Tim Hearden
The record 784,000-ton walnut harvest in California in 2020 continued a 10-year trend of increasing crop sizes. Industry leaders remarks kick off first-ever Walnut Conference.
The walnut industry’s unprecedented dual challenge of increasing acreage and production coupled with growing global competition underscores the importance of investing in research and promotion, industry leaders said as they opened the first-ever Walnut Conference on Tuesday, March 2.
“In order not to lose momentum, we have to continue to invest,” said Michelle Connelly, the California Walnut Board’s executive director. Under a marketing agreement, the 69-year-old board handles production research and domestic marketing, while the California Walnut Commission undertakes international marketing and health research.