground level and at 4 feet on the interior of the fence. 

We put out some ant bait traps out there at Carpenter

Ants are more prevalent in drip- or sprinkler-irrigated orchards than flood-irrigated orchards. Ants feed on other hosts and are principally a problem after almonds are on the ground. Nut damage increases in relation to the length of time they are on the ground. The ants can completely hollow out nutmeats leaving only the pellicle.