By Asa Wahlquist, from The Australian
But the industry faces two hurdles: water security in the Murray-Darling Basin and the availability of honeybees.
Almond production has tripled in the last eight years, and the industry predicts it will triple again in the next eight years. Production is valued at $180 million, including exports worth $80 million, but it is expected to exceed $500 million by 2015.
"We will reach about 80,000 tonnes of kernel production," said Julie Haslett, the chief executive of the Almond Board of Australia.
"At the moment we are sitting around 26,000 tonnes."
Almond trees take about eight years to fully mature.
Traditionally the industry was based near Adelaide and geared to supplying the local market. The early plantings have disappeared under suburbia, and the industry has moved to the irrigated areas along the River Murray: Sunraysia in Victoria, the Riverland in South Australia and more recently the Riverina along the Murrumbidgee in NSW. Currently 27,300 hectares are planted to almonds, with 20,500ha have been planted in the past six years.
The Australian industry is now a net exporter, the third-biggest in the world, and is set to overtake Spain and become the second-biggest exporter by 2012. California is the world's biggest almond producer, supplying 80 per cent of exports, with an industry worth more than $2.3 billion. Australia provides just 3 per cent of the world's almonds.
Find out what's new at Mann Lake www.mannlakeltd.com/catchthebuzz/index.html
Global consumption of the nuts doubled in the past decade.
"We are very competitive on an export front," Ms Haslett said. California "has a similar cost base to us. We are also fortunate in that we don't have trade restrictions, so we can ship our product to more than 40 countries".
The industry's growth has, however, been stalled by the drought that has dried up water allocations along the Murray River. Last year South Australian Murray River irrigators received just 32 per cent of their allocation, and Victorians 43 per cent, but Murrumbidgee irrigators got 90 per cent. The respective figures this year are 15 per cent, 17 per cent and 95 per cent.
Not surprisingly, plantings in the Riverina were expanding, Ms Haslett said. "Quite a few rice growers are looking at almonds as an alternative."
Murray River growers have had to buy water to keep their plantings alive. Ms Haslett said almond growers were efficient water users. "Our industry would have 90 per cent of plantings under drip irrigation. People are looking at more efficient ways of producing with less water."
Almond plantings have been driven by the corporate sector and managed investment schemes. The industry estimates about 85 per cent of plantings are owned by corporations.
Almonds are depend on honeybees for pollination. The industry estimates it will need 250,000 hives within five years, but only 150,000 are available. The relationship of bees to nuts is linear: if only half the number of bees are available, only half the potential nuts will be produced.
Ms Haslett said the almond industry, unlike other crops also dependent on honeybees for pollination, contracted beekeepers to provide pollination services.
"Almonds are attractive for bees and good for honey production so it is a win-win."
The industry worries not only about the number of hives, but potential honeybee pests such as varroa mite, which weakens honeybees and kills wild bees. Eight years after varroa mites infected colonies in the US, bee numbers were down by 25 per cent.
Despite their two key resources being under threat, Ms Haslett said, the mood at the annual almond industry conference last week was "surprisingly, very positive. The industry is young and it is growing rapidly and is very forward-looking."
Kevin Forbes, a Mildura senior rural salesman with Elders Real Estate said local almond plantings had been increasing. Over the past 10-15 years people had been converting dried fruit properties to almonds. Outside the irrigation districts, former broadacre farms with access to the river and licences to pump had been planted with almonds, he said.
"If you were a dryland farmer within reasonable striking distance of the river, it has been a bonus," he said. "A dryland farmer here needs 2000-2400ha to survive. If they sell off, say, 256ha it doesn't make a big hole in their ability to grow wheat, but it does help the bank manager."
This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping www.BeeCulture.com
Send this Buzz message to a friend...Share the news!