**_Walnut sector faces slow recovery, as growers pull less-productive trees_**

With more California walnut orchards being removed, the outlook for the industry is [expected to improve](https://www.agalert.com/california-ag-news/archives/august-14-2024/walnut-market-recovery-may-come-slowly/) as growers try to balance supply and demand. But such efforts alone will not be enough to put them on a fast track to market recovery and profitability. A report by RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness says walnut production may not decline as fast as acreage because growers are taking out older, less-productive trees and “heritage” varieties that are also lower yielding. Growers are also removing orchards with poor water availability or soil quality.

**_State pesticide regulators get funding infusion from new mill tax_**

Guided by a plan that prioritizes new pest management approaches and a goal to eliminate high-risk pesticides by 2050, state Department of Pesticide Regulation Director Julie Henderson [outlined priorities](https://www.agalert.com/california-ag-news/archives/august-14-2024/forum-focuses-on-mill-tax-burdens-facing-agriculture/) now being supported by a $34 million revenue boost from raising the mill assessment on pesticide sales. Annual increases in the mill assessment—a fee that farmers pay when they purchase pesticides—went into effect in July. Henderson said the mill assessment increase will support Sustainable Pest Management initiatives and add 117 new positions.

**_Farm leaders sound alarm over increasing economic pressures_**

With some of the state’s major agricultural commodities struggling and farmers and ranchers facing increasing economic and regulatory pressures, California farm leaders say the industry will continue to [lose farms](https://www.agalert.com/california-ag-news/archives/august-14-2024/farm-leaders-call-attention-to-rising-economic-pressures/) as more are squeezed out and few people enter the business. In a meeting last week of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, farmers and farm advocates representing specialty crops, winegrapes, cattle and dairy voiced their concerns about problems vexing the industry. Agricultural leaders warned of more consolidation and fewer farms.

**_Red leaf blotch disease found in California almond orchards_**

University of California plant pathologists have confirmed [red leaf blotch disease](https://www.agalert.com/california-ag-news/archives/august-14-2024/first-finding-of-red-leaf-blotch-in-california-almonds/) in almonds for the first time in the state. The disease surfaced in May when a UC orchard crops advisor found unusual leaf symptoms in an almond orchard straddling the Merced-Madera county line. Infected leaves on the nonpareil, Monterey and Fritz varieties had yellow spots with orange to dark red-brown centers. The disease has been found to date in Madera, Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Officials say it likely entered the state on imported plant material.