2019 Harvest Update

Thank you for choosing HGO as your marketing partner. Overall, 2019 was a successful harvest year. Many processes that were pain points at HGO last year were significantly improved this year; demonstrating the commitment of the HGO team to continuous improvement and to our growers.

Sampling Process
Our chain of custody procedure allowed us to track your samples through the process eliminating any possibility for lost or misplaced samples. Within the first week of grading, we identified that Agri Seed, our third-party tester, had some personnel that were grading too harshly. We quickly recalibrated the graders and retested all the affected lots. This is another example of our commitment to look out for your best interests.

Crop Comparisons
Recapping the 2019 harvest compared to prior years, the crop size was slightly lower than expected. The USDA projected the 2019 harvest to be down 4% from 2018. The actual harvest was down approximately 15%. For the first time, Jefferson overtook Barcelona as the largest variety. Final numbers on the total industry crop size are not expected until January.

Defects
Many growers harvested early while the weather was still dry, which contributed to good quality nuts despite the rainfall being higher in 2019 than 2018 or 2017. “This year’s average moisture variance were in the 17.42% range as compared to 11.42% in 2018 and 15.26% in 2017. See below for weather and defect information:

Average defect rates by variety were: