Energy Feedstock

Almond trees with pink flowers in spring

California almond growers, facing a June 2010 deadline to stop burning orchard prunings in the field, came up with a potential solution with the assistance of a USDA grant and California Center for Cooperative Development. The deadline affects growers in 13 rural counties in California’s Central Valley.

The grant funded a feasibility study of possible uses of orchard prunings, including grinding them in the field or transporting them to a mill where they would be resized into sawdust for export or for use as an energy source. A variety of financial models were developed, showing the best alternative is to form a cooperative of growers to resize and sell the prunings.

The feasibility study team included experts in agricultural marketing, international trade and production economics. The cooperative will not only assist the farmers in meeting environmental requirements, but will provide jobs in rural areas by using local labor to move the pruned branches to the plant for processing.

Since the study’s conclusion, a German company has expressed interest in developing a pellet mill near the Port of Sacramento. Pellets produced would be shipped to Germany to help companies meet their energy efficiency quotas. This will ensure the farmers a market for their by-products, as well as provide jobs at the mill.