Do you know where your almonds come from?

When you pop an almond as a snack, pour almond milk, or drool at the thought of an almond croissant, do you ever think of the journey that almond took before it landed in your mouth?

Follow me as I visited an almond orchard to see the state of affairs with almonds in person and learn more about this important industry. My other reason is to get drone media and pictures of the breathtaking almond annual bloom.

Almond orchard visit

I was waiting for a sign from Michael, who knows the best time to visit the orchards when all the different varieties bloom in February. He also mentioned, “Be there in the afternoon when the bees are out”. As a meeting place, I got a corner street in Bakersfield. And to top it all off, the time was just when Snowmageddon was going to strike California. Armed with tire cables bought at 9:30 the night before, I head down the grapevine and only got 5 minutes of snow. However, the rain came to the party, so the drone and pictures were taken between rain clouds. I met with Alex, one of Michael’s workers, a couple of years out of high school, and I had to ask how many years he has been working in the agriculture industry: “All my life,” he responded. His father has worked 20 years for Michael, and he used to take his son to the fields at a very young age. Once graduated, he was asked if he wanted to fill in a job opening in the company and it was a yes. Knowing the shortage of workforce in the agriculture field and the younger generation not as interested in agriculture careers, it was refreshing to see him so into his job as well as being extremely knowledgeable.

Alex showed me around a 75-acre almond orchard, peppered with beehives, and talked about their operation. Later on, I was able to catch up with Michael, which is mostly on the road, and we took a deep dive into the almond industry’s challenges.

California’s role in world almond production

First, I need to thank “The Almond Guy” who introduced me to his father, Michael, from Hopkins AG Management, who has been farming, among other things almonds, for 40 years. He presently manages 3000 acres of land in the Southern San Joaquin Valley of California, which is part of the world’s breadbasket. California is the world’s fifth-largest supplier of food and agriculture commodities; over a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts are grown in this state. Another interesting fact, California’s top 10 valued commodities for the 2021 crop year were:

California is the world’s largest producer of almonds, accounting for approximately 80% of global almond production. They are exported to countries all over the world. California’s almond exports make up a significant portion of the state’s agricultural exports.

To bee or not to bee

How important are honeybees for almond production? So crucial that they would not exist without them. Since the temperature would hover around 50F that day, I didn’t expect to see any bee action. That is why you will see me with my sky jacket in my future YouTube video. Bees will start flying when you have a minimum of 54F. When I was about to pack it for the day, trying to avoid a possible snowstorm over the mountains, the sky opened up to an amazingly clear blue sky. So, all the drones came out again, and I was able to capture some nice media and capture bee action.  I am still preoccupied with the weeks coming up with all the rain and low temperature, the bees may stay in the hives, and I am wondering how it will impact the pollination process and harvest this year. Alex reassured me only frost at this point would have an impact.

As expected, beekeepers come by to check on their hives and feed them pollen patties. The almond pollen is their first natural pollen meal of the year. Almonds produce amygdalin, which is a win for the bees, as it reduces viruses and gut parasites, so they come out of almond orchards healthier and ready for the rest of their season.

Since almonds only bloom once a year for over 3 to 6 weeks, beehives would not be able to survive since it would not give them a sustainable source of pollen. As such, almond farmers need pollinator services to bring hives to them every year in February. The almond blossom is the largest pollination event in the world and requires more than half the beehives in the US. To help with transport, beehives are moved at night just before the blossom starts. The spectacle of that blanket of small white flowers with a pink/red hue over acres and acres is mesmerizing. When I asked Alex if getting beehives was a problem, the Hopkins have been around for so many decades, they have their source well established and never have issues with beehives supplied.

Some almond orchards receiving pollination from other insects, such as the blue orchard bee (an alternative managed bee), wild bees, and flies, may improve their yield.  Some benefits can range from wild bees being more prone to visit the higher canopy in inclement weather. Honeybees move more between varieties when wild bees and flies are present, increasing pollination and nut set. Almond flowers visited by many different types of wild bees demonstrated better nut sets than almonds pollinated by fewer bee species.

Let’s look at some fun facts:

CA had 1.61 million acres of almonds cultivated in CA in 2021 according to 2021 Almond Almanac published by the Almond Board of California. It is estimated we will need over 41 billion bees to achieve success pollination.

Another interesting fact is that the leaves will grow after the flowers have appeared, making the bloom popping with all their colorful flowers even more spectacular.

Almond varieties

There are about 30 almond varieties (cultivars) in California. Each variety has its own characteristic, such as fertility status (self-fertile, semi-self-fertile, self-sterile, self-pollinating), tree height, bloom time, almond size/color and flavor, harvest time, and chill time. The Nonpareil, a 120 yrs old variety, is the predominant type grown (40%) and is partially self-fertile. Varieties are selected to have good bloom overlap for better cross-pollination, pollen compatibility, and spaced nut maturities to avoid harvesting different types of almonds together. This is why you will see in an orchard 1 row of Nonpareil with other types in between. And since they are not self-pollinating, bees are vital for a successful flower set.

New to the arsenal of varieties is the cultivar Yorizane, which is self-pollinating, a hybrid of Nonpareil and underdog self-pollinated Tuono variety. It will be interesting to see how much will make it in almond orchards throughout California, how less dependent we will be on beehives, and/or increased yields.

As for the orchards managed by Michael, they have rows of Nonpareil with Monterey and Padres varieties in between and another orchard with Monterey and Carmel in between Nonpareil. Some of the older orchards they manage have Mission and Butte.

Harvest

The fruit produced is a drupe, and the priced almond is surrounded by a hard shell within the hull. The hull will split, allowing the almond to dry.

The harvest starts in July and until November, depending on the variety. In one of Michael’s managed orchards, Nonpareil is ready first and harvested independently, and Monterey a little later. The last in the season for that orchard will be Carmel, and at this point, anything left in the other trees will be harvested simultaneously.

The trees are mechanically shaken, and the almond left on the ground, well-pilled between rows, left to be dry enough before they are collected to be processed somewhere else. Knowing the humidity level is not left to guessing, and laboratory testing is done until the desired dryness level is achieved. They may be left to dry for 7 to 10 days, depending on the climate condition.

The different varieties of almonds grown in California, once harvested and processed to get the eatable part, will be exported or processed in different forms: whole, slices, slivered, diced, meal or flour, butter or paste. With all the latter, either used blanched (meaning without the skin) or natural. Almon milk and oil can also be produced.

Every discarded part not used for human consumption can find a purpose. Nutrient-rich hulls are used to feed livestock. The crushed shells become animal bedding.

In part 2, we will be looking at the maintenance of an almond orchard and the present and future challenges for almond growers.