Pistachios are hand sorted at the Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds processing plant in Lost Hills, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
“There has been an explosion over the last 10 or 15 years of plantings, and those trees are coming online,” said Zachary Fraser, president and chief executive of American Pistachio Growers, which represents more than 800 farmers in the southwestern U.S. “You are starting to see the fruit of people’s vision from 40 years ago.”
The Wonderful Co., a $6 billion agricultural company known for brands such as Halo mandarins and FIJI Water, is the biggest name in pistachios. The company has grown pistachios since the 1980s, but it ramped up in 2015 after developing a rootstock that yields as much as 40% more nuts with the same soil and water, said Rob Yraceburu, president of Wonderful Orchards.
Pistachio orchards can be sustained with minimal water during drought, unlike almonds and other more sensitive crops. The trees also rely on wind instead of bees for pollination and can produce nuts for decades longer, Yraceburu said. The rise of pistachios is part of California farmers' shift into perennial crops commanding higher returns than products such as cotton, according to a 2023 report by the Public Policy Institute of California.
When farmers decide what to plant, “I think the biggest thing is the market and where is the market,” Franklin said. “And water is right below that.”Farmers across California are bracing for the impact of the 2014 state law aimed at ensuring a more sustainable use of groundwater after years of over-pumping depleted basins and eroded water quality in some rural areas.