Farm Progress America, March 1, 2024

Mike Pearson tells listeners what is happening in U.S. pistachio industry and how the supply is compared to the rest of the world.

The United States is the largest pistachio producer in the world and produces half a million tons of pistachios every year. Growers actually produce more than quadruple the amount of the next largest world producer, Iran.

Growers actually producer half of the 900,000 tons of pistachios consumer around the world.

Farmers gathered in Monterrey, California at an industry conference this week and were celebrating the recent state of export ships with early numbers showing a significant growth of shipments to China.

Chinas has doubled the purchase of pistachios. It went from 79 million pounds to 220 million pounds this season. The reason: Pistachios are becoming a staple in the Chinese New Year celebrations.

An analyst with RaboBank says the exports are partly due to the industry's effective marketing. Its also attributed to the high quality and safety standards.

Germany and Spain have also increased their imports. The exports to Germany have tripled to 35 million tons and in Spin to 13 million pounds.

The U.S. is expected to hit 2 billion pounds at the end of the decade after unprecedented growth.

However, eyes are on Turkey because they are also increasing production.

U.S. producers are being reminded to concentrate on profitability rather than production.

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Mike Pearson, farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness .