Mac nut association's future in doubt

The Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association, which for years has represented growers and processors of mac nuts, is running low on cash and scaling back operations.
The board met Thursday to discuss the critical shortage of funding and decided to operate on a volunteer basis.
"Funding will be minimal, from those who still believe there is value in the organization," said MacFarms CEO David Rietow, the chairman of the association board. "The big loss is in the area of research and in the promotion of the Hawaiian nut as the world's finest."
Macadamia growers and manufacturers of mac nuts products do not always have the same economic interests. Growers benefit from higher prices. Processors don't. Growers want to aggressively market the Big Island mac nut brand. Processors don't, because most of them import a lot of the mac nuts they use from other places. (Rietow said, however, that foreign kernel is mixed only in products shipped to the Mainland.)
"The [association] has been struggling to find its identity for a long time," said one board member on condition his name not be used. "The funding of the organization was 99 percent from the generous donations of four or five of the larger processors and the rest from a token donation of $25 per year from the growers."
Association membership peaked years ago around 200 members. Four times as many farmers grow mac nuts. However, fewer than two dozen growers have 20 acres or more and it is these that have generally supported the association.
The board member and other sources said foreign competition sent prices lower while expenses kept climbing and growers became apathetic about supporting the association, and more recently one of the major processors decided to drop its support as well. The result has been insufficient cash to continue operating as usual.
"Hawaii macadamia growers need to take ownership of this organization or start a new one and fund it through assessments on their crops, to fund a full-time director who can assist in acquiring grants, funding important research projects and marketing 100 percent Hawaiian macadamia nuts," said Richard Schnitzler, president of Hamakua Macadamia Nut Co. and a former association board member. "Processors and manufacturers should not be allowed in the organization."
Schnitzler said this does not mean that the relationship between the processors and the growers should be adversarial.
"On the contrary," he said, "it would be important for both to share information and work together, but processors should not be left to manage or mismanage the Hawaii macadamia nut growers' future."
Members of the association include, among many others, Mac Farms Hawaii, Hawaiian Host Inc., Island Princess, ML Macadamia Orchards and Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Co.

Universal to sell nonleaf units Universal to sell nonleaf units

Saturday, December 16, 2006
Richmond-based Universal Corp. said yesterday that it plans to sell its remaining nontobacco agricultural-products businesses in six to 12 months.

Universal, the world's largest tobacco leaf merchant, said selling the units will allow it to focus more management and financial resources on its core tobacco business. The company buys tobacco from farmers in the United States and other countries, processes the leaf and sells it to cigarette makers.
Universal plans to sell Red River Foods Inc. a Richmond-based trading subsidiary that imports nuts and dried fruits; Nestmink Ltd., a London-based company that sells nuts, dates and apricots; and Madera Quality Nut Inc., a California nut-processing company.
The companies employ fewer than 150 people worldwide.
In the fiscal year that ended March 31, the businesses reported combined revenue of about $325 million and a combined operating loss of about $6 million, Universal said. The company's tobacco revenue was $1.8 billion, with operating profit of about $156 million.
The company said it will use proceeds from the sales to strengthen its balance sheet. The businesses will be reported as discontinued operations for the third quarter that ends Dec. 31.
In September, Universal sold the non- tobacco businesses of a Dutch subsidiary, Deli Universal Inc., to a new company owned by Deli managers and a Netherlands-based investment group. That business included lumber and building-products distribution, and rubber, tea and sunflower seed trading. -- John Reid Blackwell
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Richmond-based Universal Corp. said yesterday that it plans to sell its remaining nontobacco agricultural-products businesses in six to 12 months.

Universal, the world's largest tobacco leaf merchant, said selling the units will allow it to focus more management and financial resources on its core tobacco business. The company buys tobacco from farmers in the United States and other countries, processes the leaf and sells it to cigarette makers.
Universal plans to sell Red River Foods Inc. a Richmond-based trading subsidiary that imports nuts and dried fruits; Nestmink Ltd., a London-based company that sells nuts, dates and apricots; and Madera Quality Nut Inc., a California nut-processing company.
The companies employ fewer than 150 people worldwide.
In the fiscal year that ended March 31, the businesses reported combined revenue of about $325 million and a combined operating loss of about $6 million, Universal said. The company's tobacco revenue was $1.8 billion, with operating profit of about $156 million.
The company said it will use proceeds from the sales to strengthen its balance sheet. The businesses will be reported as discontinued operations for the third quarter that ends Dec. 31.
In September, Universal sold the non- tobacco businesses of a Dutch subsidiary, Deli Universal Inc., to a new company owned by Deli managers and a Netherlands-based investment group. That business included lumber and building-products distribution, and rubber, tea and sunflower seed trading. -- John Reid Blackwell

December 15, 2006

WALNUT MARKET/CROP REPORT

CROP:
The Walnut Marketing Board announced the November shipments at 47,004 inshell equivalent tons, 5,054 tons less than last year. Inshell shipments were 16.7 million pounds, 0.4 million pounds less that last October. Shelled shipments were 33.2 million pounds, 2.3 million pounds less than last year. Total inshell equivalent year to date shipments were 166,551 tons; 21,964 tons less than last year.

Please be aware that last year’s shipment numbers have been adjusted to reflect the lower shellout rates (40.7%) than the original 44.5% forecasted shellout rate. As an example, last years November shipments originally indicated we shipped 47,916 tons (inshell equivalent) about the same as this November, however, because of the lower yields; the November 2005 shipments were later adjusted to 52,058 tons.

This year (2006/07) the Walnut Marketing Board is forecasting a 42.9 shellout rate, the average for the last five years. This is 2.2% more than last years final 40.7% yield, however, most of the industry is reporting lower yields from the 2006 crop than last year. If this becomes the case, the shellout rates will once again be adjusted downward.

The final crop tonnage will be out in late January and the majority of the growers/packers believe it will be under the 350,000 ton estimate. This makes the shellout rate situation even more critical as it will also have an impact on the final crop tonnage.

The overall quality of the crop was above average. The expected heavy sunburn damage never happened and the crop yielded above average “lighter“kernel’s and lower than average “darker” kernels. This has been reflected in the market as most packers have withdrawn on both Combo and Baker type material. In addition, it appears that medium and small piece material will also be in short supply.

MARKET:
The Inshell market remains firm with Jumbo trading on both sides of $1.06. I do not see much change in the forward market. The Shelled market is also firm with Chandler LHP trading around the $2.70 levels and medium and smaller pieces five to ten cents higher.

Most packers have withdrawn from the market on Combo and Baker material and the few that still have inventories are asking $2.50 for Combo Halves and Pieces and $2.30 for Baker type products.

I still believe the crop will come up short of the forecast and firmly believe the market will continue to strengthen as we go forward.

Pecan production drops 33 percent in 2006

TULSA, Okla. The government is predicting a 33 percent drop in pecan production in Oklahoma this year, but some experts believe the crop could be even smaller.Oklahoma ranks fifth nationally in pecan production and recorded a record crop of 63 million pounds in 1999. Pecan growers harvested about 20 million pounds last year.
But the U-S Department of Agriculture says Oklahoma will produce 14 million pounds of pecans this year. The harvest could be as low as only 8 million to 10 million pounds.
Drought, bugs, animals and high fuel prices plagued producers, which means higher prices for shoppers.
The U-S-D-A says pecan production nationally will be 190 million pounds, down 5 percent from October's outlook and 32 percent below last year.

MACADAMIA FACTS
• The macadamia was discovered in Australia in 1858 and introduced to Hawaii in 1881.
• It is grown on a large scale only in Hawaii and Australia but also is produced in South Africa and Central America.
• There are approximately 40 described varieties, most of them in Australia.
• The trees grow in warm, subtropical conditions. Mature trees can withstand temperatures as low as 25-26 degrees Fahrenheit.
• They often are sold as salted nuts packed in glass jars. Their largest use is in confections.
• Hawaii produced 30,000 tons of macadamia nuts, with a farm value of $44.4 million, in 2005-06.
• In 2005-06, U.S. imports totaled 8.9 million tons; exports amounted to 784 tons.
• The edible kernel is enclosed in a thick, hard shell that is encased in a husk.
• The kernel is 72 percent to 78 percent oil.
SOURCES: University of Florida, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Pecan crop is smaller than expected, but quality is high
ELLIOTT MINOR
Associated Press
ALBANY, Ga. - This is the season when consumers go nuts for pecans, a popular ingredient in fruit cakes, pies and candies with sweet Southern names like divinity and pralines.
The nuts are grown across the southern tier from South Carolina to California, but thanks in part to a failed land-speculation scheme in the early 1900s, Georgia remains the largest producer, with the heaviest concentration of trees in three southwestern counties, Dougherty, Mitchell and Lee.
Southerners grow up with pecans. To increase their popularity elsewhere, the industry launched a campaign in the late 1990s that included health studies which found that pecans, like other tree nuts, were heart healthy, high in antioxidants and packed with nutrients. They contain lots of fat, but it's unsaturated fat - the kind that's considered "good fat."
"We hope folks in the rest of the country know about pecans," said Larry Willson, vice president of Sunnyland Farms in Albany, a mail-order company specializing in gift packs containing all types of nuts, including pecans.
"The quality this year is very good, which often happens in short years," said Willson, who is also the farm manager for Willson Farming Co., which grows 1,300 acres of pecans. "The trees don't have as many nuts on them to fill out."
Growers report record prices and excellent quality this year, but there's a hitch - they have substantially fewer nuts to sell. For this reason, they aren't expecting 2006 to go down as a banner year.
"It was probably one of the shortest, if not the shortest on record," said Joey Collins, who grows 1,100 acres of the nuts in the Thomasville area and operates a plant that removes rocks and twigs that are picked up when the nuts are harvested.
"The quality has been really good, but the quantity has been really bad," he said. "Even with the big prices, it won't offset the lack of quantity. There's still going to be some pretty big losses taken out there."
Pecans grow on alternate-bearing trees that produce big crops one year and smaller crops the next. They were expected to produce a smaller crop this year, but a drought last year stressed the trees, reducing the yield even more.
In early estimates, Georgia was expected to produce about 45 million pounds, but Lenny Wells, a pecan specialist with the University of Georgia Extension Service, believes it'll be more like 40 million, 19 million less than the state's five-year average.
Prices normally peak at the start of the harvest season in October as buyers rush to supply the demand for pecans to fill holiday gift packs, but by now they've fallen considerably, said Wells.
Schley, a common variety, has dropped from $2.30 per pound early in the season to about $1.55, and Desirable, another popular variety, has dropped from more-than $2 per pound to about $1.72, Wells said.
"The quality is excellent this year," he said. "We had some dry weather throughout most of the year. The disease pressure was extremely low. That and the dry weather causes the nut size to be a little smaller than normal, making them easier to fill."
Georgia is not the only state plagued by a smaller-than-anticipated crop.
"There are production problems everywhere," Wells said, noting that the Texas crop was hurt by an extended drought and the New Mexico crop got hammered by hail.
U.S. growers had a large crop totaling 259.6 million pounds last year, but they're expected to harvest only 201.4 million pounds this year, 21.5 percent less than the 10-year average of 256.6 million pounds.
Speculators planted millions of trees in the Albany area in the early 1900s, hoping to sell the land in small lots to newcomers. The scheme failed, others acquired the land and turned pecans into a major crop.
As a result, Georgia continued as the leading producer last year, followed by Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma.

