THE almond orchards in Willunga, south of Adelaide, have burst into bloom.
"It's the first tree to come out," almond grower Graham Giles told The Australian.
"The first sign of spring."
At least five billion bees are busy pollinating trees in the expanding industry.
Australia now rivals Spain to hold the position of second-largest almond producer in the world, after California.
The Australian industry has increased from 3750ha in 1999 to 28,000ha last year.
Production rose 40 per cent last year to 36,500 tonnes, and is expected to more than double again by 2015.
During World War II, when almonds were included in ration packs, Willunga was the biggest almond-growing area in the southern hemisphere.
But the industry's expansion along the Murray River, and the replacement of Willunga almond orchards by grapes, have changed that.
Nearly 70 per cent of Australia's almonds are now grown in South Australia's Riverland.
"They're growing almonds up there and they've been quite successful at it," Mr Giles said.
"We can get up to 500kg to the acre (0.4ha). In the Riverland, they're doing between one tonne and tonnes to the acre - that's the difference."
But because he sells his almonds at local farmers' markets, Mr Giles has been able to keep his Willunga orchard in production.
"The wholesale price is around about $5 a kilo, and it retails at about $15," Mr Giles said. "We need to pick up that retail price of $15 and cut out the middle man to make us self-sufficient."
He claims the Willunga almonds, which are grown on heavier soil, tend to get a better flavour. "It's not very big crop, so we get, we think, a sweeter flavour with our almonds."
Almonds rely on bees for pollination, so orchardists pay up to $70 a hive for pollination services. But the bees don't make almond honey - "that's the reason we pay a lot of money", Mr Giles said.
The most pressing problem the business faces is water. Ben Brown, industry liaison manager with the Almond Board of Australia, said the industry was growing rapidly until the mid 2000s, when drought severely reduced the irrigation allocations.
"It's come to a standstill with regards to plantings because of the water restrictions," Mr Brown said.
"But production is still climbing because of those younger plantings still coming to maturity."
He said that until recently, all the almonds grown were consumed domestically.
But the increase in production led to a new export industry. In 2008-09, 60 per cent of the production was exported, earning $121 million.
Mr Giles said growers can't keep up with the demand. "It used to be more of a luxury item, but now you can do that many things with almonds, and its food value is right up the top. It has a pretty good future, growing almonds."
Read more on The Australian.
