Does Anybody Feed Armor Crush Almond Nuts to Bees
Looking ahead...
Certis USA 
I am excited to join the Certis USA Ask the Expert team for tree nut growers in my home state of California. John Wood is a fantastic colleague and I've been following his commentary for awhile, so it's great to be a part of that experience first-hand now.
As we are starting to prepare for the 2021 growing season and ramp up our efforts to make it successful, I know that there are so many factors that can affect that success. Inputs and markets. Hard costs and soft costs. All of those can cause stress, especially as we are looking into a new season.
That's why, for my first column, I sought the advice of Brittney Goodrich, Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist with UC-Davis' Agricultural and Resource Economics College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. In her role there, Brittney researches economics of sustainable agricultural management, and I thought she could shed some light on all the many outside factors that impact our growing season.
A key focus for Brittney and many of the growers I've talked to early in this season are market prices, specifically for almonds and walnuts.
"Prices are pretty low right now," Brittney told me. "With prices low, growers are going to be trying to cut input costs. That's going to be a big theme for almond and walnut growers, in particular, this year."
One area where Brittney cautions against cost-cutting is in almond pollination fees, which have increased dramatically. Unfortunately, almond bloom is coming up soon and the wet weather isn't cooperating with bee placement in orchards, which is causing more stress for almond growers and beekeepers alike.
"In general, almond pollination fees have increased substantially over the last couple of decades," Brittney says. She shared that in 2002, 8 percent of a grower's annual operating costs would go towards pollination expenses and now it's a whopping 15-20 percent. Many growers are paying well over $200 per colony right now.
It turns out to be a case of supply and demand. More almonds mean more bees are needed for pollination.
According to Brittney, we're utilizing more than 80 percent of total honeybee colonies in the US for almond production. She says nearly all commercial beekeeping operations have a hand in almond pollination these days.
Looking ahead, she says she doesn't see that leveling out, either, which means you are facing tough choices.
"I know that almond prices are not great right now, and so growers may be questioning why they are paying $200 per colony for pollination when prices are low," she says.
"I stress to growers that it's really a long-run game. You want to make sure you are paying your beekeeper adequately because they are reliant upon almond pollination revenues for their economic longevity.
It's good for growers to keep in mind that we are using a lot of colonies, and it's really important to have that dependent colony supplier year after year. Maybe pollination is not the expense to cut this year or in coming years."
Looking more long-term, it's difficult for us not to wonder how the ongoing COVID pandemic will impact our tree nut industry. In 2020, Brittney authored a paper saying that the tree nut industry was well-suited to weather the storm. I wondered if she still felt that way nearly a year later.
"This is going to be analyzed for many years to come," she says. "I would say, overall, the tree nut industry has been very resilient to the disruption caused by COVID."
She says that the resilience comes from a couple of advantages, including the mechanization in production throughout the supply chain and the long shelf life of the nuts themselves.
Brittney also indicated to me that you tree nut growers have fallen victim to the trade uncertainties over the past few years and it's hard to untangle the pandemic from those trade wars.
"Domestic consumption of tree nuts has increased fairly substantially. A lot of that is due to the pandemic, but it remains to be seen how much exactly," she says, noting that the increases are coming from changes in consumer behavior during the pandemic.
She says she's watching the pandemic-induced recession to see how it will impact tree nut marketing and international trade; but she remains hopeful because food products are usually less affected by lowered household income.
I'm extremely grateful to Brittney for sharing her insight with us as we plan for this upcoming growing season.
If you have any questions about this info, please never hesitate to reach out to us at[email protected] and you can check out more about Brittney and her work at www.brittneygoodrich.com.
In the meantime, I'm glad to be part of your team for this growing season! Looking forward to sharing more soon.
Drought, weather extremes bedevil pecan growers
Lee Allen 
An Orchard Rite 9400 shaker does a second shake at a Green Valley Pecan Company orchard.
With pruners having done their work and sweepers standing by, a fleet of Orchard Rite 9400 shakers worked their way down seemingly endless tree rows for a second shake at Arizona's Green Valley Pecan Company.
