TURLOCK, Calif. — It’s been quite a year for farmers in the Central Valley. It started with trade wars, progressed into a pandemic, and now farmers have to deal with a number of massive wildfires blanketing the valley in ash and smoke.
Right now, it’s almond harvest season. Brian Wahlbrink, an almond grower with Sperry Farms, said there’s reason to be optimistic.
“From the tonnage perspective, this is a record-breaking crop which is good news for California, the US, and the world,” explained Wahlbrink.
Still, he admits this year the harvest is more complicated.
“With the fires, we had a lot of smoke out here,” said Wahlbrink. “And as you can see, we’re getting blue sky today for the first time in a week and a half.”
Former Turlock mayor and almond grower Gary Soiseth understands the conditions on the ground right now.
“We’ve gone through harvest year after year but unfortunately, with the wildfires, it’s just compounded the variables,” admitted Soiseth. “Normally you’re used to dust, used to heat, but now you have air quality that is beyond unhealthy.”
He said even if it’s not in his own backyard he’s dealing with the consequences of the massive wildfires.
“A lot of people don’t realize that yes, the fires aren’t in the valley, but at the same time we’re suffering the 2nd and 3rd order of consequences,” said Soiseth.
Wahlbrink and Soiseth said there is a finite window for growers to harvest.
“Really once that hull starts opening, drying out, you kind of have a narrow window to get it off the trees,” explained Wahlbrink.
“There’s no option to leave the nuts on the trees,” said Soiseth. “So each variety is different and between about August to October, depending on your variety, you need to harvest right then. And so there’s no option not to go out right now and harvest.”
They said right now they’re focusing on PPE.
“I think worker safety,” said Wahlbrink. “That’s always number one. We had some raining ash last week.”
“We’re having to mitigate that with our N95 masks, which we normally have any given harvest,” explained Soiseth. “But now, we have to have them 24/7, the entire time we’re there.”
Soiseth said this harvest means more than most understand.
“Almonds and walnuts, all these specialty crops, they’re the backbone of a lot of Central Valley communities that I live in. And so it’s very important that we make sure these are able to get from the field, on time, and into our markets.”
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