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 LIVINGSTON, Calif. (AP) - They may have started as a few trees planted by Spanish missionaries, but almonds are now a big crop in California, where ideal climate and irrigation have let the nuts bloom into a $2 billion-a-year business.
On Scott Hunter's farm in the hot, fertile San Joaquin Valley, limbs on some of the younger trees are having a hard time holding up what he predicts will be part of "a once-in-a-lifetime type of crop" when the harvest begins in mid-August.
"Like any ag commodity, we've been faced with a lot of ups and downs," said Hunter, 37, who farms 1,200 acres of almonds in Livingston. "This year is definitely an up."
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