State of nuts

There are many reasons people may think we’re nuts to live in California, not least of which is having not just one state nut but four. Since Saturday, May 17 is National Walnut Day, we’re shelling out the details on California’s walnut, almond, pistachio and pecan production.

Why we have four state nuts

California’s nut farms are a large part of its agricultural economy. Those farms grow 80% of the world’s almonds and 75% of the world’s walnuts. In addition, 98% of pistachios in the U.S. are grown here. Although pecans are a small portion of California’s nut industry, it is the only major commercial nut here that is native to the U.S., which is why lobbyists fought to add it to the list in 2017.

Not totally nuts

Despite official recognition as state nuts, the four are not technically nuts. These “nuts” are the edible seeds of stone fruits known as drupes. A true nut, in botanical terms, is a hard-shelled pod that contains both the fruit and seed of the plant, where the fruit does not open to release the seed. Examples are chestnuts, hazelnuts and acorns.

Other uses: Shells go to various alternative farming uses such as livestock bedding. The epicarp, or hull, is the dry and fuzzy outer layer. This is sometimes sold as livestock feed, which reduces the amount of water used to grow other feed crops.

Walnut trees: In California, six varieties account for over 85% of orchards: Chandler, Hartley, Howard, Tulare, Serr and Vina. Commercial species begin producing nuts at 7 to 10 years old. Healthy and mature trees produce from 30-70 pounds a year.

Almond trees: On average they are 20 feet tall and have a life expectancy of 50 years. The yield per tree is 50-65 pounds, and life expectancy is 30 to 40 years.

Pistachio trees: The average tree bears its first crop around age 4 or 5. In its prime, around 14 years, it will produce 33 to 83 pounds yearly. Trees can live 100 years.

History in a nutshell

California’s main three nuts originated in Persia and Mediterranean regions thousands of years ago. Franciscan priests brought them to California. Large-scale farming of most of them took root from the 1860s to the early 1900s. During the most recent drought a lot of California nut farmers, particularly almond growers, were called out for water use. Studies show almonds grow on 13% of the state’s agricultural land and use about 9% of the state’s agricultural water. The California Department of Water Resources says on average, farms use approximately 40% of the state’s water yearly.

The first commercial plantings of walnuts were in 1867 by Joseph Sexton, an orchardist and nurseryman in the Santa Barbara County town of Goleta.

By the turn of the 20th century, California’s almond industry was firmly established, and crossbreeding had created several of today’s commonly crunched varieties.

In 1930, American botanist William E. Whitehouse began growing pistachios in California. The commercial boom took off in the 1960s.Pistachio acreage has increased nearly fivefold in the past two decades, surpassing walnuts in 2021 to rank second in California’s tree nut-bearing acreage (land with trees mature enough to produce a crop).California’s Top 10 agricultural commodities

The state’s farming abundance includes more than 400 commodities. Over a third of the country’s vegetables and over three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts are grown in California. The Top 10 domestically consumed commodities by value for the 2023 crop year were:

Dairy products, milk — $8.13 billion

Grapes — $6.52 billion

Cattle and calves — $4.76 billion

Lettuce — $3.93 billion

Almonds — $3.88 billion

Pistachios — $2.98 billion

Strawberries — $2.97 billion

Tomatoes — $2.01 billion

Carrots — $1.67 billion

Broiler chickens — $1.24 billion

California’s top agricultural export values in millions

Commodity 2020 | 2021 | 2022

1. Almonds 4,658 | 4,647 | 4,656

2. Dairy 1,985 | 2,354 | 3,196

3. Pistachios 1,669 | 2,071 | 2,201

4. Wine 1,143 | 1,288 | 1,293

5. Walnuts 1,246 | 1,247 | 1,286Sources: California State Library, Foodwise.org, USDA, California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Almond Board, California Walnuts, American Pistachio Growers, California Department of Water Resources