YaraLiva® CAN-17™ First and Last
Mitigating drought-induced stress with calcium fortified nitrogen in your last application before harvest
Newsletter, May 2021
There are many challenges that lie ahead for the 2021 almond crop season and beyond. We are entering another period of drought, which means:
- less surface water deliveries at higher costs
- increased sub-optimal groundwater usage
- increased drought and heat stress potential
- reduced salt mitigation capabilities
If that is not enough, we are also looking at higher input costs and lower crop values. So, the question is, how are growers to remain profitable in this challenging environment?
The right crop nutrition strategy effectively supports tree health and is a particularly important and an often-overlooked tool to reduce the yield and quality impacts caused by drought stress on your almond orchard.
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The benefits of YaraLiva CAN-17 for your last N application
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Maximizing nut retention and kernel size in-season is critical to maintain profitability in the current growing season. Effective nutrition and irrigation management are crucial to achieving success in these areas. Nutrition management success is greatly dependent on proper irrigation management. In drought years, irrigation becomes increasingly tricky as growers are forced to apply sub-optimal groundwater, cut back total irrigation volumes, or increase overhead with costly surface water purchases. These challenges typically generate accelerated orchard removal, less than adequate moisture replacement, salt intrusion into the rooting zone, and subsequent reductions in yield and quality.
YaraLiva CAN-17 has been a staple in the almond industry for years. Many growers choose to use YaraLiva CAN-17 in the first fertigation event of the season. This early application typically improves plant vigor, increases greenness or chlorophyll content, provides readily available nitrogen in cool soils, and supports strength and integrity for newly developing cells in the nut, shell, and hull. It helps the trees and developing nuts to get off to a strong start and the results are easily observable to the trained eye. However, many growers turn to UAN-32 for the remainder of the season for various reasons including the up-front input costs.
Our last application of soil-applied nutrition typically takes place just before the heat of the summer arrives and is a prime opportunity to boost plant health ahead of impending stress. It is from this point forward when evapotranspiration (ETc) demand is greatest, salts leached by winter rains creep back in the rootzone, and crop stress reaches its peak. Under salt stress conditions, the soil solution is already at risk of being less available to the plant due to osmotic forces. Urea based nitrogen forms can take multiple days to convert to nitrate as the soil is drying down. If the conversion to nitrate takes place when the soil solution is not readily available to the plant, you risk nitrate leaching in the subsequent irrigation events.
YaraLiva CAN-17 provides a greater balance of readily available nitrate-nitrogen and fully soluble calcium to displace sodium, improve water uptake and allow maximum uptake of soil applied nitrogen in these conditions. Applying YaraLiva CAN-17 with the last application in or around June 1st can greatly improve internal plant water balance, root access to moisture and nutrition, heat and drought stress mitigation, tree vigor, and cell structure for this season’s crop and next year’s developing buds. Only calcium fortified YaraLiva CAN-17 can provide an economical alternative to maintain profitability under drought, heat, and salt stress conditions.
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Practical nitrate benefits
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Practical calcium benefits
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Calcium is required for the active transport of K across guard cell membranes in the stomata. This induces the opening/closing movement of the stomata allowing a cooling of the whole plant.
By Ali Zifan - Own work; Used information from: Campbell Biology (10th Edition) by: Jane B. Reece & Steven A. Wasserman.an [1]., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50023738
The following example shows the results of in-field tests at Yara’s Incubator Farm in 2020
In this example, both programs received 200 lb/ac N and all other treatments were the same. The Baseline program received 4 applications of UAN-32. The modified program utilized YaraLiva CAN-17 in the first and last of four applications with two UAN-32 applications in between. As shown in the graphs, the incremental additions of YaraLiva CAN-17 improved yield, turnout, and net profitability, and reduced shrivel incidence using the First and Last approach.
Best use practices
- Consult with your advisor or a Yara representative regarding micronutrient tank mix options like YaraTera® CANMIX™ or FBS® ZiCAN™ to meet comprehensive crop demands
- Apply in the 2nd half of your irrigation cycle to improve uptake and minimize leaching
- Monitor leaves and tissue sample monthly through mid-July to determine if additional mitigation procedures are necessary
- Reflect on % shrivel and % turnout numbers from your huller/sheller to assess performance
- Contact a Yara representative for additional performance tracking support
Reach out to a Yara Agronomist to learn how YaraLiva CAN-17 First and Last can improve profitability by mitigating plant stress.
Learn more about calcium nitrate for almonds.
Learn about the Yara Incubator Farm in Modesto, CA
With 40 acres of fertigated and established almonds, and 40 acres of irrigated and established walnuts, the Yara Incubator Farm in Modesto, California is a center for research, solution trials and knowledge sharing.