Louisiana pecan growers getting pleasant surpriseNov 27, 2006 9:23 AM
This year’s plentiful Louisiana pecan crop is a pleasant surprise following last year’s hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It is unusual to have a good pecan crop following a hurricane, according to LSU AgCenter horticulturist John Pyzner.

Many pecan orchards had a lot of broken limbs, fallen trees and lost much of their foliage because of the hurricanes.
“It usually takes at least two years for pecan trees to recover,” Pyzner said, adding, “Little production is expected the year following a hurricane.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s October forecast projected Louisiana as producing 19 million pounds of pecans — 36 percent above Louisiana’s average production of 14 million pounds.
Miles Brashier, LSU AgCenter county agent in Pointe Coupee Parish, which is Louisiana’s top pecan producing parish, said, “Pointe Coupee has a good pecan crop and should produce 5 million to 5.5 million pounds.”
Ben Littlepage, a pecan grower from Colfax, La., remarked, “I probably have the best pecan crop that I have had in three years.”
Pyzner said the reason for the unexpected pecan crop is not well understood. Two possible reasons are that the hurricanes struck late in the pecan production cycle, and Louisiana had below average pecan crops the previous two years.
Louisiana growers should also benefit from the below average national crop, which is projected at 201.4 million pounds — 22 percent below the national 10-year average of 256.6 million pounds.
The light national crop should help Louisiana growers obtain good prices on their pecans. The two major pecan producing states of Georgia and Texas are both expecting to be at least 30 million pounds below last year’s crop. Some of their buyers are likely to look to Louisiana to obtain some of their pecan supply.

At its annual meeting in Modesto, the Blue Diamond Growers cooperative said sales of its branded almond products rose 36 percent in the most recent marketing year. Almond production is expected to increase sharply, but the co-op president said that represents an opportunity to introduce more consumers to almonds.

I wonder why they dont write about their non branded sales how much down it is!!!

GUINEA-BISSAU: Cashew crops rot as prices plummet

DAKAR, 15 November (IRIN) - Piles of cashew nuts painstakingly picked by Guinea-Bissauan farmers to sell for cash are going unsold, and the poorest are being hardest hit as the bottom falls out of the market for the product, aid agencies warn.
Guinea-Bissau, a poor West African country where most people are farmers and some 85 percent of the population rely on growing cashew nuts for at least part of their income, has been roiled by decades of conflict and political instability since winning independence from Portugal in 1974.
Surveying by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in 2005 deemed over 30 percent of the country's 1.4 million people "very vulnerable" to food shortages.
Tons of cashew nuts from Guinea-Bissau are usually bought for cash from poor farmers every year by traders who ship the nuts to India for processing before reselling them on the world market for a healthy profit.
But as global consumption of cashews has declined, especially in the United States where food market analysts say health scares and nut allergies have cut demand, the market has slumped.
Guinea-Bissau's government has set a price that traders fume is artificially high at 350 CFA (US $.70) per kg of nuts.
Non-official prices in Guinea-Bissau and in the countryside see traders shelling out closer to 100 (US $.20) or even 50 CFA (US $.10) per kg, agricultural development officials told IRIN.
In real terms, that means whereas one kg of nuts used to buy a straight swap of one kg of rice, now it takes four kg of nuts to get the same rice. In Britain, a kg of organic cashew nuts sells for about US $30.
Jose Peter Ita-Gros, the WFP representative in Guinea-Bissau, warned there has been a "deterioration" in the nutritional situation in the country.
"We can confirm that there was a deterioration of the nutritional situation especially among children under five," he said.
The results of nutritional surveying by WFP and the UN children's agency (UNICEF) will be released in December, but WFP officials said they already know Guinea-Bissau exceeds the emergency thresholds for acute and chronic malnutrition.
Floods last year in Guinea-Bissau's rice-growing southern region ruined 85 percent of rice paddies. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has repeatedly warned that Guinea-Bissau is on the brink of an agricultural crisis.
At a roundtable meeting between Guinea-Bissau's government and its traditional donors, the European Union, Spain, Portugal, and Japan, in Geneva earlier this month, Guinea-Bissau requested US $460 million to move ahead with poverty reduction and security sector reforms.
Prime Minister Aristides Gomes said in an interview with a Portuguese newspaper published on Wednesday that donors had stumped up $266 million.

This has been a year of record almond sales of nearly $700 million and record payments to almond growers, members of the Blue Diamond Growers farmers cooperative were told this week at their annual meeting in Modesto.
"Since 2001, returns have increased on a per pound basis above the prior year by 26 percent, 35 percent, 43 percent and 27 percent respectively,” says President and CEO Doug Youngdahl. "Your 2005 crop payments were the highest ever paid in our cooperative's history."
Mr. Youngdahl specifically attributed the last five years of record grower returns to leaner, more efficient operations and strong customer relationships.
"Our partnerships with growers, employees, customers and others combine good planning and execution with powerful relationships that enhance and strengthen an already strong balance sheet," he says.
Blue Diamond's branded almond product sales increased by 36 percent in 2005-06, after doubling over the last three years.
While almond bearing acreage is expected to increase by 25,000 acres to 605,000 acres in 2007 and an additional 50,000 acres per year to 2010, Mr. Youngdahl says the challenge will be to "effectively market the increased supply while not under-valuing California almonds." He calls the estimated increase to 1.5 billion pounds a "golden opportunity to introduce millions of new consumers worldwide to California almonds."
Due to larger future crops and a significant increase in bearing and non- bearing acres committed to Blue Diamond over the last year, the cooperative is building a new 70,000 square feet cold storage distribution center at its plant in Salida. A new processing line designed to produce almonds at high speed and volume will also automatically segregate out foreign material and optimize new capacity opportunities in Salida.
An "erratic 2005" marketing year that reached historically high prices above $4.00 per pound in September 2005, deflated prices to $2.00 per pound later in the year and then moved up by $1.00 per pound during the balance of the crop year, is now settling in to a less volatile marketplace for the 2006 crop, according to Mr. Youngdahl.
"Adequate 2006 crop supplies should keep market prices steady and shipments strong," he says, adding that fall shipments were at near record levels, strengthening market confidence.
"The industry needs a good 2007 bloom next February and a substantial crop to sustain the 25-year California almond consumption trend that has been increasing at an average rate of 5.4 percent compounded annually," he says.

Peanut farmers improvise as crop decline continues
By LINDA MCNATT, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 11, 2006
Last updated: 9:17 PM


ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY - When the 2002 Farm Bill eliminated a decades-old peanut growing system, the price farmers got for Virginia's gourmet goobers plummeted to $355 a ton from $610 a ton.

There's been nothing gradual about the collapse. Peanuts went from being planted on 75,000 acres in the state before the Farm Bill to about 16,000 acres this year.

Most local farmers decided they just couldn't make money on Virginia peanuts, but there are still devotees who hope peanuts will make a return. They are also holding out hope for a runner-type peanut.

Because of development across the state, Virginia probably no longer has the land to ever again support 75,000 acres.

"But I still feel we can move back up," said Del Cotton, director of the Virginia Peanut Growers Association. "Farmers like to grow what they know. Peanuts are ingrained in their system."

In Isle of Wight County this year, the Byrum family planted 50 acres, a tradition that 73-year-old Roland Byrum has insisted on since his son Cecil sold most of their peanut harvesting equipment.

"Use to be, peanuts was my livelihood," the elder Byrum said. "My daddy grew them. My granddaddy grew them. Time was, we had over 200 acres on this farm."

This year, he pulled runner peanuts from the soil, smaller than their Virginia cousins and used in candy.

"The ones we're growing this year look like soybeans," he sai d. "Won't be anymore on this farm."

The runners take about three weeks longer to mature, so the nuts must stay in the ground longer. That made the harvest later than ever this year. An overabundance of rain in the p ast several weeks added to the problems. Some peanut fields were still so wet at the beginning of November that there was little hope they would ever be dug up.

