Hawaii mac nut harvest up 22% - Business First of Buffalo:

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Hawaii’s 2008-09 mac nut harvest this year is up 22 percentrto 50,000 pounds, the U.S. Department of Agricultur e reported Monday. That’s up from 41,00o pounds the previous the smallest harvestsince 1985. Groweres are getting paid more, too, a net 67 centsd per pound, up from 60 cents the previous year. The season starts July 1 and ends the followin gJune 30. “Timely showers and an increased demandcfor in-shell nuts contributed to this season’s highe output,” the USDA said, but also notede that pigs, pests and volcanic haze on the Big Islan damaged some orchards. But the prices growerxs are getting is still far below the peak of 90 centx in thelate 1980s.
The report said some Hawaiji growers decidedit wasn’t worth picking the crop “ande may switch to other commodities or temporarily stop Harvested mac nut acreage was the same as the previouds year at 15,000, but the yielxd per acre was up from 2.7 to 3.3. The number of mac nut farmsd was also up from 525to 570, but down from 650 in 2004.