FEBRUARY 13 , 2014

The Hay Stack

VALLEY HAY LABS PRESENTS:

Our trip was great! Just ask one of the 26 people who attended our first ag tour. We took in ag country near

Sacramento, wine country in Napa Valley, then made our way south to San Francisco to explore the city sites.

Silver Oak Cellars

Our Whole Group

Arlo & Maurieva Lykken

Our Chariot

Jay Cutts tries a red!

Each barrel is spun weekly. Wine sits

anywhere from 13-27 months!

Note: Honeymoon Suite: Where two

wines are blended!

Honeymoon Suite

Cable Car Ride

FEBRUARY 13 , 2014 P AGE 2

This is NOT a good hair day!

Laura Lane & Daryl Nystrup

Windy at the Golden Gate Bridge

Daryl Nystrup, Tara & Greg Pirak,

Randy Huot soaked on our bridge

walk!

Loud & A Bit Smelly!...Sea Lions!

UC Davis Research AG Facility

Glad We Got To

Leave!

P AGE 3 FEBRUARY 13 , 2014

From Greg’s Desk What we learned in Northern California Agriculture...

After we dropped the ladies off at our Sacramento hotel so they could take in a spa treatment, we met Johnny Council who went to lunch with us at the Burger Saloon in Woodland. Johnny hired me for my first internship in agriculture while I studied at UC Davis. We had wonderful burgers, but had the option of Turkey, Chicken or Beef Burgers. This is when our guests really knew we were in California!

After lunch we toured the Inland fertilizer terminal in Woodland. The highlights included understanding logistics of product movement in Califor-nia with limited terminal availability. There was also discussion of different environmental regulations and esthetic regulations. There was an oak tree that needed to be left in place and protected by a fence. They also had to have a mural painted on the end of the building to promote art in the area-complete with a price tag of $30,000!

Next was Dixon. We visited with Ken Johnson, the manager at Treemont Supply (a wholesale fertilizer organization), and Spenser Bay who is a local farmer in the area.

Topics included:

• Ground prep for almond trees Includes plowing up to five feet deep or ripping to 36 inches in three directions.

• Production does not start until 3 or 4 leaf or year. Full production takes until around 6 years.

• The almond orchard will be viable for 20 to 30 years with the last five years being analyzed each year for yield. Gross income is $12000 per year per acre with the landlord get 10% of the gross.

• When the trees’ viable life is over, trees are tore out and buried or burned (but only if the CA area law oks it).

Tomatoes are traditionally Yolo counties' (the Sacramento area) largest production crop. Today, the tomatoes are transplanted seedlings. In the past, four passes of hand work was needed. Today, there is at most one hand pass for weeding. Most of the work is done through the use of crop protection products and mechanical means. Gross returns on tomatoes range for $3,400 to $5,100 per acre with the landlord getting 10% for rent.

Tomato production is now irrigated through drip tape placed 12 inches under the ground between two rows of tomatoes. They have changed from flood irrigation to subsoil drip tape technology that was developed in Israel. They expect the drip tape to work for 5 to 10 years at a cost of $650 per acre for installation.

Wheat and corn are used for rotation to control disease and nematodes. Corn yields are 225 average, with a local price of $4.75. So 10% rent would be around $106 per acre this year for corn.

On our second day, we met Martin Burger who explained the LTRAS project. http://ltras.ucdavis.edu/ It is a 100 year research project that is 20 years into the program. They compare conventional production, organic production, and a mixed system. They have found challenges with getting irrigation water to infiltrate into the conventional ground due to lack of soil structure. The organic and mixed system with cover crops are able to soak up enough water through flood irrigation to produce optimum production. The university is also seeing very good results from drip irrigation that is buried at 12 inches under the ground.

At the wineries later Saturday afternoon, we heard about grape and wine production. The wineries down play conventional production practices even though 85% of the wine grapes are produced conventionally. Grape ground ranges in value from $40,000 per acre to $300,000+ in the Napa valley. The biggest challenge for growing grapes is understanding micro climates and soil types.

In our area, we’re on the right path with grid sampling, but I believe we have a challenge in learning on how to get the most out of each type and location of dirt that we have in our farming area, as to the winemakers and viticulturists!

509 Washington St. P.O. Box 221 Gayville, SD 57031