Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1243749
AROUND THE WORLD To learn about the industry's progress towards the 2025 Water Goal, the group visited Blom Ranch in Modesto, where they met grower Nick Blom and ABC Senior Manager of Field Outreach and Education Tom Devol. Blom took the professionals on a deep dive into the history of groundwater recharge in the California almond industry and shared the outcomes of recharge research trials that the University of California (UC) Davis and Sustainable Conservation conducted on his property in 2016. Blom and Devol then showcased various irrigation methods and shared insights from ABC's Almond Irrigation Improvement Continuum, in addition to explaining how precision agriculture and advanced technologies help growers attain "more crop per drop." From there, the group stopped at grower Christine Gemperle's orchard in Ceres. During their visit, representatives from the Pollinator Partnership and Project Apis m. (PAm.) spoke alongside ABC Chief Scientific Officer Josette Lewis about how the organizations work together to promote honey bee health as well as the importance of ABC's Honey Bee Best Management Practices 2 to the industry. They also highlighted ABC's work with PAm.'s Seeds for Bees program, which encourages the use of cover crops to increase the amount and diversity of bee forage in California almond orchards. 3 Gemperle, who has participated in the program for six years – since its inception – shared how she's seen cover crops support biodiversity and provide variety in bees' diets, allowing the bees to be healthier and the hives to be stronger once they've left her orchard. That afternoon, the group met with grower Brian Wahlbrink of Sperry Farms in Denair, who explained how California almond growers employ environmentally friendly integrated pest management on their operations. Wahlbrink's pest control adviser (PCA) joined him in the orchard to provide perspective on the importance of PCA's relationships with almond growers and their integral role in the industry. Paving the way for greater collaboration Providing plenty of boots-on-the-ground experiences and learnings from various almond stakeholders, ABC's Almond Sustainability Tour offered sustainability professionals a vast amount of information about the California almond industry's journey towards continuous improvement via a more responsibly grown, safe and sustainable crop. "In holding this tour, ABC provided a forum for growers, handlers and the broader almond industry to share research insights and information on CASP and the 2025 Goals, information that food companies can, in turn, use to help meet the needs of their customers," Maan said. "Helping connect these large companies with the grower and handler community is just one more way ABC strives to support demand and foster greater collaboration for the California almond industry." Wahlbrink, joined by Sperry Farms' PCA as well as business partner and brother-in-law Wes Sperry, shared growers' efforts to increase environmentally friendly integrated pest management throughout the almond growing season with the sustainability professionals. CASP Tops Sustainability Wish List During the tour, ABC Director for Sustainability and Environmental Affairs Gabriele Ludwig led a facilitated discussion about the challenges large food companies face and the ways organizations like ABC can help them achieve sustainability goals. Top among each sustainability professional's wish list for the industry was increased grower participation in CASP, which would allow for more broad storytelling and transparency among consumers who are making purchasing decisions based on how their food is grown. The group was especially impressed by the type of reporting CASP generates, as food companies must be able to measure progress towards sustainable growing practices for each of their products in a way that is meaningful to the supply chain and consumers – and information from CASP can do just that for almonds. The discussion provided greater perspective of the demands placed on sustainability professionals by their companies and customers. ABC also gained insight on how to support these professionals and ensure they have the information needed to meet their companies' sustainability goals and drive consumer demand of almond products. 2 Visit Almonds.com/Pollination for more information on the Honey Bee Best Management Practices. 3 For more information on the Seeds for Bees program, visit https://www.projectapism.org/seeds-for-bees.html. Almond Board of California 12