The Almond Board of California (ABC) has invested in a comprehensive mapping analysis to improve the precision, accuracy and transparency of information about the almond community.
The maps, developed in partnership with Land IQ, a Sacramento-based agricultural and environmental scientific research and consulting firm, constitute a comprehensive, living map of California Almonds that draws upon multiple sources of information and extensive validation to create a highly accurate, orchard-by-orchard view of the industry.
Sabrina Hill talks with Dr. Joel Kimmelshue Owner/Principal Soil and Agricultural Scientist at Land IQ to get more on the project.
Listen to the full interview here:
More from the Almond Board:
Click the link above to get graphics and access to the maps.
Methodology, Findings and Implications
Land IQ draws on multiple lines of evidence including agronomic and remote sensing knowledge, unique field boundaries, robust on-the-ground verification, publicly available imagery and other spatial and non-spatial resources. Because Land IQ’s approach does not rely on surveys or extrapolation, the result is an accuracy of 96 percent or greater, more accurate than other methods.
In general, Land IQ data consistently indicates that California Almond acreage is higher than the annual USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) almond acreage reports, as seen in a comparative analysis of 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. However, this does not mean that the industry can expect a larger crop than is currently projected by NASS in the annual California Almond Objective Measurement Report. Rather, the historical difference indicates that the NASS production per acre (yield) statistic has consistently been an overestimate due to historic underestimation of industry acreage.
Land IQ’s findings are being evaluated and used by NASS to fine-tune the official almond acreage surveys and other forecasts and reports, and serve as a complimentary almond industry resource. The NASS crop and acreage reports are the official USDA estimates and will continue to be the official statistics for the industry. To ensure improved accuracy across industry reports and forecasts, ABC, NASS and Land IQ are working together to leverage the strength of the different methodologies to provide increasingly precise data.
See the Almond Industry Maps factsheet to learn more about the map’s methodology, findings, applications and how it compares to official industry statistics.