Today’s episode takes us to Bakersfield, California, where we talk to Bret Sill who you heard from on episode 008 . We’re revisiting Bret for a bit of a different story on today’s podcast, one that’s perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday that’s happening this week. We have the chance to share a great story of an almond grower impacting his community. In 2013, Bret felt led to be of service to the people of Bakersfield. He felt called to deliver fresh food directly from growers to people in need o...
Nov 23, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Today’s episode introduces us to George Goshgarian. George is an almond grower and also the chairman of the Almond Board of California’s Nutrition Research Committee. We unpack the important role nutrition research continues to play in growing the global consumption of almonds. George shares some of the successes and challenges of the past 15+ years that he has been involved with the committee. Through our discussion listeners will gain even more of an appreciation for how important this work is...
Nov 03, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Today’s episode takes us to Maxwell, California, about halfway between Sacramento and Redding. We meet 4th generation farmer Leon Etchepare. Leon is a partner in Emerald Farms, which farms about 5,000 acres of almonds and walnuts. He has some great experiences to share about how he’s adopting mating disruption technology for navel orangeworm, and how he’s using soil probes and variable rate irrigation. “Just doing the math on the cost of chemicals and the cost of diesel and the cost of equipment...
Oct 20, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In this episode we discuss the Seeds for Bees Program with two growers who have taken advantage of this resource. If the Seeds for Bees Program is new to you, it’s designed to encourage the use of cover crops to increase bee forage in California orchards, while improving soil health. Project Apis administers the program to provide free or subsidized cover crop seed mixes and technical support to California growers, giving them the opportunity to try out cover crops at a reduced cost. If you’re l...
Oct 06, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 11
This episode takes us to Fresno where we visit with Olam Farms senior director of agronomy, Zac Ellis. Zac is in his sixth season with Olam Farms, but he has been around almonds since he was a kid. He discusses the need to continue to push the envelope when it comes to water use efficiency, what that looks like for Olam Farms, and his experiences as a grower collaborator with a huge research effort called T-REX. The T-REX project is part of the Almond Board of California's Irrigation Continuum o...
Sep 16, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Today’s episode takes us outside of Turlock, California to the orchard of Cal Mast. Cal comes from a dairy background and purchased his 45-acre almond orchard in 2018. Over the past couple of years, Cal has spent hours researching the considerations for designing an almond orchard. He shares with us what changes he’s making, and where he finds information to make such important orchard planning decisions. “This is truly a long-term investment….I'm not planning to replant this thing again. I want...
Aug 30, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 9
In this episode, we visit Kern County almond grower Bret Sill of Sill Properties to talk about harvesting technology. Bret’s family has been farming in the Shafter area for nearly 100 years. Bret attributes some of their success to the fact that they embrace innovation and technology, which recently has meant new irrigation technology, autonomous sprayers, and low dust harvest equipment. “When we take it to the huller, we have a cleaner product for them to run. And now with freight being an issu...
Jul 15, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Matt Angell introduces us to some of the climate-smart farming practices he is exploring and his approach to water conservation. Matt is a third-generation farmer and the managing partner for both Madera Pumps and US Water Well. As technology has evolved, Matt has experimented with ways to use data and sensors to become more efficient with water. Matt offers his principles of resource management with the “5 M’s”: map, monitor, measurement, management, and market. “I think this whole conversation...
Jun 22, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this episode we meet Luke Hicks of LH Farm Service, a custom harvesting and orchard sanitation company. Luke shares about harvest operations, how he built his business from scratch, what equipment he uses and why, and where he sees harvest operations going in the future. “For me, it's rewarding to get a guy's crop from the field to the processor. That's what makes me feel good and doing the best job we can. That's what I really enjoy about it.” - Luke Hicks Luke discusses his custom harvestin...
Jun 08, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode we visit with Burford Ranch assistant manager Sal Parra, Jr. Sal grew up on the farm where he now lives and works alongside his father to manage 2,800 acres of almonds in western Fresno County. Especially in a year like this one, finding ways to continually get “more crop per drop” is a top priority. Over the years, Burford Ranch has transitioned from flood irrigation to microsprinklers and drip. While increasing their water use efficiency over the past few decades they’ve also b...
May 25, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In this episode we visit with Joe Gardiner, sales manager at Treehouse California Almonds, and partner in Gardiner Farms and Pacific Ag Land Management. These experiences give Joe a full value chain perspective of the almond industry, and his passion for the future of the industry has brought new ideas and perspectives to the Almond Board. “I love this industry. I think there's a huge group of amazing people that all work their tails off trying to do things the right way. There's a lot of blue s...
May 11, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In the last two decades, pollination costs have increased dramatically for almond growers. On average now, about 15-20% of the total costs of producing almonds is just in pollination alone. This has been driven by supply and demand, but where will things go from here? We talk pollination with almond grower Dan Cummings on today’s episode of the Almond Journey Podcast. Dan has managed thousands of acres and is a previous owner in a large honey bee industry. He is the chairman of the board of Blue...
Apr 13, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Our featured topic for today’s episode, and a challenge many almond growers deal with: navel orangeworm. Kent Stenderup joins the show to talk about mating disruption for navel orangeworm, water, and so much more. Kent is a third generation farmer and has been an almond grower since 2006. Along with his experience with mating disruption techniques, he also shares the challenges he has faced with sourcing water in the face of droughts and getting started in almond farming. Kent has had a lot of s...
Apr 13, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 2
On today’s episode we visit with Dave Phippen of Travaille & Phippen . Travaille & Phippen is a partnership that started with a family of almond growers and vertically integrated over time. As his father moved towards retirement from their almond and winegrape operation, Dave and his brother Scott took over. Spotting an opportunity in almond hulling, their cousin Bud Travaille joined Dave and Scott to form Travaille & Phippen. “As we hulled and shelled product for other growers, I le...
Apr 13, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Welcome to the Almond Journey Podcast, brought to you by The Almond Board of California. On this show we explore how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Hearing the voices of these industry leaders might spark a connection or idea you can use in your own journey. That’s why we want to feature these stories of innovation, resilience, and community on this podcast. We hope you’ll come along for the ride by subsc...
Apr 08, 2021•1 min
