TS&L 2025 Processing Tomato Season Opener

• July 16th, Dinner starting at 5:30pm at Westside Transplant Huron
• July 17th, Trial from 9:30am - 12:30pm at Pereira Farms
• July 17th, Lunch at 12:30pm - 12:30pm at Westside Transplant Huron
• See link below for all details, including location information

Potassium (K) is critical to processing tomato health and fruit quality - but not all soils supply enough. In California’s southern Sacramento Valley, most soils aren’t naturally deficient. That said, long-term tomato rotations can slowly deplete available K.

Recent CTRI-funded research shows that soils coming into tomato after decades in other crops have higher available K than neighboring fields with continuous tomato history. While not all fields hit the threshold where K fertilization pays off, this drop over time suggests growers should keep an eye on levels.

Tomatoes are heavy K users: a 50-ton crop can remove up to 300 lbs of K per acre. If needed, a general fertigation recommendation is around 100 lbs K₂O/acre. Consider soil texture, root health, and competing ions when evaluating deficiency risks. More information in the links below.

Got a tough soilborne disease issue? Start by calling your local Farm Advisor - they can visit your field and help get a sample to the diagnostics lab at UC Davis. This lab, run by the Swett team, is the backbone of tomato fungal soil-borne disease research in California. The field-level recommendations we share through CTRI-funded projects are built on the diagnostics that start there. This service is only possible thanks to support from CTRI grower members.

Our 2025 project list highlights priorities like: expanding the broomrape control pipeline, testing Matrix chemigation for bindweed suppression, advancing disease- and stress-resistant genetics, and new pest control strategies to help the California Industry stay ahead of rising pest and regulatory pressures.

In 2024, CTRI delivered:



• 80% emergence reduction confirmed (with no yield drag) for the broomrape Matrix chemigation strategy.
• Side-by-side automated transplanter evaluations, validating performance and productivity gains.
• qPCR diagnostics that cut fungal pathogen turnaround from months to weeks.
• $1.7 million in outside grant funding secured for grower-priority research.
• UC and UCANR hiring commitments for 2025: a new TGRC Director, statewide Vegetable Extension Specialist, and a Colusa-based Advisor – strengthening the research infrastructure our industry depends on.

We build durable coalitions around the questions whose answers drive the long term success of the California processing tomato industry. Founded in 1968, the CTRI is a non-profit organization of processing tomato growers.