Walnut growers harvest another high quality, bumper crop

At an estmated 485,000 tons of walnuts, California growers are bringing in a bumper crop this year—only about 4 percent smaller than last year's huge 503,000 ton crop.

The crop looks good this year, said Doug Compton, assistant agricultural commissioner for the Tehama County Agricultural Department in Red Bluff.

"A couple of people say it's mixed, but most everybody says the quality of the nuts looks pretty good right now," he said.

Dennis Balint, chief executive officer of the California Walnut Commission and executive director of California Walnut Board, said the size of the nuts and the quality of the nuts are outstanding, so he expects prices to remain high this year.

"Demand is strong, and I think prices will remain very good," he said.

Michael Andersen, a partner in Andersen and Sons Ranch in Vina, said, "Walnut prices are through the roof. Growers are going to do very well."

Sales have continued to rise even in a down economy, and that is encouraging for growers.

"The biggest driver is the export side. The Chinese and the Turks have really pushed the expansion of walnuts," Andersen said.

India is driving sales, too, said Bob Steinacher, a partner in Maywood Farms in Corning.

Balint agreed walnuts have continued to do well in a down economy, and he said that's because walnuts are considered a good value by the consumer. There are 48 servings in a three-pound bag of walnuts, Balint continued.

"Looking at that from a standpoint of economics, it's not that much to pay," he said.

The export market is pushing demand up, Balint said, but demand is strong everywhere.

"There are several things coming into play—the emergence of some new export markets, the continued good news about walnuts and health, which drives demand not only domestically, but overseas as well," he said.

All the positive research has also helped keep sales up, Andersen said.

"The walnut marketing board is doing a lot of research. All health studies and the doctors are pushing it," he said.

"People are more concerned about health today than they were 20 years ago, and 10 years from now, they'll be more concerned than they are right now," Balint said.

Steinacher raises the Chandler variety, which is a little later maturing. He said he anticipates an even later harvest this year because of the cool spring.

"They are looking very, very late, as all the crops are this year," Steinacher said.

Rain also arrived in early October and stopped harvest for a few days. Because the soil was dry, it didn't delay the harvest for long, Compton said. The main concern with rain is getting the equipment in on wet ground, he added.

Rick Buchner, University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor, said the first rain wasn't a problem for growers, but it was followed by more than an inch of rain the second week in October that stopped harvest just as growers were gearing up again.

"We're wet again, and the moisture is causing all the hulls to split. So now we can't get on the orchard floors, and we've got everything coming at once," Buchner said, adding the nuts on the ground will be susceptible to mold: "If we get another rain, if these things start compounding, we've got a big problem."

It's a domino effect, Compton said.

"Every time this happens it's cooler, it's later in the year, there's a chance for more rain," he said. "The nuts that are on the ground could get lower quality due to mold, and off grades."

Later harvest brings its own challenges, Andersen said.

"Normally, you have a lot of your early varieties like your Howards and stuff already done by now and the Chandlers will be coming on. Well now everything is going to be ripening at once because of the late crop, and with this weather it's brought the Chandlers forward, so it's going to be a little interesting this year," Andersen said. "The big issue is that there is only so much walnut hulling and drying capacity and once those fill up, you can only do so much per day."

The other concern with the later harvest is the in-shell market, Balint said.

"Those late varieties like Hartleys that go into the in-shell market overseas, it's going to be hard to have those at the appropriate market at retail in time for Advent and Christmas," he said. "The selling season in Germany, for example, is really from Advent through Christmas. And so, you can imagine if you're harvesting something the end of October, even though you can put it through your plant in three days if everything is humming, there is still a journey over to Europe, and that takes some time. But we've been through this so many times before and it always seems to work out, because demand remains high."

(Kathy Coatney is a reporter in Corning. She may be contacted at kacoatney@gmail.com.)