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2025 Goals: Committed to Continuous Improvement

California almond farmers and processors are leading by example and paving the way for improvements across agriculture and a healthier planet.

Commitment to Continuous Improvement | 2025 Goals

When  you grow a healthy food people love, you have to do it right.

Since 1973, the Almond Board of California has supported nearly 700 research projects on the industry’s behalf, helping California almond farmers and processors provide almond lovers around the world with a safe, wholesome, and sustainable product.

Established in 2018, the Almond Orchard 2025 Goals are a tangible example of the California almond community’s commitment to continuous improvement. Built on a foundation of past innovations, the goals help focus our research and outreach priorities in key areas – water efficiency, zero waste, pest management, and air quality.

To help outline the almond community's continuous improvement journey in each of the goal areas the Almond Orchard 2025 Goals Roadmap was released in December 2019. It also highlights the metrics that the industry's progress will be measured against.

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Almond Orchard 2025 Goals Roadmap
 
2025 goals - water usage
 
 
Further Reducing the Water Used to Grow Almonds  

Between the 1990s and 2010s, almond growers reduced the amount of water needed to grow each pound of almonds by 33% with improved production practices and adoption of efficient microirrigation technology. 1 By 2025, the California almond community commits to reduce the amount of water used to grow a pound of almonds by an additional 20%.  


2025 goals - zero waste
 
 
Achieving Zero Waste In Our Orchards 

The nutritious almonds we eat grow in a shell, protected by a hull, on a tree: products traditionally used for livestock bedding, dairy feed and electricity generation. Today the almond community is spurring innovation for higher-value and more sustainable uses of these coproducts, with promising research in the areas of recycled plastics, fuel, and more. By 2025, the California almond community commits to achieve zero waste in our orchards by putting everything we grow to optimal use.  

2025 goals - pest management
 
Increasing Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Pest Management Tools


Responsible almond farming requires protecting the crop and trees from pests, weeds, and disease through an integrated pest management approach. This means using tools and techniques like beneficial insects, habitat removal, mating disruption, as well as monitoring pest levels so that pesticides are used only when necessary. To further protect our orchards, employees and communities, by 2025, we commit to increase adoption of environmentally friendly pest management tools by 25%.  

 

2025 goals - harvest dust
 
 
Improving Local Air Quality During Almond Harvest  

California almonds are harvested by shaking the crop to the ground where it dries naturally inside protective hulls and shells. While less labor intensive than previous harvest methods, mechanically picking up the crop creates dust in the local area. To address this nuisance, the almond community is taking short- and long-term steps to reimagine how we harvest and, by 2025, commits to reduce dust during harvest by 50%. 

1. University of California, 2010. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012. Almond Board of California, 1990-94, 2000-14.