Heather Morse

Michigan

Editorial Director at Great American Media Services

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Articles

May almond position report shows slight dip in shipments, rising inventory

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

The Almond Board of California’s May 2025 position report reflects a slight dip in overall shipments compared to last year, alongside increasing inventory levels and strong new crop receipts. According to the position report, through May 31 the industry reported total shipments of 2.26 billion pounds for the 2024-25 crop year to date, a 1.9% decrease from the same period last season.
Agricultural workers in spotlight amid ongoing immigration raids

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

In comments during a June 12 news conference, President Donald Trump seemed to suggest support for changes to immigration enforcement that would avoid targeting farm workers. Immigration raids are drawing protests in major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago. In his comments at a White House news conference, Trump denied U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials are targeting agricultural workers. “Our farmers are being hurt badly by — you know, they have very good workers.
From orchards to opportunity: Building Maisie Jane’s from the ground up

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

Coming from a fourth-generation almond-growing family — originally Bernagna Orchards — Maisie Jane Hurtado has always had farming in her blood. “From driving the sweeper to helping in the shop and office, I quickly fell in love with the agriculture industry,” Hurtado said.
2025 Tree nut grower pest and disease survey report

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

Pests and diseases remain top of mind for U.S. nut growers, who continue to battle complex pressures across orchards and growing regions. In the 2025 Pest and Disease Survey, National Nut Grower gathered insights from growers specializing in almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts to identify the industry’s leading concerns from 2024 and what challenges persist in 2025.
Running dry

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

Have you heard the Mark Twain quote, “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting?” That saying is the perfect summary of California. But what exactly makes California water so controversial? California leads the nation in agricultural production, with more than $55 billion in crop cash receipts in 2023, according to the USDA. Kern County — where I live and farm — is the top agriculture-producing county, with $8.6 billion in total agriculture value.
Record bee loss sparks pollination concerns

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

Protecting pollinators has been all the buzz in recent years, but in 2025 the issue goes far beyond a trending phrase. In April, Project Apis m. (named after the western honeybee Apis mellifera) released new survey data on pollinator loss, and the results sting. According to the survey, beekeepers across the country have been experiencing large scale honeybee colony losses.
Calls grow to modernize agricultural labor policy

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

As amped-up enforcement of existing immigration policy and the creation of new regulations stoke uncertainty in the agricultural community, those closely monitoring the situation agree on one path to creating clarification: modernizing the country’s H-2A temporary agricultural worker program.
Almond growers face two new threats

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

Nut growers are no strangers to pest pressures. But two new threats — Polystigma amygdalinum, the fungal pathogen behind red leaf blotch, and Carpophilus truncatus, an invasive beetle — are demanding urgent attention. During December’s Almond Conference in Sacramento, California, a panel of researchers and regulatory officials emphasized proactive management and coordinated prevention as the best lines of defense against these challenges.
Coordinated navel orangeworm control strategy

1 week ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

In California’s Central Valley, few pests are as elusive, costly and persistent as the navel orangeworm (NOW). For both almond and pistachio growers, controlling NOW is a critical factor in crop quality, marketability and long-term orchard profitability.
Senate committee budget proposals would increase specialty crop funding

2 weeks ago | nationalnutgrower.com | Heather Morse

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry has released legislative text detailing proposals for a massive budget reconciliation package that dials back some House-approved changes to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The text, released June 11, also addresses specialty crop funding, including a measure that would increase annual mandatory funding from $85 million to $100 million for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.