California’s annual almond harvest is running at full throttle, and area growers are busy collecting the crunchy brown nuts that comprise San Joaquin County’s No. 2 cash crop behind only wine grapes. While generally good growing conditions were reported for this season, initial indications are yields are down from previous years. Dave Phippen, a principal of Travaille & Phippen in Manteca, counts himself lucky. With a modest water cutback from the water district serving his orchards and well water to make up the difference, he said, “Our trees don’t know there’s a drought.” Still, his yields from the nonpareil variety — now being harvested and which accounts for 35 to 40 percent of all California’s almond crop — may be down 15 percent from a year ago. Based on that and reports from other areas in the state, Phippen said the statewide harvest will likely be short of the 1.8 billion pounds forecast July 1 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and well off from the more than 2 billion pounds collected in both 2011 and 2013. Mel Machado, director of grower relations for Blue Diamond Growers, said the drought is having a more severe impact on almond growers in the southern San Joaquin Valley than in the north. But even in the north, in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. Late-maturing almond varieties could help make up the shortfall in nonpareil yields, but that is yet to be seen. The market for California almonds, which account for about 80 percent of the world supply, is expected to remain strong. Global demand exceeds even the 1.8 billion pound forecast, Machado said. Reports of a slowdown in the Chinese economy and the recent devaluation of China’s currency, making U.S. products more expensive there, were not seen as major factors. Source - http://www.freshplaza.com