Almond shipments for February were 69 million pounds, 6.6 million pounds below last year’s record of 75.6 million pounds. This minor reduction of about 9% in shipments is not being viewed as a problem. The industry was actually anticipating a 10% reduction and 9% is a bit better. Industry sources feel March shipments will equal last years record. Total shipments for the year now stand at 662.45 million pounds, an increase of 8.9 million pounds over last years record pace. The domestic market continues to “amaze” us all. Shipped and committed contracts are running 24.1 million pounds ahead of last year. This is huge when considering domestically there is no break in the currency value coupled with these historically high prices.

On Friday, April 15th, your 2004 crop April progress payment will be mailed out. The Nonpareil payment will be $0.50/lbs making the total $2.00/lbs and all other varieties will be $0.42/lbs making the total payment $1.80/lbs. We will announce final payment when the sale of the 2004 crop is complete.

The bloom started in Kern County first followed by the rest of the state 3-5 days later, depending on the area. The early blooming varieties including Nonpareils were met with poor weather, rain and warm temperatures through out the state. Kern County did have better weather during Nonpareil bloom than any other part of the state. The Nonpareil blossom set is a bit disappointing. Besides the weather, the biggest concern is how quick the bloom came and went. After a week plus of undesirable weather conditions and clear skies with normal temperatures that followed, the blossom set on the late varieties is encouraging.The late varieties like Butte and Padres benefited from the better weather. Surprisingly, most growers report being satisfied with their bee strength. Currently the early varieties are pushing through the jackets with the late varieties still in their jackets. The nonpareils look disappointing at this time because the late stage nutlets don’t appear to be growing. Obviously it is much to early to determine crop size, but one thing is for certain; this year’s bloom was less than ideal. By next month we should be able to estimate crop size more accurately.