California Nut Farmers Burdened By Huge Supply, Low Demand

CALIFORNIA — The coronavirus pandemic has touched nearly every corner of California's society and its economy — including the state's nut farmers, who are blessed with a bounty of ripe fruit but cursed by plummeting demand for their product.

The U.S. produces and exports the most tree nuts of any country, but global demand has dropped due to Chinese tariffs and the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported.

The timing couldn't be worse: many farmers planted large numbers of trees over the past few years as demand grew for their products, and those crops are just reaching market now.

Bill Carriere, owner of Carriere Family Farms in Glenn, told Bloomberg that his workers have had to trim the branches of his farm's fruit-laden walnut trees so that they don't break under their own weight.

“We’re nervous, especially for next year, with where prices are,” Carriere said. "They could get below the cost of production.”

Almonds, too, are projected to have one of their largest-ever harvests this year, which could result in a disastrous oversupply, the Sacramento Business Journal reported last month.

Carriere said he already began growing more walnut trees in a nursery before the pandemic hit, and had placed orders for even more plants to arrive in 2022 — equivalent to a 40- or 50-year commitment.

On Monday, Congressman John Garamendi, a Democrat who represents the Sacramento area, sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, asking the department to support the state's struggling farmers by directly purchasing almonds to be used in food banks.

"COVID-19 has made a hard year even harder for California’s almond growers, and the federal government must take action to help them weather this storm," Garamendi said.

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