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Vanella's almonds awaiting harvest.<br />
Continued from Page 54<br />
and get a more stable average for pricing.” By August 1st,<br />
Ryan tries to have everything sold and shipped. They do<br />
want walnuts to sell sooner, and not keep them during the<br />
hot summer months.<br />
Walnuts<br />
The Vanella’s more recently started shipping walnuts<br />
just ten years ago. They expanded with a walnut huller and<br />
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dryer in 2010, when their buyers realized they also farm<br />
walnuts. The customers were asking for them, so they<br />
started with a couple loads and went from there. They did<br />
about twenty loads one year, then fifty loads, the following<br />
year 100 loads and this year they will probably be<br />
about 200 loads.<br />
Ryan explains, “There were a lot of walnuts planted<br />
when the price hit $2 a pound. There aren’t enough facilities<br />
that can hull and dry the new crop coming off. We<br />
put in a new walnut huller just three years ago with the<br />
capacity to double it, and we already need to expand it.<br />
We just keep putting in more dryer bins every year.” Even<br />
with the walnut price being very low recently, farmers<br />
still need a place to dry their crop. Farmers aren’t ripping<br />
out their young orchards and in fact they are still planting<br />
walnuts. In a few years, there is going to be a lot more<br />
volume of walnuts coming and the Vanella’s hope to be<br />
able to expand with the new production.<br />
Marketing Walnuts<br />
While the demand for walnuts is there worldwide, the<br />
marketing still needs to catch up. Sue points out that<br />
almonds have an advantage in the Middle Eastern countries<br />
“almonds are more ceremonial, and are a high-status<br />
nut. Walnuts are sold for more health reasons to them.”<br />
Walnuts being grown in more countries, puts California<br />
growers in less of an advantage.<br />
Ryan points out, last year when the California walnut<br />
crop was down the price was still low. “You don’t get that<br />
in almonds, when the crop is down the price is higher<br />
because they are at more of a demand. In walnuts, when<br />
the crop is down 15 percent and the price is down 20<br />
percent that hurts all of us.” But Ryan is optimistic that<br />
walnuts will come back up in price, maybe not $2 a<br />
pound, but hopefully closer to $1 a pound.<br />
Number One Concern—Safety<br />
With so many factors and functions involved in getting<br />
an end product, the number one concern for Vanella<br />
Farms is safety. With all the employees required to run<br />
56<br />
<strong>West</strong> <strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Nut</strong> <strong>September</strong> <strong>2019</strong>
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