Almond Harvest 2023
Orchards throughout the California Central Valley are bustling with activity as the 2023 Almond Harvest gets underway. Shakers are cruising up and down the rows, followed by sweeping and harvesting machines that efficiently gather up this year’s crop. It’s the busiest time of the year for our co-op’s hard-working growers, and for our team members as we start to welcome truckloads of almonds at our receiving stations.
This year has been extraordinarily challenging for our growers. It started with extreme weather conditions during the critical bloom stage and continued with inflation and fiscal impacts that increased the cost of farming operations by as much as 30%. Most recently, Hurricane Hilary also dropped significant rainfall on many orchards, delaying an already late harvest and threatening the quality of the incoming crop. But our grower families are a resilient bunch, and right now they are tenaciously focused on carrying out their harvest activities.
A successful harvest allows Blue Diamond to produce and market our broad portfolio of almond products around the world on behalf of our grower-owners. California’s almond harvest is not only critical to our co-op, but significant for our state’s economy. A full 80% of the world’s almonds are grown in California and approximately 3,000 growers proudly share the Blue Diamond name.
Over 90% of California almond growers are family-owned operations. Many are third- and fourth-generation farmers who plan to pass their orchards on to their children and grandchildren. That’s why our co-op’s core strength is supporting our growers with resources, financial assistance, and education throughout the year to ensure sustainable operations for generations to come.
To help celebrate the significance of harvest and honor our hard-working growers, Blue Diamond will promote almond harvest through outreach activities over the next several weeks.
Watch for our new “Welcome to the Orchard” harvest video series, harvest updates from our field team and growers, and special photos and tidbits on our corporate and grower social media platforms.
Please join us in celebrating fall and wishing our growers a successful 2023 almond harvest!