Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1159340
4 A L M O N D O R C H A R D 2 0 2 5 G O A L S ZERO WASTE Continued from Page 3 "I appreciate when growers take the thought and extra care to make sure they aren't bringing a lot of debris in with their loads," Phippen said. "Sticks, rocks and other debris can cause a lot of mischief with our equipment, resulting in delays and inefficiencies. It can also greatly impact a grower's bottom line." Most hullers/shellers charge growers an incoming weight fee — a per pound processing charge based on everything that a grower brings in, including any unwanted material. Most growers who work with Phippen hope for a turnout rate of 23–25 pounds of kernels for every 100 pounds of almonds processed. When growers bring in large amounts of debris, that turnout rate can be as low as 10–12 pounds, significantly decreasing their return. Another advantage of bringing in cleaner loads is that it allows for better sorting and categorizing of the unwanted material so that it can be put to good use after it's separated out. "If we can categorize it, we can find someone to use it," Phippen said. "People like to use our small rocks, which we offer for free for projects like driveways and drain fields. We grind small sticks and offer them to farms for livestock bedding. But when the sticks are mixed with larger stones, or stones are mixed with clumps of dirt, it can make it more difficult to offload." While he says most of his customers do an excellent job of bringing in clean loads, foreign material still finds its way in. "We occasionally have to pull out beer and soda cans, fist-sized stones, large chunks of metal, belts from orchard equipment and wooden posts — sometimes as large as 30–36 inches," Phippen said. "These really cause us a lot of trouble." Phippen offers a simple piece of advice: "Before harvest, take a pass through your orchard and collect larger debris," he said. "Keep your orchard floor clean — treat it like your own backyard." Pristine product gets priority If an improved turnout rate is not motivation enough, cleaner loads might become a matter of necessity for growers in areas where increases in production have not been met by increases in local huller/sheller capacity. When hullers/shellers are unable to process incoming product for their entire customer base in a timely fashion, they could be in a position of having to turn away some business. Keeping a clean orchard floor allows for better implementation of other dust management practices during harvest, including the practice of reducing suction fan speed on pickup machines.