From the San Francisco Chronicle:

After making big investments in almonds in the past few years, California farmers are seeing their efforts pay off with predictions their recent harvest will be a record 1.65 billion pounds or more.

The big harvest comes amid strong worldwide demand and relatively high prices. Exports to China have increased eight times in the past five years, and India and Pakistan doubled their almond consumption in that time. Even with a record harvest, there's no risk California, the world's No. 1 almond producer, will saturate the market, industry experts said.

The Golden State has seen a big growth in almond orchards in the past five years as farmers shifted from less profitable vegetables to lucrative nuts. California now has 810,000 acres planted in almonds — a 25 percent increase from a decade ago — and produces 80 percent of the world's supply.

California almond harvest expected to set record