CarissaSauer
Manager,IndustryCommunications,AlmondBoardofCalifornia
ConsultanttoAlmondHullersandProcessorsAssociation
[email protected]
209‐343‐3284
April8,2015
8FactsaboutAlmonds,Agriculture,andtheDrought
Californiaisenteringyearfourofahistoricdroughtthatisimpactingresidentsandbusinesses
throughoutthestate.Lastweek,GovernorBrownannouncedunprecedentedconservation
measuresthathave,rightfully,receivedsignificantattention.However,astheconversationhas
progressed,therehavebeensomeclaimsaboutalmondsandagriculturemoregenerallythatlack
contextor–insomecases–aresimplywrong.Here’salookatsomefactsthatseemtohavegotten
lostintheshuffle:
1) Allfoodtakeswatertogrow.Despiteallthefocusonalmondsrecently,almondsmakeupless
than12percentofthestate’stotalirrigatedfarmlandanduseonlyeightpercentofthestate’s
agricultural(nottotal)water.Thatmeansthatabout90percentofthestate’sfarmlandis
plantedwithoneofthemanyothercropsgrownhere.Tuesday’sLATimesprovideshelpful
contextonhowmuchwaterotherCaliforniacropstaketogrow.Evenifweacceptthefrequent
claimthatonealmondtakesonegallonofwatertogrow(moreonthatinaminute),that’s
about23gallonsperounce.Lookathowthatcomparestoothersourcesofprotein,for
example:AccordingtotheTimes,anounceofpeastakes45gallons,anounceoflentilstakes71
gallons,andanounceofbeeftakes106gallons.
2) Agricultureuses41percentofCalifornia’stotalwatersupply–not80percentasoften
quoted.TheCaliforniaDepartmentofFoodandAgriculturehasahelpfulnewblogpostbased
onareportfromthePublicPolicyInstituteofCalifornia.Thepostfeaturesaneye‐opening
chart,alongwithadditionalimportantcontextaboutCaliforniaagricultureandwateruse.
3) Farmersaresharinginthepainfulsacrifice.Thestategovernmentisprovidingfarmerswith
a20percentwaterallocationthisyearandthefederalgovernmentisprovidingzeroallocation.
In2014alone,thedroughtcostfarmers$1.5billionandcausedthelossofmorethan17,000
jobsrelatedtoagriculture.Almondgrowersupanddownthestatearemakingdifficult
decisions,includingpullingoutorchards,oraresimplyprovidingjustenoughwatertokeep
theirtreesalive.
Werecognizethatalmondsandagriculturewillneedtocontinuetobepartofthesolution,but
thesuggestionthatagriculturehasbeenletoffthehookdoesn’tstanduptoscrutiny.
4) Totalagriculturalwateruseisnotincreasing.Manyhavesuggestedinrecentdaysand
weeksthattheshiftincropstowardshighervaluecropslikenutsandwinegrapeshaveledto
anincreaseinagriculturalwateruse.ButaccordingtotheDepartmentofWaterResources,the
totalamountofagriculturalwaterhasheldsteadysince2000andactuallydeclinedovera
longerperiod.Meanwhile,thevaluepergallonhasincreased.
5) AgricultureiscriticaltoCalifornia’seconomy.Somehavetriedtobelittleagriculture’s
contributiontothestatebysayingitonlyrepresents2percentofthestate’sGDP.First,as
BloombergViewnotes,thatfigureleavesoutthefoodandbeveragemanufacturingsectors,
whicharedirectlyrelatedtothestate’svibrantagriculturalsector.Second,andperhapsmore
importantly,thatfigureneglectstheimportanceofagriculturetothepopulationoflargeregion
ofthestate.Forexample,areportfromtheUniversityofCaliforniaAgriculturalIssuesCenter
findsthatofthe104,000jobsalmondsalonecontributetoCalifornia,97,000ofthemareinthe
CentralValley.Asthereport’sauthornotes,“Thesejobsarevitalinaregionthathaslonghad
highunemployment.”
6) Almondgrowershaveadoptedefficiencymeasures.Severalsources,includingtheNew
YorkTimesEditorialBoardandareportfromtheNRDCandPacificInstitute,havepointedto
micro‐irrigationandirrigationschedulingasplacesfarmerscanandshouldconservewater.We
agree.70percentofalmondgrowersusemicro‐irrigationsystemsandmorethan80percent
usedemand‐basedirrigationscheduling.Weexpectthosenumberstocontinuetogrowover
time.Overthepasttwodecades,we’vereducedtheamountofwaterittakestogrowapoundof
almondsby33percent,thanksinparttotheseadvancements.
7) Mostalmondgrowersarenot“bigag”–they’resmall,familyfarmers.Aswithanyindustry,
businesssizesvary,butaccordingtothe2012USDACensusofAgriculture,morethan90
percentofalmondfarmsarefamilyfarmsandaboutthree‐quartersarelessthan100acres.
8) Sohowmuchwaterdoesittaketogrowalmonds?Accordingtodatacollectedfromgrowers,
theyapplyanaverageof35.58inchesor2.97acre‐feetperacre.Thisisinlinewiththeper‐acre
needsofmanyotherCaliforniacrops.
Withtheaverageacreproducing2,390poundsofkernelperacre,thatwouldcomeouttoabout
400gallonsperpound.Dependingonthesizeofthekernels,thatcomesoutsomewhere
between¾ofagallonandagallonperkernel,includingitsshellandhull.Notethatthewater
usedtogrowalmondtreesproducestwocrops.First,there’sthekernel,whichisthenutwe
eat.Second,therearethehulls,whicharesoldaslivestockfeed,reducingtheamountofwater
neededtogrowotherfeedcrops.Thehullssupplanthayoralfalfa,whichthendoesnotneedto
begrown.Soeventhe400gallonsperpoundoverstateshowmuchwatergoesgetusedtogrow
kernelsthemselves.Infact,thehullsmakeupabout50%oftheweightofthealmondfruitina
conservativeestimate,sotoconsiderhowmuchwaterisactuallygoingintothekernel,you
shoulddividebytwo.
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TheAlmondHullers&ProcessorsAssociation(AHPA)isatradeassociationrepresentingtheinterests
almondgrowers,hullers/shellers,andprocessors.Establishedin1980,AHPAisanon‐profit
organizationwhoseprimarypurposeistoinitiate,sponsor,promote,andcarryoutresearchand
educationalprograms,plans,policies,andactivitiesthatwillassistitsmemberstoimprovethequality
ofalmondsandalmondby‐products.
Tospeakwithanexpertonanyofthesetopics,pleasecontacttheAlmondHullersand
ProcessorsAssociation:
CarissaSauer
Manager,IndustryCommunications,AlmondBoardofCalifornia
ConsultanttoAlmondHullersandProcessorsAssociation
[email protected]
209‐343‐3284