NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
it’s determining how to take that science, that biology, that botany, and turn it into the practical application that growers need to properly implement new practices and refine old ones. It’s considering how to take what the experts know and apply it in a practical fashion in the orchard. Nothing else matters to me. AF: What motivates you most in this role ? What‘s the most rewarding part of being an advocate for almond growers ? MM: Easily, it‘s the people. Working with growers is the fun part of this job. It’s an absolute blast. I‘ve had the good fortune of being around the grower community for a long time. When I was a student at Fresno State I got involved with the Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee of the Farm Bureau, the YF&R. I am literally here today because of my involvement in the YF&R. I chaired the Vegetable Advisory Committee for the California and the American Farm Bureaus for five years. I was a veggie guy, not a tree guy, but I was able to build a good network within the California grower community. Blue Diamond member Dan Clendenin was on the liaison committee back in 1992 and told me to apply for a Blue Diamond field supervisor position for northern Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. I was fortunate to be selected. AF: In the tough times growers are facing what are some key actions Blue Diamond ‘s leaders are taking to support our members ? MM: We are laser focused on increasing the value of the crop to increase the return to the grower. That’s not something you just throw a switch on and add a buck a pound to the value. It requires a lot of work because there are so many external forces involved. The industry is very fragmented. You‘ve got almost 100 handlers, and no one knows how many individual growers are selling their own crops. That means you have quite a few sellers chasing the same number of buyers. It takes a lot of work by a well-tuned organization to fight for every efficiency, every optimal condition you can create to gain an advantage over the competition and then leverage that advantage
to produce results for the grower. That can take years and you‘re working in an environment that, in many cases, works against you. Tariffs, for example. Non-tariff trade barriers, insect pests, diseases. We’re working on all that so we can optimize our operations and maximize that return. It’s a lot of work but I’m a firm believer in the fact that you can only coast downhill. If you’re not fighting and scraping for it every year, you’re coasting, and you can only coast downhill. It’s an ongoing fight and you can’t sit back and relax. AF: Where do you see the future of almond farming in the next 5 to 10 years ? MM: It‘s obvious that Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) will have a role in this. Even today, the agriculture community doesn’t fully know what that impact will be and we‘re ten years away from full implementation. There will be some kind of impact on the entire Central Valley from Tehama to Kern. In the northern San Joaquin Valley, we also have the peak flows issue for the Stanislaus, Merced and Tuolumne rivers which threatens to reduce the amount of water available to irrigation districts sourcing their supplies from those rivers. Water is very controversial in California. I remind growers that any conversation about water in California is a conversation about moving it because it’s never in the right spot. Here at Blue Diamond , we are nearing the completion of our own water risk analysis project to help us fully understand the risk to our growers and the Cooperative. Regulatory pressures in California on plant protection materials will not get easier. The Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Sustainable Pest Management Project is certain to provide challenges as well. I understand the uncertainty facing growers. Farmers are resilient and they find a way. What got us here today isn‘t going to get us where we need to go 25 years down the road. So where do I see the farming of almonds five to 10 years from now ? We‘ll still be here, but it‘ll be different. Farming is a lifestyle and it’s also a business that needs to be managed appropriately.
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ALMOND FACTS
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