"This is an off-year for us because we had no monsoon rains last year," said Brian Driscoll, vice president and COO of Farmers Investment Company. "It was really hot in June, July, August — blowtorch level heat -- all the way into October, the driest year in Arizona in umpteen years. Pecans need a break with some cooling off at night and these trees didn't get any relief."
Driscoll keeps watch over 9,000 acres of nut trees in two locations in Arizona (8,144 acres) and another orchard (950 acres) in Albany, Ga., planted with both Western Schley and Wichita varieties.
"We did an early shake in November 2020, right after Thanksgiving, because we wanted to get an early start and get as much of the quality nuts off because it was so warm in October and November, record heat days in the 80s," Driscoll said. "That's too warm.
"Our yield decrease this year was the ultimate result of a Halloween freeze in both Arizona and New Mexico in 2019," he said. "It was a crop killer because our buds are not dormant in October and many blocks got their yield knocked out of them when temperatures dipped as low as 24 degrees in low-lying areas."
So, although the Cochise County San Simon Farm had a decent on-year, parts of Cochise County orchards were both on and off, and it was an off-year in the Santa Cruz Valley following a huge crop in the 2019-2020 harvest.
"We had a suture-split problem, particularly in the Wichitas with their thin shells due to the heat," he said. "They suffer environmental stress as they size and when it cools down in the Fall and they start to finish filling, they tend to fill too much, overfill, and we get a split nut at harvest. That's a problem for our production plant to make halves because the nuts are split in the wrong direction."
Sprinklers, trees added
In an effort to keep costs down, Driscoll and crew are installing more sprinkler irrigation and adding more trees per acre.
"In the early days when there was no hedging or topping, tree canopies were large, a lot of them 60 by 60 (feet) and representing only a dozen trees per acre," he said. "Although we're not doing it to every Western block, we're now interplanting, going down and putting in another row of Wichitas between the older trees with a goal of 30-36 trees per acre. Because cost-per-unit runs high, especially labor expenses in Arizona, we've got to have a lot of nuts per acre to make the numbers work."
Another longer-term cost-reduction effort involves new installation of some 300 acres of sprinklers and a recent short-term contract for a Colorado River water pipeline as a renewable source of water.
"We'll be done here with second shake by late January before moving on to first shake in our remaining acreage and our organic sector. We were the first in the state to plant organic pecans, but Mexican growers and processors are now offering organic pecans and price margins have dropped."
Looking at the retail side, Driscoll said, "Consumption may go up because prices are so attractive, the lowest we've seen in years."
The pollination process has powerful partners
Tim Hearden 
A bee box is placed in an orchard near Yuba City, Calif., during almond blossom in 2018.
California's annual almond crop represents the largest pollination management program in the world with a bevy of beekeepers uniting forces to supply in the neighborhood of a million beehives -- half of all those available throughout America -- for the event, according to California Pollinators, a statewide database.
Joining forces for the 2021 effort are BeeHero and the Pollination Connection, a union that will bring the providers of smart hive technology who operate the world's largest database of bee activity data into partnership with California's premier bee brokerage.
The amalgam, according to their press releases, "will help farmer generate more income by increasing crop yield and lowering operational costs."
It's a big marketplace according to researchers at UC Davis who note that 80 percent of almonds consumed globally are grown in California and depend entirely on pollination -- an entity that generates in excess of 100,00 jobs and results in more than $21 billion in state revenue and representing 25 percent of the state's total exports.
"California's almond growers deserve innovative tools for their work," said Omer Davidi, BeeHero's CEO. "The Pollination Connection's broad network will help us bring advanced, and cost-effective, pollination services throughout the state using smart hive technology to predict, measure, and optimize bee pollination quality in real time."
"Every almond grower looks for ways to increase yield. BeeHero's smart hives help predict and perfect the act of pollination," said Pollination Connection president Denise Qualls, a skilled apiarist bearing the informal title of Queen Bee.
