JULY | AUGUST 2016
Almond Facts
23
“It was great to go back to Chicago to accept the award at
their annual meeting and meet the other recipients,” he said.
“It was interesting to look at each of our operations and how
different they all are and how different California agriculture
is from the way that the rest of the nation farms. It was a
really neat experience.”
Investing in Irrigation
DTN/The Progressive Farmer magazine was impressed
with how Efird was prepared for the water challenges the
drought presented. He explained to them that they had been
proactively investing in irrigation technology on their land.
Ten years ago they installed micro-sprinklers on all 1,500
acres so that irrigation water is applied directly to the roots
where it can be most effectively used. The micro-sprinklers
have helped to cut his water use by 30 to 50 percent!
Other technologies he employs include soil moisture probes
and weekly third-party measurements of moisture in the root
zone, giving him data to calculate the soil’s water-holding
capacity, to monitor plant water uptake and to fine-tune
irrigation scheduling. To compensate for increased pumping
costs, Efird has installed three solar electrical generation
facilities. These help to offset a third of the operation’s
annual power usage due to pumping in a dry year and more
than half of the energy use in a year with average surface
water availability.
The micro-sprinkler irrigation system also allows for the
capability to fertilize his permanent crops at the end of an
irrigation cycle, perfecting the timing to reduce the leaching
of nutrients applied to the root system. He has been able
to reduce his herbicide costs by half by only targeting the
watered areas for weeds.
Smart investment has allowed his orchards and vines to
remain productive and healthy, adjectives that not all
California growers can use to describe their crops after five
long years with limited water availability.
Matt and his wife Kelsey
recently welcomed the sixth
generation to the family — their
one-year old son Jameson.
Continued on page 24.
