What Aerial Imagery Shows Us About OPTRIENT MoCo-Ni in Almonds

As almond growers make input decisions, most consider yield the significant deciding factor. But to tell the story of why a product or practice is right for your operation, it’s also important to understand how that product impacts and improves yield. This is key to seeing the value of targeted nutrition in nut trees.

Addressing Nutrient Stress in Almonds During Harvest
As almonds are harvested, producers turn off the irrigation to make it easier for equipment to pass through. This is a stressful time for the trees as they become water and nutrient-limited. This stress presents a unique opportunity to apply a product with molybdenum (Mo), cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) as these micronutrients play an important role in nitrogen metabolism and are used in almond production to achieve increased flower retention.

“We had some customers who were already using the product asking, ‘If we applied this product in the fall, what happens?’” said TJ Bingham, technical agronomist for Koch Agronomic Services (KAS). 

The growers asking for the solution had previously played around with similar products or nutrients and thought they’d seen a positive result. 

“We decided to give it a shot. We’d never used imagery to gather data, but we had a hunch what we’d see, so we rolled the dice and got some interesting stuff.”

Imagery Confirms a Stronger, More Uniform Bloom
In 2023, KAS worked with aerialPLOT to conduct a replicated research trial in San Joaquin and Chico, California. The study tested the effects of applying OPTRIENT™ MoCo-Ni — a blend of molybdenum with chelated cobalt and nickel — to almond trees during the critical post-harvest period.

For almond growers, a strong and uniform bloom is a top priority, setting the stage for the entire season’s yield potential. After applying OPTRIENT MoCo-Ni post-harvest in the fall, the trial used high-resolution drone imagery to measure the bloom uniformity the following spring.

Figure 1:

The images in Figure 1 visually compare the bloom measurements between treated and untreated trees. The prominence of red and yellow hues indicates a higher bloom. This was true in images collected at 10-20% bloom and again at 75-100% bloom. 

“We flew the drone and went back again at 100% bloom and made sure we didn't just bring on an earlier bloom — that we were able to put more flowers on the tree and hold them throughout the entire bloom cycle,” said Bingham. “We started with more flowers, and we finished with more flowers.”

In Figure 2, the orange and grey lines represent the performance of the trees treated with OPTRIENT MoCo-Ni and the untreated trees, respectively. The fact that these lines run parallel indicates that bloom didn’t just start earlier — the treated trees outperformed the untreated trees, maintaining a higher number of blooms throughout the cycle.

Figure 2:

OPTRIENT MoCo-Ni Reduced Almond Tree Defoliation

The imagery also helps explain how the stronger bloom was achieved. Researchers could also see that OPTRIENT MoCo-Ni decreased almond tree defoliation by 15% compared to the untreated trees (Figure 3).

Figure 3:

That same drone imagery visually compared the Leaf Area Index measurements between treated and untreated trees. The prominence of green and yellow hues in the treated trees indicates a higher leaf density (Figure 4).

Figure 4:

“It wasn’t just a pretty picture — we now had the imagery and the stats to prove that we kept the leaves on the tree longer,” said Bingham. “As an agronomist, that’s a good thing because it's giving the tree a longer time to translocate all that energy from the leaves into the roots for storage so it is there for next spring.”

This imagery and data indicated the healthier the trees are going into dormancy, the healthier they would be in the spring, resulting in the increased bloom uniformity. 

A Proactive Approach to Almond Health

OPTRIENT foliar nutrients are designed to reduce plant stress and enhance nitrogen utilization, providing your crops with targeted nutrition exactly when and where they need it. To see how this targeted nutrition fits into a larger seasonal plan, explore the value of OPTRIENT in nut trees.

Contact your KAS representative today to see how OPTRIENT MoCo-Ni can improve your crop's performance.

OPTRIENT MoCo-Ni is not registered for sale or use in all states.