INDUSTRY NEWS total hectares, around 74 per cent, making it the clear go-to for the overwhelming majority of Australian growers. At the same time, a slower shift is underway toward self-fertile varieties, as more growers weigh up the potential benefits of reduced reliance on pollination. It’ s exactly the kind of movement the planting survey is built to catch: a real-time read on where grower interest is heading, well before it shows up in aerial imagery. This is what makes the survey such a valuable complement to the Almond Board’ s broader data programs, pairing this grower-reported detail on rootstock, variety and regional shifts with independent spatial verification work. That spatial verification comes courtesy of the Almond Board’ s renewed partnership with Land IQ, the agricultural mapping specialist engaged to independently confirm the industry’ s footprint. Building on a 2023 baseline, Land IQ’ s most recent mapping put total plantings at 70,968 hectares, up from 62,428 hectares three years earlier, figures that track closely with what the planting survey is now showing and lend extra confidence to the picture it paints.
Land IQ’ s process fuses satellite and aerial imagery with painstaking on-the-ground verification, with specialists analysing multi-spectral imagery and crop vegetation signatures to map orchards remotely before validating those findings through extensive“ ground-truthing”. In January 2026 that meant Land IQ and Almond Board staff clocking up more than 4,000km across growing regions, physically inspecting orchards, logging GPS coordinates and confirming tree age and land use along the way. Fed back into Land IQ’ s models, that field data sharpens accuracy to a reported 99 per cent and minimises the risk of under-reporting. Together, the two data sets tell a consistent story: an industry approaching 71,000 hectares, with the Riverina, Riverland and Goulburn Valley driving much of the recent growth.
Expanding the statistics program The Almond Board of Australia is extending its statistics program to include industry benchmarking. Growers interested in learning more, or getting involved, are encouraged to get in touch with the ABA team at communications @ australianalmonds. com. au.
INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE
70,968ha total plantings, up from 62,428ha in 2023.
Nemaguard dominates as rootstock of choice, accounting for 52,479.6ha or 74 % of total plantings.
Riverina, Riverland and Goulburn driving most of recent growth.
Adelaide Plains continues decline in total plantings.
Slow shift underway towards more self-fertile varieties.
Over 4,000km covered in January 2026 by Land IQ and ABA staff to gather and confirm industry insights.
* Data courtesy Land IQ
industry. australianalmonds. com. au
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