Bugs and Water

   As you can see from the photo, the cotton is growing. That is my bug net in the foreground. This time of year we are checking fields at least once a week for bugs. We monitor pest and predator populations. As long as there are more predators than pest species we can skip spraying. But, remember, the predators have to eat something don't they? So we are always at risk of some pest damage. By keeping a close on it we can balance the need to produce a crop and care for the environment.

   We have been spoon feeding the cotton some fertilizer. Instead of dumping it on all at once. We run it in the irrigation water. The amount we put on is determined by leaf samples. The plant tells us when it needs more food. That way our fertilizer goes into the plant and doesn't get flushed down in the groundwater.

   In other news, wheat prices are up $80 per ton since last month. This has been caused by the drought in the Mid West. Their yields will be much smaller than expected and with a fixed supply the price goes up.

   We are about three weeks from the start of almond harvest. We will start preparing the centers for harvest in the next week or so. While the dogs were taking me on our walk this morning I realized it is late July already. Wow, that was fast. We must be having fun, because time sure is flying.

Here is one of this week's radio scripts-

It’s Soil, Not Dirt

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright June 2012

                I was reminded last year of something even farmers forget- it’s soil, not dirt.

            A lot of people, even some farmers, think all the dirt does is hold the plants upright. There is a lot more to soil than holding the plant up.

            Last year Fresno State previewed a film by Deborah Koons Garcia titled Symphony of the Soil. In the film Garcia shows the amazing complexity of fungi and bacteria in the soil. I have been farming for thirty years and I had forgotten that there are fungi in the soil that help some plant roots grow. Pretty amazing.

            As Garcia illustrates there is a complex symphony of things happening in our soils. It’s not dirt, it’s soil and it’s full of life. There is complexity that staggers the imagination that’s below the surface at the molecular level. Leonardo Da Vinci wrote six hundred years ago, “We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” Not much has changed has it? We’ve been to the Moon, but we are still surprised by what’s underfoot.

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P