Almond growers faced countless headwinds in 2022, capping off what the Almond Board President and CEO calls the “toughest year” the industry has faced. Weather played a crucial role in the challenges, between frost and freeze damage and severe drought. In total, weather damage contributed to 608 million pounds of unsold crop compared to the previous season.

Losses weren’t restricted to weather-damaged orchards, either. In almond orchards that did bear a crop, yields were down 11% from 2021, or about 3 billion pounds. In response, the Almond Board is spearheading several initiatives to bolster demand, including advertising campaigns, sponsorships and education tactics targeted at consumers.

Read more on almond industry challenges here.