Our first industry expert from our summer 2022 edition of SA Farmer. Brendan Sidhu from Century Orchards speaks about the impact of rainfall on almonds, the latest harvest and tree health.

What impacts has recent rainfall had on almond trees? 

We’ve definitely got high pressure for fungal diseases, such as hull rot and shot hole. 

Even in some of our bigger bunches of almonds there’s some rot, which is something we haven’t seen before. 

All the fungal diseases will start firing up, and once it warms up they might even express themselves more. 

Because of the weather we’ve also had trouble getting fungicides on, so that’s the second part of the issue, but we’ve been working hard to get fungicides on. 

Is it a vulnerable time for the developing almonds? 

We’re well past pit-hardening, so while the almonds are green, they are almost at full size. You just worry about fungal diseases because it’s been such a wet season. 

What impacts will this have on next year’s harvest? 

A wet harvest will be a pain, but the trees look fantastic and they’ve put on plenty of extension growth. 

We’ve saved a lot in power costs surrounding pumping, and in water, which is a plus. 

We’ve probably put a bit less fertiliser on then we normally would, because it’s difficult getting fertiliser on when it’s so wet. You don’t want to wash it through. 

Will it be a smaller harvest next year? 

We almost had a record crop last year, but we don’t think this one is as heavy as last year. 

There’s a long way to go between now and harvest, but the biggest pressure we’re under now is fungal disease. 

What factors are most important for tree health at the moment? 

You just need dry, non-windy conditions to apply fungicide. We just haven’t had any warm weather yet… but we’ll see what happens.