It might be in a flat white, in a lunch box or post-gym protein shake, you don't need to look far to see that Australians are seemingly nuts about almonds.
"There's no real awareness about the industry and we have come from nowhere in the last 20 years to be fair," says Tim Jackson, chief executive of industry group The Australian Almond Board.Today, that figure is greater than 62,500 hectares.The tiny nut with a reputation for providing all sorts of health benefits is changing the way land and water are put to use.
But it also found almonds had the highest water footprint when compared to eight other irrigated crops grown here. "There's pluses and minuses associated with the trade, but generally, I think the overall impact is positive," he says.While man-made interventions like dams, channels and locks attempt to neutralise the impact of floods and droughts it's clear there are parts of the climate that can't be controlled.