Dan Cummings
Chairman of the Board
CHAIRMAN’SMESSAGE
Growing Our Community with Leadership
and Partnership
I can’t help but take notice at how fortunate
we are to be part of a century old tradition
that celebrates what
Blue Diamond Growers
does so well: almond farming. This cooperative
community was built on democratic governance
and integrity more than one hundred years ago.
We stand in honor of our nation and armed
services during the pledge of allegiance. We
show commitment to building future generations
of farmers with the skill and passion to protect the
food and families we grow through organizations
like Future Farmers of America. This honor and
commitment demonstrated by
Blue Diamond
is
noticeably lacking in many public forums these
days. I am proud to be part of an organization
created to benefit the community of almond
farmers with a common interest. For all this and
more, we should all be
Blue Diamond
proud!
We owe a great debt to those with the vision
for creating and sustaining
Blue Diamond
.
We are proud of our current accomplishments,
and the cooperative’s leading position in the
almond industry. With this pride comes a deep
responsibility to advance the successes of the
past and continue to realize our mission. We
accomplish this by electing board directors, by
a truly exceptional management team, in great
partnerships domestically and globally, and
most importantly with the incredible support of
the grower-owners who enable us to address
and embrace the future!
Now if only the weather would cooperate!
After four years of drought, this was one of
those years where you had to be “careful
what you wished for.” It is somewhat easy
to forget what miserable wet conditions we
had throughout much of bloom with the near
record almond crop now in the barn. Bigger
crops are sure to come, and likely soon.
Blue
Diamond
is ready – armed with the strength
of its brand, infrastructure, and people. The
cooperative will continue leading the way
with superior, consistent, and secure returns.
Blue Diamond‘s
straight forward discussion with
grower-owners regarding the Independence
almond variety is a good example of how
the cooperative is leading the way. The
Independence variety is in a state of transition in
the marketplace, growing from a newly planted
emerging player, to a mainstream large volume
variety in a very short period. The marketplace is
still sorting out how to value this variety. I remain
confident that the price returned to grower-owners
reflects the marketplace value of each variety. It
is as simple as that! I would also like to thank our
field management team for being on the front
lines in direct communication with our growers
and industry on this issue and others.
Another important area of leadership is
sustainability. There’s been lots of talk about
“sustainability” in recent years, but as farmers
we have been practicing it for generations.
Quite simply, it means maintaining economic
viability to enable succeeding generations. It
means continuously improving yields and quality,
procurement practices, strategic diversification
and regulatory compliance management. It
means minimizing waste, documenting best
farm practices, and making the most efficient
use of energy, water, and other inputs. In short,
sustainability is being good stewards of the
environment and protecting natural resources.
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