According to a University of California expert, it may be a full year before the damage to Central Valley orchards from the winter and spring weather is fully known. Currently, almond growers are expecting a diminished crop as cold and rain during bloom limited bee activity and hindered spray operations, causing the spread of phytophthora and other maladies, according to researchers.
But since the buds for next year’s crop are formed in the current year, the unusually wet and cold spring of 2023 may also influence the crop size in 2024, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisers Elizabeth Fichtner and Mae Culumber wrote in a recent newsletter.
Source: farmprogress.com