Bubba Crocker and his brother Peter Frank have held on to the peanut tradition.

"We planted 175 acres this year, and it should have taken us about 10 days to harvest," he said. "It's taken us four weeks. We have grown as high as 525 acres, but we'll never see that again."

John Brock Jr. still grows peanuts in Surry County. He has a small shop in Bacon's Castle and a Virginia peanut distributorship. Brock hasn't grown runners, and he doesn't intend to do so.

"We're having to buy peanuts for the shop right now and will probably have to the rest of the year," he said. "I can remember when I planted 250 acres. We have 17 acres this year.

"Runners? Those things would grow on concrete. The Virginia peanut is still superior."

Dee Dee Darden, an Isle of Wight farmer who is actively promoting peanuts with the National Peanut Council, grew 170 acres this year. She and her husband, Tommy, grew about half Virginia-type and half runners. The runners did well.

"We're still growing peanuts because we can make more money on an acre of peanuts than we can make on anything else," she said.

"The way it looks right now, I may end up loving runners more than I ever thought I would."

Peanut
Crop
Production

National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C.


Released November 9, 2006, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.




Peanuts: Area Harvested, Yield, and Production by State
and United States, 2005 and Forecasted November 1, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Area Harvested : Yield : Production
:-------------------------------------------------------------------------
State: : : : 2006 : :
: 2005 : 2006 : 2005 :-------------------: 2005 : 2006
: : : : Oct 1 : Nov 1 : :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: --- 1,000 Acres -- --------- Pounds -------- --- 1,000 Pounds ---
:
AL : 223.0 158.0 2,750 1,900 2,100 613,250 331,800
FL : 152.0 120.0 2,700 2,500 2,400 410,400 288,000
GA : 750.0 575.0 2,840 2,500 2,650 2,130,000 1,523,750
MS : 14.0 15.0 3,200 3,000 3,000 44,800 45,000
NM : 19.0 16.0 3,500 3,500 3,500 66,500 56,000
NC : 96.0 85.0 3,000 3,300 3,400 288,000 289,000
OK : 33.0 22.0 3,270 3,000 3,000 107,910 66,000
SC : 60.0 56.0 2,800 3,200 3,000 168,000 168,000
TX : 260.0 150.0 3,750 3,700 3,700 975,000 555,000
VA : 22.0 16.0 3,000 2,950 3,100 66,000 49,600
:
US : 1,629.0 1,213.0 2,989 2,693 2,780 4,869,860 3,372,150
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please call with any questions...

Thanks,

Peanut
Crop
Production

National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C.


Released November 9, 2006, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.




Peanuts: Area Harvested, Yield, and Production by State
and United States, 2005 and Forecasted November 1, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Area Harvested : Yield : Production
:-------------------------------------------------------------------------
State: : : : 2006 : :
: 2005 : 2006 : 2005 :-------------------: 2005 : 2006
: : : : Oct 1 : Nov 1 : :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: --- 1,000 Acres -- --------- Pounds -------- --- 1,000 Pounds ---
:
AL : 223.0 158.0 2,750 1,900 2,100 613,250 331,800
FL : 152.0 120.0 2,700 2,500 2,400 410,400 288,000
GA : 750.0 575.0 2,840 2,500 2,650 2,130,000 1,523,750
MS : 14.0 15.0 3,200 3,000 3,000 44,800 45,000
NM : 19.0 16.0 3,500 3,500 3,500 66,500 56,000
NC : 96.0 85.0 3,000 3,300 3,400 288,000 289,000
OK : 33.0 22.0 3,270 3,000 3,000 107,910 66,000
SC : 60.0 56.0 2,800 3,200 3,000 168,000 168,000
TX : 260.0 150.0 3,750 3,700 3,700 975,000 555,000
VA : 22.0 16.0 3,000 2,950 3,100 66,000 49,600
:
US : 1,629.0 1,213.0 2,989 2,693 2,780 4,869,860 3,372,150
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please call with any questions...

Thanks,

Peanut
Crop
Production

National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C.


Released November 9, 2006, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.




Peanuts: Area Harvested, Yield, and Production by State
and United States, 2005 and Forecasted November 1, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Area Harvested : Yield : Production
:-------------------------------------------------------------------------
State: : : : 2006 : :
: 2005 : 2006 : 2005 :-------------------: 2005 : 2006
: : : : Oct 1 : Nov 1 : :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: --- 1,000 Acres -- --------- Pounds -------- --- 1,000 Pounds ---
:
AL : 223.0 158.0 2,750 1,900 2,100 613,250 331,800
FL : 152.0 120.0 2,700 2,500 2,400 410,400 288,000
GA : 750.0 575.0 2,840 2,500 2,650 2,130,000 1,523,750
MS : 14.0 15.0 3,200 3,000 3,000 44,800 45,000
NM : 19.0 16.0 3,500 3,500 3,500 66,500 56,000
NC : 96.0 85.0 3,000 3,300 3,400 288,000 289,000
OK : 33.0 22.0 3,270 3,000 3,000 107,910 66,000
SC : 60.0 56.0 2,800 3,200 3,000 168,000 168,000
TX : 260.0 150.0 3,750 3,700 3,700 975,000 555,000
VA : 22.0 16.0 3,000 2,950 3,100 66,000 49,600
:
US : 1,629.0 1,213.0 2,989 2,693 2,780 4,869,860 3,372,150
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please call with any questions...

Thanks,

Peanut
Crop
Production

National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C.


Released November 9, 2006, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.




Peanuts: Area Harvested, Yield, and Production by State
and United States, 2005 and Forecasted November 1, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Area Harvested : Yield : Production
:-------------------------------------------------------------------------
State: : : : 2006 : :
: 2005 : 2006 : 2005 :-------------------: 2005 : 2006
: : : : Oct 1 : Nov 1 : :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: --- 1,000 Acres -- --------- Pounds -------- --- 1,000 Pounds ---
:
AL : 223.0 158.0 2,750 1,900 2,100 613,250 331,800
FL : 152.0 120.0 2,700 2,500 2,400 410,400 288,000
GA : 750.0 575.0 2,840 2,500 2,650 2,130,000 1,523,750
MS : 14.0 15.0 3,200 3,000 3,000 44,800 45,000
NM : 19.0 16.0 3,500 3,500 3,500 66,500 56,000
NC : 96.0 85.0 3,000 3,300 3,400 288,000 289,000
OK : 33.0 22.0 3,270 3,000 3,000 107,910 66,000
SC : 60.0 56.0 2,800 3,200 3,000 168,000 168,000
TX : 260.0 150.0 3,750 3,700 3,700 975,000 555,000
VA : 22.0 16.0 3,000 2,950 3,100 66,000 49,600
:
US : 1,629.0 1,213.0 2,989 2,693 2,780 4,869,860 3,372,150
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please call with any questions...

Thanks,

2:01 pm | N.C. pecan growers shelled by small crop
MELISSA WILLETT
The Fayetteville Observer
Pecans might be a little pricier this year. Farmers in the region say not only has it an off year, but it's been an off-off year.

In Sampson County, Carla Peterson decided not to post her bright pink open-for-business sign. Her farm, Twiddle Dee, didn't yield enough pecans this year to make it worth her time. And if the poor harvest wasn't enough, her garden has suffered almost as much.

"Last year, I was open practically every Saturday," Peterson said. "There was too much damage from Ernesto to the garden. Last year was a bumper crop. This year's not bearing any."

She does have a small trailer of last year's pecans still in the shell that she's willing to give away. After a freezer full, she's run out of storage space.

Like Peterson, Laurie Wood's freezer is capped with nuts. Wood is a marketing specialist with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"North Carolina's season starts having pecans from late October, early November," Wood said. "But you can still get fresh ones through December."

Since she works for the state, she's in contact with growers regularly. She says she believes the overall harvest is down but is unsure how it will affect grocery store prices.

"Most of what you buy in the store are from last year," Wood said. "I actually think they'll be up because of storms last year in Georgia, Alabama and Florida causing damage."

North Carolina produces 3 million to 5 million pounds of pecans each year. A well-managed farm should yield between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds per acre when the orchard reaches 20 years old, according to the state agriculture department.

US: almond growers hope nuts help with weight loss

The almonds are off the trees and the harvest has been very good, growers say. But abundance is not the only good news about our region's most notable nut. Almonds, it turns out, can help control your weight. Two studies suggest almonds contribute to a feeling of fullness. Another word for that is "satiety" — and finding foods that create that effect has been called "the holy grail of nutrition" because something that make you feel full can help in the ever-widening worldwide fight against obesity.

The North American Association for the Study of Obesity reported at its annual meeting last month that eating "a handful or two" of almonds every day can calm your appetite. Why isn't precisely known, but another study — this one funded by the Modesto-based Almond Board of California — has found similar results. In that study, conducted at Purdue University in Indiana, 20 overweight women were given two servings of almonds a day — totaling about 300calories — for 10 weeks. Another group got no nuts (too bad for them).

At the end of the study, researchers found that the women given the nuts did not gain any weight — despite having eaten an additional 300 calories every day for 10 weeks. In other words, by eating the healthy almonds they were less likely to turn to less healthy foods such as pizza, pretzels and chips.

That almonds provide health benefits is exciting news to the area's almond growers — as if they needed any more good news. Almonds were worth $473 million in Stanislaus County alone, and more than $1 billion statewide in 2005. This year's crop — which growers are saying is "very, very good" — is likely to be of similar value. With consumption of almonds growing every year, the good news just keeps blossoming.

