A seasoned harvest
UNTIMELY rain is well recognised as one of the biggest challenges for almond growers during harvest . The logistics for harvest is complicated enough and wet weather makes it even more so , requiring additional measures to dry the nuts before processing . In the lead up to harvest 2022 the weather has caused one of the toughest years for many almond growers . Some parts of Australia have seen their wettest rainfalls on record and growers in all almond growing regions have spent many-an-hour watching weather forecasts and trying to work out if rainfall predictions will eventuate . In the Riverina region , growers have had one of their wettest years this year with rain gauges at Griffith airport recording more than half of the average annual rainfall ( 399mm ) in January ( 172mm ) and March ( 53mm as of 22 March ) alone . The Riverina growers are no strangers to harvesting in wet conditions and have worked out what they need to do to keep their nuts dry . When the Industry Development Team visited the Riverina this harvest they observed :
• Many orchards are conditioning windrowed fruit as a standard practice to remove trash ( leaves ,
sticks and dirt ) collected during sweeping . Reducing the volume of material in windrows helps to reduce drying times and has the added benefit of burning less fuel in moving the product around .
• Most growers have designated drying areas for finish drying the fruit . These open areas have better light interception and wind movement , so the nuts dry faster and can reduce drying times from one day in the orchard , to four days on the drying area … depending on the weather of course !
• More growers have invested in on-farm storage sheds to protect the fruit from getting wet before sending to the processor working with local engineers to maximise the storage efficiency within these structures .
Many of these harvest practices have been pioneered and perfected by our Riverina growers and are fast becoming common practice in other almond growing areas to protect against wet weather . The ABA Industry Development Team have developed a number of grower resources in recent years in response to the threat of La Niña activity and adverse weather it brings . The ABA Webinar series , designed with a focus on coping with a wet season , can be found on the
ABA Website .
INSET : Denis and Dean Dinicola getting the most of their farm storage shed .
industry . australianalmonds . com . au
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