The prices in 2022 after inflation adjustments also known as real costs, included $1.10 per pound of nuts, $0.51 in hazelnuts and $0.25 on walnuts.
The last time hazelnut and almond prices were at this level was around the beginning into 20th century. Walnut (real) prices are at their lowest ever as per data from the USDA, Economic Research Service. Before 2020, the low real value for walnuts at $0.58 for a pound back in the year 1999. The prices for walnuts in 2022 are less than half the record low previously recorded as well as 14 percent less than the record high recorded at the end of 2013. ($1.82 each pound).
The low prices of walnuts have impacted producers’ decisions regarding their production. The month of September, 2023 the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service forecast that 2023 will be the first time since 1999 that the amount of walnut acreage declined.
Acreage in California is the nation’s top walnut-producing state, was thought to be down from 400 acres in 2022, up to 385,000 acres in 2023. Then, it was revised lower to 375,000 acres the month of October in 2023. The producers haven’t reduced their the acreage that bears hazelnuts or almonds but prices have dropped since 2014.
The choice to decrease acres isn’t just due to the prices of growers but also the various challenges that the growers are faced with, which include conditions like weather, the cost of inputs and competition from exporting nations. The chart is derived from the USDA Economic Research Service, Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook report, published in September 2023.