Some Random Thoughts-Heat, Fertilizer and Lettuce Seed

We are gearing up for a warm week. The weatherman says it's going to get hot, a little too hot for this farmer.
    When I first got up here people would say things like, 'the heat makes the cotton grow.' Well find find out the cotton plants are kind of like me- they shut down when it gets warmer than 95 degrees. [That's about 36C for those of you who are reading this overseas.] Cotton does like warm weather, but it is the warm nights, not the hot afternoons. The cotton plants physiologically shut down when it gets over 95F. The stoma on the leaves close off to keep moisture in the plants. You can see them drooping in the late afternoon. When it cools back down they open again.

This week we will be starting the second round of water on the cotton. Our petiole samples show the cotton is a little low on nitrogen so we will be applying some more fertilizer.
   Some folks are getting worked up about fertilizer use. I know there are groundwater issues in some areas. There is a simple solution- take a soil or plant sample before applying fertilizer. The cost of fertilizers is so high now that if all I save is one ton of fertilizer I have paid for my sampling for the season. 

Things are moving right along. Bloom in the cotton is about two weeks ahead of normal. Hull split in the almonds is also about two weeks ahead of normal.

The photo above is not from a Rothko painting. It is a lettuce field near Tranquillity. This is actually a lettuce seed field. They will let the plants bolt and produce seed. Lettuce seed is so fine it is almost like dust. Those seeds will be planted to grow lettuce for your salads soon. It is an amazing process.
   The whole food system is amazing. I have long thought someone could create a TV series on how out food is produced. The innovations of the last century have freed so many from the farm. It has also made our work on the farm so much easier.
   Farming is still hard work. But, when I think of complaining I remember a letter one of Sheryl's great grandfathers wrote about riding his horse to w job site, hooking up a Fresno Scraper and leveling land by hand and horse all day. Somehow, my work doesn't seem so hard after all.

Be careful out there. Remember to stay hydrated. It is summer time.

P

There May Be Hope in This Drought

I was down in San Diego for my nephew's graduation this past weekend. I had heard our Southern California neighbors were unaware of the drought. I was pleasantly surprised to find at least some awareness of how serious our water situation is.

Some of Mom's neighbors are taking extreme measures and completely abandoning their lawns. Years ago many converted to low water use yards.

(In this picture the lawn in farthest yard has been cut off. The yard in the front has been beautifully re-done.)

There was report on the San Diego news last night about a family in Madera Ranchos and the problems they are having with people stealing their water. The reporters used the story to remind everyone about how serious the drought really is.
   Today's an Diego Union had a report that mentioned pre-1914 water rights. That is getting pretty deep into the policy weeds.

I was asked last winter if I thought this drought would bring any real and lasting change. I said, this may be cruel, but there won't be any change until more people are hurt. We are not going to get any real and lasting change while the whole problem is balanced on the necks of the farmers.

So, the drought is bad.
How bad is it?
It is so bad even our neighbors in Southern California are paying attention. Ba Dump Bump.

It has not always been that way. During the 1986-1993 drought there were immediate changes Northern California residential water users. In the last year of the drought there was a request of Southern Californians for a voluntary 10% cut back and they protested like it was the end of the world. By that point we were down to 25% allotments on our farm.

So, the drought is bad.
How bad is it?
It is so bad even our neighbors in Southern California are starting to pay attention. And, that is a good thing because we really are all in this together. We are not going to get good solutions from our politicians as long as we are divided.

I hope you all have a great week.

P

This is Why We Spray Bugs

Can you see where the plants are smaller? They are stunted because there are aphids under the leaves sucking the life out of the plants. Compare the stunted plants with the plants on the right or in the back. Can you see the difference? That is basically one week's lost growth.

This is what the leaves look like close up. The good news is there are predators eating the aphids so they are not spreading through the field.

In fact, instead of spraying this time we are going to pull the affected plants by hand and bag them. There are only a hundred plants at this point.

