AU: Almond growers benefit from US drought
Drought conditions in California, which supplies 80 per cent of the world's almonds, have seen prices for Australian almonds rise.
Almond Board of Australia chair Neale Bennett says if these conditions continue, it will be good for Australian exports. "They're virtually going through a bit of a drought, like we experienced a few years ago, and the kernel size is not there, so we may have an edge over them in the market place being able to supply a bigger-sized nut."
Mr Bennett says despite the good fundamentals for the industry, there's still a strong focus on the challenges, such as pollination.
The industry body is funding a number of programs looking at how to improve the efficiency of pollination. "We've started doing trial work on hive numbers and placements. The American rule-of-thumb is three hives to the acre and we're experimenting with between one and a half or two."
Mr Bennett says rising costs of labour, electricity and water are other challenges growers face.
Source: abc.net.au
