Since its introduction in December 2016, the California almond industry map has provided a visual tool for almond growers, processors, allied industry and others to help make key decisions for the success of their operation, and the industry. 
This tool features analyses showing where almond acreage is located throughout the state, orchard age and how suitable the land beneath those orchards might be for groundwater recharge. It also gives growers and processors an extensive, highly accurate source of information upon which to make key decisions.
In September of last year, three new layers were made available. They include 2016 almond acreage, Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP) water quality coalition boundaries and political district boundaries.
The maps were developed in partnership with Land IQ, based on their analysis of multiple years of satellite photos and other methods. And behind the maps is a robust data set.
The 2014 Spatial Acreage Estimate includes estimated almond acres, bearing and non-bearing, by county and by year planted from 1984 through 2014. It is based on standing acreage in 2014 and is also reflected in the 2014 almond acreage map layer. Data from 2015 and 2016 are not included in this estimate.[1] Bearing acreages have all been verified via ground truthing and/or spatial approaches.
Land IQ’s findings are being used by USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to fine-tune the official almond acreage surveys and other forecasts and reports, and serve as a complimentary almond industry resource.
The NASS crop and acreage reports are the official USDA estimates and will continue to be the official statistics for the almond industry. The 2017 Almond Acreage Report will be published on April 25.
The Subjective Almond Forecast for 2018 will be published on May 10 and this will be the first official indicator of almond crop yield, followed by NASS’ Objective Almond Forecast on July 5, which is based on actual almond counts and measurements recorded in orchards. The reports are available on the NASS Crop and Acreage Report page of the Almond Board’s website.
To ensure improved accuracy across industry reports and forecasts, Almond Board of California, NASS and Land IQ are working together to leverage the strength of the different methodologies to provide increasingly precise data.
For more information on the California almond Industry maps or to access them, visit Almonds.com/Maps.
[1]This segment of non-bearing acreage is the most difficult to estimate and cannot be remotely sensed. The numerical estimates for 2015 and 2016 rely on ground truthing and other non-spatial information, resulting in an accuracy of +/- 10% for non-bearing year acreage estimates. Bearing acreage estimates are 98.8% accurate spatially and even more accurate numerically.
