In 2015, New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) was bemoaning the effect of droughts in California on the Almond industry. I only mention it because it’s 2021, and NPR is ranting about another Almond crisis. Doom and gloom for Almond growers except?
Did they report record crop yields in 2018, 2019, and 2020? It’s true. Almonds set records in 2018, beaten in 2019, and then again in 2020.
I can’t find any evidence that public radio had any interest in that.
But back in 2016, NHPR has an article about how everyone was planting Almonds (presumably during the drought – which seems odd), leading to an oversupply (again, despite the drought narrative) and another Almond crisis – prices dropping.
“There have been a lot of new almonds planted over the last three years,” says Crowder. “And that’s probably part of the reason why the crop was a little bigger than we expected this year. And people know there will be more almonds produced this fall as well.” [and] …
“Having a couple of good years has given us a good foundation … to be able to weather this thing,” Del Bosque says.
So the drought was a good year for almond growers but a bad year for Almonds?
Related: NHPR: Why So Much Pollen This Year? – Too Much Cooling, No Wait! It’s Warming!
Maybe they meant the drought of Almond articles on record crops from NPR/NHPR during those peak production years?
No explanation. NPR/NHPR does spend those three years talking about bees and almond trees, or how much water the almonds need, and (of course) almond milk. There’s even a story about some guy named Almond. But no massive explosion in Almond production.
But now it’s 2021, and they found a reason to scaremonger almonds again.
The NPR article, “Climate Change In California Is Threatening The World’s Top Almond Producer,” claims global warming is worsening weather conditions in California and making it much more difficult to grow almonds. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports California has set new records for almond production three years in a row.
We know that more people are growing almonds and making money even when the price drops (though they’d like it to go up, and wouldn’t a drought be great for that). And good years are a thing though there are differing opinions on what that means from the Public Radio people and the almond growers.
Related: Government Induced Drought
I have a suggestion. Perhaps it is time to change the climate in the editorial offices at NPR and NHPR?
I think that would solve the “Almond problem” almost immediately. Or, to put it another way, get their editorial nuts out of a bind.
