WCN December 2019

ADVANCED HARVEST FOR ALMONDS
Will California’s almond industry embark on a journey that could entail a
major change in harvest practices?
By CECILIA PARSONS | Associate Editor
JOSETTE LEWIS, THE ALMOND BOARD OF
California’s (ABC) new Director of Agricultural Affairs
predicted exploring alterative harvesting options will be
a journey for almond growers as they make decisions and
evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of what would
be a major change for the industry. The topic of advanced
harvest is so intriguing that it is one of the opening topics at
The Almond Conference 2019 in December.
While other almond-producing countries have adopted
some alternative harvest practices, including over the top
harvest, in recent years, nearly all of the California crop, that
makes up 80 percent of the world’s almond production, is
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harvested by first mechanically shaking, then windrowing
the nuts and finally scooping them up with a pickup machine.
New technology in harvest equipment and new harvest strategies
have been successful in reducing the amount of dust
generated during harvest operations, but dust remains an
issue for the industry and is one of the drivers for alternative
harvest.
Lewis said ABC funded research will help growers understand
their harvest options. She noted that some growers
are already trying new approaches to harvest and equipment
manufacturers are also exploring changes in harvest
machine design.
Grower Driven Changes
Changes will be grower driven, Lewis predicted, as growers
strategize to improve their harvest efficiency, reduce dust and
improve orchard health.
Advancing harvest dates, using a catch frame to keep
nuts off the ground and mechanical drying are all aspects of
almond harvest that are being studied.
Lewis said that adoption of these practices have the
potential to also change orchard design, pest management
and cultural practices. There will certainly be trade-offs.
Mechanical drying would use energy, but early and off the
ground harvest would also reduce aflatoxin and crop damage
due to pests or disease.
Research
The level of interest in advanced harvest among almond
growers is high, confirmed Patrick Brown of the University of
California (UC) Davis Plant Sciences Department.
Growers see the harvest alternative as one way of meeting
the California almond industry’s 2025 Goal of harvest dust
reduction.
Brown sees plenty of challenges in adoption of advanced
harvest by the almond industry, but the environmental benefits
may outweigh the challenges in the future. There could
be increased flexibility in irrigation scheduling, meaning
less tree stress at the critical time of bud development. Cover
crops could replace bare orchard floors, providing extra soil
health and pollinator habitat. There is also the chance of
reduced need for pesticide applications if nuts are harvested
earlier.
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West Coast Nut December 2019