Petty Ranch / Chris Sayer
@pettyranch.bsky.social
Avocado grower in Ventura County, CA. Former Navy P3C pilot, current Farm Bureau member
We don't disc our soil except to plant #covercrop. I did a few wind sheltered rows today to make sure the gear was ready. Planning to disc Mon-Tues, seed Wed, enjoy the rain Thu next week. If nature cooperates.
November 7, 2025 at 7:38 PM
We don't disc our soil except to plant #covercrop. I did a few wind sheltered rows today to make sure the gear was ready. Planning to disc Mon-Tues, seed Wed, enjoy the rain Thu next week. If nature cooperates.
Budgeting for 2026 is a priority right now. And to do that I need to spend a fair amount of time looking at #avocados. Even though yield and pricing is uncertain, it gives me a number to base assumptions on. This would be so much easier if I knew what to expect!
November 5, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Budgeting for 2026 is a priority right now. And to do that I need to spend a fair amount of time looking at #avocados. Even though yield and pricing is uncertain, it gives me a number to base assumptions on. This would be so much easier if I knew what to expect!
With some nice rain possible next week , it might be time to disk between the young #avocado trees so we can seed the #covercrop just before the rain arrives. We'll get the equipment ready and watch the weather.
November 4, 2025 at 4:46 PM
With some nice rain possible next week , it might be time to disk between the young #avocado trees so we can seed the #covercrop just before the rain arrives. We'll get the equipment ready and watch the weather.
Yeah, a lot of CA citrus acreage was developed this way. Not so much avocados initially, but those have replaced a lot of the citrus groves. The eco-system of packinghouses and service providers has evolved, but still has much "co-op DNA."
Fruit coops in CA did some land developments where they basically sold 5-acre ranchette homes, that came pre-planted with citrus or avocado groves.
IIRC the new homeowners had the option to either manage the groves themselves, or just live there & have the co-op manage it.
IIRC the new homeowners had the option to either manage the groves themselves, or just live there & have the co-op manage it.
I wonder if there are any replicable examples of how to get office workers to put together their capital into loan funds or cooperatively financed farms that farm workers can run and eventually own. Seems that if big capital won’t help us, maybe we could help each other?
November 3, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Yeah, a lot of CA citrus acreage was developed this way. Not so much avocados initially, but those have replaced a lot of the citrus groves. The eco-system of packinghouses and service providers has evolved, but still has much "co-op DNA."
"Or moral"
Russ Vought set out to ensure a second Trump term would not be hampered by checks and balances: “I don’t want President Trump having to lose a moment of time having fights in the Oval Office about whether something is legal or doable or moral.”
By @andykroll.bsky.social, with @newyorker.com
By @andykroll.bsky.social, with @newyorker.com
Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President
From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that…
www.propublica.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:11 PM
"Or moral"
Reposted by Petty Ranch / Chris Sayer
Just stop clicking on this shit, I'm serious. People re-heat these "one weird trick so Trump can run again" stories bc people will skip over actual news to read them.
this is paywalled, but I suppose this is the moronic “he could be elected vice president and then the president could resign” theory. I am mad at every lib law professor who has entertained this Rube-Goldberg bullshit
There is a legal case for a third term—but it is strewn with obstacles
October 30, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Just stop clicking on this shit, I'm serious. People re-heat these "one weird trick so Trump can run again" stories bc people will skip over actual news to read them.
Reposted by Petty Ranch / Chris Sayer
If someone wanted to harm USA agriculture they'd do 5 things.
1. Deport labor, make work in USA inhospitable
2. Start tariff wars that end US commodity crop exports
3. Fire experts in transmissible livestock disease
4. Invite/subsidize foreign meat competition
5. Tell farmers how much I love them.
1. Deport labor, make work in USA inhospitable
2. Start tariff wars that end US commodity crop exports
3. Fire experts in transmissible livestock disease
4. Invite/subsidize foreign meat competition
5. Tell farmers how much I love them.
October 26, 2025 at 10:17 PM
If someone wanted to harm USA agriculture they'd do 5 things.
1. Deport labor, make work in USA inhospitable
2. Start tariff wars that end US commodity crop exports
3. Fire experts in transmissible livestock disease
4. Invite/subsidize foreign meat competition
5. Tell farmers how much I love them.
1. Deport labor, make work in USA inhospitable
2. Start tariff wars that end US commodity crop exports
3. Fire experts in transmissible livestock disease
4. Invite/subsidize foreign meat competition
5. Tell farmers how much I love them.
85 degrees and 25% RH just after 10AM. The young #avocado trees are well hydrated, but we may need to give them a little water today if the wind kicks up.
October 28, 2025 at 5:20 PM
85 degrees and 25% RH just after 10AM. The young #avocado trees are well hydrated, but we may need to give them a little water today if the wind kicks up.
3/4 of the year, we're on track to hit a pretty good water conservation number. Late spring rains, no Santa Anas, lots of mulch, efficient sprinklers and soil moisture monitoring combine for good results. Should finish around 1 acre-foot/ acre water use for 10k lbs/acre avocados
October 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
3/4 of the year, we're on track to hit a pretty good water conservation number. Late spring rains, no Santa Anas, lots of mulch, efficient sprinklers and soil moisture monitoring combine for good results. Should finish around 1 acre-foot/ acre water use for 10k lbs/acre avocados
I believe that CA #avocados will keep a place in the market. But concentration of production in Ventura County may make it more difficult to harvest and ship fruit in the optimal window for price and quality. Not sure there's an easy way to mitigate that risk.
