News

Top 8 Harvest Best Practices

What are the best ways to get high quality walnuts that are light in color and fully developed? Read the Top 8 Harvest Best Practices to find out. JUST BEFORE THE HARVEST:

1. Do not allow nuts to become water stressed. This will lead to lower weight, and obviously, lower returns.
2. Early harvest spray (ethephon) can be used; make sure to apply when packing tissue of ALL NUTS turn just brown. Apply the spray too early will cause the nuts to not reach full development. HARVEST:
3. Timing is everything. Keep an eye on the weather. Harvesting at the hottest part of the day will cause nuts to stain while harvesting during rainy weather will cause mold development.
4. Earlier the harvest, lighter the kernel. Nuts left too long on the tree will develop darker color.
5. Clean orchard = clean nuts! Keeping the orchard floor clear will reduce foreign material in the nuts and be valued at a better quality for returns.
6. Follow Good Agricultural Practices. This includes proper maintenance of harvest vehicles, training employees to not eat/spit in active harvest areas, etc.
7. Always have ‘Safety First’ approach. RIGHT AFTER HARVEST:
8. Get the nuts off the floor and to a huller/dehydrator at the earliest. This will prevent any quality problems from setting in as well as prevent potential theft, a growing problem in last few years. 

Grower Payment Update

Be on the look out for your final grower payments being mailed out at the end of May. If you have any questions or don’t receive your checks please contact Kevin Kajioka in the office. Also from time to time we receive important information from various organizations and would to streamline the process of getting that information out to you. If you would like to be added to our email list please contact Maria Manzo in the office and she will take down your information. Thank you for your continued business and we look forward to the 2017 harvest!

April 2017 Walnut Shipment Report Update

•  April 2017 shipments were 41,845 inshell equivalent tons. For the month of April 2017 shipments decreased by 7,673 tons (-15.5%) compared to April 2016.
• Inshell shipments for April 2017 were 5.075 million pounds, a decrease of 2.4 million pounds (-32%) compared to April 2016
• Season to date inshell shipments (September 1st, 2016 – April 30th, 2017) are 386 million pounds, an increase of 100.7 million pounds (+35%) compared to the same period in the 2015/2016 Marketing Year.
• helled shipments for April 2017 were 34.6 million pounds, a decrease of 5.1 million pounds (-13%) compared to April 2016.
• Season to date shelled shipments (September 1st, 2016 – April 30th, 2017) are 330 million pounds, an increase of 45.5 million pounds (+16%) compared to the same period in the 2015/2016 Marketing Year.

California Walnut Inventory (Inshell Tons) Carry-in from 2015 Crop Year: 65,170 2016 Walnut Receipts: 680,087 Total Inventory: 745,257 Shipments through April 30th 568,250 Remaining Inventory: 177,007

Walnut Shipments by Region Sept 1st – April 30th, 2017: Shelled:

• North America is up 10 million pounds or 7.81% • Europe is up 13 million pounds or 19.79%
• Asia/Pacific Rim is up 14.5 million pounds or 24.12% • Middle East/Africa is up 6 million pounds or 25.44% Inshell
• North America is down 1.2 million pounds or -7.36%
• Europe is up 23 million pounds or 32.48% • Middle East/Africa is up 54 million pounds or 51.59%
• Asia/Pacific Rim is up 21.4 million pounds or 23.33% Countries with big increases/decreases in imports September 1st – April 30th, 2017
• USA shelled up 13 million pounds or 10.98%
• Canada shelled down 2.5 million pounds or -18.04%
• Germany shelled up 9 million pounds or 27.02%
• Spain shelled up 2.7 million pounds or 19.25%
• Japan shelled up 5 million pounds or 23.31%
• Korea shelled up 6 million pounds or 35.13%
• Italy inshell up 17.6 million pounds or 49.22%
• Morocco inshell up 3 million pounds or 102.84%
• Turkey inshell up 32.8 million pounds or 38.69%
• UAE inshell up 13.8 million pounds or 139.43%
• China inshell down 1 million pounds or -12.77%
• Hong Kong inshell down 6.2 million pounds or -16.12%
• India inshell up 23.1 million pounds or 288.51%
• Vietnam inshell up 7.6 million pounds or 23.05%

Upcoming Events

• 5/31/17 California Walnut Board/ California Walnut Commission – Annual Spring Meeting, Marriott Hotel Rancho Cordova
• 5/31/17 University of California Cooperative Extension – Walnut Pruning Trial Field Day, Hosted by Castle Farms
• 6/6/17 DFA Food Safety Meeting, Monterey
• 6/13/17 FSMA Walnut Grower Training, Tulare Ag Center
• 6/14/17 WAPA Annual meeting starts, Monterey Check out our new website! TURLOCKWALNUTCO.COM

 The California Walnut Board is pleased to announce a partnership with Safe Food Alliance to offer the official Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Training. This Produce Safety Training is exclusive to Walnut growers only. The California Walnut Board is offering one complimentary registration for the first 260 growers. Apply discount code PSCWB2017 at checkout. Sessions in Chico and Stockton have passed, but there is still time to sign up for the June 13, 2017 Tulare session. Visit the following site to learn more: https://safefoodalliance.com/events/ produce-safety-training-4/