Nut prices have risen. Analysts at Rabo AgriFinance have released a five-year outlook for walnuts, and the market seems to be flattening out after record growth. However, there are promising signs for long-term market opportunities, despite a tumultuous year for port congestion, supply chain contraction and a potentially deepening drought. WOODLAND (CBS1) Excavators are felling acres of trees in a Yolo County orchard that has grown walnuts for years.
California is known around the world for its nuts, which produced 720,000 tons last year alone. But right now, some growers are giving up the classic California harvest. Branch by branch, acre by acre, walnut trees that were on site for more than a decade at Bullseye Farms in Woodland are now destroyed. Edsall said the decision wasn't easy.
It took seven years for the trees to be large enough to produce a crop. Some trees that are next in line to be felled and dried, and then sent to the wood chipper, are starting to form their nuts, but they won't be standing long enough for them to form. But the dry, dusty soil surrounding uprooted trees is not the most pressing problem. Carriere said that despite high consumer demand for walnuts around the world, California cannot meet.
Nuts have a short shelf life compared to many commodities, so it's a race against the clock to load them onto cargo ships and ship them to consumers abroad. Two-thirds of California nuts are shipped to other countries from Europe to the Middle East. But right now, many ships are skipping the port of Oakland and returning to China with empty containers. And walnuts are not the only product that is left behind.
This month, both California senators joined agricultural groups across the state to convene a summit to address the shipping crisis, saying they are “deeply concerned that the U.S. Agricultural producers cannot secure containers to export their products. But producers are not optimistic about a quick fix. Meanwhile, Edsall said nut prices have plummeted and Bullseye Farms can't afford to wait.
Instead, these orchards will soon be replaced by another Californian tradition: rows of tomato processing and, for now, a much more reliable crop. The wood chips from all those trees are still being exploited. Some are sent to a biofuel plant to produce energy, while the rest are spread as mulch in the hope of returning nutrients to the soil. Fertilizer prices rose to 300% compared to last year due to rising gas prices in Europe and geopolitical problems.
One of the most important pricing skills is for the industry to set the opening price at a level where it slowly rises over time. Like many California products, walnuts continue to be prized for their high quality and attention to food safety, serving as “a differentiator” in export markets. Provide price predictions and future hedging recommendations, identifying key tipping points and commodity trends. Censky says soy leaders may have real concerns about any shift in agricultural programs toward margin coverage rather than income or benchmark prices.
We believe that the good quality Chandler and Chandler LHP halves will continue to rise slightly and good CHP and LHP will remain stable at these slightly elevated prices. Overall demand for U.S. nuts has been further hampered by the strong availability and competitive prices of Chinese walnuts, according to commercial sources. Some packers are concerned about cancellations by foreign buyers (at higher price levels) due to the lack of certain seasons or holidays, which are a “perfect excuse for a default”.
China (X tons) constituted the country with the highest volume of walnut production, with approx. Increased competition for walnuts could drive new collaborations with some Chilean exporters, allowing the industry to grow and expand to new markets, benefiting food manufacturers and retailers with a more reliable supply. Planted area has grown only marginally in recent years and current prices are unlikely to incentivize more plantations or take out a large number of acres of production. For a crop that has a 25-year lifespan, the walnut industry has undergone many changes over the past two decades.
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