irrigation systems, glass, and metal. These items are
particularly troublesome due to the dangers that they
induce if found in finished goods and accidentally
consumed.
Blue Diamond
invests in a variety of
technologies designed to detect and eliminate foreign
material from the flow of almonds during processing; each
piece introduced during the harvest is a piece that must be
removed. This jeopardizes the consumer experience as it
can increase the possibility of something getting through
and winding up in a package of almonds.
Allergens are especially troubling in today's highly sensitive
food safety environment. Many orchards have oaks nearby,
and many more have plantings of other tree nuts, including
walnuts and pistachios on adjacent lands. Each of these
presents a possible source of contamination with serious
food safety consequences if consumed by someone with
a dangerous food allergy. Growers should sweep and
remove any other tree nuts adjacent to almond orchards
before the shaking to ensure that almonds delivered from
their orchards do not present a possible allergen hazard.
Also, particular attention must be given to peanuts. Peanuts
are grown in California on small-scale plots in the Central
Valley and care must be given if your orchard is adjacent
to any planting of the legume. The most significant hazard
for contamination comes from incidental introduction into
the orchards carried in by employees, typically in their
meals. Peanuts must never be allowed to enter an orchard
at any time.
Rejects
When considering crop quality, growers tend to focus
most on reject levels, either from insects in the form of
navel orangeworm (NOW) and Peach Twig Borer (PTB)
or ants. Many years of research serve as the foundation
to assist growers in making pest management decisions
for insect control, and the counsel of a good Pest Control
Advisor (PCA) is virtually priceless when making pest
management decisions.
While the cost of controlling insect infestations can
be substantial, the rewards for producing low reject
deliveries are equally valuable when compared to the
potential losses. Reject levels due to NOW in 2017
were staggering for many growers, with the average
reject level nearly twice as high as recorded in the 2016
crop. More importantly, the number of deliveries with
excessively high reject levels of four percent and greater
increased four-fold over the prior year.
Growers with orchards planted to Butte and Padre
tend to focus less on damage caused by NOW, given
the typically better shell seal these varieties provide.
Many have discovered that while the Padre is virtually
impervious to NOW, the shell of the Butte can allow
NOW to penetrate and cause damage. More importantly,
both the Butte and Padre can and will harbor NOW
between the hull and shell. Butte and Padre growers
believe that winter sanitation is not required. However,
Butte and Padre plantings can be a source of NOW
for neighboring orchards and failing to sanitize these
plantings can support infestations in adjacent orchards.
Losses from ants tend to be less of a problem for
most growers. However, more than a few have been
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