The Central Valley of California produces a large number of almonds, and that area is being invaded by rats. A newsletter from the Almond Board of California says that a major rat infestation has caused potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in damage over the past year. In the San Joaquin (Wah-KEEN) Valley alone, more than 100,000 acres have been impacted so far. This adds up to a loss of between $109 million and $311 million. The issue began emerging unexpectedly last fall and may get worse without some form of intervention. Experts say the increased rat populations are due to drought-related farmland inactivity in the early 2020s, which halted pest control. Though farmland has recovered, stricter pesticide regulations have hindered effective rodent management by limiting several options that growers previously had. The Golden State grows all the nation’s commercially-produced almonds, as well as 75 percent of the world’s almond supply.
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