"For me, as a bee broker and pollination specialist, an amalgam like this is long overdue. The industry has needed it, but never had the innovative technology to make it happen, so it's pretty darned exciting for me."
Innovation has proven itself
That innovative technology has proven itself with other crops, according to Davidi. "We've worked hard to develop ways to improve pollination and increase yield and while there's a lot more to learn about how pollination impacts output, we've already been able to increase crop yield in soybeans and avocados," Davidi said.
Almond pollination in California in 2020 resulted in a new record crop, so bees did their job well. "Bees are like snowbirds with both a summer and winter home," said Qualls. "Once West Coast nut pollination is done in the spring, the hives get shipped to places like Maine for blueberries or Oregon for apples."
"One of the things we've learned running a lot of research is that every bee contributes a little to the overall effort to pollinate a wide area," Davidi said. "How they are deployed in an efficient way is the key and their aggregation and deployment among a density of trees are part of the key to more successful pollination."
"In some cases, like apples, the goal isn't to maximize the number of flowers pollinated. You don't want to over pollinate because then you need to put a lot of work into thinning branches. Optimizing pollination means you want the best output for farmers and sometimes that's quality, not quantity."
"We're streamlining the process to get more yield with less effort," summarized Qualls.
It's a tough business that faces colony collapse, anywhere from a 40-50% mortality rate, and the 2020 wildfires didn't help matters. "Luckily, most of California's bees had already finished their work and were in other states, so the California impact is related more to the queen bee breeding sector," Qualls said.
"One of our beekeepers near Sacramento lost her whole operation -- her house, barn, and 700 hives. Even without the wildfires, sustaining a bee farm is a tough job, it's a challenge, and we hope our innovation will aid the bee industry into a new generation of prosperity. Our motto is 'Pollinate and Prosper'."
For more news on tree nuts as reported by growers and farm advisors, subscribe to the Tree Nut Farm Press e-newsletter.
Pollination season awaits almond growers
Kathy Keatley Garvey 
A honeybee is on an almond blossom.
There's a certain poetic symbolism about mid-February and what it represents (at least in non-COVID years) — the Daytona 500, the NBA All-Star Game, Jimmy Hoffa's birthday, Valentine's Day, and the presumptive kick-off of the almond pollination period in California.
If tradition holds, trucks loaded with beehives have already begun arriving.
"Delivering those hives is a logistical feat," said Fiona Edwards Murphy of ApisProtect, which monitors honeybee colonies. "They've been on pallets carried by flatbed trucks via multi-day, cross-country journeys from as far away as Florida, a 3,000-mile trip involving overheating, overcooling, and a myriad of other stresses before they're expected to go right to work."
California has some 1.2 million bearing acres of almond trees. As another 300,000 acres come into production in the next few years, an additional 600,000 hives will be needed for pollination, which will be a daunting task, the California Farm Bureau Federation notes.
According to the National Honey Board: "Things should be buzzing as more than 80 billion honeybees are setting up shop in thousands of acres of almond trees. During the short growing season (mid-February to mid-March), approximately 85% of all available commercial hives make their way to California to pollinate 80% of the world's almonds.
"Since almonds are 100% dependent on this pollination, this is considered to be the largest event in migratory beekeeping," reports the Honey Board. While in sports, teams play games leading up to their biggest game of the season, almonds are just the kickoff to the pollination season as the bees, once the almonds have been cared for, pack up and head out to pollinate other crops in all 50 states, the board notes.
That said, the University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics is reporting that, due to almond prices, "2021 pollination expenses will be scrutinized."
"Pollination costs now represent a substantial share of annual operating expenses for almond operations, rivaling both irrigation and harvest costs," write researchers Brittney Goodrich and Jennie Durant. "As of Fall 2020, prices are roughly 30% below their 5-year average of $2.90 per pound while pollination fees are 7% above their 5-year average of $183 per colony."
88% of U.S. colonies
For the 2020 bloom, roughly 1.2 million almond acres required an estimated 2.4 million honeybee colonies for pollination. Of that number, 1.9 million colonies were shipped into California from other states. While those figures may change quickly based on other unexpected changes, the authors note: "In February 2021, an estimated 2.5 million colonies or approximately 88% of the total colonies in the U.S. will be required for almond pollination."
