By David Lapp, Agricultural Process Engineer
Read time: 5 min
Sustainability in the Almond Community
The Almond Industry and community are going to hear more and more about Environment, Sustainability, and Governance. Some of you may already be using the term ESG to define these terms in a quick reference. ESG has become a matter of discussion within the state, associations, and even the growers and processors themselves. Sustainability of the Almond Industry is top of mind because, 90% of California Almond farms are family run. In addition, Almonds only grow in 5 places in the world and California is one of those places, creating 110,000 jobs in the state.
When talking about sustainability, the environmental component of ESG must come first. The California Almond Board has the Almond Orchard 2025 goals, which include Environment and Sustainability specific goals:
- Further reducing the water used to grow Almonds
- Achieving zero waste in our Orchards
- Increasing the adoption of environmentally friendly pest management tools
- Improving local air quality during almond harvest (reduce by 50%)
The California Almond Board also has their CASP (California Almond Sustainability Program) tools. These tools can help you capture the necessary information and then work through that information. CASP has 9 assessment tools ranging from Irrigation Management, Nutrient and Soil Management, Pest Management, Air Quality, Energy Efficiency, Bee Health, Financial Management, Ecosystem Management, and Workplace Communities. By using these tools, you can get ahead of your environmental goals and the necessary reporting for sustainability.
The challenge with all these tools, and management systems to improve your orchard with your shelling and processing, is that there is so much information to compile, track, and govern. However, there are some great options, ranging from sensors to mobile handheld devices. These devices can give you access to the data. However, where should you store this information? How do you use this information to make real-time decisions?
The answer is APIs (Connections) and simple programs that can help capture this information and help you make sense of it. For example, Sage CRM and Sage 100 can help capture the data from your CASP and allow you to automate your decision making and help you collect the information into one centralized source of truth. More importantly, by connecting the “ES” with the “G” that is the Governance factors that are needed for the Almond community and more specifically your Orchard, and processing team you will make sure that you are making the right decisions.
Most companies forget the “G” when dealing with sustainability and the environment. The “G” is important to your decision making. The Governance factors indicate the rules and procedures at your orchard, and processing plants. It ensures that you are doing the correct things for your CASP and the Almond community. This will help you reduce risk and help reduce errors. The best way to keep Governance, Environment and be Sustainable is to have a workflow that everyone must follow, so that things are not missed or dropped or even worse when things are placed in a work around that may hurt the ESG component of your business. A Workflow tool can encapsulate your CASP and more importantly it will allow your team to follow the processes needed to help the ESG goals without creating a work burndown. A great example of this is workflow tool is Sage CRM and Sage 100 with the help of Agrisoft, which can create a seamless tool that will capture the data needed and allow the real-time decision making to occur while also not getting your team in the rework trap or mindset.
If you want to learn more, reach out to us and we will gladly have a conversation and assess your company needs.
Source:
Almonds.com/2025 Goals Roadmap