   I can't tell you how much I really do not want to spray right now. First the material is expensive. Second, if we spray now we will kill off the predators and have to spray at least twice more. I have no problem pulling the trigger and spraying if we need to. But, the best years are when I don't have to spray.

Meanwhile on the farm- the wheat was cut. 

Average, or slightly below average yield. I was a little disappointed. It looked great.

We also finished our first irrigation on the cotton. Nearly flawless. Of course, as I mentioned last week I have to go argue with the irrigation district this coming week. Arrgh.

Dr. Strange Bug: Or, why I stopped worrying and learned to love pesticides

by Paul H. Betancourt

copyright March, 2011

A few years ago Sheryl and I were feeding the squirrels in a park in Monterey. That Monday I was back at work laying out bait to kill squirrels on the ranch.

I don’t have anything against squirrels. They’re cute and fuzzy! Feeding peanuts to squirrels in the park on a warm afternoon is fun, when they eat my almonds- that’s another story. Mum taught me to share- but, this is where I draw the line. The squirrels in the orchard gotta go.

That is how it is with the bugs and weeds too. No one wants to farm organically more than I do. We live on the farm and raised our kids here. But, those crazy bugs and weeds won’t kill themselves.

I concluded years ago that bug and weed sprays are ok- if they are used carefully. According to one UC Berkeley researcher, coffee and tea contain more natural carcinogens than there are pesticides in our food.

So, I feed the squirrels in the park and I kill pests with a clean conscience when I go to work on the farm.

This is an excerpt from my new book, This Week on the Farm. You can find it on  Amazon.com

I hope you all have a great week.

P

A Simple Alternative to Drip Irrigation

   Summer's back in town and it's getting warm. That means it is time for the first irrigation on the cotton. Many of you are concerned about water this year and we appreciate that. We are always concerned about water. I can't remember the last time we had any 'extra' water.
 
   One of the things we have done is develop a method of irrigating the cotton that is nearly as efficient as drip without the capital costs of installing a drip system. In the picture below you will see we are watering every other row.

   If you look closely you will see the center row is bone dry. This accomplishes to things. First, weeds can't grow without water. So, we use less herbicides, hand labor or tractor work to control weeds. More importantly, we save water. By this point of the season these young cotton plants have only used three to four inches of water. By going skip row this irrigation we only apply four inches of water per acre, matching want the plants have used. It is very hard to do better than that with a drip system.

   One reason I am bringing this up is that our irrigation district is proposing banning furrow irrigation at the end of next season. I am all for water conservation, but I do not understand this. I am already paying for an irrigation district and I will not get one drop of water from them this year. Now they want me to install a $1200 per acre drip system even when they cannot guaranty they can deliver water in future years. Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy? I can cut back wasting water, but I can't go much further than replacing the water the plants are actually using.

   Of course we all want to save water, especially at times like these. I especially appreciate the non-farmers who are cutting back watering their yards and even saving buckets of water from your showers.
You guys are awesome.
   I have said it before, and I will say it again: there are wet years and there are dry years in California. We are foolish because we do not save water from the wet years for the dry years.

My favorite Clint Eastwood movie is 'Heartbreak Ridge.' We will continue to 'Adapt, Innovate and Overcome' on the farm.

Don't forget, there is a more affordable version of my new book, "This Week on the Farm" available on Amazon. I am working to get it in to local bookstores.

http://www.amazon.com/This-Week-Farm--Second-Edition/dp/0692232281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402197390&sr=8-1&keywords=this+week+betancourt+books

I hope you all have a great week.

P

New and More Affordable!

As a farmer I know how hard it is to make a buck. I am careful how I spend my money and I know you are too. So I have created a new, more affordable edition of This Week on the Farm. The same stories, but the photographs are in black and white instead of color to keep the price down.

The new edition is less than half the price of the full color edition, only $11.99. The Kindle Edition, with color photos is still $9.99.

You can find them all on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/This-Week-Farm--Second-Stories/dp/0692232281/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401826922&sr=1-5&keywords=paul+betancourt+books