Central Valley almond farm cuts down on harvest dust. It’s all about nurturing soil

Central Valley residents could breathe easier during almond harvest if a method demonstrated Tuesday takes hold.

Burroughs Family Farms has sharply reduced the dust stirred up when nuts are shaken to the ground and collected. This builds upon four decades of research by the California industry.

Burroughs grows organic almonds along Monte Vista Avenue about 12 miles east of Denair. This means no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides are used.

Burroughs has gone beyond organic and is now certified as “regenerative,” which emphasizes protecting the soil. The orchards have grasses and other diverse plants amid the tree rows. Sheep graze there at certain times, leaving a natural fertilizer behind. The stamp of approval came from the Regenerative Organic Alliance.

At harvest, Burroughs prefers not to kick up the rich dirt it has worked so hard to accumulate. So it is trying out tree-shaking equipment with less dust than the current standard.

“We have to do the trial and error, and I’m OK with letting that be us so as an industry we can do better,” said Benina Montes, part of the fourth generation on this land.

She spoke during a tour for the media and for other food producers in the organic/regenerative movement. It remains a tiny niche in the California almond industry, which supplies about 80% of the world market. The state estimated total gross revenue to growers at $3.52 billion last year, fourth among farm products.

Burroughs is among the farms featured in “Common Ground,” a new film about regenerative agriculture, to be screened at The State Theatre in Modesto on Oct. 6-12.

Three main steps in harvesting almonds

Conventional almond harvesting has three basic steps: One machine grasps a tree trunk and shakes the nuts to the ground. A second sweeps them into windrows to dry for about a week. A third rig picks up the crop and loads it onto trucks bound for processing plants.

The middle step, sweeping, has always generated the most dust. Burroughs can skip it because the new shaker deposits the almonds in a narrow strip ready for pickup after drying.

The shaker is made by TOL Inc., which is based in Israel and has a dealership in Tulare. Burroughs is renting it for now but could purchase it for about $650,000 if it proves worthwhile, Montes said.

The machine also works with walnuts and pistachios, which are smaller industries than almonds but still sizable.

Sixty-plus years of shaking

Mechanical harvesters emerged around 1960, meaning growers no longer had to gather the crop by striking the trees with mallets. The earliest models generated plenty of dust per acre, sometimes even causing car crashes on nearby roads.

The Almond Board of California, based in Modesto, has worked to cut down on the dust. This has included fine-tuning the fans and brushes on the sweepers.

The effort has involved machinery makers in the Modesto area: Flory Industries, Exact Corp. and Jackrabbit Equipment. They have reduced the amount of dust per acre, but it remains a concern because of the growth in almond acreage.

The Central Valley Clean Air Coalition says almond dust can worsen asthma, bronchitis and other lung ailments. A retired Modesto physician has suggested that it causes valley fever, which is tied to fungal spores in some Valley soil types.

The Almond Board has studied the design demonstrated at Burroughs, said Sebastian Saa, associate director of agricultural research, in a phone interview Monday.

The idea shows promise in reducing dust and yielding quality nuts, he said, but it could have drawbacks. One is the cost of the machinery compared with those working closer to the ground. Another is the lack of orchards designed so that the branches are high enough for this kind of shaking.

Saa said another option is to move the shaken nuts immediately to a separate area for drying. That requires land in addition to the orchard.

‘The soil is covered 365 days a year’

Burroughs has 756 acres of almonds, most of them with the proper tree shape for the new shaker, Montes said. She acknowledged that the cost is high, but said it could pay off by keeping fertile soil intact.

She is the daughter of Ward and Rosie Burroughs, who went organic starting in 2002. They used to also have dairy cows, but that part is now run by several cousins.

Almond growers have long removed other vegetation from orchard floors to provide an easier surface for harvest. This also can keep twigs and other foreign material out of the crop, easing processing.

Burroughs encourages grasses and other plants amid the almond trees, mowing at times to allow access. The vegetation decays with the help of insects and other creatures, which in turn excrete their own waste.

Some of these plants have flowers that support pollinating insects, including the honey bees vital to almonds. Some attract “beneficial insects,” which prey on pests.

“The soil is covered 365 days a year,” Ward Burroughs told the tour group. He spoke while he and his guests sat on hay bales in a large wagon towed by a pickup truck.

Burroughs sheep spend most of their lives in pastures but visit the orchards after harvest and again in spring. The manure breaks down before it can taint the next almond crop.

The pastures are home as well to egg-laying hens. They have a more varied diet beyond the corn and soy fed to conventional flocks. They, too, fertilize the ground.

Burroughs sells snack almonds, nut butters, olive oil and frozen meat. They are available online at www.burroughsfamilyfarms.com and at select grocers.