1. Clean orchard floor is good for not only sanitary and contaminant free nut harvest, but also for as complete and total recovery of your crop as possible. Remove and properly dispose dead birds, rabbits or any other animal remains. Make sure there are no tree rope, tree wire, props, rocks, metal pipe or other foreign objects. Cut any low limbs to allow seven feet (84") clearance for harvest equipment to operate in the rows.
2. Level ground allows harvest equipment to pickup nuts without breaking, burying or leaving them in the field. Nuts not picked up by the harvester due to unlevel ground result in loss of revenue and provide a host for insect and rodents, resulting in future expenses the next crop year.
3. Smooth orchard floor allows for effective blowing, sweeping, raking and picking up of nuts. Any ruts, dips, dimples or depressions will result in small percentage of nuts left in the field by the harvesting equipment.
4. Firm ground orchard floors allow properly adjusted sweeper and harvester heads to maintain optimum height level, reducig dust and allowing maximum recovery of nuts harvested as effectively and gently as possible.
5. Bare orchard floor permits maximum percentage of crop recovery and the best possilbe quality. For late varieties, such as Chandler, in wet years, it can mean the ability to harvest mechanically versus having to manually pick at extraordinary cost and strees or losing the crop.
Adapted from Almond Board of California (ABC), harvest guidelines, July 2009 newsletter.