In their report titled, "Going Nuts for More Bees", they acknowledge: "As almond acreage has increased over time, so has the demand for honeybee colonies (with) pollination fees rising in response to this increasing demand to attract additional colonies."
In Spring 2020, researchers at UC Davis and Duke University surveyed 321 almond growers and of this number, 273 reported renting some or all of their honeybee colonies for the previous pollination. The remainder were integrated almond/beekeeping operations with their own bees or had orchards not mature enough for pollination.
Of the three regional production centers [Sacramento Valley; Northern San Joaquin Valley, and Southern San Joaquin Valley], pollination needs differed. In Sacramento Valley, home to queen and packaged bee producers keeping colonies in California year-round, only a third of the respondents required out-of-state beekeepers.
The authors concluded their report by writing: "Contracting higher-strength colonies (above 8-frame strength) is associated with higher fees, but may allow growers to employ fewer colonies per acre."
For more news on tree nuts as reported by growers and farm advisors, subscribe to the Tree Nut Farm Press e-newsletter.
MORNING Midwest Digest, Feb. 3, 2021
There is fog in parts of the region, and freezing fog in some places.
Ford has created clear N95 face masks.
Farmer sentiment overall has fallen about 9 percent since October, according to the latest ag economy barometer.
Don't you miss smiles? Either seeing one, or giving one?
Let's talk about a diuron 'whoopsy'
Eric Prostko 
Foliar leaf injury caused by Diuron 4L @ 16 oz/A applied 90 days after planting. Photo 12 days after treatment and taken in Ty Ty, Ga. in 2020.
A whoopsy is defined as a minor mistake, blunder, error or accident. Unfortunately, whoopsies occur at the farm when folks get in a hurry. Every year, I spend a lot of time looking at whoopsies trying to figure out exactly what already happened and what will happen in the future. Sometimes I know and sometimes I do not.
A few years ago, I was on a whoopsy peanut troubleshooting call in Tift County, Ga. When I got out of my truck, I immediately flexed my experienced weed science muscles and proclaimed that what I was observing could only be caused by glyphosate. As usual, I was challenged by the younger but very astute grower who said that there was no way in heck that could have happened. After interrogating him like Perry Mason (a fictional lawyer for you younger readers), it was determined that diuron was recently used in the sprayer. At that point, I had never really observed foliar diuron injury on peanut. Thus, I made a friendly bet with the grower. If it turned out to be glyphosate, then he would pay for the pesticide residue sample. If it turned out to be diuron, I would pay. Sadly, I lost that bet (and a few hundred bucks)!
Since then, I have gotten a few more whoopsy calls about peanut exposure to diuron. Consequently, all of this caused me to conduct a couple of years of research to investigate the potential effects of diuron exposure on peanut. Research is the backbone of my ability to answer questions and solve whoopsies.
A few interesting things that I learned from this research. In addition to the glyphosate-like symptoms, diuron can also cause severe leaf burn (necrosis) if plants are exposed to a high enough rate.
Peanut plants are less sensitive when exposed to diuron at 30 days after planting in comparison to 60 DAP or 90 DAP. Yield results suggest that normal drift rates and spray tank "heel" (stuff in bottom of tank that is left over after cleaning) are not very likely to cause peanut yield losses.
For the record, when peanut or any other crop is accidently or unintentionally exposed to an unregistered pesticide, that crop must be sampled for residues prior to harvest. If none show up, no worries. If a residue is detected, the crop can only be sold if the EPA has established a tolerance for that pesticide and the detected residue level is below that threshold.
A few morals to this whoopsy story:
- You are never too old to learn something new.
- Gyphosate and diuron cause similar injury symptoms on peanut.
- Do not always take someone else's word that a sprayer is completely clean from a previous pesticide application.
- When in a rush to be timely and/or to beat the weather, it is very easy to skimp on sprayer cleanout. Thus, this type of whoopsy and many others are preventable.
