Warm Winter And Drought Casting Doubt On Pistachio Harvest
September 17, 2014 California pistachio production continues to climb. Over the past decade, the U.S. has become the world’s largest producer of pistachios with nearly 60% of the crop being exported.
The only wrinkle in 2014 is expected to be a temporary slowdown in production from un-uniform chilling hours and the ongoing drought in California. This is according to a new report by Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory group (FAR) titled “U.S. Pistachios — A billion reasons to believe.”
FAR Senior Analyst Vernon Crowder says that one billion pounds is still very much in reach by 2019.
“Between the acres coming into production and the expectation that we will have more normal weather patterns in the future, one billion pounds is realistic by 2019,” he says.
Crowder goes on to state that the forecast could be delayed by a change in the alternate bearing cycles.
While historical growth is driving record prices for all parties, it does pose a challenge for processors and marketers.
“Critical issue number one is processing capacity,” says Crowder. “Today we know that many of the largest processors are expanding capacity in advance and are positioning to deal with larger harvests.”
The report goes on to examine the prices that growers are receiving for their crop and also looks at what potential new avenues for sale are available. For more information, look for the California Nut Report in the November/December issue of Western Fruit Grower.
Source: Rabobank
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