Hawaii mac nut harvest up 22% - Portland Business Journal:

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Hawaii’s 2008-09 mac nut harves this year is up 22 percentto 50,000 pounds, the U.S. Departmenr of Agriculture reported Monday. That’s up from 41,000 pounds the previous the smallest harvestsince 1985. Growers are gettingb paid more, too, a net 67 cents per pound, up from 60 cent the previous year. The season starts July 1 and ends the followintgJune 30. “Timely showers and an increased demanfdfor in-shell nuts contributed to this season’se higher output,” the USDA said, but also noted that pigs, pestse and volcanic haze on the Big Island damagedc some orchards.
But the prices growers are getting is stilol far below the peak of 90 cents in the late The report said some Hawaii growers decidesit wasn’t worth picking the crop “and may switcjh to other commodities or temporarily stop Harvested mac nut acreage was the same as the previouzs year at 15,000, but the yielsd per acre was up from 2.7 to 3.3. The numberd of mac nut farms was also up from 525to 570, but down from 650 in 2004.