From the Fields - Jocelyn Anderson

By Jocelyn Anderson, Glenn County walnut and almond grower

Walnut harvest has been very busy since we began in late September. North counties had a later start due to rain in the fields and having to wait for fields to dry out. Harvest has been nonstop since then. In the order that they are harvested, we grow Gillet, Howard, Hartley and Chandler walnut varieties. The walnut crop is decent this year, but it would be larger if there were fewer impacts from the high temperatures. The heat waves that affected the state during the summer really took a toll this year. It is too early to know the figures on total crop damage from heat, but we will have a better understanding after harvest when numbers are finalized. Periods of high heat damage the trees by causing them to stress, resulting in burnt (black) and shriveled walnuts, blanks and overall lower yield. We are seeing grades come back with a good range of light-colored kernels overall. Defects have been minimal. At the walnut huller, we are working our way through the Chandlers and have a few more weeks to go before harvest is complete. We expect to wrap up harvest by Oct. 22, since there could be more rain in the forecast, and we’d like to get the nuts off of the trees by then.

Related to our almonds, we wrapped up harvest in mid-September. Due to the damage to the trees caused during periods of frost this year, we saw a 10%-50% decline in production amongst fields depending on the area and how hard they were hit by frost.