CENTRAL VALLEY – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to purchase up to $45 million of California walnuts this year to help boost demand for a near record-breaking crop of the tree nut.
The Aug. 24 announcement is $30 million more than what the federal agency had promised earlier in the year. The walnuts purchased through the program will be used in domestic nutrition programs as growers begin harvesting this year’s crop.
The timing comes as California producers enter a new harvest with what the California Walnut Commission (CWC) describes as the second-largest walnut crop in state history. The industry has had several years of below $1 per pound prices, even as costs for some 4,000 Central Valley growers continue to rise. Growers say SGMA (Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) and interest rates are added negative factors going into a new crop year.
The planned purchase is also expected to help address supplies remaining from the previous marketing year. Industry officials say reducing those carryover supplies could provide additional support for prices and improve market conditions as the new crop enters the selling season.
With harvest underway, growers and industry officials will be watching how the new crop moves through the market and whether additional demand can help strengthen prices.
Fresh Plaza, a trade and news portal for the fresh produce market, reports that because of developments in the past few years, trees are increasingly being taken out, and acreage has come down from more than 400,000 to about 373,000 producing acres. Despite the smaller acreage, 2025 saw the second largest crop ever, amounting to about 810,000 tons.
“This announcement reflects USDA’s commitment to our growers to assist them in dealing with the challenges associated with the record 2025 crop, global market disruptions and ongoing trade uncertainties that have suppressed export volumes and grower returns,” said Davin Norene, a third-generation walnut grower from Rio Oso, Calif. and CWC chairman of the Board in a statement.
Despite the trade uncertainties, 2025-26 harvest volume to date is up. Total inshell-equivalent shipments from September 2025 through July 2026 reached 1.485 billion pounds, up 25.6% from 1.183 billion pounds in the same period a year earlier.
The official size of this year’s crop is pending the USDA’s annual walnut crop estimate, typically released in early September. The estimate has been delayed until Oct. 1 to allow additional time to assess late-season crop development.
The latest standing acreage report from the California Walnut Board and Land IQ shows Kings and Tulare counties each with a high number of tree removals as of April 2026. Tulare County lost 845 acres while Kings County lost 613 acres of bearing walnuts. The final bearing acreage will be updated in November.
