Central Valley Agricultural Intelligence
September 2026 Field Report
Published September 1, 2026 • For September planning & operations
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♦ ALMOND HARVEST RUNNING EARLY ♦ PISTACHIO CROP COMES IN SHORT ♦ POST-HARVEST NUTRITION WINDOW OPEN ♦ FALL SOIL SAMPLING SEASON ♦ EL NIÑO ADVISORY — WET WINTER AHEAD ♦ NEW WEBSITE LIVE AT BMELLOAG.COM ♦ REMEMBERING 9/11 — 25 YEARS
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Time-Sensitive — Get Sampled Before the Rain
A wet winter is coming. Your sampling window just got shorter.
NOAA has an El Niño Advisory in effect and puts the odds of a very strong event this fall and winter at better than 90%. If that verifies, the dry stretch between harvest and the first real storms is the only clean shot we get.
That matters because this is the sample that tells you what this year's crop actually pulled out of the ground — and that number is what a targeted nutrition plan is built from. 2027 is an on-year for pistachios, and the almonds and the rest of the permanent crops are set up for a good one. Feed them off data, not off habit.
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Section 1
Crop Status & Harvest
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September is the busiest month on the calendar and this year it started early. First almond shakers went into western Colusa County ground on July 10, and a late-July heat wave that ran 102–105°F pulled everything forward and compressed the window. The pistachio crop is the story of the year — and not a good one. Meanwhile the ground is opening up behind harvest, and that is where next year gets decided.
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🍐 Almonds
Harvest Underway
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Running two to three weeks ahead of normal. Nonpareil is off in most districts and pollinators are coming behind fast — expect a compressed run. Watch thick hulls slowing huller flow rates. Red blotch is the new problem: it went from one Merced County orchard in 2024 to most of the Valley by 2025, and untreated blocks are defoliating. Keep navel orangeworm sanitation tight and get mummies knocked this winter.
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🌿 Pistachios
Short Crop — Blanks
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This one hurts. Heat during bloom pushed past roughly 85°F and cooked pollen viability, and the southern San Joaquin took the worst of it. Blank shells are showing up everywhere. Industry estimates put the crop at 600–900 million pounds against a record 1.5 billion+ in 2025. Harvest what you have, keep the trees alive, and start planning a strong dormant and post-harvest program for 2027.
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🪓 Walnuts
Harvest Begins
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Packing tissue browning is the trigger — check it, do not guess. Early varieties start mid-September. Ethephon timing is the single biggest quality call you make. Keep water on until shake to protect kernel color, then cut cleanly. Husk fly damage shows up now — anything stained is a grade problem. Get hulled and dried fast; heat plus delay equals dark kernels.
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🍇 Wine & Table Grapes
Crush Underway
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Whites are in, reds are coming. The hot summer moved sugars fast — sample by the block, not by the ranch, or you will pick unevenly. Watch for sunburn and raisining on west-facing fruit. Any late-season moisture makes sour rot a real threat on tight clusters. Table grape quality is good; pack out clean and move it.
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🥝 Kiwis
Final Sizing
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Last sizing push before an October harvest. Do not shut water off early — kiwi puts on measurable size in the final four weeks. Start dry matter and soluble solids testing mid-month so the pick date is a number, not a hunch. Keep the canopy shaded over exposed fruit; September sun still burns.
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🍊 Citrus
Sizing / Pre-Color
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Navels are putting on their last size before color break. Hold water steady — swings now cause splitting, and a hot September makes it worse. Late Valencias still hanging need protection from sunburn. Keep Asian citrus psyllid monitoring current and report anything suspicious to CDFA. Red scale and citrus leafminer are both active.
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🍀 Pomegranates
Harvest Begins
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Wonderful harvest opens late September into October. Cracking is the whole game — keep soil moisture even and resist the urge to push a big late irrigation. Sunburn on exposed shoulders is heavy after this summer. Pick by internal color and acid, not by calendar. Sort hard at the shed; one split fruit contaminates a bin.
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🌿 Cotton
Boll Opening / Defoliation
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Cut-out is behind us; bolls are cracking. Terminate irrigation on the last effective boll population — water past that point only costs money and delays defoliation. Target defoliation at 60–70% open boll or four nodes above cracked boll. Warm nights are working in your favor for harvest-aid activity. Watch late whitefly for sticky cotton.
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🌽 Corn (Silage & Grain)
Silage Chopping
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Silage chopping is running hard across the dairy belt. Chop at 32–38% dry matter — the heat is drying fields faster than the calendar suggests, so test, do not estimate. Pack density and a fast seal are worth more than anything else you do this month. Grain corn is drying down toward an October cut. Second-crop and double-crop ground needs a soil test before it gets planted again.
