North Valley Ag Services

ReTain for Walnuts

Dustin Coughlin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:36:25 +0000

For all you out there with PFA issues in your walnuts, check out this information on ReTain. Trial results for 2010 and 2011 begin on page 13.

Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act/SPCC Workshop

Dustin Coughlin — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:35:31 +0000

If you have at least 1,320 gallons of oil product storage (including 55 gallon drums) you may be subject to State and/or Federal regulations. The State and Federal governments include, among other forms of oil, all of the following in their definition of oil: petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse, vegetable oil, as well as oil from seeds, nuts and fruits. If you think you may fall into this category, Butte County Farm Bureau is offering a workshop at the CSU Chico Farm Pavilion on Wednesday August 31, 2011. For more information click here.

Free Totes

Dustin Coughlin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:26:54 +0000

We are clearing out some old totes. Many of them are no longer suitable for liquid storage but guys have found many other uses for them. The most popular seems to be storing firewood. To do so, you can either cut the top off or remove the poly entirely and simply use the cage. Please call the office if you are interested.

Overstock Fertilizer Available

Dustin Coughlin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:17:16 +0000

Season-Ending Overstock Items

Please call Mark on the following fertilizers. If you can take the entire amount of the below materials the price will be the best. We can always make more material if the below quantities are too small!

9-0-23 with 26% sulfur (dry), ½ sulfate of potash and ½ muriate of potash. This would be a good post-harvest material that is not too hot for a pre-dormancy application if your rate is not too high. We have 47,000+ lbs available.

8-0-30 (dry): Much like the above blend but all potassium comes from only potassium sulfate. Only 1,700+- pounds, a perfect post-harvest, pre-dormancy material. Apply at 300 lbs per acre and put them to bed with <25 lbs. of nitrogen and 90 lbs. of potash.

CAN 27 (dry): This is a “safe” version of ammonium nitrate: it won’t blow with two blasting caps! Analysis is 27-0-0 and the Nitrogen is ½ ammonic and 1/2 nitrate. We have over 26,000 pounds available and want to get it out before the fall humidity can turn it into mush.

View the label at: http://www.yara.us/doc/33952_CAN-27BulkWest4-10.pdf

This is great material for that final shot on your walnuts at 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre (370 lbs material). The nitrate portion of this product is soluble and quickly available to the crop.

11-0-4-2.7%sulfur and 5.1% Calcium (liquid): This is a simple mix of KTS and CAN17. Not a bad choice to finish a prune or walnut crop. We like the calcium for quality fruit. Go 20 gallons per acre and get 25#N, 9.25#K20 and 11.6#of Ca. We only have enough for 18 acres at that rate (4,210 lbs., 362 ga).

21.8-0.32-3.35-2.2%sulfur (liquid): The phosphorous at 0.32% might be a little misleading but it is the Baicor Hi-Phos and a super high-quality form. Label: http://www.baicor.com/products/view/45

Go 44 gallons per acre on walnuts and get 100#N and the equivalent of two quarts of Hi-Phos and 5 gallons of KTS. We have 540 gallons but happy to make more!

University of California Cooperative Extension Events

Dustin Coughlin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:26:22 +0000

Gopher and Ground Squirrel Control in Orchard Crops Field Meeting

Thursday April 14, 2011

10:00 am – 12:00 pm

DiFiore Ranches Riverbottom Walnut Orchard
(Live Oak Blvd 1/8 mile South of Pease Road, Yuba City)

2 Hours (including .5 regulations) approved for PCA and Private Applicator

For more information call the UCCE Sutter-Yuba Office at (530)822-7515

Orchard Floor Management Field Day
Demonstration and Herbicide Trial

Wednesday April 27, 2011

10 am – 11am

Walnut orchard north of Davis on Road 98
(East side of Road 98 just north of Road 30)

1 Hour CE Available

Specific herbicides in the trial include: RoundUp WeatherMax, Rely 280, Treevix, Prowl H20, Matrix, Gramoxone

For more information contact the UCCE Yolo Office at (530)666-8143

Permit Additions for Walnut Growers

Dustin Coughlin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:08:20 +0000

The State of California recently approved a Section 18 Emergency Exemption for Manzate to be used on walnuts. If you have not already done so, please visit your local County Ag Commissioner’s Office as soon as possible to have this exemption added to your current permit. For more information on this exemption click here.

