To combat this, Ambassador McKalip explained the efforts being made by the USTR to better establish one-on-one relationships with trade partners and their resolution of a bilateral engagement with the Indian government to eliminate the tariff. A step in that direction came last year in early September when India announced the elimination of retaliatory tariffs³ on several U.S. products, including almonds. McKalip noted that their team has also worked towards reducing farmer input costs. “In November, we announced a reduction of the duty on phosphorus- based fertilizer from Morocco and that duty is going to decrease from about 19% down to 2%,” McKalip said. “In addition, USDA announced a $900 million initiative for domestic fertilizer development.” 4 Additionally, the administration is collaborating with trade partners to develop better transparency on standards and protocols to avoid the rejection of containers — like the industry has seen this fall in Italy — or any loss of revenue throughout the supply chain. Maximizing Efficiencies with Research The resiliency of almond farmers over this past year helped ABC pivot its focus to strategy, innovation and further research to drive efficiencies. “Irrigation has always been an area that can be costly for growers, so ABC has invested in research focusing
With the help of ABC Board Chair Alexi Rodriguez (left) and outgoing CEO Richard Waycott (right), new ABC President and CEO Clarice Turner (center) detailed the challenges facing the California almond industry and how more promising times may lie ahead.
California almonds were broadcast digitally, on TV and on billboards during the Cricket World Cup in India.
on actual evapotranspiration, or actual ET 5 , to precisely dial in tree water demand,” said Josette Lewis, ABC chief scientific officer. Lewis also mentioned that ABC is funding research to update honey bee stocking recommendations, with the hopes of saving growers money and providing more insight on self-fertile almond varieties. Driving Global Demand ABC Vice President of Global Market Development, Emily Fleischmann, discussed the current campaigns ABC has worked on over the past year to drive global demand, including their biggest partnership to date with Deion Sanders 6 , also known as Coach Prime, and the 2023 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year. Additionally, Fleishmann highlighted two other new campaigns in Germany and India. A “Mother Nature” spokesperson touting almonds as the mother of all snacks is currently featured in Germany, and
Finding a Silver Lining All things considered, there is a
silver lining amidst these challenges; many challenges are no longer new, meaning the industry can more clearly and effectively define and address these issues. In doing so, growers must remain robust, positive and steadfast to weather the storm. “Today as the industry struggles to deal with challenges, many of which we don’t control, it’s critical to pull together and focus on what we can control and what we can influence to find our way forward,” concluded Clarice Turner, ABC president and CEO. “We have some difficult times to endure. But I’m certain that strong leadership, focus, and the industry DNA of grit and innovation will get us to a better place in the near future.” Article contributed by the Almond Board of California
4 https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/usda-invests-nearly-13-million-increase-innovative-domestic-fertilizer-production 5 https://www.almonds.com/sites/default/files/content/attachments/irrigation_scheduling_using_evapotranspiration.pdf 6 https://www.almonds.com/about-us/press-room/deion-sanders-california-almonds
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JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2024
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