Reflecting on the Almond Harvest and Price

Russell Harris heads up Harris Family Enterprises in the Chowchilla area of Madera County. The company farms or manages 17,000 acres of almonds in the Central San Joaquin Valley.

“This crop was going to be around 2.9 or 3 billion. I've seen the up North, such as Merced-north growers had an unbelievable yield,” said Harris. “We hear in Bakersfield and areas around Kern County certain companies were up 8%. But up North is up like 30% or more”

Harris said that some of his older almond trees did not do that well.

“I'm a little disappointed in my older 25-year-old trees that we had around here. I thought they'd go from 1700 pounds in 2019 to maybe 2200 pounds or 2300 pounds this year. And that didn't happen for us,” he said.

“We may see a lot of older orchards come out. I also believe that the growers are starting to realize what's the price is around $1.60 a pound. So, if your farming cost is $3,500 and you divide it by a $1.60 you better be making 2,300 pounds or you not going to make any money,” Harris explained. “Pollinator varieties are even lower---around $1.40 per pound.”

Hey, you might want to take advantage of this nut boom According to American Pistachio growers, president Richard Matoian, the work from home snacking habits are already driving record pistachio consumption. Eat a handful of day and reap some great health benefits.