October 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I believe that CA #avocados will keep a place in the market. But concentration of production in Ventura County may make it more difficult to harvest and ship fruit in the optimal window for price and quality. Not sure there's an easy way to mitigate that risk.
Good news for consumers: wholesale avocado prices remain low. Your local retailer sets their own price, but in general it's putting downward pressure on the retail price. An oversupply may continue into the early part of the new year. Eat 'em up. Please and thank you.
October 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Good news for consumers: wholesale avocado prices remain low. Your local retailer sets their own price, but in general it's putting downward pressure on the retail price. An oversupply may continue into the early part of the new year. Eat 'em up. Please and thank you.
Only about 8/10 of an inch of rain at Saticoy so far, but we're seeing it reflected in soil moisture throughout the root zone of the #avocados. A little more to come before this system moves on.
October 14, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Only about 8/10 of an inch of rain at Saticoy so far, but we're seeing it reflected in soil moisture throughout the root zone of the #avocados. A little more to come before this system moves on.
For about 7000 years before people like me got involved, human beings were domesticating wild #avocados into the fruit we know and love. Today seems like a good day to acknowledge and thank them.
October 14, 2025 at 12:31 AM
For about 7000 years before people like me got involved, human beings were domesticating wild #avocados into the fruit we know and love. Today seems like a good day to acknowledge and thank them.
Reposted by Petty Ranch / Chris Sayer
Do not shine lasers at aircraft for fuck's sake. It is not a righteous act of protest.
It is a monumentally stupid and dangerous thing to do and will likely land you in prison.
It is a monumentally stupid and dangerous thing to do and will likely land you in prison.
someone on the Internet who really wants to convince you to shine lasers at manned aircraft as a protest tactic “because they did it in Chile in 2019” is either:
1. a fascist fed, or,
2. so terminally stupid that they have become functionally indistinguishable from one
1. a fascist fed, or,
2. so terminally stupid that they have become functionally indistinguishable from one
October 12, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Do not shine lasers at aircraft for fuck's sake. It is not a righteous act of protest.
It is a monumentally stupid and dangerous thing to do and will likely land you in prison.
It is a monumentally stupid and dangerous thing to do and will likely land you in prison.
Roscoe looking for that rain that's supposed to be coming. Doesn't look like it yet, but they say more than an inch is expected in the next 48 hours.
October 12, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Roscoe looking for that rain that's supposed to be coming. Doesn't look like it yet, but they say more than an inch is expected in the next 48 hours.
Today's plan for irrigation and fertilizer did not survive a water valve which had stuck in the "closed" position. I got it replaced, did a few other maintenance jobs on the system, and got the water applied. But we'll need to feed the #avocados another day.
October 8, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Today's plan for irrigation and fertilizer did not survive a water valve which had stuck in the "closed" position. I got it replaced, did a few other maintenance jobs on the system, and got the water applied. But we'll need to feed the #avocados another day.
It was a great morning to learn from some of the best #avocado growers on the planet at the annual gathering of the CA Avocado Society... conveniently held only about 2 miles from Petty Ranch this year.
October 3, 2025 at 10:07 PM
It was a great morning to learn from some of the best #avocado growers on the planet at the annual gathering of the CA Avocado Society... conveniently held only about 2 miles from Petty Ranch this year.
Is it #tactober or #guactober? Why not both? Carnitas tacos with guacamole are hard to beat.
October 2, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Is it #tactober or #guactober? Why not both? Carnitas tacos with guacamole are hard to beat.
Even though the days are getting shorter, the #avocados are still growing and the fruit is still sizing up for next season. Today the trees in Santa Paula get a little Nitrogen, Potassium, Zinc, and Calcium to help support that growth.
October 1, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Even though the days are getting shorter, the #avocados are still growing and the fruit is still sizing up for next season. Today the trees in Santa Paula get a little Nitrogen, Potassium, Zinc, and Calcium to help support that growth.
Unlike Hegseth, I was a military officer in 1990, and can tell you with certainty that he would have been notable not for his lethality but for his quantity of hair product.
September 30, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Unlike Hegseth, I was a military officer in 1990, and can tell you with certainty that he would have been notable not for his lethality but for his quantity of hair product.
Finger limes. Not a crop we grow at commercial scale , but we have enough for a farm-to-table dinner coming up. (Our avocados won't be on the menu since the season is over.)
September 30, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Finger limes. Not a crop we grow at commercial scale , but we have enough for a farm-to-table dinner coming up. (Our avocados won't be on the menu since the season is over.)
Reposted by Petty Ranch / Chris Sayer
@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social: "The United States military is justly respected. It holds itself to high standards. It should do so tomorrow at Marine Corps Base Quantico."
An important Morning Shots, only @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/remember-t...
An important Morning Shots, only @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/remember-t...
Remember: They Are Not His Generals.
Tomorrow’s gathering of hundreds of general and flag officers has an ominous tone about it. Attendees should go in prepared.
www.thebulwark.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:36 PM
@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social: "The United States military is justly respected. It holds itself to high standards. It should do so tomorrow at Marine Corps Base Quantico."
An important Morning Shots, only @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/remember-t...
An important Morning Shots, only @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/remember-t...