(Feb. 21, 2020) – Since 2010, California almond growers have attended California Almond Sustainability Program (CASP) workshops to determine what areas of improvement exist on their operations and learn how CASP, a self-assessment tool, can help them identify those improvement areas. Now, a decade later, the Almond Board of California (ABC) has completed its 2020 CASP Pollination and Cover Crops workshop series, which focused on best practices to protect and maintain honey bee health, the role cover crops play in that effort, and how CASP tools and ongoing ABC-funded research support growers in their efforts to ensure a successful pollination
Growers at the workshop in Ceres had an opportunity to walk through the CASP Pollination and Bee Health module with Eric Harris from SureHarvest, the third party organization that oversees the CASP program.
and the protection of honey bee health.
ABC held three workshops last month: one at Sutter Union High School, one in Ceres at the orchard of ABC Board member Christine Gemperle, and one in Buttonwillow, hosted by Farmland Management Services (FMS). Over 80 industry members attended these workshops, attendees ranging from growers to PCAs to farm managers.
“Increasing the adoption of honey bee health best management practices – which for many growers could involve planting cover crops – is essential in order for the industry to achieve its Almond Orchard 2025 Goal of increasing environmentally friendly pest management practices by 25%,” said Tom Devol, senior manager of Field Outreach and Education at the Almond Board. “CASP is also key to the industry’s success as it not only provides insights on better farming practices but also will be the tool ABC’s uses to track growers’ progress towards achieving each of the four 2025 Goals. This combination of sharing best practices alongside CASP makes for informative workshops that give growers the tools they need to be successful.”
Foundational at each workshop were ABC’s Honey Bee Best Management Practices (BMPs). Developed in 2014 and updated in 2018 with input from the almond community, beekeepers, researchers, UC Davis, California and U.S. regulators, and chemical registrants, the Honey Bee BMPs represent the Almond Board’s most extensive educational documents to date to ensure that almond orchards remain a safe and healthy place for honey bees. This resource lays out simple, practical steps that almond growers, together with beekeepers and other pollination stakeholders, can take to protect and promote bee health on in and around their orchards, and in their surrounding community.
At the workshop in Sutter, students from the high school’s ag department had the opportunity to join industry members in learning from subject matter experts such as Daryl Brum, a retired Blue Diamond grower representative who now works with the high school on their cover crop program. Sutter Union High School has its own orchard that is used for teaching purposes within its ag department. Recently, the school chose to plant cover crops in its orchard to reduce dust levels around the school and to prevent run off into the surrounding roads.
During the workshop, many growers had questions for Billy Synk, director of Pollination Programs for Project Apis m. (PAm.), who spoke about PAm.’s Seeds for Bees program at each of the three CASP workshops. Launched in 2013, Seeds for Bees offers free seed mixes for bee forage/ cover crops to almond growers with orchards of all sizes. In the 2018-19 Seeds for Bees program, PAm. reported that 149 California almond growers planted 8,005 acres of cover crops in and around their orchards, representing 27 counties throughout California.
“We’re trying to expose this program to more and more growers,” said Synk. “We believe there’s more opportunity for cover crops to be utilized, and while we don’t think cover crops are appropriate on every inch of every orchard, they have worked from Bakersfield to Chico.”
In addition to providing food and habitat for bees, Almond Board-funded research shows that cover crops add organic matter to soil, increase water infiltration and water-holding capacity, reduce erosion and provide a natural weed control, among other benefits.
In Ceres, which saw many grower attendees, subject matter experts received more questions about the practicality of cover cropping. One grower asked if cover crops compete against almond blossoms during bloom, to which ABC Chief Scientific Officer Josette Lewis explained how ABC-funded research shows that supplementary forage does not compete with almond blossoms for pollination but instead improves bee health, allowing for more robust hives.
Gemperle, a grower who is also a hobbyist beekeeper, plants cover crops in her orchard primarily to provide habitat and a supplemental food source for honey bees. When sharing about her experience in planting cover crops and their benefit to her first and main crop – almonds – Gemperle said she experiences heavier hives and happier beekeepers.
"I look at the relationship between beekeepers and almond farmers as symbiotic in many ways," Gemperle told Female First magazine in a 2019 interview. "Over the years, we have changed our farming practices and planted forage to promote bee health and nutrition because, at the end of the day, stronger hives can produce bigger crops."
Growers attending the workshop who had tried cover crops on their operations said they saw similar benefits as Gemperle, and that they noticed no competition between the blossoms and the forage during the bees’ time in the orchard. In addition, growers who had completed the CASP Pollination and Bee Health module, attested to the ease of working through the module and how the program as a whole helped them improve their growing practices.
Finally, in Buttonwillow, Farmland Management Services’ Samantha Lopes shared how their operation decided to plant cover crops not between the orchard rows but in an adjoining field. FMS does not irrigate the acreage were cover crops reside, but instead plants the seeds before fall rains – working closely with the Seeds for Bees program – and then lets nature take care of the rest. Since planting cover crops, FMS has received positive feedback from the neighboring community, members of which like to see the crops add color and life to the land situated near Highway 99.
“Farmland Management Services has participated in the Seeds for Bee’s program for 3 consecutive years now with approximately 95-acres of pollinator habitat,” said Lopes. “Nurturing populations of pollinators help to ensure the sustainability of our operations, client asset, and our environment.”
ABC’s next series of CASP workshops, focused on Irrigation and Nutrient Management, will be held in mid-April, followed by a series on Integrated Pest Management in May. For a list of upcoming workshop dates, growers can visit Almonds.com/Events. To learn more about CASP and the Pollination and Bee Health module, growers are encouraged to check out Almonds.com/Growers/Sustainability.
