From the Fields - Kevin Herman

Fresno, Merced and Madera counties tree crop farmer

Fresh and dried figs are our main commodity. We also do almonds, pistachios, walnuts, kiwis, pomegranates, persimmons and pears. We farm about 12,000 acres in total, but only about 40 acres of pomegranate and 80 acres of persimmon. We’re just wrapping up the pomegranate and persimmon harvest. We’re done harvesting; we just have some fruit left in the cooler.

Prices are good, but the yields were disappointing for us. We had some rain in October right before we started pomegranate harvest that caused a lot of cracking. So, the yields were off. We lost about 25% of the pomegranate crop. But the price was good for what we sold, and the quality was good. Persimmon yields were also a little light, with very good pricing.

Drought and water availability continue to be problems on pretty much everything. Expenses are way up on everything—labor, fuel, fertilizer, pesticides. All the input costs are up. So, even if I make 10% more gross this year, I’ll be lucky if I break even. It’s tough.

Labor has been pretty good. We had a steady supply. It’s just more expensive.

Now that harvest is over, we’re moving on to winter pruning and orchard sanitation. Because this last year was so challenging, the inputs we’re spending on our 2023 crop are probably going to be down. If we spent $150 last year on pruning, we are probably going to spend $50 to $75 this year. We’re cutting back on or eliminating a lot of our fall soil amendments. We’re trying to economize a little bit.

I and most other almond growers are worried about short-term pricing. I just came from the 
almond conference in Sacramento and it was like a funeral. Everybody was pretty depressed.