California almond year expected to be 2nd largest in history

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Statistics Service, California’s almond crop is expected to be 3 billion pounds for the 2024 harvest.

The second largest in the state’s almond growing history, behind only 2020’s 3.1 billion pounds.

“Right now these trees, the way they’re loaded down, it looks terrific for this year,” said Ryan Jacobsen, almond farmer and CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau.

The news represents a big rebound for farmers around the state and the Central Valley, as they experienced down years in 2023 and 2022. In 2023, harvest pulled in 2.47 billion pounds, while in 2022, that number sat at 2.58 billion pounds.

“In the almond industry we’ve actually had a couple, of back-to-back years, both on production as well as pricing, that’s been a little on the tougher side,” said Jacobsen.

California produces 80% of the world’s almonds, as Fresno County makes up a quarter of that production.

Some might wonder, ‘Why the big boom this year? Why not in the historic water year of 2023?’ Jacobsen says, while water is essential, too much too consistently can be devastating.

“It was so wet for so long. It really went through periods where it didn’t dry out. And when it doesn’t dry out we’re not able to get into the orchards and do our cultural practices to be able to preserve the crop,” he says.

In 2024, farmers have experienced a near-perfect blend of water and dry weather.

“We did have an exceptional year later on when it came to water. But, it was spread out. It was kind of evenly distributed. It would dry out. We would be able to get in here.”

An additional major factor in the bounce-back year? More good pollination days for bees. Jacobsen says in the 2023 wet year, there were only a handful of adequate days for bees to do so.

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