Almond Living Magazine

Almonds and Water 101

Today, the California Water Resources Control Board is expected to adopt regulations implementing Governor Brown’s orders to cut water usage. The restrictions are historic and serious, and it’s no surprise they’ve sparked significant debate about water use in the state. While this round of cuts focus mostly on residential users, it’s important to note that farmers have already seen severe...

Karen Ross, Secretary of Food & Agriculture Weighs in on the Drought

A few days ago, the Modesto Bee ran an op-ed penned by Karen Ross, California’s Secretary of Food & Agriculture, raising concerns about the tone and accusations being made about agricultural water use during the drought. We commend Ross for publically voicing her support for farmers across the state, many of whom are fighting for their livelihoods right now and...

Seven Ways Almonds Provide Value for Californians

If you’ve been following the media conversation about California’s drought recently, you’ve probably seen discussion about how much water agriculture – and almonds specifically – use. One thing you don’t see as much of, though, is discussion about what value almonds provide in return for that water, which is not more than the amount needed to grow many other crops.

2014 NASS Almond Acreage Survey

Today, the National Agricultural Statistical Survey from the USDA reported an increase in almond acreage. From the outside looking in, increasing acreage may seem counterintuitive to the current drought challenges facing our state. There are, however, a couple of facts that are key to understanding this report and what it means for our state's most precious resource. It is important...

LA Times Meets Almond Growers, Corrects “Profoundly Misleading” Coverage

In her April 16 commentary, Los Angeles Times writer Robin Abcarian pushed back hard against the wave of California drought media reports unfairly and incorrectly targeting almonds. Her article headlined “Almonds, the demon of drought? Frustrated growers tell another story,” zeroes in on several original sources of inaccurate information about water used to grow almonds that have been repeated frequently...

The Water (Research) Pipeline

For almond growers, responsible stewardship of the environment is an everyday consideration, but since today is Earth Day, it?s a chance to step back and reflect a bit on where we are today and where we?re going. With California in the midst of a devastating drought, we?re putting a special focus on our efforts to conserve water this year.