November 4,2016
Oil Down / Cheese Up / More Almonds / More Water
Oil prices fell this week on the realization there is just too much of it. At noon today Nymex crude for December was $43.80, down from around $50 as of October 25. That should translate into lower prices at the pump for the Holidays.
Good news for Valley dairymen as Cheese Blocks reached $1.90 a this Friday, up from $1.53 in early October.
Latest Almond Nursery Sales Report is out from USDA. The report shows no slowdown in plantings with 108,000 acres of almond trees planted since June 2015 through May 2016. Of that 71% were new orchards with the rest replacing existing almond orchards. These latest numbers are up from last year at 96,000 acres and 67,000 between 2013-2014. The report also details that almond prices fell in 2015 to an average of $2.84 lb from $4 the year before.
Walnut Prices: Meanwhile a separate USDA report says walnut prices fell to 84 cents a pound in 2105 compared to $1.62 lb the year before and $1.82 the year before that.
San Luis Reservoir storage is zooming higher this November, now at 650,000af (Nov 6) as regulators may have gotten the memo that it rained good in Northern California in October – 350% of average. The important off-stream reservoir could fill by Spring if this keeps going – good news for farmers.