But there's a bit of a conundrum involved with this latest research. Those who grow food generally want you to eat more of it — not less. So isn't a food that makes you feel full after eating only a little sort of defeating the purpose? Would you continue to buy that "can a week" if you're not going to finish it?

Our area's almond growers certainly hope so.

US: pecan production down

The heat, the drought and the immutable rhythms of nature have combined to knock pecan production off by 70 percent or more in the San Saba area and other parts of Central Texas, early estimates indicate. "It's not going to be pretty this year," said Neal Alexander, the Texas Cooperative Extension agricultural agent in San Saba County.

Alexander predicts pecan production will hit 25 percent to 30 percent of normal in the area, and San Saba considers itself the Pecan Capital of the World. Shawn Oliver of Oliver Pecan Co. in San Saba said 30 percent production might be optimistic. One of his Central Texas orchards that would normally produce about 100,000 pounds of pecans may turn out just 3,000 pounds this year.

"Some people can't even justify getting their equipment out to harvest," he said. "There's just not enough there to go out and get." In the roller-coaster world of pecan growers, 2006 was expected to be an off year, one that routinely follows a heavy year for production. But with abnormal dryness and heat much of the year, followed by punishing rains and wind as harvest time approached, the drop-off could be steeper than normal.

In a normal off year, Texas producers could harvest 45 million to 50 million pounds of pecans, said Jose Peña, a Texas A&M University extension economist in Uvalde. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's initial production estimate, the state will market 36 million pounds this year, down from 65 million pounds last year.

It may not be abnormally low in all regions. Some experts, including Kenneth Pape of Pape Pecan Co. in Seguin, said growers in the Winter Garden area south and west of San Antonio should have a fairly strong crop if they irrigated enough and managed their fields well.

Gary Schmidtke with South Country Pecans near Pearsall said that at the halfway point of the harvest early this week it was hard for him to say if the yield would fall short of his reduced expectations. "It'll be another two or three weeks until we have a good fix on it," he said. An off year for production does not mean, however, that pecans will be scarce as families begin to plan their dessert menus for the holiday season.

H-E-B spokeswoman Dya Campos said retail prices this fall are the same as last year. Peña reported that initial estimates call for nearly 134 million pounds of stored pecans to be carried over nationwide from last year's crop.

That's almost twice the size of the carry-over inventory that was available last year and would push the nation's total pecan supply to about 335 million pounds. The total is only 11.1 percent smaller than the 2005 pecan supply and is 50 million pounds more than the 2004 crop, which produced record prices, Peña said.

With pecan imports, including an estimated 70 million to 80 million pounds from Mexico, the United States' surging appetite for pecans should be satisfied, officials said. Pape said one exception could be the large paper-shell pecans that are popular early in the season but were hit particularly hard by the drought. If Georgia, the nation's leading pecan producer, has a weak crop, shortages for top-end pecans could arise, Pape said.

The U.S. is the world's largest producer of pecans. Georgia is expected to raise the most pecans this year, followed by New Mexico and Texas. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts pecan output nationally will reach 201.4 million pounds, down 28 percent from 2005.

The value of the nation's pecan crop exceeded $400 million last year, according to a preliminary USDA estimate. Texas pecans generated more than a quarter of that total, based on an average sale price of $1.70 a pound.

The good news for Texas growers is that pecan quality generally is up and prices have stayed strong. Pape said the difference paid between the bigger, soft-shell nuts and lower-end nuts is wide, but some prices are at an all-time high.

Those prices are what growers count on to cover accelerating production costs, which one grower said were the highest he had ever seen, mainly due to energy costs. The fear is prices could slip as more pecans come on the market.

Darrell Sparks, a University of Georgia professor who has researched pecans for more than 40 years, said pecan farmers generally must make half a crop to get by, and not everyone will make half a crop this year. "You'll need a cushion for off years," Sparks said.

Cameron Ocker, who manages the Bar D River Ranch southeast of San Antonio near Poth, said pecan farmers will probably do better than other South Texas farmers who did not irrigate this year. But in an off year, pecan growers typically just "hang on and survive," he said.

That's Nuts! Crooks Steal Mounds of Almonds

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Authorities in California have recovered 44,000 pounds of stolen almonds, after the suspected thieves tried to sell the processed nuts on the black market.

The Fresno County Agriculture Crime Unit says thieves drove a truck full of Campos Brothers Farm almonds off the lot of a trucking company,
where the almonds were sent for distribution earlier this month.

Officials found the truck in a nearby Fresno County city, but it had been emptied of the nuts, valued at an estimated $135,000. But last week an almond broker called authorities when he suspected someone was trying to sell him illegal nuts.

A spokeswoman for the farm says "We're very
cooperative, even though we're competitors. We talk." Fresno County officials found the almonds in a San Leandro warehouse. Their unique packaging helped officials track them down, and
authorities have two "persons of interest" in the case.

U.S. PEANUT CROP UPDATE – From National Agricultural Statistics Service as of October 15, USA peanut crop is rated as 5% Very Poor, 19% Poor, 39% Fair, 32% Good and 5% Excellent. Last year on this same date, the crop was rated 2% Very Poor, 8% Poor, 37% Fair, 46% Good and 7% Excellent. Crop is 36% harvested compared to 46% last year and 55% 5-yr average.

STATE
ITEM
Oct 15, 2006
PREV. WEEK
Oct 15, 2005
5-YEAR AVG.

GEORGIA
Peanuts Dug
53%
38%
69%
78%

Peanuts Combined
40%
26%
52%
61%

Conditions
9% VP, 21% Pr
37% Fair
28% Good
5% Excellent

Soil Moisture (State)
31%Very Short
44% Short
25% Adequate
0% Surplus

Continued dry weather has been detrimental to late planted peanuts, including irrigated fields. Peg strength has been weak as a result of summer heat and drought. Yields and grades have been low. Lack of soil moisture has made digging difficult in some fields.

ALABAMA
Peanuts Dug
36%
21%
70%
78%

Peanuts Combined
25%
12%
47%
65%

Conditions
7% VP, 34% Pr
37% Fair
20% Good
2% Excellent

Soil Moisture
31% Very Short
47% Short
22% Adequate
0% Surplus

Peanut harvest continued at a rapid pace during the past week. Cool dry weather is not helping late peanuts finish maturing. Hard, dry ground is making digging difficult.

FLORIDA
Peanuts Harvested
42%
29%
65%
76%

Conditions
0%VP, 36% Poor
35% Fair
28% Good
1% Excellent

Soil Moisture
35% Very Short
45% Short
20% Adequate
0% Surplus

Another week of dry weather has not helped harvest. Peanut fields continue to suffer in the Panhandle and northern Peninsula areas. Without rain, late-planted peanut crop will not mature. Hardened soils make digging difficult with some peanuts losing pods in some Panhandle areas.

MISSISSIPPI
Peanuts Harvested
60%
42%
-
-

Conditions
0% VP, 2% P
28% Fair
59% Good
11% Excellent

Soil Moisture
26% Very Short
42% Short
32% Adequate
0% Surplus

No rain and good weather conditions allowed for harvesting all week.

N. CAROLINA
Conditions
1% VP, 1% Poor
21% Fair
71% Good
6% Excellent

Harvested
45%
23%
43%
51%

Soil Moisture
2% Very Short
18% Short
75% Adequate
5% Surplus

Below average temperatures for the week while peanut harvesting continued.

S. CAROLINA
Conditions
1% VP, 2% Poor
35% Fair
58% Good
4% Excellent

Harvested
44%
34%
49%
54%

Soil Moisture
4% Very Short
32% Short
61% Adequate
3% Surplus

No report available.

VIRGINIA
Conditions
0% VP, 13% Poor
34% Fair
43% Good
10% Excellent

Peanuts Combined
39%
35%
47%
46%

Soil Moisture
3% Very Short
9% Short
75% Adequate
13% Surplus

No report available.

OKLAHOMA
Conditions
3%VP, 9% Poor
36% Fair
45% Good
7% Excellent

Mature
83%
74%
90%
89%

Peanuts Dug/Combined
32% / 14%
12% / 3%
42% / 26%
43% / 27%

Top Soil Moisture
40% Very Short
32% Short
25% Adequate
3% Surplus

Recent rain was beneficial to producers but too late to make a difference for some crops. Peanuts dug and harvested jumped ahead this week although still behind normal.

TEXAS
Conditions
1%VP, 5% Poor
49% Fair
33% Good
12% Excellent

Harvested
27%
16%
20%
22%

Soil Moisture (WT)
17% Very Short
26% Short
48% Adequate
9% Surplus

Despite rainy conditions in the Southern High Plains, some producers dug and threshed peanuts. Growers also dug peanuts in South Texas. Peanut condition statewide was mostly good to fair.

India: cashew exports decline during H1 this fiscal

Cashew exports have declined during the first half of this fiscal, though during September alone there were considerable increase. Given the trend which was expected to sustain, exports during the remaining months should help in making the goods decrease, according to Cashew Export Promotion Council chairman Walter D’Souza who has been re-elected for another term. At the annual general meeting (AGM) of Cashew Export Promotion Council here, he said that during April-September exports were 58,210 tonne

worth Rs 1,222.93 crore as against 59,112 tonne worth Rs 1,331.41 crore during the corresponding period last year. There was a 1.53% fall in quantity and 8.15% in value. Even the unit value realisation decreased by 6.72% to Rs 210.09 per kg as against Rs 225.23 last year. However, this decrease could be offset given the positive growth in exports during September alone.

A total 7,228 tonne valued at Rs 152.31 crore was exported when it was 6,373 tonne worth Rs 139.78 crore during September 2005, registering a 13.42% rise in quantity and 8,96% in value. He added with installed capacity of the cashew processing industry estimated to be around 12 lakh tonne annually, the industry was forced to import raw nuts.

