A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ® CALIFORNIA Trees & Vines
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Growers harvest short pistachio crop as costs mount By Vicky Boyd Pistachios are harvested at a Madera County orchard. The 2026 pistachio crop was already expected to be smaller because of an “off” year in the trees’ alternate-bearing production cycle. A March heat wave further reduced the crop by sterilizing much of the male-shed pollen and causing increased kernel blanking.
Giannelli manages another 150 acres of the Golden Hills variety, and he said those trees averaged 2,800 pounds per acre, which he considered good this year. He blamed the Kerman variety’s poor set to timing of bloom during the heat wave. Regardless, Giannelli said the farm continues its normal cultural practices this season. “We still have to grow a crop for next year, hoping that the crop is going to be better than this year,” he said. The light crop comes as growers face mounting financial stress from crop inputs, in- cluding diesel, fertilizer and water, said Rich Krebs, a Madera-area pistachio grower who also works as a certified crop adviser and president of Ultra Gro, a fertilizer manufacturer in Madera. “A lot of my growers—and they’re not huge growers—are going to lose a couple million dollars,” he said. In January, pistachio industry members estimated a 1.2-billion-pound crop because 2026 is an “off” year in the trees’ alternate-bearing production cycle. During 2025’s “on” year, growers harvested a record 1.57 billion assessable pounds, according to receipts data from the Administrative Committee for Pistachios. With harvest nearly finished, the 2026 crop appears to be about 655 million pounds, Nichols said, citing industry data. Pistachio quality looks good, with little insect damage or staining, although kernel size is smaller. See PISTACHIOS, Page 7
A March heat wave and the natural tendency of pistachio trees to alternate-bear com- bined for a perfect storm that may reduce the 2026 harvest to less than half the record 2025 crop. While the market has responded with higher grower prices, they may not make up for the short crop, said Jeff Nichols, vice president of supply chain and grower relations with Nichols Farms in Hanford. “It’s a challenge for the industry overall because the crop is half of what was expected, but the (grower) price isn’t going to double,” he said. “Overall, the crop revenue to the grower is going to decrease.” The family-owned Nichols Farms grows conventional and organic pistachios in the southern San Joaquin Valley and runs a hulling and processing facility in Hanford. Describing the crop as “terrible,” Jason Giannelli, director of farming for R&G Fanucchi Inc. in Kern County, said the farm’s 150 acres of the Kerman pistachio variety yielded an average of 200 pounds per acre. Industrywide, yields can range from more than 3,000 pounds per acre during “on” years and about 2,000 pounds per acre during “off” years, according to American Pistachio Growers. Giannelli said the farm shook the trees once compared to the industry standard of two times and plans to file a crop insurance claim. “It’s not ideal, but it’s the only way we can survive,” he said.
6 Ag Alert October 21, 2026
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