Watch this interview with American Pistachio Growers President Richard Matoian as he provides the latest shipment trends for US pistachios with remarkable results. As shared at their annual pistachio industry conference, Matoian also conveys a realistic forecast for the future of the western pistachio industry, weighing out both concerns and confidence moving ahead.
Special Thanks to American Pistachio Growers for sponsoring this video.
As inflation and fluctuating global economics raise concern for Americans and California farmers, watch this brief interview with world-renowned economic forecaster Marci Rossell. Dr. Rossell recently addressed pistachio growers, processors and marketers at the annual Conference of American Pistachio Growers and shared some enlightening insights regarding the difference in today’s economic dynamics from the recessions of the past.
Special Thanks to American Pistachio Growers for sponsoring this video.
The Governor of California recently issued an Executive Order allowing local water districts to utilize floodwater for groundwater recharge purposes, a record amount of which will take place on California farmland. This is desperately needed and welcomed by farmers and other water users all over the state that have suffered decades of drought conditions. Watch this brief interview with Adam Borchard from the California Fresh Fruit Association for more insight on what the announcement entails.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Ranch Systems for their industry support.
Diamond Foods, packaged goods parent company for brands like Diamond of California®, announces today the relaunch of Harmony®, a 50-year-old Santa Cruz trail mix brand founded by two surfers who made a delicious portable snack of nuts and dried fruit so they never missed the next big wave. The brand is back and better than ever with a fresh look and two new tasty and nutritious trail mix varieties, Amped Omega-3 and Colossal Keto, both of which will debut at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California from March 9-11 (Hall A, #877).
In an effort to relaunch Harmony® and stay true to its original mission of “fueling your next adventure”, Diamond Foods opted to revamp the brand’s look and trail mix varieties using some of California’s best ingredients, including Diamond of California® Snack Walnuts and Sonoma Creamery® Parmesan Cheese Crisps. The two new trail mix varieties, Amped Omega-3 and Colossal Keto, were inspired by Harmony’s original recipe, Mega Mountain, and developed to highlight the nutritional qualities of tree nuts while also accommodating modern eating habits like the ketogenic diet.
“We are thrilled to be reimagining Harmony®, a local Northern California brand that was ahead of its time 50 plus years ago,” says Brian Huff, President of Diamond Foods. Doug Kozlow, Senior Marketing Manager for Harmony® and Diamond of California® adds, “Today, trail mixes are a staple for both everyday and epic adventures as they are a great source of plant-based protein and better-for-you fats. By bringing back the brand that started it all, we are excited to provide people with trail mix options that integrate into their active lifestyles.”
Harmony® Trail Mixes:
About Harmony®:
It all began in 1969. Two surfing buddies in Santa Cruz, California were hungry, but didn’t want to miss the next big wave. So, they made a delicious portable snack that included nuts & dried fruit, creating the original Harmony® trail mix. Soon after, local friends and family were asking for the surfers’ snacks and the Harmony® brand was born. Today, Harmony’s tradition of tasty and nutritious snacks is still carried out in California, home to some of the world’s finest walnuts and almonds, to ensure that every Harmony® snack is crafted with the right blend of high-quality ingredients to fuel your next adventure!
Now in its fifth year, the agriculture industry collaboration led by Growing Matters kicked off its annual BeSure! stewardship awareness campaign to promote best stewardship practices when using neonicotinoid products on farms and urban landscapes. Using a wide range of media channels, the BeSure! campaign reminds growers, crop protection applicators, urban landscape applicators, agricultural supply retailers and others to follow label directions and responsible stewardship measures for neonicotinoid products to minimize any potential impact on pollinators and other wildlife.
Since its inception in 2019, the BeSure! campaign is estimated to have reached millions of growers and applicators by providing them with access to multiple informational resources to help use crop treatments and plant protection treatments responsibly and avoid exposure to pollinators and wildlife.
“These past five years of the BeSure! campaign have been a testament to the longstanding, collaborative commitment by the industry to communicate about the importance of care and safety when using treated seed,” said Bethany Shively, Vice President of Strategic Communications at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). “When it comes to stewardship, we all have a role to play. We’re proud to partner with BeSure! to extend the reach of our mutual efforts around stewardship – to everyone who treats, handles or plants treated seed.”
In addition to ASTA, the campaign has been endorsed by the National Pesticide Safety Education Center (NPSEC), National Corn Growers Association, CropLife America, the Agricultural Retailers Association and the American Soybean Association (ASA), among others.
The food industry depends on crop protection products to meet consumer needs. Along with Brazil, India, and China, the United States ranks as one of the top countries for food production in the world and is also the world’s top food exporter. Neonicotinoids and other crop protection products ensure that growers can continue to grow the U.S. food supply at a sustainable rate, while minimizing risk to surrounding wildlife.
