Almond crop estimated to be down

Some almond growers may think they are going nuts this year.

Between a late frost and four years of heavy output, this year's almond crop is coming in about 20 percent down from last year.

The forecast for this year's nut crop, which is being harvested now, is about 1.3 billion pounds. Last year, the crop was 1.6 billion pounds -- the biggest crop ever.

"The price is down, and we're kind of in the doldrums," said Scott Hunter, a Livingston almond grower.

Hunter said March frost played a big part of why this year's crop is down. "Livingston and Le Grand got really hit hard," Hunter said. "The frost came at the wrong time."

The cold weather came after the trees were in bloom and were already getting nuts. The nuts are more susceptible to freezing temperatures than the blooms, Hunter said.

Years of heavy output by the trees also affected the trees. Trees need a break, and it looks as if that's happening this year.

Almonds have held a firm third-place spot in Merced County's agricultural worth. David Robinson, the county's ag commissioner, said the value for the 2008 crop was about $208 million.

Because almonds have kept their value through years of falling prices of other commodities, many growers jumped on the almond bandwagon in the past five years.

"Those trees are just now coming into production, and they have a lot of nuts," Hunter said.

The young trees' production helped this year's crop, even though it's down about 20 percent from last year. There were fewer nuts on the older trees, and the loss would be even greater if the younger orchards hadn't started to produce.

Merced County, along with the rest of the Central Valley, produces almost all the nation's almonds. And almonds are now the No. 1 nut introduced in new products worldwide in 2008, according to Mintel Global New Products Database.

Merced County has more than 88,000 acres of the popular nut. That's far ahead of the second-place fruit and nut commodity land, 9,000 acres of wine grapes.

Hunter said 80 percent of California's almonds are shipped overseas, and California produces 80 percent of the world's supply.

Most growers aren't being put off by this year's drop in price. Richard Waycott, president and chief executive officer of the Almond Board of California, expressed confidence in the industry's ability to continue to market California almonds and grow global demand.

"While the crop is down, the efforts of the almond board to further develop global markets by expanding the demand for California almonds continues undaunted," Waycott said.

Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.