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🌾 Wheat & Open Ground
Plan Now — Plant Nov
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This is the month open ground earns its keep. Fallow and post-silage fields are the easiest, cleanest sampling you will ever pull — no canopy, no traffic, no fertigation residue. Get pH, salinity, sodium, phosphorus and organic matter on paper now so the fall amendment plan and the November wheat program are built on data instead of last year's habit.
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Section 2
September Fertilizer Program
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Post-harvest is the most misunderstood window of the year. The trees are still photosynthesizing and roots are still active, so what goes on now is stored and spent on next spring's bloom and leaf-out. But not everything belongs here. Late-fall nitrogen has not increased yield in well-managed orchards carrying adequate summer leaf N — that is money you can keep. Boron, zinc and banded potassium are where the return actually is.
| Crop |
Primary Nutrients |
Micros & Notes |
Timing & Method |
| Almonds |
Band dry K post-harvest at 200–250 lbs K₂O/ac where CEC supports it — banks the reservoir and frees spring calendar space. Skip late-fall N in blocks with adequate summer leaf N. |
Fall foliar B at 0.2–0.4 lb B/ac (1–2 lb Solubor per acre in 100 gal) where hull B is low to adequate. Zn at 5 lb/ac zinc sulfate in October beats 20+ lb in November. HIGH |
Foliars to full canopy before defoliation. Do not tank-mix Zn and B without dropping pH to about 5.0. |
| Pistachios |
Light crop means the tree kept its carbohydrate. Do not overfeed N chasing last year's numbers. Modest post-harvest K and P to rebuild reserves. |
Post-harvest Zn and B foliar for next year's bloom. MED Pull leaf samples now — a short year is the best diagnostic year you get. |
Keep irrigation on after shake. Foliar before leaf drop. |
| Walnuts |
Hold N until after harvest, then a light post-harvest application only where leaf N came back low. K by soil test. |
Zn foliar post-harvest on deficient blocks. MED Watch B — walnuts are easy to push into toxicity. |
After shake, while leaves are still green and functional. |
| Grapes |
Nothing before the pick. Post-harvest N and K restore reserves for next year's shoots and set. |
Post-harvest Zn and B foliar. MED Petiole results from veraison should drive the rate. |
Two to four weeks after harvest while the canopy is still working. |
| Kiwis |
Taper N now. Keep K moving through final sizing — it drives dry matter and storage life. |
Ca supports firmness at harvest. MED Excess late N softens fruit and shortens storage. |
Fertigation every 10–14 days until the last two weeks pre-harvest. |
| Citrus |
Final N of the season goes on now — later applications delay color break and hurt rind quality. K supports size and rind strength. |
Zn and Mn foliar on the fall flush. MED Steady moisture matters more than any nutrient for split control. |
Fertigation, then stop N. Foliar micros on hardened fall flush. |
| Pomegranates |
No N into harvest. Post-harvest K and a modest N application rebuild reserves once the fruit is off. |
Ca through sizing helps rind integrity. HIGH Even moisture is the single biggest cracking control. |
Hold steady irrigation through pick, then fertigate post-harvest. |
| Cotton |
Fertility season is closed. Any additional N now delays cut-out, regrows the plant, and fights your harvest aid. |
No foliar micros. LOW Post-harvest soil test drives next year's plan. |
Terminate irrigation on last effective boll. Sample after defoliation. |
| Corn |
No further N. After chopping, credit the manure and lagoon water already applied before you write a single pound into next year's plan. |
Post-harvest residual nitrate is the number that matters. HIGH Dairies: this feeds your INMP reporting too. |
Sample after chop, before the next crop or amendment goes on. |
| Wheat / Open Ground |
Nothing goes on until the soil test comes back. Build the P and K correction and the starter plan off September numbers. |
Gypsum, lime and sulfur decisions all get made from this test. HIGH Apply amendments ahead of winter rain so they have time to react. |
Sample September, amend October, plant November. |
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Input Cost Note: We are not going to quote you a price — what you actually pay swings hard by product, volume, delivery point and who you buy from, and a number in a newsletter is worth less than a real quote. But the direction is worth knowing. Phosphate has been climbing all year, and the reason is sulfur: DAP takes roughly four-tenths of a ton of sulfur to make, sulfur supply tightened after Middle East disruptions and export restrictions out of China and Russia, and that cost went straight into phosphate. Ammonia has moved up alongside it. Nitrogen has been the softer corner of the market by comparison. What that means for you is simple — if a September soil test turns up a phosphorus correction, get it quoted early rather than waiting for the spring rush, and let the test tell you whether you need it at all.