As always, good weed hunting!
Foliar peanut injury (chlorosis) caused by Diuron 4L spray tank contamination in Tift County, Ga., 2018.
Livestock producers: Be aware of potentially toxic plants
Shelley E. Huguley 
Spring is getting closer and summer is not far behind. As the seasons change, it's important to be aware of the different plants growing in your surroundings and their potential toxic effects on cattle and horses.
Common plants that cause toxicity in cattle and horses
Cat Barr is the toxicologist for the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, TVMDL. Each year, she works with animal owners from across Texas who need assistance identifying potentially toxic plants.
Although Texas is home to a variety of potentially toxic plant life, there are several common plants that grow across different regions of the state. For example, cocklebur seedlings grow statewide and should be a concern for cattle owners.
"Seedings typically sprout around the edges of receding rain puddles," Barr said. "They are extremely toxic at the four-leaf stage and can cause massive liver damage and rapid death when consumed. Cattle have been found dead within one hundred yards of a plant."
Another plant of concern is singletary pea. Also called Austrian winter pea, singletary pea is mostly found in north central, northeastern and eastern Texas. Although the vegetation of the plant is not toxic, the seeds contain toxic amino acids. Singletary pea's seeds are of most concern for horse owners. Horses tend to be the most sensitive species and experience neurological issues, such as stringhalt gait, once seeds are ingested.
Situational plant toxicosis
In addition to the toxic plants that commonly grow in Texas, Barr also warns of certain situations that may cause seemingly harmless plants to become toxic or more available to animals.
High winds during the spring and early summer can result in fallen tree branches. Depending on the type of tree, fallen branches can grant animals easier access to the leaves that may be toxic.
Maple trees with wilting or dead leaves are known to cause drastic intravascular hemolysis in horses. This condition can result in weakness, ataxia, and renal failure.
Catkins, the flowers on oak trees, and the smaller leaves on the tree have high concentrations of tannins. High tannin intake can cause liver failure in horses, or capillary fragility and renal failure in cattle.
"The leaves of concern are smaller than a squirrel's ear," Barr said.
Forages with cyanide
Producers also should be aware of the forages that contain cyanide. Cyanide can cause animals to go into respiratory distress.
Choke cherry, cherry-laurel trees and plum thickets have high concentrations of cyanogenic glycoside in their leaves. Crushing the leaves, such as when being consumed, can release cyanide. Rumen microbes break down the cyanogenic glycoside rapidly, making ruminants more sensitive than other species.
Sorghum forages like johnsongrass, sudan and haygrazer are more frequently encountered causes of potential cyanide poisoning. The cyanogenic glycoside concentration in these grasses is highest when the plants are stressed, such as when they're rapidly growing or under drought conditions.
"There have been instances of ruminants dying in as little as 15 minutes following ingestion of plant matter containing cyanide," Barr said. "It's important producers keep an eye out for fallen branches following storms. Certain tree leaves can have disastrous effects on cattle."
How can TVMDL help?
TVMDL's analytical chemistry section offers several tests and services livestock producers and veterinarians may find beneficial.
One of the most frequently requested services is plant identification. This service allows producers or veterinarians to submit plants to the laboratory for identification and to determine its toxicity, if any. Clients have the option of mailing the plant to TVMDL or for a more convenient method, submitting photos of the plant via email or the TVMDL mobile app.
In addition to identification services, TVMDL performs tests on feed and forages as well as rumen and gastric intestine contents to determine toxicity levels.
Those interested in these services are encouraged to set up a consultation with one of TVMDL's veterinary diagnosticians to determine the most practical diagnostic testing route and to create a TVMDL client account.
For more information, visit TVMDL's website or call the College Station laboratory at 1-888-646-5623.
Source: is TVMDL, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.
Producers: Test your hay for best performance
R3D Photography/Getty Images/iStockphoto 
Producers need to think of hay in terms of the pounds of nutrients that hay will provide.
