The popularity of pistachios as a healthy snack continues to drive demand. California's pistachio crop was valued at $1.94 billion in 2019, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

For growers considering planting an orchard, the costs and returns of establishing and producing pistachios in the southern San Joaquin Valley are outlined in a new study by UC ANR's Agricultural Issues Center, UC Cooperative Extension and the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

“New growers use this information to create their budget for production loans for their bank,” said Jeffrey Gibbons, plant manager of Setton Pistachio of...

While visiting my brother in Toronto this summer, we stopped by a grocery store and I was struck by two things: pistachios and milk in bags.

Stacked high in the back corner were bags of California pistachios – a reminder of how prominent a producer the Golden State is and a sign of the marketing power of its largest pistachio processor, Paramount Farms. The United States is the world’s leading pistachio producer, and 99 percent of the country’s crop comes from California.

Pistachios are California’s third-biggest nut crop, behind almonds and walnuts, and the state’s sixth-leading agricultural export, with markets spanning from Canada to China.

To help continue to...

Two free publications on nuts have recently been published by ANR — Nuts:  Safe Methods for Consumers to Handle, Store, and Enjoy and Nuts:  Safe Methods for Home Gardeners to Harvest, Store, and Enjoy.

Both publications outline the nutritional benefits of eating nuts, including information from the FDA affirming that:

• Including nuts in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may help reduce the risk of heart disease.
  
  
• Almonds, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts contribute to health through their protein, dietary...