Are Regenerative Almonds a Thing?

In mid-February took a road trip down to Burroughs Family Orchards to take part in the “Regenerative Almond Field Day,” organized by the Burroughs Family, the Paicines Ranch Learning Center, and the Ecdysis Foundation.

It was a quite moving experience, as the almond/beekeeper/bee relationship is a complicated one.

In 2015 I did a stint working with Joe Traynor’s bee inspector crew, visiting dozens of almond farms and looking in hundreds of hives. My job was to help show the almond growers that the bees were up to snuff, but what I was really there to do was to gently start conversations around bee habitat (heh heh heh).

I will tell you, there was not one grower who was resistant. No almond grower (or any other farmer) wakes up and says, “hmm… I wonder how I’m going to kill bees today.” They all really wanted to be part of the solution, and were so open to talking though ideas for planting flowers to feed hired honey bees a more healthy diet during pollination season, and feed resident honey bees and native bees year-round.

Being completely clear that I was just one person, with big ideas – but a small organization and a tiny budget, I tried my best to team up with other conservation organizations in the area to collaborate on projects but didn’t have much luck. After a couple of years of trying to squeeze a chair in at “the table” to no avail, I gave up and decided to refocus on education habitat projects at home in Oregon.

Meanwhile a mindset shift began to immerge in California that would create a community that I would return to this February, and feel right at home – with a front row seat.

In 2016 Dr. Cindy Daley and Dr. Tim LaSalle co-founded the “Center for Regenerative Agriculture & Resilient Systems” a Chico State University, a center that “seeks to promote regenerative farming practices to reduce greenhouse gasses, restore soil resiliency, increase the sustainability of farms and ranches, and address food and water insecurity.” This program has done an immensely impressive job of leading California farmers into the paradigm shift of regenerative agriculture.

Dr. Daley was a presenter at the “Regenerative Almond Field Day,” and talked about her 16-year partnership with the Burroughs family, some of the founding farmers of the center.

The littlest generation of Burroughs will be the 5th in this family of farmers who moved to the Central Valley from their East Bay dairy farm in 1971. They currently farm 1,200 acres of mostly almonds, with a few acres of walnuts and olives, and have a dairy farm – all certified organic as of 2015.

Sidenote: As of the fall of 2012 4th generation farmer Zeb Burroughs, and his wife Meredith, have been ranching in my neck of the woods in Bonanza, Oregon. I mention this because Zeb and I reconnected at almond day (after initially meeting him, and his parents Rosie and Ward, at a soil health workshop a few years ago) and are starting a “Regenerative Bee Pasture” project this spring – SO EXCITED!!

If you have driven through the Central Valley, you’ve seen the typical orchard – bare naked soil. Dead, thirsty, and sterile (as Dr. Daley puts it). But there are beacons of light and life in the industry, and the Burroughs’ property is one of them.

Their farm is green – everywhere. There are 600 fat, happy ewes making their way through the mature orchards and chicken tractors (housing egg laying hens) in the young orchards. It looks beautiful, sounds alive, smells good, and MOST IMPORTANTLY tastes amazing. Literally the best almond butter and olive oil I’ve had in my life.

But is it profitable? Yes. This farm was enrolled in a recent comparative study, Defining and validating regenerative farm systems using a composite of ranked agricultural practices, which found, “In almonds, there was a clear relationship between more regenerative practices and the profitability of the orchards.” Another study specifically looking at almonds, Regenerative Almond Production Systems Improve Soil Health, Biodiversity, and Profit, also lists the impressive benefits of regenerative almond growing.

One of my favorite presenters of the day was Dr. Amelie Gaudin, who pointed out that maximum benefit comes from “stacking” regenerative practices. “Compost alone doesn’t do the trick,” she said, “you need living roots in the soil.” The longer the roots live in the soil, the higher the water infiltration rate to store precious irrigation and rainwater. An in-tact soil system is also imperative for nutrient and carbon cycling. Adding animal integration amplifies these benefits by “jazzing up the microbes,” Dr. Gaudin said.

