The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revised the forecast for California walnut production. Initially, walnut production was expected to reach 790,000 tons. A revision to that expectation was released on October 4. The updated forecast from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service is now 760,000 tons, making it a one percent increase from 2022 numbers.
The 2023 walnut acreage and production forecasts were revised based on additional information related to acreage removal. Bearing acreage has initially been forecasted at 385,000 acres. That number is now being reported as 375,000 acres, a six percent drop from 2022’s estimated bearing acreage of 400,000.
The revised report notes that tons per bearing acre is now 2.03; down from the September figure of 2.05. Other information related to nut set per tree and percent of sound kernels in-shell remain the same from the original 2023 Walnut Objective Measurement Survey. Data reliability was also adjusted. The 80 percent confidence interval is from 685,000 tons to 835,000 tons.
Listen to the report below.
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West