ALMOND BLOSSOMS TIE GENERATIONS TOGETHER GROWING ALMOND CROPS

By JASON CAMPBELL The Bulletin

When Dave Phippen walks through an orchard, he takes it all in – the sights, the sounds, and the smells of the cash crop blooming around him that has helped put food on his family’s table for generations.

And while the price that growers are currently getting for almonds is down and the struggles with exporting the abundance of the crop that is currently sitting in storage bins and warehouses are intensifying, it’s the thought of passing on his operation to members of his family that keeps him going.

“When I’m walking those fields, I’m thankful to God first of all for having the health to allow me to be able to be out there,” said Phippen of what keeps him going after decades of toiling in the San Joaquin Valley soil. “And I’m remembering the holiday dinner table, and the 8 or 9 grandchildren that hopefully will one day likely have a shot at doing what grandpa is doing – keeping the family farm alive.

“It’s about presenting the same opportunity that my parents presented my brother and cousin and I with Travaille and Phippen – to keep it going forward to that next generation.”

As tens of thousands get ready to descend on Ripon for it’s annual Almond Blossom Festival, Phippen has stayed busy checking the weather reports and the popcorn blooms that are starting to form on orchards throughout California.

If the temperature drops below a certain point, it’s dangerous to the potential crop – opening the door to frost damage that can wipe out entire orchards for the season.

All of the work to prepare to plant, to nurture the trees, and to keep them healthy – almond trees can take between 5 and 12 year to start producing nuts – can be wiped out seemingly overnight if the conditions during this precarious time don’t cooperate.

“We’re just getting some popcorn blooms right now, and the bee boxes are out, and those bees are really excited –we’re paying through the nostrils to have them, but we’re happy to be at this point,” Phippen said. “We just got by the frost danger this week by the skin of our chinny-chinchin and now it looks like we’re going to have some

For one thing, the abundant supply in warehouses means that brokers know that scarcity is not an issue with

COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think that the people that wanted almonds before still want them now, but the issue is that when a family goes to economic conditions we’re seeing the ability to pay for food is a little bit worrying for us an industry.” Even though Phippen’s always willing to have with people when they arise.

“I think the impact is even greater than we realize,” Phippen said of the much discussion about the ethics of going into orchards for the perfect almond blossom photo, Phippen said that