Here is a recent poster from Dr. Gaudin’s lab, Managing for soil health: Targets and potential in

almond orchards. In summary –

· Soil carbon values (n=13 orchards): bare 0.93 (g/kg soil), living cover 1.22, integrated 2.09

· Integrated (with animals) sites had 1.78X (alley) and 2.38X (tree) more total nitrogen compared to bare soils

· Integrated sites had 1.54X (alley) and 1.71X (tree) more SOM compared to bare soils

· Continuous living cover had 1.64X more SOM, 1.3X more TC, and 1.50X more MBC compared to bare soils

You may be noticing that I have yet to mention – BEES!! Yep, bees were missing from the “Regenerative Almond Field Day.” And this makes me deliriously happy. Why?? Because there is an empty seat for me at this table!! The regenerative people are my people. People who think deeply, people who want to do the hard (yet fun) data-informed work, people who love to monitor, people who ask the farmers to guide the research, people who are collaborative, people who accept failure as part of the process, people who are open to change, people who are holistic thinkers, people who love nature. Or as my friend, 7th generation rancher Emily Fulstone, calls herself and our community, “the nerd heard.” 😂

Not that no one is thinking or talking about bees in regenerative ag, but BGO has been focused on integrating them into this movement in a focused and conscious way for quite a few years now. This style of farming is deep and introspective, and is going to take a like-minded community working collaboratively to succeed.

I think soil is fascinating, but I’m not an expert, so I look to people like Nicole Masters and Ray Archuleta for guidance. I love working in wine grapes, but am not a wine grape expert, so look to people like Mimi Casteel for advice and guidance. I love working in pastures, but am not a cattle rancher, so I collaborate with ranchers who know what they are doing!

What BGO can bring to the table is a team led by someone who has spent nearly every day for the last 13 years watching bees, thinking about bees, keeping bees, studying bees, reading about bees, and talking about bees.

Last week I ran into Benina Burroughs, General Manager of Burroughs Family Farms, at Paicines Ranch Learning Center’s "Principles & Science of Developing Regenerative Agriculture Ecosystems," presented by John Kempf. After mentioning that I will be working with her brother, in a split second she said, “Well you should start a project with us, too.” I happily entertained the idea, and headed over to the family farm after our workshop at Paicines concluded.

Like I said – the farm is GREEN from head to toe, but there is so much opportunity for more colors – aka, flowers! Regenerative systems are inherently bee friendly, due to the lack of chemical use, but I always want to see more flowers on the farms and ranches I visit.

Rosie Burroughs has installed an impressive hedgerow on part of the property (full of happy bees), but I would love to see flowers integrated into the cover crop to feed bees and amp up the diversity (above and below ground) inside the orchard, and to feed the sheep and chickens a varied diet of petals and bugs.

I asked Benina what her vision for the farm is. She would like to lead by example, providing healthy food for people who care. She also visions more color on the farm, which aligns with Rosie’s vision of creating a retreat-like atmosphere for visitors.

How wonderful is this? A California almond orchard as a refuge, for both bees and people?

I’m so grateful to Benina and Burroughs Family Farm for not only hosting the field day, but for taking time to give me a personal tour of the farm and be open to BGO’s vision – a future where kids frolic in pastures of flowers, buzzing with bees, alongside ecological farmers and ranchers.

Upon arriving home, I let the lessons of our workshop with John Kempf percolate through my visions of truly bee friendly almonds, and sent Benina a seed mix to trial. If we can find funding support, BGO would love to expand our Burroughs collaboration down into the belly of the beast – California’s Central Valley.

There is so much potential here. I’m so proud of the Burroughs for being early pioneers in the almond industry; and like I said, 100% of the almond growers I’ve met really want to do the right thing. There were nearly 200 people at field day, the majority were almond growers or almond crop consultants, many of them listening intently and asking great questions.

One of the principals of BGO’s Regenerative Bee Pasture and Bee Friendly Vineyards programs is to not give up hope. Days like these help to top off my cup.

Resources

Complete list of workshop presenters:

· Benina Montes, Burroughs Family Orchards

· Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, Ecdysis Foundation

· Tommy Fenster, Ecdysis Foundation, UC Davis

· Dr. Amelie Gaudin & Dr. Vivian Wauters, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences

· Dr. Kosana Suvočarev, UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources

· Dr. Fadzayi (Fadzie) E. Mashiri, UCCE Mariposa County

· Dr. Cindy Daley, CSU Chico Center for Regenerative Agriculture

Don’t miss out on the next “Regenerative Almond Field Day,” sign up for the Paicines Learning Center’s newsletter: https://paicineslearning.org

Check out other farmers and ranchers working with the CSU Center:

(I’ve met over half of these folks, and been to many of their farms, they are the real deal!)