President's Message

El Niño seems to have slowed down for the last few weeks which is starting to scare me a bit… Are we going to get any more rain or snow? Although it’s not what we want to hear, but it might be reality, I hope most growers are bracing for another challenging year. As of right now reservoir levels are still very low, and appears that the bureau of reclamation will probably come out with 0% allocation in mid-March. I understand this is a very frustrating problem to deal with especially since we started off with such a good rain and snow year. Having to let a lot of the water and snow melt run off into the ocean doesn’t help very much. Please stay in touch with your elected officials. Keep voicing your opinions to them about how much we as Californians need better water infrastructure and storage. The State’s future depends on it, and is very important for all of us. The abnormal warm weather we have been having is causing the trees and vines to start coming out of dormancy even earlier this year as compared to last year. I believe on our own operation we are tracking about 5 days earlier this year, compared to last year. Ready or not here we go right? Almonds are blooming beautifully throughout the Valley, looking to be a good crop if we have the water to farm it. Starting to see bud swell in most vines now too, pistachios are still dormant, but hopefully will be following soon too. Well here’s to a good wet year and a great bountiful crop for all in Madera County. Stay tuned for upcoming safety meetings and water meetings being scheduled in the upcoming months. Please visit our website for more info.