Nav Athwal, President of Tri-Nut Farms and president and managing member of Terra Ag Ventures, brings a unique approach to farming, shaped by his diverse background in venture capital, real estate, and law. In a recent episode of the Almond Journey Podcast, Athwal shared the ag business approach they have implemented. He emphasized the long-term nature of farming, contrasting it with the quick returns expected in venture capital. He explained that successful farming requires patience and commitment to managing the various obstacles.
“Farming is a long game. If you look at any sort of index on farmer returns over ten, 20, 30-year periods, they’re up and to the right. But if you look at the volatility year to year, there’s peaks and valleys,” Athwal explained. “So, you have to have a long-term mentality when it comes to farming. And you can’t just look at it in year-to-year format.”
Focusing on consistent, sustainable growth over decades has allowed Athwal to navigate the consistent challenges that farmers face every season. “The future is going to be based on: how are you managing your water and how are you managing your labor? Everything else is out of your control,” said Athwal.
Labor costs and shortages also pose significant ag business challenges. Athwal explained that while almond harvest fortunately does not require as much labor as other crops, there is still risk related to increasing wages and OSHA standards. Diversification has helped Athwal mitigate risk, however, water remains a consistently changing issue. For most growers, adapting to limitations in availability and increasing costs of water requires addressing several questions.
“How do we take the efficiency we’re already employing on our farms, switching from flood to drip or going from flood to micro sprinklers, etcetera, and how do we introduce additional layers of that?” said Athwal. “How do we do recharge? How do we bring in soil moisture monitoring? How do we bring in Dendrometers? How do we take advantage of grants at the state and federal level to do that?”
You can find the latest episodes, including the one with Nav Athwal, by searching “Almond Journey” wherever you get your podcasts and online at Almonds.com.
Listen to the segment below.
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West