While a little extra dust may seem like a necessary byproduct of bringing in the harvest, it is an unwelcome nuisance for neighbors who live, work, drive and play around almond orchards.
I ask that you please take steps to keep dust inside your orchard this harvest season.
As a part of the Central Valley community and the place where we live, farm and raise our families, we can each play an important role in maintaining air quality throughout the year, particularly during harvest. As you take steps to better manage dust at harvest, consider sharing that information with your neighbors too. A quick phone call or handwritten note explaining what to expect when harvest begins is a great way to keep neighbors informed and expectations realistic.
Following recommendations developed through Almond Board–funded research can go a long way toward not only reducing dust, but strengthening relations with our local communities.
Three key steps include going into harvest with a clean orchard floor, planning equipment routes that blow dust back into the orchard, and reducing pickup machine ground speed. Additionally, many new equipment models are specifically designed to reduce dust.
Please see this article to learn more about best practices for harvest. Follow these tips to keep dust inside your orchard, and together, we can all breathe easier at harvest.
Sincerely,
Rob Kiss
Chair
Environmental Research Committee