“Seed treatments, including neonicotinoid products, are an indispensable part of a grower’s toolbox. This vital application type can reduce the amount of pesticide being used and allow the product to be applied in a more environmentally sensitive manner, all while ensuring crops are protected when they are most susceptible to pests,” said Daryl Cates, ASA President and soybean farmer from Illinois. “The BeSure! stewardship program helps increase grower and applicator awareness so they are incorporating seed treatments into their practices safely, responsibly, and yet effectively. The American Soybean Association values its partnership with the Growing Matters coalition through the BeSure! program to achieve these important protections for our wildlife and natural resources.”
In addition to corn and soybean crops, the BeSure! campaign also includes fruits, nuts, vegetables, turf, trees and ornamental plants that are protected with neonicotinoid products.
Citrus growers, for example, use crop protection products to combat a deadly disease known as citrus greening. First detected in 2005, citrus greening is the single most serious threat to citrus farming and has shrunk Florida’s citrus production by 80%. Used safely and properly, neonicotinoids can help combat citrus greening by controlling its insect vectors – an ever-crucial tool as citrus demand in the U.S. continues to grow.
“Honey bees, other wildlife, and all segments of the Florida orange blossom honey industry rely heavily on blossoming citrus trees, and the BeSure! campaign reminds us that we all have a responsibility to protect the biodiversity of our planet through proper stewardship practices,” said Mike Aerts, Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs at the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.
Growers, applicators and others can go to GrowingMatters.org/BeSure for up-to-date stewardship tips and information. The BeSure! site also includes ASTA’s Guide to Seed Treatment Stewardship, including videos and brochures to show how treated seeds can be used in a way that avoids exposure to pollinators and other wildlife. The site contains a host of links to explain how neonicotinoids applications can be used responsibly, including the comprehensiveInsect Pollinators and Pesticide Product Stewardship Guide. Two downloadable fact sheets with five quick tips to guide best stewardship practices during planting season – one for growers and one for applicators – are also available.
Over the coming weeks, the campaign will share relevant updates and best stewardship tips via social media content (search using hashtag #BeSure), radio programming, outreach via industry trade groups, and a variety of digital content. For more information, please visit: GrowingMatters.org/BeSure.
About Growing Matters
Agriculture and horticulture are key to nourishing families and communities. Feeding a growing population, enhancing the beauty of our surroundings and a sustained commitment to environmental protection are fundamental needs that matter. Crop protection products, both natural and synthetic, are important tools that protect plants from tough and invasive pests that can devastate crops and urban landscapes. Growing Matters is funded by a consortium of companies committed to open and healthy scientific discourse on stewardship, benefits and alternatives to neonicotinoid insecticides in North America. Consortium members include Bayer, Syngenta, Valent U.S.A., BASF, and Mitsui Chemicals Agro, Inc. The BeSure! campaign is also supported by Gowan Company and PBI Gordon Corporation. Go to www.GrowingMatters.org for information, reports, videos and infographics on the benefits of neonicotinoid insecticides.
About American Seed Trade Association (ASTA)
Founded in 1883, the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) represents over 700 companies involved in seed production, plant breeding and related industries in North America. ASTA is the leading voice of action in all matters concerning the development, marketing and movement of seed, associated products and services throughout the world. The association’s broad membership offers varieties from alfalfa to zucchini and all production types including conventional, organic and biotech. ASTA promotes the development of better seed to produce better crops for a better quality of life. Go to www.betterseed.org.
About The American Soybean Association
The American Soybean Association represents U.S. soybean farmers on domestic and international policy issues important to the soybean industry. ASA has 26 affiliated state associations representing 30 soybean-producing states and more than 500,000 soybean farmers. Find more information at soygrowers.com.
About the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association
The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association (FFVA) acts as a strong voice for Florida farmers who grow nutritious fruits and vegetables to feed our country. FFVA is the state’s leading full-service specialty crop organization, serving Florida’s grower-shipper community since 1943. We represent a broad range of crops, including vegetables, citrus, tropical fruit, berries, sod, sugar cane, tree crops and more. Our mission is to enhance the business and competitive environment for producing and marketing fruits, vegetables and other crops.
In effort to improve area-wide management of navel orangeworm, the number one pest of the California tree nut industry, the Almond Board of California has launched a new website to help growers and PCAs coordinate/collaborate on mating disruption efforts. Funded by a grant from the California DPR, the Almond Board has created this new online tool with support from Land IQ, Blue Diamond Growers, and the UC Cooperative Extension. Watch this video interview with Jesse Roseman and read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.
