Model Orchard shows the latest developments in nutritional management
Tim Hammerich
News reporter
With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich.
Almond growers now have the opportunity to see how new nutritional programs work in an orchard on a commercial scale. YARA International has an incubator farm in Modesto. Here is permanent plant manager Devin Clarke.
Clarke… “This was introduced less than two years ago as a new part of our approach to really better understand how our recommendations and understanding of plant nutrition management could be refined with the help of staff. And work with industry members, consultants, and growers to refine these further over time. “
Clarke says they are not just looking at performance in the commercial orchard they are renting from a local grower. YARA also examines the cost-effectiveness of the program to inform growers about the return on investment.
Clarke… “If we don’t have the economic component there, it really doesn’t do justice to the practices we are implementing. And so, year after year, we report on our ROI in terms of the net return for the grower. So what we were able to find over the course of the first full season we were there is that after paying for the premium program or premium management practices we mandated we were able to produce an additional $ 750 per morning back to the grower . “
In this way, companies like YARA help growers reduce the risk of trying new products.
