California grape acreage falls
California wine grapes acreage shrunk 25,000 acres since 2022 says a new USDA report.Wine grape acres were 615,000 in 2022 but as of 2024 declined to 590,000 acres. Table grapes also fell by 7000 acres to 120,000 acres as of 2024.Low profitability and the urging of industry resulted in growers pulling vineyards as well as reducing new plantings. Allied Grape Growers had lobbied for 50,000 acres to be removed to meet demand.
Farmers planted fewer new almond trees USDA nursery report says
Some 52,000 acres pulled says Land IQ
Kern leads state in removals
California almond farmers planted just 17,000 acres of new almond trees from June 2023 through May 2024. That is down from 31,000 acres in 2023 and 43,000 acres from June 2021 to May 2022.
There were at least 2.12 million almond trees sold by California nurseries since June 1, 2023.
About 29% of the total trees sold (5,000 acres) were for new almond orchard acres and 59% (10,000 acres) replaced existing almond orchards. The remaining trees sold replaced trees within existing almond orchards.
Meanwhile California’s bearing almond acreage grew a little in 2025, according to the Initial Acreage Estimate from Land IQ, commissioned by the Almond Board of California (ABC). The report estimates that bearing orchards will cover approximately 1.389 million acres for the 2025 harvest—an increase of about 6,000 acres compared to 2024. This follows a similarly small increase of 9,000 acres the previous year, which marked the slowest growth in two decades.
The report also anticipates that around 51,805 acres of almond orchards will be removed by the end of the crop year, adding to the nearly 67,000 acres removed during the 2023–24 period, based on Land IQ’s November 2024 estimate. These removals contribute to a broader trend of declining total and non-bearing acreage across the state over the past three years.
iIn our reading area Kings County shows 1518 acres removed, Kern County 8138 acres pulled (biggest decline in the state),Fresno County 5355 acres removed and Tulare County 2698 acres removed.
Ports Expect 40% drop in shipping
Los Angeles’s two big ports are each expecting about 40% fewer ships coming to unload cargo in the next two weeks as the Trump tariffs take hold. Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka announced the news at the Harbor Commission meeting this week expecting cargo shipments to drop 35% in about two weeks.The Port of Long Beach has predicted a 44% decline starting the week of May 4.The two are the busiest container ports in North America.
Seroka told the commission that retailers may have a six- to eight-week supply of goods “but that will quickly dry up” and consumers may see empty shelves this summer.
Seroka added that large importers have “hit the pause button on cargo from China” unable to handle a 145% tariff.”If you’re buying a product from China, it costs 2.5 times more than it did last month.”
Big box retailers have warned President Trump that consumers would see empty shelves this summer if this standoff drags on.Dock workers on the West Coast could see less work work as the ships that usually call, stay away.
With Chinese retaliatory tariffs, farm exports are already suffering as well
“These are hitting American businesses hard, particularly agriculture, heavy duty manufacturing, and the information technology and services sectors,” Seroka added. “U.S. exporters are having an especially challenging time, so much so that in March, China bought more soybeans from Brazil in one month than ever in their history.”
California ports play a major role in our agricultural shipments, handling both exports and imports. Key ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach are significant for containerized agricultural exports, with the Port of Oakland also a major gateway for agricultural exports, especially refrigerated proteins. The Port of Los Angeles, in particular, handles animal feed, cotton, and orange exports. Oakland is also predicting a major slowdown in shipping through their port.