Almonds' success multiplies, spreads for valley residents

Shake an almond tree and money rains down for growers and many other people.

That was evident Wednesday at the annual conference of the Almond Board of California, which celebrated the nut's remarkable run over the past decade.

The state's growers have just wrapped up a 2011 harvest projected at 1.95 billion pounds, a record by far. And these almonds are finding buyers, thanks in part to health research and marketing campaigns sponsored by the Modesto-based board.

"It's used in so many types of food," said Dusty Boothe, who was displaying farm equipment from Jackrabbit Inc. in Ripon. "It's heart- healthy. People love almonds."

The two-day conference, which ends today, has drawn about 2,000 people to Modesto Centre Plaza.

Some of them grow almonds. Some of them supply the industry with tractors, fertilizer, irrigation systems, processing equipment, loans and other things it needs to produce the nuts.

Almonds brought about $834 million in gross income to Northern San Joaquin Valley growers last year, according to county crop reports.

That impact multiplied as the growers spent their income with suppliers and other businesses, which in turn churned this money through the region's economy.

"It's not just the farmers and the workers in the field," saidGrant Zaiger, an almond grower and plant breeder near Modesto.

He works for the company started by his father, Floyd Zaiger, a legendary breeder who is best known for stone fruits but who also has developed almond varieties.

Many almond growers are buying new trees to replace orchards that have passed their peak of productivity, Grant Zaiger said.

Boothe, who is in charge of special projects at Jackrabbit, said the strong almond market has kept up demand for the company's harvesting and pruning equipment.

"There are more trees being put in the ground," he said. "The (tree) nutrition is better, so they are producing more."

JKB Energy, based in Turlock, provides solar electricity systems to the almond industry. Some of the arrays power well pumps, saving money farmers had spent on conventional sources. Some of them run processing machinery.

"As an industry, they have been huge supporters of solar energy," said Jayson Moser, manager of design and procurement at JKB.

Agriculture generally has thrived as other sectors in the north valley economy have faltered in the past half-decade, notably home construction and retail.

Almonds are a big part of that. They are the No. 1 farm export from California, which grows more than 80 percent of the world's supply.

A decade ago, prices paid to growers slipped at times below their cost of production. Many industry people worried about the impact on prices from a 1 billion-pound state harvest, a milestone reached in 2002.

Now the industry is knocking on 2 billion pounds, and the prices are holding up. Experts cite the health research and the demand from emerging middle classes in China, India and other key countries.

"The future of almond consumption around the world is very bright indeed," said Richard Waycott, the board's president and chief executive officer.

Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at jholland@modbee.com or (209) 578-2385.