Almond Living Magazine

How Do You Define Sustainability?

At the 2017 Sustainable Agriculture Summit in November, farmers, retailers, marketers, and consumers affirmed the importance of sustainability, yet emphasized the role of different metrics, practices, and outcomes in how it’s defined. Definitions of sustainability differed depending on organizational values, business goals, and customer expectations. While no one formal definition was agreed upon, based on the dialogue during presentations and...

Biosolari-Say What?! New Research Combines Hulls, Shells, and Soil Health

The California Almond community is always innovating. At the 2017 Almond Conference, attendees got a preview of a new approach under investigation to control soil pests, improve soil health, and reuse almond coproducts. Almonds grow inside a shell, surrounded by a fuzzy outer hull – both of which are known as coproducts. Christopher Simmons, PhD, researcher at UC Davis, and...

Dormant Trees, Busy Farmers

It’s winter time and harvest is over, but the work for California Almond farmers isn’t done. Like many other types of trees, almond orchards lose their leaves during winter and rest, a time known as dormancy . Once the leaves have fallen from the branches, some farmers find that not all of the nuts were removed at harvest. After gauging...

Almond Board’s Sustainability Program Showcased at 2017 Sustainable Agriculture Summit

Almond Board of California’s (ABC) development and implementation of the California Almond Sustainability Program (CASP) was highlighted at the third annual Sustainable Agriculture Summit in November. At a session titled “Gaining Ground in Specialty Crop Sustainability Initiatives: Data-Driven Success Stories on Participating Engagement,” Spencer Cooper, ABC senior manager of irrigation and water efficiency, spoke about the program’s focus on education...

Smart and Sustainable: Preserving California’s Water Resources for Generations to Come

When California Governor Jerry Brown declared the state’s historic five-year drought over in April 2017, he made official what to most Californians had been all but obvious since the skies opened up late the prior year. For in addition to the 90 inches of rain and snow that fell in the California Sierra Nevada’s, the swelling reservoirs, urban flooding and...

Leadership Class Brings California Almond Art to Children’s Hospital

Almond orchards are beautifully active: bees zip through blooms in February, fuzzy green hulls emerge in late spring, sunsets beam through branches during harvest and trees hibernate in winter’s chill. Yet, the activity in almond orchards pales in comparison to the energy and life of young children, particularly those the Almond Leadership Program visited earlier this fall. On October 5...