2 3 and micronutrients including reasonable quantities of iron and magnesium and foliar blends. “Potassium nitrate was applied in every fertiliser mix last season from August 16 to October 28, including with every nutrient foliar spray,’’ Anthony said. Fertiliser applications were lower overall due to the very cool and wet conditions and, similar to reports from other areas, the Nonpareil crop was looking light. “The weather conditions may have affected pollination. Despite bee numbers being at standard stocking rate, early flowering varieties like Nonpareil and Shasta showed more duds, deformed kernel and poor crackout percentages,’’ Anthony said. However, a switch from using an EDTA iron chelate to an EDDHA iron chelate to better suit the soil pH on the property last season, combined with magnesium and micronutrient blends, resulted in “greener trees’’, and this had since triggered discussion with Haifa Australia Southern Agronomist Sheri Robinson on what this could mean for future crops. Sheri said she noticed a significant difference in the leaf health at the Almond Centre of Excellence property last season compared with some other orchards that may have been impacted by limiting micronutrient supply and “wet feet’’. “The site started looking green from the start, which is a good indication of a strong micronutrient program,’’ Sheri said. She said Haifa now offered an EDDHA iron chelate with the highest ortho-ortho level of 5.2pc, ensuring more efficient use of the nutrient and improved production and quality. Anthony said in the early part of the season they applied 1.3 kilograms/ha of EDDHA iron with a 3pc ortho-ortho level per week, combined with magnesium and a liquid micronutrient mix. It amounted to a total of 8kg/ha of iron and resulted in healthy green leaves. “We noticed the difference with the strong micronutrient program and the health dropped away slightly leading in to harvest. The difference this leaf health makes to future crops could be interesting and we will be taking a closer look at it, particularly the benefit over the November to March period.’’ Leaf health Anthony also has taken note of the fertiliser input curve presented at the Australian Almond Conference last October by Dr Patrick Brown, which indicated a reduced post-harvest requirement for fertiliser if leaf and tree health is maintained through to harvest. This curve suggests maintenance of small amounts of fertiliser from November to harvest, instead of a significant postharvest feed, to ensure leaf health and return of nutrition to trees in storage for the post-harvest shut-down period. “We have traditionally applied fertiliser to mid-November and then post-harvest, but the trees can lose leaves and start to shut down. Last season it was significantly healthier all the way through to harvest.’’ Sheri said as trees shut down postharvest, it was known the leaves store carbohydrates back to the trunks and the subsequent tree health could impact the next year’s crop. In line with Dr Brown’s fertiliser curve, she said instead of growers applying 30pc of the fertiliser post-harvest, there could be a benefit from “teaspoon feeding’’ trees at no extra cost over the four-month November to March period to maintain leaf health. “The flow-on effect for orchard health from the recent season into the next will be interesting to observe and record on a nutritional performance level to explore these benefits from one year’s tree health into another. This is especially of interest as growers look to reduce costs and, hence, in some cases, fertiliser quality. The question to consider is: What will the impact be to following crops if I adjust my fertiliser program?’’ “Rather than applying sulphate of potash, UAN and NPK fertiliser postharvest, some of this larger feed could be applied using Poly-Feed, a complete NPK fertiliser with micronutrients, at the lower requirement period from November to harvest. It could be trickled to the trees with the aim of better leaf health for improved post-harvest health and carbohydrate return.’’ Almond tree nutrition (cont.) Haifa at VicVID 2023 HAIFA Australia joined in the return of specialist vegetable industry field days to Victoria at the end of April. The Victorian Vegetable Innovation Days 2023 was staged over two days in Catani, south-east of Melbourne. Haifa Australia Southern Agronomist Sheri Robinson and Managing Director Trevor Dennis with Maddy Buykz, Elders Packenham, looking over one of Terranova Seeds’ salad mix varieties during the field days. THE importance of quality in all goods has once again come to the fore amid the changing global market conditions of recent times and has remained a primary purpose for Haifa and our Australian team. When it comes to Haifa fertilisers, we only sell products we manufacture in our own factories, or that we have sourced from the highest quality European manufacturers. Many already know that we have some of the lowest sodium and chloride fertiliser options available and our unique process includes drying various products before bagging. This focus on quality should not be lost on industry and growers as you undertake your own quality assurance programs. Haifa can supply certificates of analysis for our products to ensure growers know they are getting what they pay for, and our full control over manufacturing ensures they are free of any impurities. This quest for quality in the industry is being strongly supported by Fertilizer Australia, which is undertaking a product labelling and stewardship awareness program. The aim is to ensure growers are buying products that can be traced for food safety and which comply with Australian industry regulations. Some fertiliser products don’t have batch numbers and cannot be traced, which presents a major issue if a recall is required. While we are talking of quality, Haifa’s range of micronutrients is being well received by the local market. Support has been particularly strong for our iron EDDHA with the highest orthoortho in the Australian market of 5.2 per cent, which is giving growers confidence that the iron is being absorbed most effectively by plants. To find out more about the Haifa micronutrient range, talk to your local Haifa Australia representative. And for nut tree growers, to further support your fertiliser decisions, see pages 8-11. Sheri is interested in tracking plant nutrition through regular testing in almond orchards with Anthony and the industry, particularly during the November to March period and comparing between different fertiliser programs to explore Dr Brown’s theory. “There is also opportunity to further investigate nutrient use efficiencies, as well as the use of micronutrients including manganese and silica, as these are known to provide plant resilience to pests and diseases,’’ she said. By Trevor Dennis Managing Director, Haifa Australia Quality comes back to the fore ABOVE: Pictured shows the canopy health and leaf colour at the Almond Centre of Excellence property near Loxton in SA on October 13 last year. LEFT: Sheri inspects canopy health and leaf colour at another almond property on September 28 last year. Click for further info Multi-K Poly-Feed Haifa Micronutrients
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