California’s 2014 almond crop harvest looks to be well-short of the 2.1 billion pound forecast offered earlier this year by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Almond Board of California receipts for October were slightly above 1.5 billion pounds, according to Mark Jansen, president and CEO of Blue Diamond. Jansen is on the board of directors for the Almond Board of California.

Final harvest figures could total 1.85 billion pounds when all the receipts are counted, Jansen said.

The reduced harvest and minimal ending inventories from the 2013 crop mean total shipments for the 2014 crop must decline by nearly 10 percent, according to Jansen.

Shipments year-to-date are percent down from last year and tracking with the decline in available supply

Jansen expects with future commitments equivalent to last year, suppliers have the ability to hold the crop until there is better understanding of the 2015 water supply risk in California.