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Section 3
September Market Brief
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Where a defensible published figure exists, it is below with its source and date. Where one does not, we give you supply and volume context instead of a made-up number. Confirm every price with your handler or broker before you act on it.
| Almonds |
| 2.70 B lb |
| 2026 USDA forecast |
| → Down 1% from 2025. Bearing acreage 1,385,870 — off 15,227 acres. Yield held at 1,940 lb/ac. |
| Walnuts |
| Harvest Opens |
| mid-September |
| Supply has been ample for several seasons. No defensible published grower price yet — get your number from your handler. |
| Wine Grapes |
| Crush Active |
| contract-dependent |
| Interior district contracts stay under pressure. Uncontracted fruit is the hard sell. Confirm tonnage caps before you pick. |
| Pistachios |
| 600–900 M lb |
| industry estimates |
| ↓ Off a record 1.5 billion+ in 2025. A hot bloom cost pollen viability; blanks are widespread. See below. |
| All-Milk |
| $19.85 |
| per cwt · 2026 avg |
| ↓ USDA trimmed 15¢ in August. 2027 forecast $19.80. Feed costs keep margins tight. |
| Class III |
| $16.25 |
| per cwt · 2026 avg |
| ↑ Raised in the August USDA update. Class IV $18.15. 2027 Class III forecast $17.25. |
| Corn |
| $4.50 |
| per bu · 2026/27 avg |
| ↑ USDA raised 10¢, up 35¢ from the 2024/25 average. Soybean meal steady at $310/ton. |
| CVP Water |
| 28% |
| S-of-Delta ag |
| ↑ Raised from 25% on Aug 11. M&I south of Delta at 78%. Plan groundwater accordingly. |
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Lead Commodity — September
Pistachios: a short crop the market cannot fully price back
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600–900 million lb industry estimates • vs. 1.5 billion+ in 2025
A hot bloom did this. Once temperatures push past roughly 85°F during flowering, pistachio pollen loses much of its viability — and the southern San Joaquin Valley got exactly that. The result is blanks: shells that never filled. Alternate bearing was always going to pull 2026 down from a record 2025, but heat turned a down year into a short year.
Price will not make growers whole. As one Valley grower put it plainly, when you budget a 2 billion pound crop and harvest closer to 800 million, the price cannot climb far enough to cover the gap without pushing buyers away. Handlers are protecting long-term customers rather than chasing a spike, and tighter Iranian supply is firming the global picture without solving the local one.
What we would do: resist the temptation to strip inputs to the bone. Cutting water and fertilizer to survive this year is exactly how a short year becomes two short years. Pull leaf and soil samples this fall, spend where the return is real — post-harvest zinc and boron, and correcting whatever the soil test actually shows — and go into 2027 with a healthy tree instead of a starved one.
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Market Note: Every figure here is indicative and carries the date and source it came from. Prices move daily and vary by district, grade, contract and delivery point. Confirm with your handler or broker before you make a marketing decision. This newsletter is informational and is not financial advice.
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Section 4
Spotlight: Soil & Water Testing
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This month the spotlight is not on a product. It is on the two tests that everything else is built from — and on the paperwork trail behind them. Post-harvest is the cleanest sampling window of the year: no canopy in the way, no fertigation residue skewing the numbers, and ground open enough to actually get across.
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Already Awarded a Soil Grant?
We handle the sampling, the lab work, and the amendment sourcing.
Getting selected is the good news. Then comes the part nobody budgets time for: pulling the baseline samples to protocol, getting results back from a lab the program will accept, and sourcing compost and amendments from certified providers that meet the program's specifications — with documentation that holds up.
We do all of it. We pull the cores on the right schedule and to the right depth, run the analysis through recognized methods, hand you results you can file, and then tell you which certified compost and amendment sources actually match what your award calls for and what your soil report says you need. Two different questions — and you have to satisfy both.
The timing rule that trips people up: the baseline sample has to be pulled before the practice goes in the ground. Amend first and you have no defensible “before” number — which means either a delayed practice or a compliance problem at reporting. Call us before the spreader rolls, not after.
