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CapitalPress.com
July 10, 2015
California
Industry says drought will slightly reduce 2015 almond crop
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By TIM HEARDEN
fourth year, said Mike Mason,
an almond grower and processor
MODESTO, Calif. — Con- who chairs the almond board.
tinued stress on trees because of
“The California agriculture
the ongoing drought will lead to community is certainly hoping
a slightly smaller almond crop that the drought abates next win-
this year, industry insiders pre- ter, but in the meantime, grow-
dict.
ers are doing everything within
The Almond Board of Cal- their power to conserve water,”
ifornia expects this year’s har- he said as the board unveiled its
vest to produce 1.8 billion meat crop estimate on July 1.
pounds, or about 3 percent less
The average nut set per tree
than a federal forecast of 1.85 is 5,874, down 12 percent from
billion pounds in May and down the 2014 crop, the board report-
3.3 percent from last year’s pro- ed. The Nonpareil average nut
duction of 1.867 billion pounds. set is 5,239, down 14 percent
The board expects nuts to be from last year, while the average
harvested from 890,000 bearing kernel weight for all varieties
acres statewide, up slightly from sampled was 1.43 grams, down
the historic high of 880,000 1 percent from the 2014 average
bearing acres forecast by the weight of 1.45 grams.
National Agricultural Statistics
In May, NASS forecast the
Service last year.
bearing acreage for 2015 at
7KLV\HDU¶VHVWLPDWHUHÀHFWV 290,000 acres, resulting in a
the continued stress that grow- yield of 2,080 pounds per acre.
ers are coping with as a result of The expanding acreage comes
the drought, which is now in its despite some growers’ decision
Capital Press
Courtesy of Almond Board of California
Almonds are processed at a packaging plant. This year’s almond crop is expected to be slightly small-
er than last year’s, mainly because of drought-related tree stress.
to take some older orchards out
because of a lack of water, but
others are putting in new or-
chards because the returns for
almonds are lucrative enough
that growers can afford to pur-
chase water for them, industry
professionals have said.
Last year’s harvest fell well
short of the NASS prediction
of a 2.1 billion pound crop as
growers encountered smaller
kernels and more rejects than
normal because of the drought.
The agency believed a net gain
of 20,000 bearing acres last year
would fuel an increase from the
2 billion meat pounds turned out
in 2013.
However, a few orchards
didn’t turn a crop last year be-
cause of a lack of water, and
near-daily 100-degree heat for a
stretch last summer further im-
pacted the crop.
This year, nuts were ap-
parently sizing well with crop
development about two weeks
ahead of normal, NASS report-
ed. But triple-digit temperatures
are back this summer; some
Central Valley communities saw
their afternoon highs average
above 98 degrees in June, ac-
cording to the National Weather
Service.
Heat wave accelerates crops,
stresses scarce water resources
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
RED BLUFF, Calif. — A
heat wave that’s causing crops
to develop quickly and putting
more pressure on scarce water
resources could last through
the summer, forecasters say.
California’s Central Val-
ley and the rest of the West
are likely to experience high-
er-than-normal temperatures
over the next three months,
according to the federal Cli-
mate Prediction Center.
The outlook comes as Red
Bluff and other cities have al-
ready experienced two weeks
of near daily triple-digit highs
leading up to the July Fourth
weekend, with temperatures
here spiking at 113 degrees on
June 30.
For many growers, rising
temperatures mean having
to use more water to irrigate,
said Kevin Greer, who oper-
ates a mobile irrigation van
for the Tehama County Re-
source Conservation District.
“It changes the irrigation
schedule,” said Greer, who
counsels growers on how to
make the most of their water.
“The hotter it gets, the more
water they have to put on.”
In the Red Bluff area, most
growers have nut or prune
orchards or pasture land and
rely on groundwater to sustain
them, Greer said.
“The shallower wells are
where some of the growers
are having a little bit of trou-
ble,” he said, adding that one
grower had to deepen his well
IURPWRIHHW³,¶P¿QG-
ing a lot of guys are having to
call in well drillers and in-
crease the depth of their wells
dramatically.”
At R and K Orchards in
Corning, Calif., the heat has
caused the peaches, apricots
and other fruit to ripen quick-
ly, co-owner Karen Mills
said.
“The heat will cause any-
thing that’s close to ripe to
drop,” she said.
If it gets hot enough,
peaches will cook on the tree,
Mills said.
“That’s only happened to
us once,” she said, adding that
the fruit had to be discarded.
Some varieties of peaches,
nectarines, plums and apricots
are two to three weeks ahead
of schedule, according to the
National Agricultural Statis-
tics Service in Sacramento.
The heat has caused Valencia
oranges to re-green, prompt-
ing growers to treat them and
divert them to domestic mar-
kets, the agency reports.
The heat is expected to
continue through the summer
and possibly into October,
said Cindy Matthews, a Na-
tional Weather Service hy-
drologist in Sacramento.
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Tim Hearden/Capital Press
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considerably this summer because of a lack of available water.
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continue to shrink amid drought
to settlement contractors along
the river.
“There’s kind of a worry that
NASS crop acreage report:
it’ll decrease their diversions,”
SACRAMENTO — A con-
http://www.usda.gov/nass/
Mathews said.
tinued lack of water availability
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crops in California showing
in California to dip even lower
sharp acreage declines this year,
than expected, government and
industry representatives say.
California to decrease by 11 per- according to the report. Among
Rice acreage in California cent and 9 percent, respectively, others:
• Corn acreage in the Gold-
is now expected to top out at IURPLWVXSGDWHG¿HOGFURS
en State is estimated at 430,000
385,000, a steep drop from the report states.
431,000 acres of rice harvested
Nationwide, areas planted acres, down from 520,000 acres
last year, according to a USDA to rice in 2015 are estimated at a year ago. Corn planted nation-
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2.77 million acres, down 6 per- wide totals 88.9 million acres,
The actual acreage may end cent from last year, because of down 2 percent from last year.
• California’s 51,000 acres of
up being lower, cautions Char- lower price expectations this
cotton are down from the 56,000
ley Mathews, a Marysville, Ca- year, according to NASS.
lif., grower and member of the
Water uncertainties amid a acres harvested in the state last
USA Rice Federation’s execu- fourth straight year of drought year.
• Growers have planted
tive committee.
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“The industry number we’ve ers, particularly along the Sac- DFUHV RI VXQÀRZHU LQ
been using is between 350,000 ramento River in Northern Cal- California this year, down from
and 375,000,” Mathews said. “I ifornia. With regulators wanting 44,000 acres last year.
The declines come as growers
think they (the USDA) started to keep enough water in the river
off kind of high.”
IRUPLJUDWLQJ¿VKPDQ\JURZ- with limited water have sacrificed
Early this spring, farmers ers had to wait for deliveries be- some annual plantings to concen-
told the National Agricultural fore they could start planting in trate on perennial crops, such as nut
orchards, they have said.
Statistics Service they intended late April.
For the area survey, NASS
Recently, the federal govern-
to seed rice on 408,000 acres,
or 6 percent below the acre- ment’s need to keep cold water RI¿FLDOVYLVLWHGUDQGRPO\VHOHFW-
age seeded in 2014. However, LQ6KDVWD/DNHIRU¿VKKDVIXU- ed tracts of land and interviewed
NASS now expects medium- ther complicated the timing and growers in early June, according
and short-grain rice acreage in quantity of remaining deliveries to a news release.
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
Online
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