Harvest is still moving across California. Almonds are coming off or wrapping up in many areas, while pistachios, walnuts, wine grapes, and other crops keep growers, crews, and equipment busy. Plenty of work remains before anyone can call the season finished.
But this is also the time to start thinking one job ahead.
Once harvest begins winding down, the next round of orchard work can come quickly. Sanitation, mummy shaking, pruning, topping and hedging, brush shredding, orchard floor work, irrigation repairs, and other fall and winter jobs all start competing for the same crews and equipment.
You do not necessarily need to start that work today. You do need to start figuring out what your orchard will need, especially if you plan on hiring outside crews or specialized equipment.
Start Looking at the Orchard While Harvest Is Still Fresh
One advantage of evaluating an orchard during and immediately after harvest is that this season's problems are still easy to see.
Look at how the trees handled harvest. Check for broken limbs, shaker damage, weak trees, dead or diseased wood, and areas where equipment had trouble moving through the orchard. In almonds, UC IPM specifically recommends evaluating trunks during harvest for bark injury caused by shaking or other harvest operations.
This is also a good time to think back on the operational problems you dealt with during the year. Were certain rows difficult for equipment? Are trees getting too tall? Did branches interfere with sweepers, shakers or other machinery? Are there irrigation problems that were temporarily patched during the season?
Write those things down while you can still remember them.
A lot of fall and winter work should start with solving the problems you saw this year rather than simply repeating the same maintenance program because that is what has always been done.
Mummy Nuts Should Already Be on the Radar
For almond and pistachio growers, one of the most important jobs coming after harvest is orchard sanitation.
Mummy nuts left in the trees can provide overwintering sites for navel orangeworm. Basic sanitation can involve mechanically shaking remaining nuts from the trees, hand-poling nuts that do not come down, sweeping or blowing material into the row middles,, and destroying the nuts through mowing or other appropriate methods.
UC guidance for almonds recommends monitoring for mummy nuts after harvest and removing them when damaging levels are present.
That means growers don't have to wait until midwinter to start thinking about mummy shaking.
As harvest finishes in each block, start looking at what remains in the trees. Some orchards may clean up well during normal harvest. Others may clearly need another pass.
Knowing that early gives you more time to line up a shaker, crews, and any additional equipment needed to finish the sanitation job.
Pistachio Growers Have Sanitation Work to Think About Too
Mummy sanitation is not only an almond issue.
UC IPM recommends removing and destroying unharvested pistachios and mummies from both the trees and orchard floor to reduce overwintering sites for navel orangeworm and sources of disease inoculum. Its guidance also recommends shaking trees to remove mummies as soon as possible before rain.
But pistachios should not simply be treated like almonds. The nuts behave differently on the orchard floor, and UC notes that pistachio mummies can be harder to destroy effectively through mowing or tillage.
That is why the planning part matters.
The question is not simply, "Do we need a mummy shake?"
It is also what happens after the nuts come down.
Growers should think through the entire sanitation process and make sure the equipment and services being lined up match the orchard and crop.
Use Harvest to Learn What Needs to Change Next Year
The processor grade sheet and what you see coming out of the orchard can tell you quite a bit about what happened during the season.
UC IPM recommends pistachio growers use processing plant grade information to evaluate the year's pest-management program and prepare for the following season. It also recommends looking for Alternaria and Botryosphaeria symptoms during harvest and noting problem areas for future management.
The same basic thinking applies across crops.
If a block had higher pest damage, poor nut removal, disease problems, excessive weeds, or harvesting difficulties, make note of it now. Those observations can help determine where sanitation, pruning, orchard floor work, or other management needs to be concentrated later.
This is one reason post-harvest planning should start before the entire harvest season is over. You are already walking the orchard and seeing the problems.
Pruning, Topping and Hedging May Be the Next Job
Once harvest equipment leaves, growers also begin thinking about tree structure.
Trees may have become too tall, row middles may be closing in, limbs may be interfering with equipment or sections of the orchard may need selective pruning.
But not every orchard needs to be topped or hedged, and more pruning does not automatically mean a better orchard.
As we covered in our guide to orchard topping, hedging and pruning, the objective should determine the work. Controlling tree height, maintaining equipment access, removing damaged wood and managing canopy structure are different problems and may require different approaches.
That decision also varies considerably between almonds, pistachios, walnuts, prunes and other orchard crops.
If you already know a block needs work, however, now is a good time to start lining it up. Mechanical topping and hedging equipment, hand-pruning crews and specialized orchard contractors can become harder to schedule once everyone wants them at the same time.
Disease and Dead Wood Are Easier to Remember When You Can Still See Them
Harvest also gives growers another opportunity to identify trees and sections of the orchard that did not look right during the season.
