INDUSTRY NEWS
Californian Almond Conference gives global growers food for thought
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THE 2025 Californian Almond Conference presentations provided plenty of food for thought for growers across the globe. Potentially, the most exciting news was results coming out of the Regional Varietal Trials that have been staged across four sites. The early data shown had USDA selffertile new variety Yorizane as the best performer. Second and third leaf yields and crack-outs had it rated highly. Its semi-hard shell and colour were also attracting plenty of attention. Australian varieties Mira, Carina and Vela are part of these trials and seem to stack up yield wise. Rootstocks Krymsk86, Hansen 536 and Nemaguard had been used on different sites in the trials. The need for self-compatible varieties remains a strong focus for nurseries and growers both in California and Australia. An insightful panel that featured Roger Duncan and Luke Milliron from the University of California, along with Josette Lewis from the ABC and nurserymen Reid Robinson from Sierra Gold and Tom Burchell, from Burchell Nursery, provided a look into the future of replants and the decisions growers faced. The results of these trials is generating widespread interest among nurseries and growers and the early data has prompted widespread debate, when evaluating second and • Price third leaf yields as opposed to longer • Quality term productivity and then balancing • Consistency it out against crack out percentages. The one key message consistent from Key considerations on varietal all nurseries for those replanting was selection were multi-faceted and it the lived experience that replanting was clear that California growers with the same rootstock as the are facing all the same questions as previous trees was not an option and Australians: would be“ a disaster”.
• Pollen compatibility
• Relative bloom periods Gene edited varieties
• Diseases The ongoing challenges with
• Insects pollination costs has nurseries and
• Genetic disorders growers seeking the holy grail – a
• Rootstock compatibility self-compatible variety that generates
• Risk level the same return as the traditional
• Aesthetics nonpareil. The headline from this
• Relative harvest timing panel was the break-through on gene
• Ease of nut removal edited varieties.
• Number of shakes needed Representatives from Burchell’ s and
• Marketing classification Sierra Gold nurseries both gave
In A Nutshell- Autumn 2026 Vol 27 Issue 1
ABA CEO Tim Jackson and ABA independent chairman Alan Hoppe at the Almond Board of California’ s conference in December.
presentations on their revolutionary gene edited varieties – Fruition 1 and Nonpareil Plus. Both claim to be boasting all the same sensory and visual characteristics of the pollinated nonpareil but are selfcompatible. It is very much early days, but timelines provided during the presentation suggest the first harvest of these will come in 2031 and could be 1 % of harvested volumes by 2035
The ongoing challenges with pollination costs has nurseries and growers seeking the holy grail- a self-compatible variety that generates the same return as the traditional nonpareil.