JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2017
Almond Facts
21
• Evaluating soil moisture
• Evaluating plant water status
As a Board member of ABC, almond grower Kent
Stenderup of Stenderup Ag Partners in Arvin, was involved
in creating the position of an irrigation specialist. “We want
to help growers move along the Continuum from 1.0 to
2.0 and possibly 3.0, to manage our water supply better,”
he said. “It’s a new program and a new position to address
the Continuum — helping growers become aware of and
to utilize newer irrigation systems and the
technology to operate them efficiently;
for example, understanding weekly ET
forecasts, amount of applied water and
distribution uniformity. Almond Board’s
goal,” he added, “is to have all 6,800
California Almond growers wanting to
work through the Continuum to become
better stewards of our natural resources.”
Stenderup has been a
Blue Diamond Growers
member for 10 years, represents the
cooperative on the ABC Board of Directors
and was recently elected to the
Blue Diamond
Board of Directors representing District 9.
Industry outreach will be done in partnership
with many trusted and respected technical
experts available to California Almond
growers, including agricultural universities
and programs, UC Cooperative Extension,
irrigation service providers, irrigation
districts and other agencies.
Opportunities for
Improvement
“Growers and others in the industry need
to be more aware of the opportunities for
improvement,” Cooper said. “Many of
the 6,800 growers are probably not aware
of these programs or areas where they
have opportunities to improve irrigation
management.”
Cooper comes from the private sector,
previously working for TAP Family
of Companies in Tulare, in irrigation
technology and irrigation management.
He specialized in irrigation management
tools, including technology and sensors, as
well as water chemistry, water treatment
and plant nutrition.
Distribution Uniformity
One practice Cooper is eager to help growers with is
system distribution uniformity, an essential first step in the
Continuum. “Understanding your system’s distribution
uniformity is something that is often overlooked, and is the
one practice with the greatest impact on water efficiency for
almond growers,” he stated.
Continued on page 22.