While there has been research and work underway to move the almond industry to off-ground harvesting such as is done in pistachios, harvested almonds currently spend just enough time in the dust of orchard floors that they can pick up trace residues of herbicides. Watch this brief interview with UC Cooperative Extension Weed Specialist Brad Hanson as he shares how growers can mitigate this risk with more effective weed management planning and timing of herbicide sprays.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees for the American Pecan Promotion Board. Nominees are needed to fill six seats for members whose terms end on Sep. 30, 2023, and one vacant seat with a term that ends on Sep. 30, 2024.
The American Pecan Promotion Board is seeking nominees for the following seats:
Members appointed to the producer and importer seats will serve three-year terms. The member appointed to the vacant seat will serve a one-year term.
The Western Region consists of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, plus any states in the U.S. whose land mass is in the Mountain or Pacific Time zones, plus any U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean. The Central Region consists of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, plus any U.S. state with the majority of its land mass is in the Central Time Zone.
The board is made up of 17 industry members including ten producers and seven importers.
To serve on the board, producers and importers must have produced or imported more than 50,000 pounds of inshell pecans (25,000 pounds of shelled pecans), on average, for four fiscal periods. Producers who produce pecans in more than one region may seek nomination only in the region in which they produce the majority of their pecans.
More information about the board is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) American Pecan Promotion Board webpage or on the board’s website at www.eatpecans.com. You may also contact the American Pecan Promotion Board at industry@eatpecans.com or by phone at (817) 985-3034, or USDA Marketing Specialist Alex Caryl at Alexandra.Caryl@usda.gov or by phone at (202) 253-4768.
AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of its industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, marketing strategies, and other distinguishing factors, including but not limited to individuals from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Throughout the full nomination process, the industry must conduct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved communities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.
Since 1966, Congress has authorized industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight to 22 boards. The oversight ensures fiscal accountability and program integrity, and is paid for by industry assessments.
The iconic “Get Crackin’” campaign that helped Wonderful® Pistachios become a household name is back! America’s #1 Nut®, Wonderful Pistachios, will feature nostalgic talent alongside some of the latest trends to relaunch Get Crackin’ and celebrate the unique ways people enjoy cracking open and eating pistachios. The campaign brings irreverent humor in a new series of commercials, will set world records at the “Wonderful Pistachios Get Crackin’ Eating Championship” and encourages TikTok users to #GetCrackin.
Live now, Get Crackin’ showcases how nursery rhyme legend Humpty Dumpty “does it with a great fall,” how the Universe “does it with a big bang,” and how the world’s number-one-ranked competitive eater Joey Chestnut “does it like a champ.” Additional spots rolling out over the next few months include everyone’s favorite ghost-chomping arcade icon PAC-MAN™, and Spot®, an agile mobile robot with a decidedly doggy name from Boston Dynamics. The campaign will live across cable outlets, digital streaming platforms, and on social media.
“Get Crackin’ succeeded because it cracked social media before we had social media. We’re excited to bring that forward-thinking perspective to the platforms that drive culture today,” said Michael Perdigao, President, The Wonderful Agency. “True to the spirit of the initial campaign, Get Crackin’ 2.0 will be in conversation with culture at the moment that it’s happening—identifying, partnering, and launching both our unique brand and the unique talent that’s drawn us forward.”
The Get Crackin’ ad campaigns have become a barometer for social media and internet trends over the past decade. Former Get Crackin’ castmates have included award winning host and executive producer of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” Stephen Colbert, “The Jersey Shore’s” Snooki, Snoop Dogg, and internet sensations PSY, Honey Badger and Keyboard Cat among others.
Wonderful Pistachios Get Crackin’ Eating Championship at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier
Wonderful Pistachios will also Get Crackin’ with a new world record. Wonderful Pistachios has teamed up with Major League Eating to host the “Wonderful Pistachios Get Crackin’ Eating Championship” on World Pistachio Day, February 26, 2023. World champion competitive eater Joey Chestnut and other top-ranked Major League Eating athletes including Geoffrey Esper, Miki Sudo, and Nick Wehry will vie for a world record for pistachio-cracking and -eating at the inaugural event taking place at 10:00 a.m. PST at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier.
Competitors will have eight minutes to crack open and eat as many Wonderful Pistachios as possible in a battle for the championship title and $10,000 in cash prizes.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information on the Wonderful Pistachios Get Crackin’ Eating Championship, please visit https://majorleagueeating.com/contests/946.
#GetCrackin on TikTok with Wonderful Pistachios
Wonderful Pistachios is also extending the campaign to TikTok, partnering with talented creators to show how they uniquely Get Crackin’. Thoren Bradley does it on his first attempt. Daniel and David Hulett do it with a trick shot. And, Elladj Balde does it on a single blade.
Earlier this month, Shawn Johnson, Alex Wong, and Vanesa Amaro helped launch a Wonderful Pistachios’ #GetCrackin branded hashtag challenge. TikTok users applied a custom branded effect to share fun videos of how they creatively cracked open Wonderful Pistachios. The contest ended on February 20, 2023, and the winner will receive $10,000 and a one-year supply of Wonderful Pistachios.
