Environmental Stewardship Media Tour

1
Environmental Stewardship Media Tour
2
(No Transcript)
3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
Ideas in full bloomAlmond growers work to reduce
pollution By Dana NicholsRecord Staff
WriterPublished Wednesday, February 23, 2005
LIVINGSTON -- Almond grower Scott Hunter
normally has his hands full tracking bees and
blossoms this time of year. Instead, he spent
three hours Tuesday talking about pesticides and
dust at his Livingston orchards. The almond
industry is trying to promote an environmentally
friendly image, and Hunter is a point man in the
effort. "I believe we need to leave agriculture
better than when we started," he told a dozen
newspaper and ag-trade-magazine reporters
gathered at his farm. They were there for the
first Environmental Stewardship Bloom Tour,
sponsored by the Almond Board of California.
Some of the tour was salesmanship, including a
section devoted to equipment dealers touting the
dust-reducing features on their almond
harvesters. But the tour was also a chance for
the almond industry to get public credit for work
it has been doing for years. The Almond Board
has been particularly successful at helping
farmers to reduce their use of various sprays
referred to as "dormants," because they are used
in the winter when trees are dormant. The board
has poured 500,000 of its own money into
environmental research and has done extensive
education to help farmers find alternatives to
the sprays, said Chris Heintz, director of
research for the board. In the past,
agricultural-extension agents recommended that
almond growers routinely use dormant sprays
containing powerful organophosphate chemicals
such as diazinon. The sprays were used to prevent
infestations of over-wintering pests such as the
peach twig borer and San Jose scale. But Almond
Board research found that for many farmers, the
sprays were wasted money.
15
Almond Board grows environmental efforts,
awarenessby Amber Edwards, Reporter/EditorStanis
laus Farm NewsFeb. 25, 2005 Way out a country
road in Livingston, almond trees line both sides
of the road in full bloom. Its the perfect
setting for the Almond Board of Californias
Environmental Stewardship Tour hosted by Hunter
Farms, an opportunity to share with the media
just how far reaching the efforts of the industry
to help the environment are.Guests were first
treated to a rundown of the industrys leading
equipment including machinery from Flory
Industries, Exact Harvesting Systems and
Weiss/McNair. Almond harvesting equipment is
making a sure and steady effort to incorporate
technology that reduces dust and emissions via
regenerative air systems and more efficient
sweeping. The tour continued as guests boarded a
bus to take them to the ranch of hosts Will and
Connie Hunter. Scott Hunter then took over and
relayed the rich history of how his family came
to be a huge name in Merced County almond
farming. Hunter himself had envisioned a career
in first professional baseball and later in
marketing but eventually settled into agriculture
and has found it fulfilling and challenging ever
since. The position I take is that we need to
leave agriculture better than when we started.
The new equipment and technology are pieces to
the puzzle that will ultimately help us to be
more efficient and environmentally sensitive.
There are no surefire solutions but there are a
lot of viable optio