Go nuts planting trees, then complain about low prices...

17 Calif. farms file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to 'record-low' almond prices

By Susana Guerrero

Low almond prices have driven 17 California almond farms to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Last month Trinitas Farming, LLC — which is a farming management group based in Oakdale — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 7,856 acres of almond orchards it owns throughout Solano, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Fresno and Tulare counties. A total of 17 farms were included in a filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of California San Jose Division as a result of high costs to maintain almond orchards and “record-low almond prices,” the filing read.  

Last November, the U.S. Agriculture Department said that tree nut prices fell to the lowest levels in two decades, with the price of almonds dropping to $1.10 per pound. Since 2014, when almond prices hit a peak of nearly $4 a pound, they have been mostly on the decline, according to the agency.

Attorneys for Trinitas Farming and its affiliate, Trinitas Advantaged Agriculture Partners IV, LP, said that the companies were “well-positioned to become profitable ventures” but that debtors “were unable to raise necessary capital” from investments or potential sales of their assets.

“Ultimately, the Debtors, after discussions with their limited partners and their prepetition secured lender, Rabo Agrifinance, LLC (‘Rabo Ag’), determined that it was in the best interests of the Debtors and their creditors to file these Chapter 11 Cases, to facilitate a managed sale process with debtor-in-possession financing support provided by Rabo Ag,” the filing provided by the Times read.

According to the Times, Trinitas Farming and its affiliates are in debt for $180 million and are expected to sell the orchards.