During the last fiscal, 5.65 lakh tonne was imported when the total production in the country was 5.73 lakh tonne. It was important that domestic production had to be not only increased but productivity at 815 kg per hectare had to be raised on par with Vietnam where it was 2,000 kg per hectare.

273,000 families live off hazelnuts
Thursday, October 19, 2006


The real number is considerably higher than official figures, says the industry minister

ANKARA – TDN Parliament Bureau



Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coşkun said on Wednesday that 273,876 families worked in the hazelnut sector and were registered as farmers.

In a statement released in response to a parliamentary question filed by Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) deputy Hüseyin Güler, Coşkun said the registered number was considerably lower that the real figure, believed to be around 400,000. Coşkun also said that while thousands of families from the East and the Southeast went to the Black Sea region every summer to work the hazelnut harvest, no official figures existed on their number.

The summer was dominated by a hazelnut crisis, one of the most serious problems the current government has had to face in its four years in power.

Until 2003 the Hazelnut Growers Union (Fiskobirlik), which purchases the excess hazelnut harvest, was state run. The purchase of excess hazelnut production caused it to record an average annual loss of YTL 100 million. After 2003 the union became autonomous and state assistance stopped. Turkey's annual hazelnut consumption is around 70,000 tons. It exports between 400,000 and 450,000 tons, almost 80 percent of global consumption, making it the world leader in hazelnut production. In 2005, it exported hazelnuts to 50 nations, netting more than $1.5 billion (1.17 billion euros) for the state coffers. This year growers will produce around 650,000 tons of hazelnuts, a figure that considerably exceeds current demand. Efforts are under way to increase domestic consumption to 100,000 tons per annum. More than 2 million people in the Black Sea region make their living from hazelnuts, and the plunge in prices is having major social consequences, with smaller growers facing huge debts and even financial ruin. Industry-wide losses are estimated at $2.5 billion, experts say. The recent collapse in hazelnut prices provoked a fury against the government, blamed by many farmers for failing to sufficiently help them. The problem arose because Turkish production outstripped world demand, causing prices to drop over the past year from 6 to 2.5 YTL (3.2 to 1.3 euros) per kilogram.

In July, between 100,000 and 150,000 protesters took to the streets of Ordu on the Black Sea, in Turkey's hazelnut heartland, to protest government policy. Industry representatives warn there is more trouble in store unless the situation is remedied.

After months of wrangling, the government decided to help the producers by allowing the Agricultural Products Office (TMO) to purchase the surplus hazelnuts.

Later, Fiskobirlik and TMO announced an agreement under which TMO will purchase surplus hazelnut production in exchange for permission to use Fiskobirlik storage facilities and will also secure loans enabling Fiskobirlik to pay for its 2005 surplus hazelnut purchases.


© 2005 Dogan Daily News Inc. www.turkishdailynews.com.tr

Walnut market update
CROP:

The Walnut Marketing Board announced the September shipments at 21,917 inshell equivalent tons, 6,000 tons less than last year. Inshell shipments were 5.9 million pounds, 3.5 million pounds less that last September. Shelled shipments were 16.8 million pounds, 3.9 million pounds than last year. Total inshell equivalent shipments were 39,533 tons; 11,666 tons less than last year.

Due to the crop being two weeks late, both inshell and shelled production was impacted, with very little shipments from new crop taking place in September. This helps explain why both the Inshell and Shelled shipments were off from last years numbers.

Surprising, the early varieties did not receive the sunburn damage the industry expected. In addition, the serious damage (insect, mold) appear to be average as was the overall quality.

Most of the industry leaders believe the crop will come up short of the official California estimate of 350,000 tons. This early analysis’s is based on packers receiving less tonnage from orchards that had higher production last year.

The State’s survey projected the Chandlers would be off 22 percent, Serr’s off 18 percent and Hartley’s up by 9 percent. I have a problem accepting some of the state’s objective measurement of the 2006 crop. First, I find it hard to believe the Chandlers will be down 22 percent and the Hartley’s up by 9 percent. I believe the Chandlers will be off from last year but not by much. In addition, I believe the Hartley tonnage will not be up, but down from last year. I will let you know how it turns out later.


MARKET:

The market has remained stable and has firmed slightly since opening prices. Packers are offering Chandler LHP at $2.70, regular LHP at $2.60 and CHP at $2.40. Most bookings have been taking place five cents below these levels; however, the Combo material has firmed with most recent bookings taking place at the $2.40 level.

Because of the late crop, the inshell market will have some challenges meeting required shipment dates. I do not believe production will be able to make up for the late crop and there will be a lot of pressure to make early vessels to Europe.


I expect the walnut market to remain firm with the possibility of some strengthen if the crop continues to come up short. However, I do not see a big fluctuation one way or the other.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

UPDATE TO THE TRADE

October 13, 2006
The USDA has announced their first estimate of the 2006 pecan crop at 201.4 million inshell pounds. The National Pecan Shellers Association estimated the crop back in September at 204 million inshell pounds while the Louisiana and Texas average estimates ranged from 171 to 181 million inshell pounds. Cold storage holdings for July and August were slightly higher than normal and we expect to see a carryout between 120 and 130 million inshell pounds at October 31, 2006. We utilize the October 31st cold storage number as the official carryout number as October is a very large shipping month yet very little new crop inshell will move during this month.

The general consensus from growers and accumulators is that the USDA estimate is close to accurate with a good quality crop on the trees. Harvest should begin in the Southestern states in a few weeks. Holiday demand for first new crop availability will be strong as gift packers and other retail users specify only new crop material. The western states will begin their harvest in late November.

We will continue to keep you informed as the crop begins to harvest and the next USDA estimate will be released in early December.

California Prune Harvest Jumps
WASHINGTON - Oct 12/06 - SNS -- California's 2006 prune production is forecast at 170,000 dried tons, up 17% from the June 1 forecast and 89% above the heat damaged 2005 crop, according to the USDA's latest crop production estimates.

Bearing area, at 67,000 acres, is unchanged since last year. This year's prune crop experienced an unseasonable rainy period during bloom which hampered pollination and led to a small fruit set statewide.

As the season progressed, the crop prospects improved. This production forecast is based on a survey of prune growers conducted from August 21 through September 13.

US: pistachio farmers harvest a lighter crop

A later and lighter California pistachio harvest continues in the Central Valley. Farmers say they're finding fewer pistachios in their orchards, and that crop volume may be down as much as 20 percent compared to a year ago. Warm weather was a factor in making for a smaller harvest that at first expected.

“They don’t bloom uniformly without enough chilling hours. We figure we need about 1,000 hours of chilling,” says Tom Coleman, a Madera County pistachio farmer explaining the pistachio tree’s need for enough cool weather during the bloom. “We had erratic spring weather so they did not bloom uniformly,” Mr. Coleman says. “Consequently, we’ll have a lot of nuts that will be left on the tree because they were not pollinated so they will have nothing inside of the,”

Mr. Coleman says consumers should not see any impact because of a carryover of pistachios from last season's crop that should ensure steady supplies and prices. But Mr. Coleman says he sees demand for pistachios remaining strong for years to come. “People are looking toward healthy snack foods. Pistachios are right in there,” he says.

Pistachio farmers harvest a lighter crop

MADERA October 11, 2006 12:01am


• Weather is getting the blame
• Many shells without nuts inside A later and lighter California pistachio harvest continues in the Central Valley.

Farmers say they're finding fewer pistachios in their orchards, and that crop volume may be down as much as 20 percent compared to a year ago.
Warm weather was a factor in making for a smaller harvest that at first expected.
“They don’t bloom uniformly without enough chilling hours. We figure we need about 1,000 hours of chilling,” says Tom Coleman, a Madera County pistachio farmer explaining the pistachio tree’s need for enough cool weather during the bloom.
“We had erratic spring weather so they did not bloom uniformly,” Mr. Coleman says. “Consequently, we’ll have a lot of nuts that will be left on the tree because they were not pollinated so they will have nothing inside of the,”
Mr. Coleman says consumers should not see any impact because of a carryover of pistachios from last season's crop that should ensure steady supplies and prices.
But Mr. Coleman says he sees demand for pistachios remaining strong for years to come.
“People are looking toward healthy snack foods. Pistachios are right in there,” he says.

UPDATE ON PEANUTS October 5, 2006

Supply2005
Crop production 2,410,000 tons of farmer stock
2005 Crop production 1,601,000 tons of farmer stock (USDA est.) Down 34%
Industry estimates closer to 1.5 mil tons. (Down 38%)
Tonnage is down due to 25% reduction in acres and poor growing conditions
Carry-in from 2005 is estimated at 700,000 tons.

