IN YOUR ORCHARD
THE ALMOND BOARD
2024 State of the Almond Industry: Well-Positioned for Growth
The true resilience of California almond growers has shined through over the last few years of hardship and fortunately, with this crop year, growers are finally seeing favorable changes.
This year’s 52nd Annual Almond Conference — held at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento, CA, December 10-12 — was a positive indication that the collective grassroot efforts of growers, industry members, and the Almond Board of California (ABC), are working to create growth, opportunity and optimism for California almonds. “The board, our committees, and our team at the Almond Board are very focused on our four strategic priorities that we established earlier this year: Driving global demand, supporting a favorable trade and regulatory environment, maximizing our industry’s value and optimizing the Almond Board’s value,” said Clarice Turner, President and CEO of ABC, at the State of the Industry address.
Clarice Turner SOTI 2024
Today’s Economic Landscape While the industry is not out of the woods yet, there are tangible signs that healthy demand is on the rise. Last crop year, the industry sold 300 million pounds more than what was produced. Carryout levels are below 500 million pounds, a number that hasn’t been seen since 2019. Coming into 2025, the economic landscape is expected to change, especially as a new administration took charge
in January. Scott Clemons, Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, discussed some of these changes, forecasting that personal spending, trade and tariff policies, immigration policies, and interest rates will all have an impact on the almond industry. Market Conditions While demand is looking up, almond acreage is declining. On trend with recent years, the 2024 Land IQ Acreage Report (https://bit.ly/3E1OYam) indicated that non-bearing and total almond acreage has decreased for the third year in a row. Regionally, fewer almonds are being harvested from the South Valley, which is typically where the strongest yields have been, and production is shifting north. That said, the almond industry is seeing growing returns this crop year and is still well-positioned to grow in the future. That’s because the balance of supply and demand has recovered.
SOTI 2024 Panel with Bryce Spycher
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ALMOND FACTS
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