For the location and office hours of you local Ag Commissioners’ Offices click here.

Understanding the Importance of Raw Ingredients in Phosphite Fertilizers

Dustin Coughlin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:34:37 +0000

Recently, some questions have arisen concerning the raw ingredients used in various phosphite fertilizers on the market today. The following information from Custom Ag Formulators should help clarify those questions.

Custom Ag Formulators (CAF) uses only “virgin phosphorous acid” in its formulation on ENGAGE PK. There are only a few manufacturers of “virgin phosphorous acid.” To assure consistency in its raw ingredient, CAF limits its purchases of this high quality component to a single supplier. This manufacturer produces no by-products from their phosphorous acid. Custom Ag Formulators is one of the few outside formulators entitled to purchase this high quality raw material.

CAF used 100% of this “virgin phosphorous acid” product in the manufacture of its ENGAGE PK product. No other phosphorous source is added.

Soap manufacturers are producing and making available, a by-product acid derived from fatty acids. When this by-product is in abundant supply, the manufacturers will often “dump” it into the market, creating instability in quality and cost. This by-product, which is lower in quality than “virgin phosphorous acid,” is selected by some formulators to be incorporated into their “phosphite” products. This cheaper alternative has the following charactieristics:

1. Foaming

2. Strong odor

3. Golden brown to dark brown coloration

Even though our raw ingredient cost is higher than those of some other manufacturers, CAF is committed to using only “virgin phosphorous acid” in our phosphite formulations.

When prices vary widely in phosphite fertilizers, it is likely that the raw ingredients are not the same and the lower price products probably do not contain 100% “virgin phosphorous acid.”

A local study was conducted comparing phosphorous uptake in almond trees using Engage PK, Phosgard and Nutri-Phite. Click here to see the results of that study.

Support Needed to Meet Special Ag License Plate Effort

Dustin Coughlin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:46:15 +0000

Last year, at the state FFA Foundation conference, former CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura announced the issuance of a Special Interest License Plate to celebrate California’s rich agricultural heritage. Proceeds go toward supporting agricultural education, career awareness, career training and youth leadership development. Normally 7,500 plates must be committed within the first 12 months for the issuance of the plates. To date, the total sold is falling far short of the 7,500 required plates, and the deadline for the plate sales is coming up in April. If you are interested in supporting this effort visit here. Any questions you may have are answered at the website, and the sign up is painless and quick.

Sales Closing Dates Near for Federal Crop Insurance Programs

Dustin Coughlin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:15:54 +0000

Sales closing dates for several crop insurance programs are almost here. Please make sure to sign up, review, or change your crop policy before these dates have passed. January 31 is the last day to buy or change your policy for Apples, Cherries, ELS Cotton, Cotton, Cultivated Wild Rice(only Yolo & Sutter Counties), Stonefruit, Prunes, Fresh Market and Processing Tomatoes, Table Grapes, Grapes, Pears, Plums, Potatoes, Walnuts, Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue-Lite (AGR-Lite). February 1 is the last day to buy or change your policy for Onions (Modoc & Siskiyou Counties). February 28 is the last day to buy or change your policy for Corn, Dry Beans, Grain Sorghum, Cultivate Wild Rice (except for Yolo & Sutter Counties), Figs, and Rice. For more information contact your agent or click here to visit the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) website.

Aboveground Storage Tank Regulations

Dustin Coughlin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:20:04 +0000

The Environmental Health Division of Butte County Public Health (BCEH) is charged with the task of implementing the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act (APSA) locally. APSA is a recently passed state law which regulates the operation of aboveground storage tanks. BCEH understands there may be many questions about the new regulations and is offering a workshop to help educate affected businesses and help implement the requirements. The workshop will be offered in both Chico and Oroville at the following times and locations:

Chico – February 9, 2011 from 6pm – 8pm at the Chico Public Library
Oroville – February 16, 2011 from 6pm-8pm at the BCEH Office (202 Mira Loma, Oroville)

For more information please call (530)538-7281.