Demand
Demand on US crop 1.85 mil tons
Demand includes domestic usage 1.4, seed .12 mil, exports .33 mil tons.
Supply 2,300,000 = 1,600,000 Crop + 700,000 carry-in
Demand – 1,900,000 = 400,000 carry-out
This is a normal carry-out


Market
The only reason we do not have 60-cent peanuts is the giant carry-in from 2005
Today, Oct – Dec ’06 shipments, ’05 crop:
JR $.4350/lb, MR $.3850/lb, Splits $.38/lb and #1’s $.36/lb.
No offers on 2006 Crop shipping Jan – Sep ‘07
Shellers have bought half of the crop at $365 / ton and sold, at least, this amount
Any future sales will be from farmer stock yet to be purchased. The word on the street is that it will take at least $400 / ton to buy, it may take $425. For a sheller to make his margins with $400 farmer stock, prices would be:
JR $.45/lb, MR $.41/lb, Splits $.40/lb and #1’s $.38/lb.
In the next 3 weeks we should know pricing on farmer stock
Note: Jumbo’s will likely be short and the differential may increase

2007 Crop

* We need to increase acres at least 10% to make sure we meet demand.
* 2006 acres 1,213,000 x 2640 lbs/ac. = 1,601,000 tons
* 2007 acres 1,334,300 x 2900 lbs/ac (5 yr. average yield) = 1,935,000 tons
* This would be a comfortable carry-out and hedge, if the yields are lower
* Talk is, with fuel cost and petro-chemical cost high, it will take $415 to $425/ton to increase acres. If storage and handling is not included in the 2007 crop, add $40/ton. Storage and handling should be settled by the middle of Nov ‘06
* Peanut Prices if farmer stock is:
$415/ton – JR $.46, MR $.42, splits $.41 and #1’s $.39/lb.
$425/ton – add 1-cent/lb.
$465/ton – JR $..48, MR $.45, splits $.44 and #1’s $.42/lb.

Vietnam earns less from cashew export in first 9 months
Vietnam is estimated to reap cashew export earnings of 359 million U.S. dollars in the first nine months of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 1.5 percent, despite its higher export volume, according to the Vietnam Cashew Association Friday. In the period, the country is set to export 90,000 tons of the product, mainly to China, the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, England and Russia, up 17.4 percent over the same period last year.
Vietnam is estimated to earn some 400 million dollars from exporting cashew nuts this year, down from 486 million dollars last year, said the association. The country, which had 350,000 hectares of cashew trees in 2005, plans to increase the cashew acreage to 450,000 hectares and export revenue of 700 million dollars by 2010. It shipped abroad 103,000 tons of nuts valued at 486 million dollars in 2005, said the association.

Iran pistachio farmers worried
As the annual pistachio harvest begins, Ali Bajvand has more to worry about than backbreaking labour and changes in crop prices. There is growing unease that possible economic sanctions over the country's controversial nuclear programme could stifle the world's largest pistachio exporter. It was unclear what effect sanctions could have on the pistachio business, but the prospect of losing lucrative markets in the Middle East, Asia and Europe is unnerving for growers like Bajvand.
"I'm harvesting the fruit of my life. What you see here now is the outcome of all the work and care that I've devoted to these trees for the past couple of months," he said. "But I'm told our life will become hard if sanctions are imposed and pistachios are not exported." There is similar nervousness and uncertainly among many Iranians, who are unsure whether there will be sanctions, and unclear on the possible effects, but worried about their livelihoods nonetheless.
The pistachio industry brings in an average of US$500m a year and provides work for hundreds of thousands of people in a nation where at least 11 per cent of the population is unemployed. Last year, Iran earned US$824m from a bumper pistachio crop of 140,000 tons, mostly produced here in southeastern Iran. The United States is leading the charge for sanctions if Tehran refuses to stop enriching uranium, a key step toward either producing nuclear fuel or building nuclear weapons. The US and others fear oil-rich Iran's goal in developing enrichment technology is to produce material for atomic bomb. Iran says it needs enrichment to provide fuel for nuclear reactors that will generate electricity for the developing nation.
Iran ignored an Aug 31 UN Security Council deadline to halt enrichment or face the possibility of economic sanctions. Should sanctions be imposed, Iran's oil industry would most likely suffer the most. Iran heavily relies on oil exports as a major source of revenue and is the world's fourth-largest oil producer. Other major exports include iron, steel, carpets and saffron. Still, the US faces an uphill battle in the UN Security Council to persuade Russia, China and others to impose punitive measures.
And even if sanctions are imposed, they may not extend to agricultural exports. "It's not clear if there will be any sanctions at all," said Ali Asadi, manager of Aria Pistachio, a pistachio export company. "And even if the worst comes and sanctions are imposed, it will initially be for the government-run factories, oil et cetera, not pistachios exported by private firms." "However, it will be a very bad development if sanctions are imposed because in the long-run it will harm our business," he said.

Pecan Market Update September 25, 2006



Dear Customer:

The pecan cold storage report for the month of August has been released. You may note from the attached chart that the July figures were revised to reflect a 12.866 million pound less supply for July. Also, August shows a 28.163 million pound disappearance; therefore, 169 million pounds is reported for the end of August. The September disappearance will complete the pecan calendar year and that number will be our “so called” carry over.

Reportedly, at the NSPA meeting, the estimate for the upcoming crop was 204.5 million pounds. Other discussion at the meeting was that imports would be 67 million pounds. For many reasons, it is becoming more and more difficult to rely on some of these numbers given the vast differences – especially the import estimate.

One additional estimate for the US Crop will be made available by the USDA on October 10th. Let’s see what they report.

To date, we have been blessed with Mother Nature cooperating and there has been no significant harm to the upcoming crop aside from some hail damage reported in New Mexico. This type of damage normally is isolated.

At this time, we feel that without any adverse weather conditions, the crop could produce north of 200 million pounds. Add in the estimated carry over of 140 million pounds and more likely import estimation of 90 million pounds – leaves us with a total estimated supply picture of 430 million pounds. Hopefully this will allow for prices to come down this coming year.

As always, our goal is to report it to you the way it is and we promise to continually do so. We also usually close with proceed with caution and this is especially true today.

Please feel free to call if you have any questions.


Kind Regards,

Bentzy Klein

India: cashew council to focus on exports
The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India has decided to focus on increasing the production of raw nuts to 1.9 million MTs, and export of cashew kernels to 2,75,000 MTs by 2020.
According to the CEPCI-Vision 2020, presented by Walter D'Souza, chairman of CEPCI and released by Union Minister Oscar Fernandes here on Sunday, the country would have to increase its raw nut production to 1.9 million tonnes to achieve the export target of 2,75,000 tonnes of cashew kernels as against the current 1,15,000 tonnes.
The move, according to the document, would translate to employment generation of 850 million man-days for 1.25 million workers and sustainable horticulture by one million farmers. The CEPCI would formulate good manufacturing practices for cashew industry on a par with world standards by March 2007 to achieve zero defects by December 2007. The council would intensify programmes for technological upgradation and modernisation of the cashew industry to meet buyers' expectations.
The council also proposed to improve packaging and presentation of cashew to give added value to customers. Besides, it would work towards quality certification and rating for cashew exporters. The council has promised to explore new markets, leading to exports to 125 countries as against the 65 at present. The CEPCI will target a growth of 50 per cent in exports to 20 focus countries in the new markets to be explored.
The council, the document said, would ensure that 20 per cent of the cashew exported would be value added and marketed with `Made in India' brand. The council has also decided to increase awareness about nutrition value of cashews to target groups and benefits of cashew to a larger audience. It will initiate necessary studies in nutrition in cashew to substantiate, validate and confirm the benefits to the consumer.
The council has also decided to initiate efforts to maximise the usage and export of all other cashew products such as cashew apple and its by-products. Mr. Fernandes inaugurated the valedictory session of the CEPCI's golden jubilee celebration. Principal Secretary (Industry) T. Balakrishnan, prominent cashew exporters and officials of the CEPCI attended the function.

Hazelnut farmers backed Posted: Saturday, September 16, 2006

Ankara
Turkey's state grain office TMO has signed a preliminary deal to borrow $400 million from international banks to buy thousands of tonnes of hazelnuts from farmers demanding government help because of low market prices.
Turkey's Black Sea region produces most of the world's hazelnuts. Protests at low prices by tens of thousands of farmers has prompted the government to buy hazelnuts for the first time in the country's history, a year before elections.
Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker said the TMO would pay 4 lira ($2.73) per kilo of benchmark Giresun hazelnuts.
Last year average market prices were around 7 lira per kilo but have fallen to around 2.5 lira this year.
TMO general director Ismail Kemaloglu said the TMO could buy between 50,000-100,000 tonnes of hazelnuts. A crop of around 650,000 tonnes is expected this year.
The price disappointed farmers.
'This price pleased European importers and this country's brokers but not farmers,' the Union of Turkish Agriculture Chambers (TZOB) said in a statement.
Some economists are worried that the loans could damage shaky fiscal balances by adding to the losses of state companies paid by the Turkish Treasury and trigger a warning from the International Monetary Fund, with which Turkey has a $10 billion standby accord.
Eker said the TMO's hazelnut purchases would be funded by asset-backed international loans and rejected worries about extra spending.
'There is no need to worry and hesitate on this ... This is nothing to do with the Treasury or the IMF,' he said.
Kemaloglu said he hoped the TMO could sell the hazelnuts it buys without incurring losses.Reuters

Weather-trimmed peanut crop may have silver liningSep 15, 2006 8:53 AM
By Brad HaireUniversity of Georgia
Due to severely dry, hot weather over most of the summer, the U.S. peanut crop will be smaller then expected. Crop loss is never good, but there is a silver lining to this one, says a University of Georgia economist.

