USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

California almond acreage continues to decline. Low returns, high input costs and water scarcity are driving this trend. Once highly profitable, almonds have become unviable for some growers. This has led to orchard abandonment and removals. LandIQ reported there were 66,000 acres of almond trees removed in 2024. An additional 30,000 acres may have been abandoned. Kern and Fresno counties saw the highest orchard removals. Abandoned orchards are concentrated in the Fresno, Merced and Stanislaus regions.

Non-bearing almond acreage in 2024 is just over 142,000 acres. That is significantly below the 10-year average and reflects reduced optimism about the crop. Despite these challenges, California’s total almond acreage remains at 1.5 million acres, a decrease of 40,000 acres from the previous year.

The demand for California almonds continues to record strong shipments globally and domestically. However, the industry faces uncertainty as 2024 production is yet to be fully tallied, with USDA estimates at 2.8 billion pounds.

Read more about the declines in California almond acreage here.