Almond Grower Looks Long-Term with His Orchard Growing Practices

 

By Marni Katz

Special to California Almonds

 

Matt Billings, a fourth-generation almond farmer based in Delano, Calif., takes a long view of his vertical almond operation. The father of two young children, Billings said sustainable farming will help ensure the health and production of his land and orchard for future generations.

 

“For us, the goal is to not use such heavy inputs that you ruin the soil, tree or orchard for short-term gains,” he said. “Especially with a permanent crop. If you have an orchard in the ground, you are committed for 25 to 30 years, so you have sustainability built in from the beginning.”

 

The key to successful sustainable farming, he said, is more footwork in the orchard, carefully monitoring pest and disease pressures and staying on top of irrigation and nutrient status on a block-by-block—and even tree-by-tree—basis. Billings never sprays on the calendar, and makes decisions about irrigation, fertility and other inputs with consideration for variety, soil type, petiole samples, trap counts, yield potential and orchard conditions.

 

Entomologist Kim Gallagher, left, shows almond grower Matt Billings the beneficial mites being reared on soybean plants at Billings Ranches’ Sterling Insectary in McFarland. (Photo by Marni Katz)

 

“In order to be successful, you have to actually manage it on a daily basis,” he said.

 

Billings Ranches has 5 percent of its Kern and Tulare county almond acreage in organic production and another 5 percent in transition.

 

The key difference with organic versus sustainable farming production, he said, is that organic orchards typically yield less on average and are in production 5 to 10 years shorter than conventional orchards, largely due to the lack of fungicide available to fight diseases.

 

Sustainability in the Orchard

Through sustainable farming, Billings is incorporating many of the same environmentally friendly techniques of organic production throughout his entire acreage, while sustaining the production and health of his orchard over a longer time.

 

These practices include scouting and trapping for insects, monitoring weather and orchard microclimate conditions and spraying only on necessity for pests and diseases. Fungicides are applied based on information collected from weather stations within the orchards, in addition to historical information, variety susceptibility and other factors.

 

Drip irrigation allows Billings to more efficiently fertilize through the irrigation system and also reduce or eliminate potential runoff. Dual drip lines down the orchard middles irrigate trees without encouraging the growth of weeds on the berms, reducing the use of synthetic herbicides. Mowing over the top of the drip lines helps manage weeds that develop during the season. Prior to harvest, drip lines are moved from the middles and tied on top of the berms out of the way of the sweeper and pickup machines.

 

Good orchard sanitation to reduce mummies to two or less per tree is critical for managing overwintering navel orangeworm. Mummies are shaken off after harvest, and stick-tights are later removed by poling when necessary. Dormant oil sprays manage overwintering scale and are applied as needed based on scouting and monitoring results.

 

Sustainable Orchard Practices at Billings Ranches:

 

Billings Ranches has reduced mite sprays through the release of beneficial insects. At its Sterling Insectary in McFarland, Billings raises millions of tiny western predatory mites and stethorus beetles on soybean plants, which are bundled and released several times a year throughout Billings’ almonds. The insectary also sells the beneficials to outside growers.

 

Most of his outside customers are winegrape growers. Billings said winegrape growers have more successfully capitalized on such sustainable farming practices with their labeled end product.

 

Marketing Sustainability

“Winegrape growers are closer to the customer; they can differentiate themselves [for sustainable farming practices] better with a bottle of wine than we can with a pound of almonds,” he said. “They can put their name on a bottle of cabernet and tout these practices directly to their consumer in the tasting room.”

 

Still, he said, there is market potential for sustainable almond farming, particularly as the message reaches consumers who already connect almonds with healthy living. And California’s place as the dominant supplier of the world’s almonds puts the state’s growers in a unique position to establish a sustainable standard and identity.

 

Billings said the future of sustainable almond farming will rely on new harvest techniques and varieties that can move orchards to a single harvest and are more resistant to traditional insects and diseases that plague almonds.

 

“A big part of sustainability of the future is new variety development,” he said. “Almonds would be very easy to grow with very little pesticide inputs if we had the right varieties.”

 

Pollination is another factor, and Billings envisions alternatives that will help reduce the dependence on honeybees for sustainable pollination. Honeybees currently account for 20 to 25 percent of his total production costs and Billings said honeybee pollination carries with it secondary problems such as fire ant.

 

Already, Billings is exploring the possible use of blue orchard bees for sustainable pollination. These native blue orchard bees are vigorous pollinators that live in nests rather than rented hives within the orchard. Farmers can rear and release the non-aggressive bees themselves rather than rely on outside pollinators.  

 

“We’ve looked at it a little bit. It’s got potential. I don’t know if it’s the answer to completely eliminating honeybees but I see it as another pollination tool,” he said.

 

And Billings said new harvest techniques, such as catch frame harvesting or other methods that keep harvested almonds off the orchard floor, need to be explored by the industry as part of a sustainable system. These techniques, if they are workable, could eliminate the use of inputs to maintain a clean orchard floor and also reduce dust emissions from harvesting, something he noted almond farmers are already addressing.

 

If it all sounds like a lot of work, Billings said it’s worth it in the short and long run to adopt sustainable farming systems.

 

“I get to see my kids and future grandkids be successful doing the same thing my family has done for four generations and I think that’s a commonly shared goal and philosophy among many almond farmers,” Billings said.