California Drought: Looks Promising But the Jury is Still Out
Matt Comrey, a technical nutrition agronomist with Wilbur-Ellis, is based in Yuma City, California. In that role, he assists the PCAs in the field with agronomic support.
Comrey came on The Scoop podcast to share the challenges northern California growers are facing across the variety of crops he helps consultant on.
He highlights two trends in ag retail:
- a regulatory trend with the state getting much more involved in production agriculture. He says that is driving farmers to be more productive and efficient with less.
- Growers have elevated and diversified expectations of their PCA. Comrey says in the past 10 years PCAs are no longer just focused on integrated pest management but also irrigation, fertility and other agronomic practices.
The recent rain events have helped ground surface water levels, but Comrey says when it comes to recharging the aquifers, the recovery is still three years out.
“We keep a close eye on reservoirs, and they're looking promising at the moment,” he says. “But the jury's still out. We need we need probably another good month a month to six weeks of solid rainfall to for growers to get out of the woods.”
Specific to the drought conditions, he highlights 3 tools growers can use to manage water to the best of their ability. Which is important as due to their semi-arid climate with no summer rain, farmers have control of 100% of their irrigation management decisions.
Those tools are:
- tracking and understanding evapotranspiration
- understanding distribution uniformity (which is relevant for water and fertility as much of the crop nutrient applications are done with irrigation water)
- capacitance probes to measure soil moisture
Also, as a 40 Under 40 awardee, he shares for those in the early chapters of their career in ag retail to “stick it out” and find an ag retailer who will invest in their career and potential.
Comrey recently joined the California CCA board, and he advocates the CCA accreditation is a baseline for those in professional agronomic consulting.