Coming off a good year of increased acres and good yields, peanut farmers this spring were facing a peanut surplus of around 1 million tons, says Nathan Smith, a Cooperative
Extension Service peanut economist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
“One of the biggest concerns at planting time for the peanut industry was that large surplus,” he says. The weather-shortened crop this year will slash that surplus and should lead to better prices for farmers next year.
The peanut industry likes to keep some surplus peanuts in storage to make sure enough are around to meet consumer demand for peanut butter and snack food each year. But the extra peanuts this spring were about three times that comfort level, he says.
Few contracts were issued at planting time, he said. Shellers were comfortable there would be enough peanuts to meet demand. Four years ago, contracts were going for $400 to $425 per ton. Last year, contracts lowered to around $370.
Farmers had to settle for $355 per ton, the price guaranteed under the 2002 U.S. farm bill, for the surplus peanuts.
Peanut farmers reacted to the looming surplus by planting fewer acres in May, the normal planting month, he says.
Georgia farmers traditionally produce close to half of the total U.S. peanut crop each year. This spring they planted 580,000 acres, about 23 percent less than their 2005 acreage. U.S. farmers collectively planted 1.3 million acres this spring, 24 percent less than in 2005.
But even with decreased acres, he said, there was a good chance that surplus wouldn’t have budged. If everything had gone well and average yields were met this year, the United States would have produced 2 million tons of peanuts, about what the United States uses and exports annually. The surplus would have remained. It just would have been newer peanuts going into storage, he says.
But then summer hit hot and dry.
“The peanut situation can be summed up in two words: not good,” says John Beasley, a UGA Extension agronomist.
Between June and August, rainfall across most of Georgia was below normal, with many days of temperatures in the mid-90s. That combination is tough on plants trying to send pegs into the ground to make peanuts, he says. Insect and disease pressure, too, has taken a toll on yields.
“That surplus outlook has quickly disappeared,” Smith says.
U.S. peanut farmers are expected to yield about 2,645 pounds per acre, 315 pounds less per acre than last year. Georgia farmers are expected to average around 2,500 pounds per acre, 370 pounds less per acre.
Total U.S. peanut production is expected to be around 1.6 million tons, about 30 percent less than last year. “And I think it will end up being less than what is currently projected,” Smith says.
If all this holds, the surplus that started this year’s crop off will be knocked back to what it was about two years ago, he says, or about 500,000 tons. It’s still a large surplus, but not near as daunting to the industry.
“I believe there will be an improvement in prices for next year’s crop, too,” Smith says. “If not, producers have shown that they will respond to surpluses by not planting.”

Sep 13, 2006Tons of almonds vanish in nut heists (2:55 p.m.)

Farmers have long been plagued by commodity thieves, typically pilferers who might make off with a car trunk load of melons or a prize steer in the night. But authorities are now tracking a string of large-scale heists -- entire truckloads of almonds, 44,000 pounds or 22 tons of nuts at a throw -- plaguing San Joaquin Valley wholesalers."We've had 10 tractor-trailer loads (stolen) in just slightly over a year," said Cliff Emery, an agricultural crime specialist with ACTION (Agricultural Crime Technology Information and Operations Network).While almond prices have varied greatly over that period, up to around $4 per pound at one point and down to half that at another, at $3 per pound, the stolen nuts are worth more than $1.3 million.Investigators are puzzling over how the thief or thieves can dispose of such large volumes of almonds."It's not the type thing you're going to get rid of 4 pounds here, 5 pounds there," Emery said. "Whoever's doing this has a venue in place or has a way to get rid of the crop or knows someone who knows out to get rid of the crop."For more, see tomorrow's Record.

Nut purchaser to decide on new president
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Current President Salih Erdem defended the policies of the embattled hazelnut purchaser, which has failed to repay its debts to producers ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
Salih Erdem, chairman of the Hazelnut Growers' Union (Fiskobirlik) executive board, speaking at an extraordinary board meeting held on Tuesday, accused certain circles of “having lobbied to create a thornless rose garden by excluding Fiskobirlik.”
The extraordinary assembly convened with 430 members to vote in a new chairman. Erdem and Ordu General Manager Yaşar Pamuk were the only candidates.
Fiskobirlik, a cooperative that buys and markets hazelnuts, has not been able to repay its debts to producers and has come under harsh criticism from the government and hazelnut producers as prices have tumbled. In his speech, Erdem blamed exporters and European businesses for having lobbied to push down prices and keep Fiskobirlik out of the loop.
Erdem said Fiskobirlik had done its best to repay debts to hazelnut growers and that in the past it had protected producers by purchasing hazelnuts. “Both the nut growers and the Treasury earned money. [This year] they did not let us take loans [to purchase hazelnuts], despite our being the only union which has paid its debts to the Supporting Price Stability Fund,” complained Erdem.
Hazelnut growers also had to share some of the blame, he added. This season they sold too many nuts on account hoping that they might later be able to negotiate higher prices. Some producers gave their nuts to merchants temporarily free-of-charge when prices were YTL 6-7 per kilogram but then later had to accept YTL 3-4. The situation was a result of “pressures being applied and efforts to bring down hazelnut prices,” Erdem explained.
Errors in hazelnut-yield estimates for 2006 were of an unprecedented scale, added Erdem. Fiskobirlik had estimated a 483-thousand-ton yield, while exporters expected at least 520 thousand tons, and this was another factor that prevented Fiskobirlik from selling its hazelnut stock to repay debts, claimed Erdem. The actual figure will be closer to 650 million tons.
Recalling that the Agricultural Products Office (TMO) had recently been assigned to purchase excess produce, Erdem said that Fiskobirlik had hoped to sell its stock to the TMO and pay back its debts, but that had not been possible due to the low price fixed by the TMO.
The TMO recently announced the purchase price of hazelnuts as YTL 4, with producers criticizing the figure as too low.
In reply to criticism directed at Fiskobirlik, Erdem said that the company had gone from 299th on the list of Turkey's biggest businesses, to 150th 2005 and 77th in 2006. “We would have made it to the 25th place had we been able to pay back our debts,” Erdem said, asking his critics “Do you call this a failure?”
Erdem said that Fiskobirlik's high purchasing prices in the past three years had caused disturbance among European companies and their collaborators at home. “They constantly lobbied to push down hazelnut prices. This is what is happening today,” Erdem elaborated.
Fiskobirlik might be forced to sell some of its assets in order to repay its debts, said Erdem, and expressed hope that Fiskobirlik would leave financial difficulties behind as soon as possible.

Guinea-Bissau: unsold cashews a disaster for farmers
Staring hunger in the face, farmer Aladje Madio Dembo has travelled to the Guinea Bissau capital Bissau in a desperate bid to sell his 10-tonne cashew nut harvest and raise some cash. "I am willing to sell all my cashew harvest, even if it's just for 100 CFA [20 cents] a kilo," said Dembo, after a week of fruitless hunting for a buyer in the capital.
Guinea Bissau's cashew crop is usually bought by merchants who take the raw nut to India for processing. But this year they have refused to buy, saying the government-set price of 350 CFA per kilo is too high. Cashew nuts are Guinea Bissau's main export, but according to Minister of Commerce Pascoal Domingos Batica, some 30,000 tonnes of the nut - 30 percent of the harvest – is sitting in stores, unsold.
Portugal introduced cashew trees from Latin America to its African colonies, including Guinea Bissau. But it is in the years since independence in 1974 that the cashew nut has grown to become the base of the Guinea Bissau economy. Farmers have even stopped growing the national staple food, rice, in favour of the mighty cashew and now the country doesn't grow enough rice to feed itself.
Some 85 percent of Guinea Bissauans, like Dembo, rely on cashew sales for their livelihoods. With their crop unsold, they are struggling to buy rice to feed their families. The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has repeatedly warned that Guinea Bissau is on the brink of an agricultural crisis after 85 percent of rice paddies were ruined during last year's floods in the country's main rice growing areas in the south.
Source

TMO starts surplus hazelnut purchases
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

Agriculture Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker and Energy Minister Hilmi Güler officially started the purchase of excess hazelnuts from producers on Monday at a ceremony in Giresun's Bulancak region.
Eker, speaking to journalists, said their efforts were aimed at addressing the problems of hazelnut growers. He said the growers would receive half of their money when their hazelnuts were bought and the remainder15 days later.
He said he believed the Agricultural Products Office (TMO) would do a good job, noting that the 50 TMO centers around the country would be open to receive the produce.
No limit would placed on the sale of excess hazelnuts because the TMO purchase was aimed at alleviating the problems faced by producers, Eker assured producers. He said the TMO had found the necessary funds for the purchase, allowing the state to pay for the surplus.
Despite the minister's assurances the TMO center in Ordu failed to start its purchases on Monday, with officials arguing that the depot they would be using was undergoing renovation. Producers were told to come to the office with documentation only to get an appointment to bring in their produce.
Many producers had brought their hazelnuts to the center in trucks and were disappointed, with some arguing with officials about who will be paying for their losses due to delays.