When livestock producers buy hay, they usually think in terms of how many tons they need to feed their livestock through the winter, Dr. David Fernandez, Extension livestock specialist and interim dean of graduate studies for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, said. Few producers think of hay in terms of the pounds of nutrients that hay will provide.
"Some producers may think it is good enough to make sure their animals have something to eat – that anything will suffice," he said. "But you will not be meeting your animals' nutritional needs by feeding them 33 pounds of pine straw per day."
Getting a hay analysis
The key for producers to know how many nutrients they are buying is having their hay tested. Hay testing is easy. Simply take a core sample from several of your bales using a hay probe. In Arkansas, county Extension offices can provide hay probes.
When collecting hay for testing, keep the following tips in mind:
- Gather about a quart-sized bag-full of hay for submission.
- The hay should come from more than one bale.
- Keep the sample out of the sun so the forage in the sample does not become bleached or "cooked" on the dashboard.
- Take the sample to your local Extension office and request a hay analysis. The cost for the analysis is $18.
For more details about how to test your hay, ask a local Extension agent for the publication "FSA 3114: Test Hays for Nutrient Composition Before Feeding" by Dr. Shane Gadberry and Mark Keaton.
Interpreting the results
The analysis shows how many pounds of nutrients are in each ton of hay. Producers need to interpret the results keeping in mind the nutritional needs of their individual animals to see if they bought enough nutrients.
Dr. Fernandez said producers are typically most concerned with total digestible nutrients (TDN), a measurement of the energy in the feed and crude protein (CP). A 1,100-pound pregnant cow will need about 11 pounds of TDN and 1.5 pounds of CP each day.
"Suppose your hay analysis comes back and your hay is 60% TDN and 9% CP. In this case, if your cow eats roughly 25 pounds of hay each day, she will get 13.2 pounds of TDN and 1.98 pounds of CP," he said. "Your hay will more than meet her needs."
But what if your hay analysis comes back with 45% TDN and 6% CP? The cow will only receive 9.9 pounds of TDN and 1.32 pounds of CP – not enough to meet her needs.
"You may have paid the same amount of money for each ton of hay, but you clearly did not buy as many nutrients in the second example," Dr. Fernandez said.
Supplementing hay
"If you are feeding livestock poor quality hay like that from the second example, you will have to supplement your livestock with grain, pellets or cubes," Dr. Fernandez said. "A cow consuming this hay will need an extra 1.1 pounds of TDN and a quarter of a pound of CP each day to meet her needs."
To learn more about how to substitute supplements for hay, ask a local Extension agent for the publication "FSA 3036: Substituting Grain for Hay in Beef Cow Diets" by Dr. Shane Gadberry and Dr. Paul Beck.
Cut feeding bills
To save on feeding bills, producers who planted cool season annuals in the fall can supplement their animals' diet with these pastures, which can be used in the early winter, Dr. Fernandez said. Cool season annuals are very nutritious.
"Using stockpiled forages and cool season annuals can greatly reduce your feed costs and improve the quality of your animals' nutrition, reducing costs and increasing performance, " he said. "Once stockpiled forage is gone, you can move your animals to the cool season annual pasture. The greatest advantage to cool season annuals is in the early spring, when they grow rapidly to provide plenty of high-quality forage before your warm season grasses break dormancy."
Dr. Fernandez said livestock can become overly fat if they are allowed continuous access to high quality cool season annual pastures.
"You may have to limit their access to the pasture and provide some lower quality hay upon which they can fill up, he said. "Once the weather warms and your warm season grasses are ready to begin growing, you will have to mow, spray or graze down the cool season annuals so your warm season grasses can grow."
For more information on this or other livestock topics contact Dr. Fernandez at (870) 575-8316 or[email protected].
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff offers all of its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Source: University of Arkansas, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.
Challenges remain: Wine industry survives pandemic and smoke
Todd Fitchette 
Chardonnay grapes remain one of the four-leading varietals grown in California. Of the more than 15 million wine grape vines sold in California for planting in 2020, nearly one-fourth of those were Chardonnay, which tied for first with Cabernet Sauvignon as the most popular planted varietals.
