Almond — is it pronounced “ahl-mond” with a soft “A” and soft “L” or is it “aah-men” with a hard “A” and nearly silent “H”?

In many parts of Northern California, they will tell you it’s the latter. Their rationale: You have to knock the “L” out of trees to shake loose the nuts.

And they aren’t kidding about knocking the hell out of almond trees.

Before mechanical shakers hit the market some 50 to 60 years ago, it was usual for many teen boys and young men looking for some extra cash to spend the late summer swinging heavy mallets to repeatedly shake almonds out of trees.

Almonds at $5.03 billion are the No. 3 agricultural crop in California. That’s behind dairy products at No. 1 ($7.57 billion) and grapes at No. 2 ($5.23 billion).

Speaking of milk, it is a four-letter word as far as many in the dairy industry are concerned when it appears after the word “almond”. There is serious squabble going on regarding what’s in a name given almond milk and other “milk” made from products such as soybeans are nipping at the heels of milk sales. The dairy folks say milk comes from animals.

That said almond milk is not a Johnny Come Lately creation although it certainly did not beat cow’s milk to man’s table. Muslims are credited with “inventing” almond milk in the 13th century.

Almonds are not native to California. But you couldn’t tell that in terms of the almonds grown on 1.5 million acres in the Great Central Valley that account for 82 percent of the world’s almond production.

No other country comes close. Spain is next with 202,339 tons but it pales in comparison with the 2 million plus tons California produces.

If San Joaquin County was its own country, it would have been the fourth largest nation in terms of almond production in 2021 with 125,600 tons. San Joaquin County would have been sandwiched between Iran with 147,900 tons and Morocco with 112,681 tons.

But toss other counties in California into the mix of nations and San Joaquin County doesn’t make the top five.

In terms of California alone, It would be No. 6 on the list of top producing counties behind Fresno County with 364,000 tons, Kern County with 260,000 tons, Merced County with 244,523 tons, Stanislaus County with 226,578 tons, and Madera County with 160,000 tons.

To put San Joaquin County’s almond production in perspective at $453 million, it wasn’t quite a third of the $1.3 billion that Fresno County grew in 2021.

The Fresno numbers are the overall  equivalent of more than a third of the entire $3.1 billion overall agricultural production for San Joaquin County.

If San Joaquin County were a standalone state, it would rank 35th in overall farm production between New Mexico and South Carolina.

Fresno County, by the way, is still the largest agricultural producing county in the United States. With $8 billion in crop output in 2021 it would rank 24th highest as a state. Little wonder they feel comfortable calling their county fair that typically draws 600,000 a year the Big Fresno Fair.

Agriculture is still king in California as the Golden State’s $54.4 billion is $13.9 billion higher than its closest competitor which is Iowa. California produced roughly 11 percent of the nation’s $533.5 billion in agricultural crops last year with most of that in the 450 mile long and the 40 to 60 mile wide Great Central Valley.

And yes, we do indeed have a lot of fruits and nuts in this state. In fact, two thirds of all fruits and nuts grown in this country are from California.

Topping the nuts and fruit list by far is almonds at $5.03 billion.

In terms of overall farm commodities produced in California, almonds trail No. 1 milk/dairy products at $7.57 billion and No. 2 grapes at $5.23 billion.

California exports almonds to 90 countries. The top importer is India. The $100 million they bought in 2019 constituted the largest commodify this country exported to India. Almost 70 percent of all exported almonds are shelled.

They are the fifth biggest California export at $10.4 billion after, in descending order, electrical machinery, industrial machinery, precision instruments, and motor vehicles and parts.

Overall, the direct almonds directly/indirectly provides 110,000 jobs for Californians..

This might surprise you but there are more than 100 varieties of almonds grown in California. The nonpareil is the leading variety followed by Monterey, Butte, Carmel, and Padre.

Almonds are not grown commercially anywhere else in the country. That’s because nowhere else in the nation is there a state that can replicate California’s hot dry Mediterranean climate with a well-developed water infrastructure system.

Here are a few more tidbits about California almonds:

*More than 90 percent of all almond farms are family farms.

*Many farms are second and third generation.

*Farmers have reduced the amount of water needed for grow a pound of almonds over the last 20 years by 33 percent.

*Growers are working on reducing that by another 20 percent by 2025 using micro-irrigation techniques.

*Dormant almond orchards are being explored as a viable way to disperse excess storm water in wet years to replenish underground aquifers. Initial analysis shows 675,000 acres of almonds are conducive for that purpose.

*No part of the almond goes to waste. The shells are used for livestock bedding and as dairy feed. They also can be used to generate electricity as can the trees at the end of their lives.

*Although the California Almond Board won’t shout about it due to the environmental lobby, but as a hard wood, almond logs are considered more effective in wood burning fireplaces.

*There are 7,600 almond farms in California.

*Research shows California almonds have a lower-carbon footprint than a number of otherness nutrient-dense foods.

*The pollination of almond orchards is the biggest of its kind drawing honey bee hives from across the nation in what is also the first crop pollination of the year.

*Blue Diamond indicates depending upon the variety and conditions it can take an almond tree five to 12 years to start producing almonds.

*Most almond trees produce almonds for 25 years.

*The nuts, depending upon the variety, can take 180 to 240 days to mature.

*An average commercial almond tree yields between 50 and 65 pounds.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com