2020 Almond Yields Are Mixed Across the State

The 2020 almond yields were a mixed bag. It all depends on where you're farming, according to Paul Ewing, with Bellareese Farms in the central San Joaquin Valley.

“Yields in our area on the West Side were similar to last year, which was also a good crop. So, we'll get a little bit of a boost in volume from the real young orchards, the third, fourth, fifth leaf trees,” said Ewing. “Generally, the older trees were similar to down, but overall volumes are slightly up. And it seems to be similar when you get kind of Fresno County south and the east side, the center state, and then north state are seeing big increases in yield,” he said.

Overall in the spring, it was great pollination, which set up a pretty good year. For most growers.

“We had really good weather. We had several years of good precipitation. So, you know, the tree health, has gradually improved since the drought,” Ewing noted.

We talked with Ewing about those self-fruitful varieties, Independence, and Shasta. We asked him if they seem to help with production.

“Yeah, we think the self-pollinating varieties make a lot of sense. We're growing some and several of our growers have been going that route with both Independence and Shasta. There's many advantages, like you have to worry less about bloom weather because they pollinate easier,” Ewing said. “You tend to get bigger crops early. You save a lot on your bee cost, single harvest, and you get things done early. There's many advantages,” explained Ewing.