Between the COVID-19 pandemic and California wildfires, the state's wine grape industry fared better than one might expect, though not all was worthy of a toast.
Wine industry insiders last year sounded alarms of oversupply and growth realities that did not match the optimism of a few years ago. Among those leading the call to significantly reduce supply was Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers in Fresno, Calif.
While a pandemic that nobody predicted quickly killed on-premise wine sales, the oversupply of grapes that growers flooded the markets with over the past decade was diminished in 2020 by a short harvest and a reduction in marketable grapes due to wildfires.
Danny Brager of Brager Beverage Alcohol Consulting in California scored the industry's performance last year at an A-minus during his portion of the State of the Industry address during the annual Unified Wine and Grape Symposium, which this year was held virtually.
Aiding in that score was how the industry adapted to the pandemic and marketing channels that were created as others were shut down. Still, part of that score came as California's annual wildfire conflagrations did what the industry never suspected but benefitted from nonetheless: cut supply so much that it moved it closer to a balanced position among flatlined sales.
In the race to win consumers between wine, beer, and spirits, the clear winner based on data are spirits, according to Brager. Wine has been largely flat since 2016, and any gains in spirits has been at the expense of beer, he said. Tequila is said to lead the way among spirits.
Smoke taint
As pressing as the marketing battle is for wineries, smoke taint is an ongoing challenge as massive wildfires are a common annual occurrence across the West.
In 2020 wineries refused to buy grapes in a move with no firm basis in science that Bitter chided for how it unnecessarily hurts growers. As the industry wrestles with the science of how smoke does and does not affect wine varietals, Bitter said growers need to be cautious of contracts handed to them by the wineries that he says clearly benefits the buyer. Bitter is not alone in that counsel.
"As a grower, speaking to the grower community, be aware that when the contract is presented to you it's going to be presented from the buyer, and unless you help them craft that paragraph or clause, you want to be fully aware of what it says and understand what the implications are," he said.
Bitter continued: "Some buyers found it acceptable to reject grapes with any detection of smoke compounds. We don't think that's reasonable. We think it's an extreme position to say that just because you can measure something at a half a part per billion, that it makes the grapes or that wine unsound and unmarketable."
Not out of the woods
Bitter is continuing to sound alarms on the industry's oversupply, while trying not to "pour cold water" on the industry.
"The structural oversupply issue that existed a year ago still exists today, but to a lesser degree," Bitter said during his portion of the state of the industry address. Framing a year that will remain marked by uncertainty, Bitter worries that an industry that averaged a four-plus million-ton crush over the past decade can easily return to that and further exacerbate oversupply issues, absent an unprecedented growth in demand.
Though growers did step up their vineyard removals with some permanent moves to other crops like almonds and pistachios, Bitter said vineyards that were replanted in the past several years will soon return to bearing, bolstering the supply, and leading to a likelihood of another four-billion-ton crush.
Growers replanted about 15,000 acres of new vines in 2020, a move Bitter says is "manageable" given flat growth in sales and attrition rates of old vineyard removals.
Historically, growers have overplanted by about 20 percent since 2010, Bitter said. Roughly 70 percent of current non-bearing acreage exists in four varieties: Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Bitter expects a reduction in the rate of vineyard removals in 2021, though he sees a couple of scenarios that could continue to shock the industry.
If 2021 yields return to record levels and the industry produces 4.5 million tons of grapes on existing acreage, this will immediately backfill the industry's shortage and return the industry to a need for increased removals. Conversely, if yields in the upcoming growing season remain below average by at least 10 percent, this will exacerbate the shortage and perhaps keep lower-performing vineyards in production.
Soybean Yield Contest Winners Announced
Staff 
The Grow for the Green Yield Soybean Yield Challenge is funded by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board using producer checkoff funds.
The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and the Arkansas Soybean Association are pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Grow for the Green Soybean Yield Contest.
