# Total loss almonds



## Gazelle (May 17, 2015)

Heard today of a orchard in orland is a total loss. I’m not sure what frost prevention tactics he had in place. Tragic....


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

Went right to winter as the bloom got going. Might be a bad year for the almond growers.


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## RangerLee (Apr 26, 2015)

Have 2 nights in the high 20s... tonight is going to be the 3rd night and coldest. Also causing havoc on brood.....


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## liljake83 (Jul 2, 2013)

The orchards I'm in are all in Durham the week before the freeze most trees were at peak bloom or very close to peak the bees definitely got time to pollinate as long as the freeze protection was adequate things should be ok the grower says


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

The word I am getting is that it is too early to know.
There are two things that the growers know for certain:

If the premium for crop insurance always seemed like a waste of money; it doesn't now.

If the grower has crop insurance in place this year, they may just receive a large sum of money for the first time on their claim.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Do beekeepers get paid going in or going out?


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## liljake83 (Jul 2, 2013)

Usually both half when delivered half when removed but there are all kinda deals out there


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Co-worker said they got some snow in Arbuckle yesterday...


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## Gazelle (May 17, 2015)

That’s crazy. I’ve got hives in an orchard with sprinklers. His trees look fine. On another orchard, no frost protection, all the white petals are brown.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Still lots of viable bloom, looks like much was saved by the sprinklers. Some orchards are showing more leaves than bloom.Another week maybe.


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

Thank you for the report, Mike.
Appreciate it!


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## liljake83 (Jul 2, 2013)

I'm beginning to have flashbacks of last year as wet as the orchards are now from all the sprinklers for freeze protection and with all the rain forecasted for latter this week into next week moving out looks to be a muddy mess good luck out there


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

liljake83 said:


> I'm beginning to have flashbacks of last year as wet as the orchards are now from all the sprinklers for freeze protection and with all the rain forecasted for latter this week into next week moving out looks to be a muddy mess good luck out there


 Thats how it looks to me too. The weather has been changing so fast maybe it will bounce the other way.


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## homegrown (Jul 24, 2016)

Mike, I couldn’t open your picture you posted. Can you post it again? Thanks


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

That was my first attempt to put a picture right on a post. I thought it worked. Is it messed up?


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## homegrown (Jul 24, 2016)

I tried to click on the thumbnail but nothing came up. Who knows, I’ve never figured out how to post a picture on here either.


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## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

Worked for me. Maybe Mike changed something since then.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Massive hailstorm in Sac area yesterday, looks like it snowed. Now it's probably 30mph gusts and it's cold as heck.....


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## BDT123 (Dec 31, 2016)

Hope things improve soon. 
http://www.westernfarmpress.com/tree-nuts/extent-almond-freeze-damage-will-take-time-reveal-itself
It seems Blue Diamond crop progress report reverted to 2017 info? 
Tie your hats on folks, NOAA is predicting a big blow.
Good luck
Brian


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

Yesterday, I was talking with a crop advisor in Butte County, looking at an almond orchard with 85% crop loss due to frost.
He said that there are orchards in the Orland and Corning areas that are much worse.
He also said that this seems to happen about every 10 years.
I asked my grower about that and he said that in 2010 he lost the Winters (earliest) variety crop but did well otherwise.

There is no easy money in agriculture. Not in bees and not in trees.
It's all farming. You are either a farmer or you are not.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Better stock up on almonds,if you like them.
https://www.rpacalmonds.com/marketnews/201803/


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## homegrown (Jul 24, 2016)

I’m curious to see how the independence and other self pollinators handled the frost compared to the traditional varieties.


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## MartinSzy (Mar 17, 2018)

homegrown said:


> I’m curious to see how the independence and other self pollinators handled the frost compared to the traditional varieties.


I Agree.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Driving out of the area north of Chico with our last loads of bees last week , we saw orchards with hardly any almonds, others loaded, and others that looked like every other row had nuts. So looks like it depended on what stage of bloom was on when the frost hit, and if sufficient water got put on.
One orchard we were in had so much water put on that it was saturated when the winds hit and there are trees blown over here and there. But all looked full of nuts.
The bees look great, so on to splitting when the weather breaks.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

My bees are in a 3 year old independence orchard, it seemed to do well, but it was also one of the earliest blooming orchards in that area by Dunnigan. The bloom seemed to progress North to South with the earliest getting about a week of nice weather before the temperatures took a swing. Arbuckle looks to have done good as well. Regarding Independence, I heard a lot of growers were ripping trees out already, the nut quality is just too poor compared to non- pareil. Another self compatible variety may take off though, Shasta. https://www.rpacalmonds.com/orchardnews/shasta/


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

40% loss estimate in Tehama

http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/article/ND/20180417/NEWS/180419817


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

I talked with a grower in Butte County today who estimates 70% loss.
He said that you can't have the exact figures until after harvest and comparisons with previous years.
Fortunately, he does carry crop insurance.


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