Richard Waycott: Nut stats came from USDA and UC Davis

Re “Don’t Trust ‘facts’ from the Almond Board” (Letters, Sept. 14): The letter writer questions the stats cited by Almond Board of California about the almond industry, specifically the number of jobs and vitality the industry brings to the Central Valley. The writer suggests the board is an untrustworthy organization when, in fact, we’re reporting published, publicly available data from the University of California and USDA.

The compelling fact is California almonds generate more than 97,000 jobs in the Central Valley as reported in the University of California Agricultural Issues Center’s economic impact study released in December, 2014. The report was covered in The Bee, “Report Outlines Huge Impact of California almond industry,” and is available on UC Davis’ website.

Nearly 90 percent of almond farms are family owned, many operated by third- or fourth-generation farmers, according to the USDA Census of Ag. And yes, farmers are business people, who make the same decisions as any business: based on supply and demand with 35 percent of almonds in the domestic market and 65 percent in exports. The almond industry takes pride in its contribution to the economy and looks forward to making our communities better places to live for years to come.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Richard Waycott: Nut stats came from USDA and UC Davis."