The contest divided state soybean producers into nine groups, seven geographic regions, one all state conventional (non-GMO) category and new for 2020 a Champions Category. Cash prizes were awarded to the top three producers in each division achieving a minimum of 60 bu/a. Winners were announced this morning at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Arkansas Soybean Association.
We want to commend all of the 76 soybean producers who entered the 2020 Grow for the Green Soybean Yield Contest and we are proud to announce that two of these producers reached and exceeded the 100 bushel/acre milestone in 2020. The Race for 100 Yield Contest began in 2007 and in 2013, the first three producers reached the goal. Ronnie Ragsdell from Lawrence county is the newest member of the 100 Bushel Club with a yield of 104.067 bu/a.
Ragsdell grew Pioneer P48A60X and became the 23rd producer to join the 100 Bushel Club. Matt Miles from Desha county once again hit the 100-bushel mark with a yield of 116.858 bu/ac growing Pioneer P47A64X. He became the winner of the first Champion of Champions category.
Congratulations to the following winners of the 2020 Grow for the Green Soybean Yield Contest. We appreciate the participation of all the producers entered in the contest and the sharing of their production methods and management practices with the rest of the Arkansas soybean industry.
| Division | Producer | County | Variety | Final Yield (bu/ac) |
| 1-Northeast Delta | Linwood Wells | Green | Pioneer P48A60X | 97.131 |
| Casey Hook | Craighead | Pioneer P48A60X | 91.237 | |
| David DaVault | Greene | Asgrow AG46X0 | 86.756 | |
| 2-Northeast | Ronnie Ragsdell | Lawrence | Pioneer P48A60X | 104.067 |
| Nick Ragsdell | Lawrence | Asgrow AG46X6 | 95.438 | |
| Dennis Stephens | Cross | Pioneer P48A60X | 85.966 | |
| 3-White River Basin | Richard Walker | Jackson | Pioneer P48A60X | 93.471 |
| John Walker | Jackson | Pioneer P47A76L | 92.808 | |
| Terry Fuller | Monroe | Pioneer 49T62 E | 63.131 | |
| 4-Central & Grand Prairie | Taylor Burdett | Arkansas | Pioneer P45A57X | 93.422 |
| Davis Bell | Prairie | Pioneer P48A60X | 85.888 | |
| David Petter | Prairie | Pioneer P42A96X | 84.851 | |
| 5-East Central Delta | Neil Culp | Phillips | Asgrow AG45X8 | 97.480 |
| Chris Carnathan | Phillips | Asgrow AG46X6 | 89.751 | |
| Jeff Carnathan | Phillips | Asgrow 4AG6X6 | 87.073 | |
| 6-Southeast Delta | Kenneth Robertson | Desha | Pioneer P46A86X | 92.075 |
| Caper Robertson | Desha | Armor 48D25 | 91.431 | |
| 7-Western | Greg Hart | Conway | Pioneer P49A41L | 77.149 |
| Jeremy Kitchens | Lafayette | Orlando 2047E | 61.644 | |
| 8-Conventional | Brandon Stephens | Cross | Virtue 4702S | 82.013 |
| Laura Stephens | Cross | Virtue 4702S | 76.109 | |
| Hunter Stephens | Cross | Virtue 4702S | 66.308 | |
| Champions group | Matt Miles | Desha | Pioneer P47A64X | 116.85 |
The Grow for the Green Yield Soybean Yield Challenge is funded by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board using producer checkoff funds. The contests are administered by the Arkansas Soybean Association in cooperation with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
Many thanks to the county extension staff and independent consultants who help producers achieve these yields and serve as harvest judges. Complete contest harvest information is available on the websites of the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and the Arkansas Soybean Association. This file contains production information on contests since 1999.
For additional information on the soybean yield contests in Arkansas, please contact the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board (www.themiraclebean.com) or Arkansas Soybean Association at 501-666-1418 or [email protected]. Information will also be available on both websites www.arkansassoybean.com and www.themiraclebean.com.
Source: Arkansas Soybean Association, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.
Source: https://www.farmprogress.com/sitemap/articlepermonth/2/2021?page=65
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