Almond Hulls

Non-GMO dried almond hulls from California are an energy and fiber feed that have been a staple for California dairies for a century. They’re an all-natural, minimally processed ingredient that is a perfect complement to alfalfa and beet pulp, at about half the cost. California dried almond hulls can improve milk production, herd health, and your dairy’s bottom line.

Almond Hull TASC Grant

In August 2020, the Almond Alliance was awarded a USDA grant under the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops program (TASC) to address phytosanitary, commercial, and other technical and administrative barriers to the importation of California almond hulls into Asian feed markets.

> MARA Approval of Almond Hull Pellets and Cubes for Livestock Feed in China – NEW

Working with USDA/APHIS, the Foreign Agricultural Service, the Almond Board, and consultant Presidio Trade Group, made significant progress toward its primary goals:

  • The commercial introduction of almond hulls to Asian feed commodity importers and end-users
  • The establishment of administrative commodity approval from ministries of agriculture, including the negotiation of phytosanitary protocols for customs clearance of almond hulls for each of the target countries of the project:
    • China
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Thailand
    • Philippines
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • Myanmar
    • Vietnam

We’ve established administrative market access in all the target countries, except China and Thailand, and are introducing almond hulls to importers and technical stakeholders in all target countries.

China is a special case, representing at least 75% of dairy end-user demand, with almond hulls already accepted by the major dairy importers, but not the government agencies.

We are working separately with China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair (MARA) for commodity registration, and with GACC (China customs) to establish a phytosanitary protocol.

Some of the high points of our work so far:

  • Commercial introduction to multinational importers who will be the primary merchandizers to end-users. All work throughout all the target countries, notable companies being CJ (Korea), CP (Thailand), New Hope (Singapore) and Beidahuang (China), Itochu (Japan), among others.
  • Development of introductory educational materials for target country end-users and government administrators, including printed material, video introductions, and website.Publication of a technical dairy study based on China dairy feed trials and oriented to destination nutritionists, who are the ultimate feed decision-makers.
  • Current feed trials for non-ruminant applications, both swine, and poultry, are currently being undertaken by the Animal Resource & Science Center at Konkuk University in Korea. Publication of this report should be in mid-summer.

Presidio Trade Group is working with Almond Alliance to coordinate the effort, which is essentially coordinating three teams:

  • US Team:  Develops educational materials, manages commodity introduction to end-users, importers and government stakeholders, and supports USDA/APHIS communication with destination governments.
    • Presidio Trade Group – Sacramento
    • Almond Alliance – Modesto
    • Almond Board of California – Modesto
    • Woori Grain – Chicago
  • USDA/APHIS Team:  Negotiates directly with destination country customs and quarantine authorities to establish phytosanitary and inspection protocols for exported almond hulls.
    • U.S. Department of Agriculture / Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service / Plant Protection and Quarantine / Phytosanitary Issues Management
    • U.S. Embassy Beijing – Agricultural Affairs Office
    • USDA Foreign Agricultural Service / Office of Agricultural Affairs
  • Technical Teams:  Preparing the reporting on destination country feed trials
    • Delfino Nutrition and Management – Dairy
    • MOA BIO Tech Co., Inc – Non-ruminants

Country Ministry Approval Customs Approval Commercial Introduction
China MARA approval pending – est. Nov. 22 GACC – pending approval w/i 2022 Accepted by dairy; intro to swine/poultry
Korea MAFRA (ag ministry) – approved APQA – phyto only – no fume Current studies by Kankook University
Japan MAFF (ag ministry) – approved Japan Customs – phyto only – no fume Introductory use by dairy and poultry
Philippines P.I. Dept of Agriculture – approved BOC – phyto only – no fume Being introduced by importers
Vietnam MARD (ag ministry) – approved Dept of Customs – phyto + phosphine fume Being introduced by importers
Myanmar MOALI (ag ministry) – approved Myanmar Customs – phyto only – no fume No trade at this time
Indonesia Ministry of Ag – pending Indo customs DJBC – USDA application pending No trade at this time
Malaysia MAFI (ag ministry) – approved RMC – phyto only – no fume No trade at this time
Thailand MOAC (ag ministry) – temp closed Thai Customs – phyto + phosphine fume No trade at this time

Last Updated May 2022

Almond hulls were introduced to the Asian dairy industries for animal consumption. As part of the grant, a research paper about technical dairy study based on China dairy feed trials and oriented to destination nutritionists was published.

However, while China represents 75% of dairy end-user demand, currently, feed trials for non-ruminant applications, both swine and poultry, are being undertaken by the Animal Resource & Science Center at Konkuk University in Korea. Studies show a potential demand for non-ruminant applications of almond hulls and almond hull-based companies throughout Asia.

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Penny-Newman Grain Company
Randy Jones
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