Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1286027
A L M O N D O R C H A R D 2 0 2 5 G O A L S ZERO WASTE 11 "Regardless, I believe strongly, and many others in the industry do as well, that off-ground harvesting is the future of almond production in California's Central Valley," Crowley added. "Having these dryers at North State Hulling will put us in a prime position to be ready for off-ground harvest, allowing our growers to start thinking intentionally about the practice without the roadblock of how product will get dried." Ryan said that he knows of one co-op member who recently planted an orchard specifically designed for off-ground harvesting. As noted in Dr. Simmons' research, the benefits of off-ground harvest likely extend beyond significant dust reduction to a potential decrease in pest issues, such as ants infesting drying nuts in orchard windrows or aflatoxin issues in stockpiles. Off-ground harvest would also allow growers to put water back on their trees sooner following harvest since nuts would not be drying on the ground, possibly reducing post-harvest water stress and supporting tree health. Phase II: Not your father's huller/sheller According to Crowley, "Once we knew we could make the hulling/ shelling operation viable, we started thinking about other processes we could incorporate that would go beyond lower hulling/shelling costs and just a better patronage check for members. We talk a lot about the farm of the future in the industry, but we're also thinking about the huller/sheller of the future here." The co-op envisions a very near future when it will be net carbon negative; that is, it will remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits. Over the past 18 months, Ryan and his team worked with an independent third-party sustainability firm to assess the new facility's carbon footprint, which Continued from page 10 2 Grant provided by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service. Biochar Retort: Zero-Waste at its Finest In addition to producing heat to fuel its dryers, North State Hulling's two cogeneration plants will produce biochar, a charcoal byproduct that can be used in its member-owners' orchards as a straight soil amendment or compost-additive. The co-op partnered with California State University, Chico's Center for Regenerative Agriculture & Resilient Systems (CRARS) on a Conservation Innovation Grant submitted in May 2020. 2 If awarded, the grant will allow the partnership to study the application and benefits of biochar in six almond orchards in Butte, Glenn and Sutter counties. "We are very hopeful for a favorable outcome for this Conservation Innovation Grant proposal," said Cindy Daley, Ph.D., who is the director at CRARS. "It's clearly a win-win-win for the almond industry, the growers who make up North State Hulling, and the environment." "We are big supporters of the work done by Mayo Ryan and North State Hulling. They have taken the big issues that face the almond industry today – water, dust and emissions – and turned them into opportunity. Their plan reduces energy consumption and emissions with state-of-the-art dryers and a bioenergy plant that recycles almond coproducts into power and carbon that will be returned to the soil, where it improves water holding capacity and nutrient cycling." Daley notes that the study will quantify the benefits of soil health by "assessing the impact on yield, disease control and water use efficiency," in addition to economic return.