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B Mello Ag Services
GPS-Guided
Soil Sampling
Georeferenced cores, repeatable year over year
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Price
$50 / field
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Best Window
Post-harvest
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We pull georeferenced composite cores so next year's sample comes from the same ground, not the same general direction. That is what makes a baseline worth having — and what a program auditor will want to see.
| ✓ pH, EC / salinity, sodium and SAR |
| ✓ N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S plus micronutrients |
| ✓ Organic matter — the baseline metric grant programs track |
| ✓ Composite of 9–10 cores to 8 inches, to program protocol |
| ✓ Lab work by recognized methods, results you can file |
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B Mello Ag Services
Irrigation
Water Testing
Well, canal, blend and lagoon water
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Price
$65 / sample
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Best Window
End of season
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A soil test tells you what is in the ground. A water test tells you what you have been adding to it all season. With south-of-Delta ag at 28% and wells carrying more of the load, the two numbers only make sense read together.
| ✓ EC, total dissolved solids and SAR |
| ✓ Nitrate-N you can credit against your fertilizer plan |
| ✓ Chloride, boron and sodium — the toxicity trio |
| ✓ Bicarbonate and hardness for drip plugging risk |
| ✓ Supports INMP and nitrogen reporting for dairies |
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| Question You Are Asking |
Soil Test |
Water Test |
| How much N do I actually need to buy? |
Residual nitrate already in the profile |
Nitrate delivered by every irrigation set |
| Why is my ground getting tighter? |
Exchangeable sodium, SAR, gypsum need |
Whether the water is the source of the sodium |
| Where is this leaf burn coming from? |
Accumulated boron and chloride in the root zone |
Boron and chloride loading from the well |
| How big a leaching fraction do I need? |
Current soil salinity by depth |
Salinity of the water doing the leaching |
| Will this satisfy my grant program? |
Organic matter baseline, pulled before the practice |
Backs the nutrient management side of the plan |
| Best time to pull it |
After harvest, before amendments or rain |
End of the irrigation season, at working pressure |
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Get on the Fall Sampling Schedule
The window between harvest and the first rain is short, and it fills up fast. Tell us which blocks you want covered and we will build the route, pull the cores, run the lab work, and walk you through what it means — including which amendments the numbers actually justify.
GPS Soil Sampling
Water Testing
Custom Blends
Compost Supply
Fertigation Planning
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This Month in American History
September 11, 2001 — Twenty-Five Years
Twenty-five years ago this month, an ordinary Tuesday morning turned into the day that changed the country. 2,977 people were killed at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Among them were 343 New York firefighters, 37 Port Authority police officers, and 23 NYPD officers — men and women who ran up the stairs while everyone else was running down.
Out here, the news came in over the radio in the cab of a tractor, or on a kitchen TV before dawn, three hours behind New York. The work still had to get done that day. It always does. But something in the country shifted, and a generation of young men and women from towns like ours signed up because of what they saw that morning.
A quarter century on, there are people driving trucks and running crews in this Valley who were not born yet. That is exactly why we keep telling it. Twenty-five years is long enough for a day to become history — and short enough that we still owe it to remember out loud.
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Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief.
— President George W. Bush
Address to the Nation, November 11, 2001
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To the Men & Women of Our Armed Forces and First Responders
Twenty-five years ago, hundreds of them went up a burning stairwell knowing what it would cost. That instinct did not end that morning — it shows up every day, in every fire hall and squad room and forward base, including right here in this Valley. We farm in freedom because you stand in its defense.
You are the reason we are Safe and Free.
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Now Live
Our new website is up — and every issue is on it.
Every newsletter we have ever published now lives at bmelloag.com — free, searchable, and no login. Missed an issue, or want to send one to a neighbor? It is all there, and new issues post as soon as they send.
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Field Report
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Mid-month
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Special Reports
As needed
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Every issue we have ever published is free at bmelloag.com/reports — field conditions, ag crime, markets, fuel and fishing.
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This one comes straight from the field — shakers running before daylight in the almonds, blank shells coming off the pistachio ground down south, and dust hanging over the silage choppers from Chowchilla to Tulare. It has been a hot, early year, and the ground is telling on itself. We’d rather you hear it from someone who shares your sunrises, your sunsets, and the long day in between. That’s the promise behind every B Mello Field Report.
Proudly American · Rooted in the American Dream
Bryan Mello
B Mello Ag Services — Central Valley, California
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B Mello Ag Services · Central Valley, CA
September 2026 Edition · Published September 1, 2026
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(559) 816-3889
bryan@bmelloag.com
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This newsletter is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Crop conditions, market prices, program deadlines and fertilizer recommendations vary by location, variety, soil and season. Always consult a licensed PCA or CCA, the current CDFA program documents, and your commodity broker before making agronomic, regulatory or marketing decisions. B Mello Ag Services assumes no liability for decisions made based on this publication.
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