The California Almond industry has never before had such good production and popularity, according to Kent Stenderup, Arvin. Sustaining these levels requires good stewardship. Growers who participate in the California Almond Sustainability1 Program (CASP) help the almond industry by providing the data to educate buyers, regulators and the public that almond growers and handlers follow sustainable practices and are considerate of neighbors and the consuming public. At the same time, it is an opportunity for growers to reflect on the management of their operations.
And that’s exactly how grower Kent Stenderup responds when asked about his impression of the program after filling out all eight modules of the CASP assessments. He says it has given him greater insight — both into the efficiency and sustainability of his own operation and into the value of the program to the California Almond industry at large.
Ideas for Efficiency
“There’s definitely an educational value to growers,” Stenderup said. “Filling out the forms made me think about my practices in a way that I had not before. For example, there is a question about irrigating at night in the Irrigation Management module, and I learned that irrigating at night is more efficient and it saves on the electricity rate for pumping.”
Stenderup farms 2,500 family-owned acres for Stenderup Ag Partners in the Kern County town of Arvin. He has been attending CASP workshops for the past four years, and said he gets as much out of the workshops as he does from the modules.
“I really appreciate the educational value of the CASP workshops,” he stated. “You have an opportunity to pick up some ideas for changing your cultural practices, and all you have to do is show up for a few hours. This makes me a more progressive farmer by looking at some possible inefficiencies that I can correct.”
Cloning Option Online
But Stenderup doesn’t take the time to fill out modules at workshops; instead, he takes advantage of the online version of the program, noting that it is much easier than filling out forms on paper, and you have the ability to clone. Cloning allows growers to copy all of the data they have entered for one field or block into another field or block, and then just modify the data where there are differences between blocks. It also allows growers to go back to the forms in the future to reassess the same blocks, which will demonstrate improvement in sustainable practices.
“Filling out the forms online also gives you access to online tools — the nitrogen budgeting calculator, the mapping tool and the irrigation calculator, which we learned about at the March workshops and is now available,” Stenderup pointed out. Growers can access these tools by going to SustainableAlmondGrowing.org. This provides a portal both to participate in CASP by filling out modules, and to access the online tools. (All you need is a username and password.)
Industry Reputation
The California Almond Sustainability Program has also been a “big performer” for the almond industry as a whole, Stenderup noted. “The collective data substantiates the industry’s progress as stewards of our land,” he added. “It has done wonders for the industry’s reputation management in the past year-and-a-half.”
Realizing this, Stenderup has become more transparent in everything he does. “We have more than a million acres of almonds in California,” he continued. “When you get to that level, you have to be responsible. Every grower who has an acre is part of that one million. Participation in CASP by every almond grower — large and small — is vital to the integrity of the industry. Being transparent about our cultural practices builds the trust of our buyers and the consuming public.”
1. Sustainable almond farming utilizes production practices that are economically viable and are based upon scientific research, common sense and a respect for the environment, neighbors and employees. The result is a plentiful, nutritious and safe food product.
