AUSTRALIAN ALMOND
CONFERENCE
Australia and California working together
THERE are many opportunities for the Australian and Californian almond industries to learn from each other , according to Josette Lewis , Chief Scientist from the Almond Board of California . “ It ’ s really great to see we share a lot of the same challenges ,” she said . “ And while a lot of the learnings have been California sharing information that the Australian industry can take advantage of , I also think there ’ s an opportunity for us to learn some things as well from the Australians . “ It ’ s great to better understand the similarities and differences between our industries .” Ms Lewis said it was clear conference attendees were there to learn and improve . “ I think it ’ s the same in California as it is in Australia ( with a thirst for knowledge ),” she said . " It ’ s interesting to see the two different stages happening at the same night . “ You see a pretty big exodus of what looked like growers to me to hear about production research and we have that same dynamic at our conference . “ We spend more money on the marketing of almonds and we ’ re growing global demand , which I think Australia can clearly take advantage of . “ But the growers who come really want to know ‘ how do I solve the problems in my orchard ?’, ‘ how can I be more efficient and more profitable ?’. “ That ’ s pretty much the same for us , so you get a lot of interest in those research panels so they can learn how to become a great grower .” Ms Lewis said it was more important than ever for growers to learn how to be efficient on their properties . “ It ’ s a tough time for our industry in terms of profitability because of a whole host of problems like Covid-19 and the threat of global recession that really impacts our markets ,” she said . “ I ’ m hearing the same things here in Australia that growers are really feeling the pinch . “ It ’ s a time maybe when you double down on efficiency and profitability , and less on pushing onward and upward and more on tending to the basics and I ’ m hearing a lot of those conversations here . “ I think it ’ s a challenging time but still one where there ’ s opportunity to make progress and that progress will still pay off in the future .”
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We have to be part of the solution and we ' re stepping up ...
- Almond Board of California ' s Josette Lewis
“ One is a literal dollars and cents and getting more value from the products in our orchard … the kernels are only a third of what comes out each year , so we need to get more value from the shells and hulls , and biomass , that adds money back to the grower . “ It also has become an excellent sustainability story with whole of orchard recycling . “ I don ’ t know how many reporters I ’ ve talked to who get really excited about some of the interesting and weird and wonderful things we can do with almond hulls in particular .” Ms Lewis said the Almond Board of California will continue to work hard to achieve its sustainability and environmentally friendly goals .
industry . australianalmonds . com . au
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