INDUSTRY NEWS
California almond update
CALIFORNIA ' S almond harvest is expected to be three billion pounds , a 24 % increase on last year . The forecast was issued by the US Department of Agriculture ’ s National Agricultural Statistics Service ( USDA- NASS ) in May . If the three billion pound crop is achieved it will be the second largest Californian crop on record . The subjective forecast is generated from a survey of 500 randomly selected almond growers from April 19 to May 5 . On July 10 the USDA-NASS will release its second production estimate , which will be based on almond counts in around 1,000 orchards . Meanwhile , California ’ s bearing almond acreage decreased slightly in the past year , according to the latest report from Land IQ . It ’ s estimated that 1.373 million acres of orchards will be harvested in California , which is a decrease of around 600 acres .
This the first time since at least 1995 that the total bearing acres hasn ’ t grown . Land IQ ’ s 2024 Standing Acreage Initial Estimate issued in April looked at orchards planted before 2022 and that have matured enough to produce a crop for the 2024 harvest . About 71,000 acres of orchards are expected to be removed by the end of the crop year , adding to the 83,000 acres removed in the 2023-24 crop year according to Land IQ . Almond Board of California
president and CEO Clarice Turner said the LandIQ data from the past few years signals a probable trend toward lower overall almond acreage . “ We continue to see strong shipments this year , so we know global demand for California almonds continues to grow ,” she said . “ There is no doubt that almonds will continue to have a very significant role in California and global agriculture and food industries for the foreseeable future .”
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