Great news for growers! The California Water Bond has been officially approved for the 2018 ballot. So what does it entail? Watch this brief video interview with Gerald Meral from the Natural Heritage Institute as he explains and read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
Farmers in multiple regions of California have been receiving threatening letters from the State Water Board, imposing enormous fines and demanding them to provide clean drinking water to their communities. The Water Board is preparing to send out hundreds more of these letters to farmers throughout the state. This is not just; and to protect farmers from receiving these letters, all the while helping to provide clean drinking water to disadvantaged communities, agricultural organizations throughout the state are uniting in support of a new bill SB 623 to accomplish this. Learn more by watching this brief video interview with Tricia Geringer from Ag Council of California, based on her recent presentation at the Almond Alliance Annual Convention in Monterey.
In spite of concerns about freezing weather during almond bloom, the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is predicting a record crop in 2018. According to the NASS 2018 Almond Subjective Forecast issued today, California almond orchards are expected to produce 2.30 billion pounds of nuts this year, up 1.3% from last year’s 2.27 billion-pound crop.[1]
“Almond farmers used a variety of techniques to manage freezing nighttime temperatures in some parts of the Central Valley during bloom this year and those efforts appear to have worked,” said Richard Waycott, president and CEO, Almond Board of California. “Every year weather impacts farming, but almond trees thrive in our state because California is home to the world’s most efficient almond farmers, who continually improve their practices and rise to the challenge.”
The Almond Subjective Forecast, the first of two California almond forecast reports for this year’s crop, is based on opinions obtained from randomly selected almond farmers located throughout the state via a phone survey conducted in April and May. Farmers were asked to indicate their almond yield per acre from last year and expected yield for the current year based on field observations. Those estimates are then combined and extrapolated to arrive at the numbers reported in the Almond Subjective Forecast.
While the Almond Subjective Forecast provides early estimates of the coming crop after it is set, the 2018 California Almond Objective Report, which is released in July, uses a more statistically rigorous methodology. It is typically the more accurate of the two reports. Objective Report data is based on actual almond counts and measurements taken in orchards throughout the state, starting in May and ending in July.
The Objective Report will be released July 5, 2018, at noon PDT. Both the report and the forecast are conducted by the USDA and funded by the Almond Board of California to provide almond farmers, processors and shippers with estimates to help them make business decisions.
Last month, the 2017 California Almond Acreage Report showed bearing acres, that is orchards old enough to produce a crop, were up 6% at 1 million acres. Total almond acres for 2017 were estimated at 1.33 million acres, up 7% from the previous year.
[1] USDA-NASS. 2018 California Almond Subjective Forecast. May 2018.
[one_half]This image was featured in the 2018 Pacific Nut Producer Calendar for the month of May. It is free for personal use for a desktop wallpaper etc. Commercial use of this image without written consent is prohibited.
[/one_half][one_half_last][btn btnlink=”http://www.pacificnutproducer.com/download/271/” btnsize=”full” txtcolor=”#ffffff” color=”#FFF” bgcolor=”#492500″ btnnewt=”1″ nofollow=”1″] Download Image[/btn]
[btn btnlink=”https://malcolmmedia.com/order-a-back-issue/back-issue-pacific-nut-producer-magazine/” btnsize=”full” txtcolor=”#ffffff” color=”#FFF” bgcolor=”#492500″ btnnewt=”1″ nofollow=”1″]Order A PNP Calendar[/btn]
[btn btnlink=”http://malcolmmedia.com/pacific-nut-producer-magazine-subscriptions/” btnsize=”full” txtcolor=”#ffffff” bgcolor=”#492500″ btnnewt=”1″ nofollow=”1″]Subscribe Free[/btn][/one_half_last]
Amidst all the political and regulatory turmoil growers deal with in California, they continue trying to do what they do best, and Ag lobbyists like George Soares who spoke at the Annual Pistachio Conference, are doing their best to relay the grower message in Sacramento to limit and reduce the overwhelming legislative and regulatory burdens placed on them. Watch Soares’ brief interview here and read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
There is a lot going on in Ag politics right now. Other than the tariff wars going on currently, check out what Jim Zion shared in his legislative update report at the recent Pistachio Conference in this brief interview. Read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
When do you start pruning pistachios? Topping, hedging, hand-pruning… How do you go about it? Watch this interview with UCCE Emeritus Farm Advisor Bob Beede as he shares some tips at the Annual American Pistachio Growers Conference. Read more about it in Bob’s monthly column in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
The Almond Alliance of California recently announced new President and CEO Elaine Trevino, who just started on the job at the beginning of this month. It was sad to lose former CEO Kelly Covello, who made tremendous contributions to the association and the almond industry, but the Board is excited to embark on a new era with Elaine, who introduces herself in this video and will address the industry at their upcoming annual convention, May 1-3. Watch this brief video and read more it in the April issue of Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
[one_half]This image was featured in the 2018 Pacific Nut Producer Calendar for the month of April. It is free for personal use for a desktop wallpaper etc. Commercial use of this image without written consent is prohibited.
[/one_half][one_half_last][btn btnlink=”http://www.pacificnutproducer.com/download/269/” btnsize=”full” txtcolor=”#ffffff” color=”#FFF” bgcolor=”#492500″ btnnewt=”1″ nofollow=”1″] Download Image[/btn]
[btn btnlink=”https://malcolmmedia.com/order-a-back-issue/back-issue-pacific-nut-producer-magazine/” btnsize=”full” txtcolor=”#ffffff” color=”#FFF” bgcolor=”#492500″ btnnewt=”1″ nofollow=”1″]Order A PNP Calendar[/btn]
[btn btnlink=”http://malcolmmedia.com/pacific-nut-producer-magazine-subscriptions/” btnsize=”full” txtcolor=”#ffffff” bgcolor=”#492500″ btnnewt=”1″ nofollow=”1″]Subscribe Free[/btn][/one_half_last]
What if you could have a pistachio variety that you could harvest earlier to reduce the chances of having Navel Orangeworm damage and concern for Aflatoxin levels? Well, the new early ‘Gumdrop’ pistachio is here. At the Annual American Pistachio Growers Conference, Bob Klein from the Pistachio Research Board talked about this new variety that is now available to growers on a small scale. Read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.