How will you Get Crackin’? Visit Wonderful Pistachios at GetCrackin.com, or on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook@WonderfulPistachios to learn more.
Op-Ed by Robert Verloop, Executive Director and CEO, California Walnut Board/Commission — The California Walnut Board and Commission are asking for industry involvement through participation in elections and weighing in on the strategic planning process.
The California walnut industry is facing some of its greatest challenges, from rising costs and a maturing market to global competition, the effects of drought/heatwave and a mounting list of obstacles. But I believe a brighter future is ahead — and it requires the involvement of growers and handlers of all types and sizes to lend their ideas, critical thinking power and time to advance the industry.
As Executive Director and CEO, I’m committed to creating space for this to happen by fostering a culture of openness, inclusion, collaboration and transparency – and there are lots of ways to get involved. At the top of the list is board service.
Board and Committee Service Provides Opportunity to Make Your Voice Heard
Elected board members serve a critical role in guiding our industry, offering their unique knowledge and expertise, representing the interests of growers and handlers in their regions, and providing oversight and governance functions to the California Walnut Board and Commission.
The nomination and election process for both the board and commission will soon be underway. We are looking for individuals who recognize the importance of board functions and are willing to put their “company” hats aside and think and act for the betterment of the industry overall. We are looking for people to not simply rubber stamp the decisions of the CEO or any one individual, but rather respectfully push themselves, each other and the industry to think big and challenge the status quo in order to advance. This means asking tough questions, engaging in respectful dialogue and not being afraid to move away from activities and practices that are not serving the industry well.
If you are unable to serve as an elected board member, you may want to consider serving on a committee that aligns with your knowledge and interests. The California Walnut Board and Commission work through broad based committees and working groups, including marketing and market development; production research; health research; issues management; and grades and standards. Serving on these committees and working groups is a tremendous opportunity to learn more about the broader industry issues, including challenges and opportunities, and contribute to the development of the next phase for our industry.
Getting involved with the board is especially important for young people, who represent the future of California walnuts. Many California walnut farmers are from multi-generational farm families that want to see their agricultural legacies live on – and your sons and daughters hold the ticket. Encourage them to get involved with the industry. Their viewpoints are critically important as the California walnut industry evolves and seeks to build affinity with younger consumers, many whose values, interests and purchasing habits are unique to their generation.
And while board and committee service is formal and an ongoing way to get involved, it is not the only opportunity for engagement. In fact, the time is ripe (in fact it’s critical) to make your voices heard as part of our strategic planning process.
Strategic Planning Will Set a New Course
Recently we initiated a strategic planning process to help guide a new phase for our industry. Strategic planning is about asking ourselves: Where are we now as an industry? Where do we want to be in the future? How will we get there? And how will we know when we have arrived?
To help answer these questions we are casting our net far and wide for input. We’ve spoken to many growers and handlers individually and will soon be hosting a series of roundtables throughout the state where industry members are invited to a facilitated dialogue designed to solicit input. We encourage you to take part in an electronic survey between now and March 31, 2023 at CaliforniaWalnutSurvey.org. We’re looking for candid and constructive input, and all ideas are welcome. We’ll be listening carefully so that your voice is heard and incorporated in the planning process.
We’ve assembled a strategic planning task force whose members will roll up their sleeves and listen to all the input we receive before developing the key elements of the strategic plan. The task force has been chosen to represent the diversity of the industry, and consists of industry veterans as well as fresh voices. All task force members have expressed a shared desire for evolution and progressive thinking.
The work of the task force will be reviewed and ultimately approved by the board and iterations of the plan will be shared during our open board meetings. Ultimately, the plan will be rolled out and socialized with industry who can again weigh in on the plan. Once complete, the plan will guide not only the work of the California Walnut Board and Commission, but also serve as a roadmap for the overall industry.
Your input and support – whether in the form of board or committee service, part of the strategic planning process or via any other means – has never been more important. The California Walnut Board was created in 1948, and the California Walnut Commission was created in 1987. The world has changed significantly since the formation of these organizations, and we, like the industry, need to advance and adapt to the challenges we face, in order to thrive. While the challenges are numerous, so too are the opportunities and I am confident that by working together we can create great things including growing demand for California walnuts and creating a prosperous future for the industry. Read the full op-ed article from Robert Verloop in the March issue of Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
Every two years the California Walnut Board (CWB) and California Walnut Commission (CWC), hold elections for board members to serve on the respective boards, beginning September 1 and seated at the 2023 Fall meeting. While the timing is similar (March – July), the process is slightly different for the two organizations. For a full explanation of the election process, qualifications and definitions please contact Dana Hull at dhull@walnuts.org.