14
CapitalPress.com
Friday, April 9, 2021
Pistachios: Growing in popularity
By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press
Tom Coleman says he is
tired of the bad rap pistachios
get.
“The biggest misinforma-
tion the public has about pis-
tachios is that they are fatten-
ing,” he said. “In fact, they
are actually one of the health-
iest foods available — healthy
fats, fi ber, protein, antioxi-
dants and other good stuff —
and best of all, California is
the largest producer of pista-
chios in the world.”
The second largest supplier
is Iran. Coleman said Iran does
undercut the U.S. on price, but
the quality of nuts from that
nation is much lower.
Currently, there are 485,865
acres of pis-
tachio trees
in Califor-
nia. Of those
371,742
acres
are
producing
Tom
and 114,121
Coleman
acres are new
plantings.
Coleman fi rst started grow-
ing pistachios as a nursery-
man in 1978 because inves-
tors were looking to plant the
trees. In 1982, he started farm-
ing pistachios for himself.
He now has farms in Fresno,
Madera and Merced counties.
It takes fi ve to seven years
to get the fi rst crop and gen-
erally that fi rst crop does lit-
tle more than cover the cost of
harvest. It can take 10 years to
Wikipedia
Pistachios ripening on a tree.
get to a profi t.
Asked what challenges
the industry faces, Coleman
said the navel orange worm
is a problem, but he said the
biggest challenge is one all
of agriculture in California
faces: the lack of water. There
is a desperate need to cre-
ate more surface storage for
Hazelnut Orchard Sprayer
extends its defl ector over the
catcher’s fl ipper and starts the
shake for 3 to 5 seconds.
After the nuts are shaken
off the tree they go onto a con-
veyor belt on the catcher and
into trailers. A blower removes
most of the leaves and the rest
are worked back into the soil.
The rest of the nuts go to pro-
cessors in Fresno, Kern and
Tulare counties.
Coleman said there is room
in the industry for more pista-
chio growers.
“I try to convince anyone
that can aff ord to go into pis-
tachios to do it,” he said. “The
problem is that it takes a lot
of money and a long wait for
any positive cash fl ow, ... but
overall, I think it is a fantastic
investment.”
water to be captured in the wet
years.
But the upside is pistachios
are relatively easy to grow.
“Pistachios are shaken
off the tree but don’t touch
the ground like other tree
nuts,” Coleman said. “We
use a receiver to catch the
nuts and move them into bulk
containers.”
Harvesting the nuts usually
begins in late August and fi n-
ishes the fi rst week of October.
One set of machines can do
about 15 acres a day.
Here’s how it works: The
huge shaker pulls up to the
tree and clamps onto the
trunk, about 12 inches above
the ground. The catcher then
pulls up to the tree and low-
ers its fl ipper. The shaker then
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