The hazelnut problem:
Hazelnut growers are up in arms over the Hazelnut Growers' Union's (Fiskobirlik) failure to pay them on time and the huge hazelnut surplus that has adversely affected prices. On July 10 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed complaints made to him by a hazelnut grower and told him to address his grievances to Fiskobirlik. He said the government had advised Fiskobirlik to sell hazelnuts when the price was high and that its failure to do so had resulted in the current problem. Fiskobirlik still owes YTL 125 million to the growers and argues that its requests for loans have been rejected by both state and private banks. It has called for an emergency meeting, to be held today, to address the current deadlock. Until 2003 Fiskobirlik was state run; it purchased excess hazelnut production and recorded an average annual loss of YTL 100 million. After 2003 the union became autonomous and state assistance stopped.
Turkey's annual hazelnut consumption is around 70,000 tons. It exports between 400,000 and 450,000 tons, almost 80 percent of global consumption, making it the world leader in hazelnut production. In 2005 it exported hazelnuts to 50 nations, netting more than $1.5 billion (1.17 billion euros) for the state coffers.
This year growers will produce around 650,000 tons of hazelnuts, a figure considerably in excess of current demand. Efforts are under way to increase domestic consumption to 100,000 tons per annum.
More than 2 million people in the Black Sea region make their living from hazelnuts, and the plunge in prices is having major social consequences, with smaller growers facing huge debts and even financial ruin. Losses are estimated at $2.5 billion across the industry, experts say.
In July between 100,000 and 150,000 protesters took to the streets of Ordu on the Black Sea, in the hazelnut heartland of northern Turkey, to protest government policy. Industry representatives warn there is more trouble in store unless something is done.
The president of the influential Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Sinan Aygun, called for a “mobilization” to prevent the crisis from causing social problems in hazelnut-producing areas. His organization decided to distribute nuts to schools to get rid of overproduction. “Hazelnuts are the cornerstone of the Turkish economy,” he said, calling on Turks to eat more of the “national” food.
The TMO recently announced the purchase price of hazelnuts as YTL 4, with producers criticizing the figure as too low.
© 2005 Dogan Daily News Inc. www.turkishdailynews.com.tr

Hazelnut Prices Announced Published: 9/11/2006

- "THE PURCHASE PRICE OF 50 YIELD HAZELNUT IS 4 YTL "
ANKARA - Agriculture & Rural Affairs Minister Mehdi Eker announced on Wednesday that, the purchase price of 50 yield hazelnut is 4 YTL.(One dollar equals 1.46 YTL.)
Speaking at a press conference, Eker said, "the purchases will be made by the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) and will start as of 11 September, Monday''. He indicated that, 50 p.c. of the payments will be made at the moment of the purchase and the rest will be paid in 15 days.
Meanwhile, the president of the Union of Turkish Chambers of Agriculture (TZOB) Semsi Bayraktar criticized the posted price and said, " the posted price is far from to satisfy the producers. This price is good only for European hazelnut buyers."
Turkey dominates the world hazelnut trade, with more than 70 percent of the total world supply. More than two million people in the Black Sea region make their living from hazelnuts.

Vietnam: cashew exporters move beyond subsidies

Agricultural exporters are optimistic about weathering the upcoming elimination of subsidies, a move required for Viet Nam to accede to the World Trade Organisation. Cashew exporters, for instance, are not heavily dependent on agricultural subsidies, said Vietnam Cashew Association general secretary Nguyen Van Lang.
The cashew sector has only received VND600 million (US$37,760) from the Governmant this year to fund trade promotion, Lang said. Vietnam Food Association general secretary Nguyen Thi Nguyet concurred, saying that subsidies aimed at stabilising the prices of agricultural produce were removed many years ago.
All that remained were incentive payments aimed at encouraging enterprises to strengthen trade, and these would be discontinued by the Ministry of Trade by the end of this year, she said. "I think we shouldn’t be too worried about the elimination of agricultural export subsidies because they were so small," said Pham Chi Lan, former vice chairwoman of Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
Lan argued that, to lift the competitiveness of agricultural products, the Government needed to invest further in improving the quality of agricultural products and in carefully researching export markets about which the country’s enterprises lack needed information. It was also necessary to restructure ineffective State-owned companies, she added.
The State’s supportive policies must comply with WTO regulations, and could include investment in agricultural and rural infrastructure which includes roads, electricity, and irrigation, applying high technology, and training workers, said Doan Ngoc Bong, VCCI deputy chairman.
The Plant Protection Department, for instance, has co-operated with the An Giang Plant Protection Joint Stock Co to train farmers of 22 provinces in the nation’s southern region to produce chemical-free vegetables in compliance with the standards of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP).
The Vietnam Farmers Association expects to organise many activities to help farmers enhance competitiveness, such as the Viet Nam Agricultural Products Fair known as Trau Vang Dat Viet (Viet Nam Golden Buffallo) to be held in October.
"The association is trying to support farmers in production and business skills in order to increase their competitiveness as Vietnam enters the WTO," said association chairman Vu Ngoc Ky.

Gov't Sets Base Hazelnut Prices as 4 YTL per Kilo By Cihan News Agency Thursday, September 07, 2006
Turkish government has revealed the base price of hazelnut prices as four New Turkish Liras (YTL), ca. $2.75, per kilo.
Turkish Minister of Agriculture Mehdi Eker on Wednesday announced that the Agricultural Products Office (TMO) would purchase hazelnuts produced by Turkish farmers at a rate of 4 YTL ($2.75) per kilo as of September 11.
Eker went on to say that there would be no purchasing limits, adding that half of the payments would be made in advance and the other half would be transferred to growers’ bank accounts in 15 days.
The hazelnut problem has been at the top of the agenda in Turkey for over a month. Hazelnut producers held protests late in July when the Hazelnut Agricultural Cooperative Association (Fiskobirlik) failed to pay them on time, and also due to the huge hazelnut surplus that has adversely affected prices.
On July 30, tens of thousands of Turkish farmers demonstrated in the northeastern Black Sea city of Ordu, one of the main hazelnut producing areas in Turkey, to protest the policy adopted by the government against hazelnut producers.
In 2005, Turkey, which is the world's main producer of hazelnuts, broke its all-time record for hazelnut export revenues with earnings of 1 billion 932 million dollars.
Hazelnut crops in Turkey cover an area of 700,000 hectares which produce a harvest of around 550 thousand tons.
Turkey produces 70 percent of the world's hazelnuts exporting them to around 80 countries, with the US in particular being a significant importer

US: July's heat heavily damaged Oregon's blueberry crops
One-hundred-degree heat in July caused a sharp reduction in the Oregon blueberry crop, as many growers had feared. The latest estimate for the 2006 blueberry harvest is about 34 million pounds -- 6 million pounds less than was projected, according to the Oregon Blueberry Commission.
Before the July heat wave, which coincided with harvest time, it had been shaping up to be a bumper crop. The heat reduced yields, and berries were sunburned. "We just got slammed with those triple-digit hot days," said Oregon Blueberry Commission administrator Bryan Ostlund. The good news for growers is that price and demand for blueberries remain strong.

Almond theft: Tough cases for growers to crack
Issue Date: September 6, 2006
By Christine SouzaAssistant Editor

With the almond harvest well under way in the Central Valley, growers and sheriff's deputies are renewing their efforts to combat the increasing problem of stolen almonds.
The farmers and officers are working together to develop information that may lead to suspects as well as prevent further thefts.
The ACTION (Agricultural Crime Technology Information and Operations Network) Project recently reported that during the 2005-06 crop year, more than $1.3 million worth of almonds were stolen from growers and shippers in the San Joaquin Valley. Truckload after truckload, thieves allegedly trespassed onto properties, cut fences and broke locks to get to the valuable nuts. Sheriff's deputies say thieves hot-wired several tractor-trailers around the Central Valley and were able to flee with almonds that were awaiting shipment overseas.
"These guys know exactly what they are doing. They are experienced in handling truckloads of commodities and come with the specific intent of stealing truckloads of almonds," said Cliff Emery, ACTION Project agricultural crime specialist. "Right now they are targeting the finished product that is ready to go to an end user. If the price for almonds escalates, they could target field product."
California almond growers in 2004-05 produced $2.2 billion worth of almonds. This harvest season began in mid-August in the southern San Joaquin Valley-about two weeks later than average.
Emery said that the rash of thefts began last year with a theft of two container loads of almonds taken from a location at the Merced-Madera county line. Shortly after, two more container loads were nabbed in Livingston in Merced County. About a month after that theft, thieves hit again in Denair in Stanislaus County.
Scott Phippen, president of Travaville and Phippen Inc., a grower, packer and shipper of almonds in Manteca, was victimized in July. He had two finished container loads of about 44,000 pounds each of almonds waiting at his San Joaquin County facility to be transported to the Port of Oakland.
"We had some loads scheduled for transport following July 4th week, but because that week was compressed, there were two days that the port wasn't going to be open," Phippen said. "The trucking company asked us if we could prepare two of the loads."
Because traffic was tied up in the Bay Area due to the holiday, Phippen said he had to wait before sending the two container loads.
"Typically we don't load a container unless it is going to leave that day," Phippen said. "What we should have done and what I would advise anybody to do is if a container doesn't go, unload it. Put it back in the warehouse even though it takes some time."
Phippen hooked his two truck tractors underneath the two containers and locked them, thinking that would be an adequate precaution.
"I know now that it is very easy to hot-wire a diesel truck. The thieves broke into our fence that night and found the two loaded containers hooked to the two trucks, hot-wired them, cut the bolts to the lock on our main gate and just drove them out. They took them to a truck stop and traded them with their truck tractors and took them away."
With the price of almonds in the range of $3 per pound and 44,000 pounds in each load, Phippen experienced a loss of about $264,000. Fortunately the almonds were insured.
Almond growers met with law enforcement and insurance company representatives last month at the Almond Board of California office in Modesto. While there, they discussed commonalities of the various almond container thefts and worked toward developing a prevention plan.
Tips to prevent thefts
Insurance company representatives, law enforcement officials and other rural crime experts offer these tips to help almond growers prevent thefts:
Do not leave a container loaded with almonds unless the truck is going directly to the port that same day. If it is not possible to transport the container, unload its contents until it is ready to go to the port, or park the load in a locked warehouse. To prevent containers from being left unattended, ensure that the trucking company takes the load directly to the port.
Ensure that the farm's security system is updated and working properly. With security cameras, see that the cameras are in good working order and are mounted in locations that will be able to record any suspicious activity. Install motion detector lights nearby so that the camera can take a clear picture of the suspect at night.
Consider hiring security guards, especially during nighttime hours. When choosing a security guard, be sure candidates provide references.
Fully understand your insurance policy. Know where your liability begins and ends. Check with your insurer to clarify any unknowns and to ask questions.
Do not become an easy target. Take every step you can to avoid becoming a victim. Develop close relationships with local law enforcement and report any thefts or suspicious activity.
(Christine Souza is a reporter for Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top