Note dead limbs, weak growth, cankers, dieback, and other symptoms so you can evaluate them later. In pistachios, UC IPM recommends post-harvest pruning and destroying infected, dead, and dying branches to reduce inoculum from diseases including Botrytis and Botryosphaeria.
Walnuts have different considerations. UC IPM recommends looking for dead and infected branches associated with Botryosphaeria and Phomopsis after harvest, but cautions that pruning to reduce inoculum should be done when a dry period is predicted. Otherwise, summer pruning may be preferable.
That is an important distinction.
"Post-harvest work" does not mean you should cut everything immediately after the crop comes off.
It means this is a good time to identify the problem, determine the appropriate work, and plan when it should happen.
Don't Forget About What Happens to the Brush
If pruning, topping, hedging, or tree removal is coming, growers sometimes overlook another job until the piles start building up.
What are you going to do with the wood?
Depending on the orchard and type of pruning, that could involve pulling brush from the rows, stacking limbs, shredding prunings, chipping material, grinding larger wood, or hauling material away.
If a mechanical pruning contractor comes through quickly, the material left behind can add up.
The pruning job and the cleanup job should really be planned together. If another contractor or piece of equipment is needed afterward, having that lined up ahead of time keeps the orchard from sitting full of brush while everyone waits for the next machine.
The Orchard Floor May Need Attention After Harvest
Harvest traffic can take a toll on an orchard floor.
Shakers, sweepers, harvesters, tractors, trucks, and trailers may leave ruts, compacted areas or rough spots. Weeds may also become more noticeable once harvest operations are finished.
Different orchards will need different levels of work, but fall can include mowing, weed management, smoothing problem areas, repairing roads and crossings, managing berms, and preparing the orchard floor for winter.
Walnut growers have some additional options to consider. UC IPM recommends assessing weeds after harvest and notes that cover crops can be planted after harvest to help reduce runoff and improve nitrogen management.
The point is not that every orchard needs to be completely reworked after harvest. It is to look at what harvest left behind, and address problems before winter weather makes access more difficult.
Irrigation Problems Shouldn't Be Forgotten Once Harvest Ends
An irrigation repair is always temporarily fixed because ten more important things are happening during harvest.
A broken riser gets patched. A clogged line gets worked around. A valve acts up but still functions. A pump problem gets put on the list for later.
Later is coming.
As blocks finish harvesting, it is worth walking the irrigation system and making a list of what needs attention. Depending on the system, that could include leaks, valves, filters, emitters, pumps, lines, and other components.
This does not mean irrigation itself should simply stop when harvest ends. Water management remains crop- and condition-specific. For example, UC walnut guidance emphasizes continuing to manage tree water status carefully during September because both too much and too little water can create problems as the crop finishes.
Repairs and irrigation scheduling are two different decisions.
Operationally, the key is to identify system problems now so you don't rediscover them when you need the system next season.
There Are More Post-Harvest Jobs Than Just Pruning
When people talk about orchard work after harvest, pruning tends to get most of the attention. In reality, the list of services is much longer.
Depending on the crop and orchard, growers may need:
Not every orchard needs every service. Some growers handle most of this work themselves, while others bring in contractors for jobs that require specialized equipment or additional labor.
What matters is figuring out which jobs belong on your list before the season changes.
Don't Wait Until Everyone Needs the Same Crew
This may be the most practical reason to start planning now.
Agriculture tends to need the same people and equipment at roughly the same time.
When mummy shaking needs to happen, many almond growers need shakers. When pruning starts, everyone begins calling pruning crews. When orchards need shredding, chippers and shredders get booked. Then rain comes through, and the workable window gets even smaller.
You cannot control all of that.
You can control how early you start making calls.
If you know you are going to need a contractor, getting the conversation started while harvest is winding down gives you more options than waiting until the day you want the work done.
Harvest Isn't Over Yet. That's the Point.
Plenty of crop is still to come this season.
For many pistachio, walnut, wine grape, and other growers, the priority right now is still getting the crop harvested and maintaining quality. That should be the priority.
But planning the next job does not have to wait until the last truck leaves.
As individual blocks finish, start walking them. Look at the trees. Look at what remains in the canopy. Check the orchard floor. Mark damaged or diseased areas. Write down irrigation repairs. Decide whether pruning or mechanical canopy work is needed. Figure out which jobs you can handle internally and which ones will require outside help.
A little planning now can make the transition from harvest to fall and winter work much smoother.
Start Lining Up Your Post-Harvest Work
Agnomy helps growers find agricultural service providers for work after harvest, including mummy shaking, orchard sanitation, pruning, topping and hedging, shredding, mowing, irrigation work, hauling, and other orchard services.
Instead of waiting until you need a crew tomorrow, you can start finding providers, requesting quotes, and lining up work ahead of time.
Find agricultural services on Agnomy
And if you provide orchard services, you can list the work you offer and connect with growers looking for help as harvest winds down.
