California’s walnut crop is expected to be 19% lighter than last year on fewer bearing acres and reduced yields, according to a survey by the USDA.
Production of the California crop is projected to reach 670,000 tons based on surveys conducted from July 22 through August 22. Those surveys looked at 1,422 trees across 711 orchards statewide.
The numbers reveal a significant reduction from last year’s record crop of 824,000 tons, which came in above the 790,000-ton forecast for the 2023 crop.
Walnut growers in 2024 have suffered from low chill hours and heavy spring rains that led to increased instances of blight. Record high temperatures during the summer further challenged growing conditions, leading to the need for increased irrigation. Nut quality is expected to be lower this year.
California walnut acreage peaked at 400,000 acres in 2022, and has since declined to 370,000 bearing acres, a 4% decline from 2023.
Walnut farmers have suffered from declining grower prices since 2013, when the average price paid peaked at $1.85 per pound. Growers in 2022 were paid about 30 cents per pound for their crop and last year received about 42 cents per pound.
Lackluster demand for walnuts is just one of the factors facing farmers today, according to a report earlier this year from Terrain, a team of economists and analysts who provide insights on economic factors, trends and agricultural markets. Terrain is an offering of American AgCredit, Farm Credit Services of America and Frontier Farm Credit.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
One can only sympathize with the California walnut growers. It is one thing to have a poor crop once in a while, but quite another when demand and prices are also falling off over a longer period of time. This is especially true in California where growers face water rationing, strict air and water quality regulations and frequent droughts or wildfires. Hopefully, this trend will reverse and conditions will improve going forward. This would be a good time for our California dealers to really push AgPack®. These walnut growers need all the cost-saving help they can get.
