Can pistachio demand keep pace with growing supply?
… [Jared Lorraine, president and CEO of Nichols Farms] said he sees pistachio production reaching 2 billion pounds within the next 10 years. However, that’s not without some challenges. “In the coming years, California’s agriculture industry is going to face water limits under the requirements of the state’s [Sustainable Groundwater Management Act] regulations,” he said. “I see it potentially reaching a 2-billion-pound industry, but I think SGMA is really going to slow that pace down, just [based] off of what the numbers look like.” The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act was passed in 2014 and requires local agencies to adopt groundwater sustainability plans for high- and medium-priority groundwater basins, and they must meet those sustainability goals within 20 years of implementing the plans. Lorraine said about 5 million acres of pistachios are irrigated within the San Joaquin Valley. He estimates about 20% of those acres will be taken out of production due to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
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