California almond industry aims to reduce dust during harvest

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The almond harvest is easy to spot in many Valley communities.

Machines shake up dust when picking up nuts off the orchard floor.

"The big push in the industry in the past few years has been to get away from the dust," says Craig Arnold of Arnold Farms in Atwater.

Engineering students at UC Merced have been working on projects to improve efficiency.

Harvester modifications immediately move the almonds into a cart so they can be transported.

"The whole process from complete off-ground harvesting with the real off-ground machines, are moving the almonds," says Stefano Foresti. "Not even letting them touch the ground."

"One of our biggest goals is to make this sustainable and efficient because when the almonds are harvested, like they are right now, they create a lot of debris," says Hassan Imran.

Moist almond hulls can make them stick to the sides and bottom of trailers, so workers must use poles to free the clumps of almonds.

Students came up with a stockpile aeration solution.

"We use vibration pads, we connect them to the hopper trailer using compressed air and it basically shakes the whole trailer," Imran said.

These innovations are giving students experience in solving real problems.

"It's really rewarding to be pushing that new frontier of technology," says Manuel Ortega.

Arnold wanted students to find a way to dry almonds sitting in a big pile.

"They've come up with a way to use ambient air to dry those piles," he said. "No longer do we need any sort of propane or electric heat to heat air through and dry the almonds."

Arnold says the ideas show great potential. The next step is to test the process on a large scale.

"By the next harvest, we will be ready for trials with farmers that want to," Foresti said.

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