According to information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2019 saw another increase in California almond acres. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) found that acreage grew by 10 percent last year, to an estimated 1.53 million acres of both baring and non-bearing acres.
“Having the best acreage statistics possible allows the industry and ABC to plan for future production,” President and CEO of the Almond Board of California (ABC), Richard Waycott said in a press release. “USDA-NASS’s annual acreage report is the first of three annual reports, including the Subjective Estimate released in May and Objective Report in July, commissioned by the Almond Board to provide statistical transparency to industry stakeholders around the world.”
ABC concurrently released two California almond industry acreage reports for the first time, the 2019 California Almond Acreage Report and Land IQ’s 2020 Standing Acreage Initial Estimate. ABC reports that growers remain enthusiastic about continuing to make improvements to production practices as almond acreage continues to increase to help meet global demand. The industry also remains focused on working towards the Almond Orchard 2025 Goals.
The data shows that bearing almond acres increased eight percent between 2018 and 2019 to an estimated 1.18 million acres. The leading variety remains nonpareil, followed by Monterey, Butte, Carmel, and Padre varieties. The initial estimate from Land IQ for total bearing acreage in 2020 projects more than 1.2 million acres of production for the 2020/2021 harvest.
USDA-NASS is getting ready to release the 2020 Subjective Estimate on May 12, to provide an early forecast for what the current crop will produce. The Subjective Estimate information is based on industry feedback that is submitted to USDA-NASS. Almond growers are encouraged to participate in the data collection process as surveys are sent out to industry members. USDA-NASS intends to release the 2020 Objective Report on July 7.
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