ABA Riverland grower director Luke Stoeckel, Industry Development Officer Josh Fielke, Brian Andersen from OMC, Sunraysia grower director Neale Bennett, Riverina grower director James Callipari and Adelaide Plains grower director and Deputy Chair Peter Cavallaro at the Almond Board of California’s conference.
REPRESENTATIVES from the Almond Board of Australia travelled to the United States in December for the Almond Board of California’s conference. ABA chairman Peter Hayes and incoming chairman Alan Hoppe were joined by grower directors Peter Cavallaro, Luke Stoeckel, Neale Bennett and James Callipari. ABA CEO Tim Jackson, Marketing Manager Melissa Wyness, Marketing Officer Tom Cooper and Industry Development Manager Josh Fielke also attended. Neale Bennett provided the following summary of the trip.
MORE than 3,000 people registered for the Almond Board of California's conference, which was held in Sacramento.
Grower confidence in the industry is slowly returning, with a slight price rise in the past year. Carryover is down to 500 million pounds, however, growth in exports only increased by 1.6%.
California’s bearing acreage is currently 1,383,332 acres, while nonbearing acreage is 142,308.
Grower returns and the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act plan through various water districts will influence what happens to almond plantings in the coming years. One of the outstanding sessions covered was the economics of growing almonds and it focused on the actual costs verses the returns to growers.
To survive in the current economic climate the return to growers needs to be above $USD2.50/lb. The other session that stood out was the new pest and diseases in almonds. While it highlighted red leaf blotch and carpophilus beetle, there was a very generous compliment paid to the Australian industry and researchers for sharing findings on the beetle.
It was suggested that there could be significant ground gained with joint research, where two seasons of data and trial work can be gathered in one year.
Processing equipment was heavily represented in the trade show. The interest in sorters, blanchers, packaging and shelling machinery reinforces the sorting problems the carpophilus beetle and Navel orange worm are causing.
The day before the conference the ABA had a two-hour meeting with the Almond Board of California. A range of topics were discussed including varieties, crop forecasts, tariffs and opportunities for collaboration.
The delegation also visited the University of California Davis to meet Patrick Brown where Monterey decline was the primary focus. We were also introduced to Professor Stavros Vougioukas who has been doing work on yield monitoring which has potential.
The trip to California provided value through building relationships, networking and maintaining ties we have with the ABC that are of high value and importance.
This needs to be maintained to stay up to date and relevant in the wider industry.