Valley almonds ready for harvest

FRESNO, Calif. -- Consumers in Europe and Asia can't seem to get enough of those crunchy almonds but steady demand here in the states and abroad is keeping local growers very busy.

Long before you enjoy smoked almonds or have an Almond Joy the nuts must be shaken off the tree and harvested.

Activity in the orchard is non-stop during this time of year. The almonds can then be taken to the huller to be shelled.

Dennis DeFreitas of Caruthers says the almond harvest, like other crops, came a few weeks early this year.

Defreitas explained, "We had a hot summer, we had a warm spring. Everything came on earlier and just kept going."

Almond growers like DeFreitas have steadily increased their almond acreage to take advantage of high prices.

Almonds have surpassed grapes as Fresno County's number one crop. Both commodities are worth over one billion dollars.

Many farmers continue to pull out other crops to plant more almonds.

Fresno County Ag Commissioner Les Wright saw the value of almonds jump 16% last year.

Wright explained, "But at the same time we're losing acreage in peaches, plums, nectarines. Big loss in acreage of raisin varieties and they're being replaced by nuts, in particular almonds, pistachios."

As worldwide demand for almonds rises valley growers continue to increase the supply.

Defreitas said, "We just planted a new block last week. Something else new, here we are in September and we're planting almonds."

Defreitas said products like almond milk have also given industry a big boost.