Blue Diamond Growers has led the almond industry from being an under-reported, homegrown specialty crop to a global leader in almond production and marketing. As the pioneers in the almond industry, Blue Diamond Growers helped to establish almonds as the largest California food export, sixth largest food export to the United States, and a leading U.S. specialty crop. Almonds are the largest California tree-nut crop by both total dollars earned and acres. Last years 3 billion-pound crop was the largest ever, according to Waycott, the Almond Board of California. [Sources: 1, 4, 8]
The Almond Boards monthly harvest reports showed the stockpile of available nuts as of Sept. 30 was almost 1.7 billion pounds. The nuts popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, and almond production in California has increased from 370 million pounds to 3.1 billion pounds over the past 25 years. The California Almond Board says only 30% of almonds grown in California remain here in the U.S., with 70% exported to over 100 countries around the world. That challenge is escalating this year, with Californias exports for the same period only at 993 million pounds, according to the California Almond Alliance, a trade advocacy group. [Sources: 3, 6, 7, 8]
Getting there is a challenge, since Californias biggest agriculture commodity exports roughly 70% of what it grows, and roughly 80% of those shipments go through Port of Oakland, according to the Almond Board of California. California produces 80 percent of the worlds almonds, and 100 percent of Americas trade supply. Californias produces approximately 80 percent of the worlds almonds, shipping approximately 70 percent of their production abroad to places such as India, East Asia, and Europe. California is the only place in North America that grows almonds commercially. [Sources: 2, 3, 4, 6]
About 6,000 almond farmers grow 100% of the domestic commercial supply, and over 70% of global production. Almonds are the largest California crop, and in turn, California is the largest global supplier of this nutritious nut (much to the displeasure of environmentalists, who deplore a steady stream of crops such as nuts that are not flexible about their water needs). Almonds are one of Californias biggest agricultural exports – the next highest after dairy products. With the drought lingering this year, the efficient watering methods used by almond farmers in California will allow the bulk of trees to continue growing and producing, said Waycott. [Sources: 0, 3, 4, 8]
As almond prices rose during a previous drought California declared from 2012 through 2016, farmers and investors planted hundreds of square miles of new orchards in areas without dependable water supplies. To supplement a drop in deliveries from Californias water systems, many almond farmers increased pumping from the ground, a practice that could irresponsibly drain groundwater reserves and lead to subsidence. In addition to economic impacts on almond farmers across the state, criticism of water usage by this sector has been raised. Many California almond farmers are like Donnie Hicks, who owns an 18-acre almond farm in the Stanislaus County city of Hughson, and are feeling the impacts of backups differently. [Sources: 2, 5, 6]
##### Sources #####
[0]: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-agriculture/2022/05/31/have-we-reached-peak-almond-00035924
[1]: https://farmcredit.com/story/blue-diamond-growers
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almonds_in_California
[3]: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/california-drought-hits-worlds-top-almond-producer-180978470/
[4]: http://www.waterfordnut.com/almond.html
[5]: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028452988/climate-change-california-drought-heat-almond-production
[6]: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/California-almond-crop-17052398.php
[7]: https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/almond-growers-supply-chain-shortages/103-5072ef0b-2d6e-4a01-ae61-655b6bc0b069
[8]: https://www.fooddive.com/news/despite-drought-almonds-will-keep-on-growing/608839/
