By Jackie Miller
Before a single pump kicked on, one pistachio grower was already making high-stakes decisions.
A new infrastructure project. A revised fungicide plan. An early water budget adjustment for crop quality—guided not by guesswork, but by a forecast issued before Thanksgiving.
In California pistachio farming, water strategy often walks a tightrope between reacting and planning. For Jimmy Nichols of Nichols Farms, Weather Tools’ accurate seasonal forecasts turned that tightrope into a runway.
Nichols Farms, a vertically integrated pistachio grower and processor with thousands of acres across the valley, faces the challenges familiar to any permanent crop operation in California: variable snowpack and rainfall, rising costs, SGMA restrictions, and the constant need to protect quality. But something changed last fall.
In November 2024, Nichols received Weather Tools’ California Annual Precipitation (CAP) forecast, which predicted a “normal” water year ahead. And that early signal allowed his team to do something rare in California agriculture: make confident decisions before winter began.
“Having that forecast in November is especially helpful,” Jimmy said. “It gives us five months of preparation before irrigation even begins.”
Infrastructure Planning with Confidence
One of the boldest moves the team made was greenlighting a surface water infrastructure upgrade, long before most growers had even started thinking about runoff.
“It was a fairly heavy capital project, but the forecast gave us the confidence to act early and have it ready for the season,” Jimmy said.
Without a reliable early signal, Nichols Farms likely would’ve delayed or skipped that investment. Instead, the work was completed on time to take full advantage of the increased surface water allocations that followed.
Water Budgeting with a Biological Edge
The CAP forecast didn’t just influence infrastructure—it helped reshape the water budget across Nichols Farms’ operations. Knowing that surface water would be available, they front-loaded water use early in the season, boosting crop quality from the start.
“We updated our water budgets with the assumption we’d have surface water available,” Jimmy said. “That helped us apply a little more water early, especially on pistachios during shell expansion, which helps reduce pest pressure later.”
By strategically applying water early in the season for tree health and shell growth, they gave their crop a head start and potentially avoided a cascade of pest management issues later in the season.
Rethinking Fungicides
Weather doesn’t just influence water. With the CAP forecast pointing to a wet bloom, Nichols Farms’ agronomy team took a hard look at their fungicide rotation strategy, something they don’t take lightly.
“We did a deep dive into our historical fungicide applications and changed up the rotation… knowing it was likely to be a wet bloom,” Jimmy said. “It’s about protecting efficacy long-term.”
This kind of proactive planning helped them preserve resistance profiles and maintain long-term sustainability. And it all started with a seasonal forecast delivered before Thanksgiving.
A Foundation for Agility
For Jimmy Nichols, the value of the Weather Tools forecast goes beyond predicting precipitation. It unlocks operational agility in a complex, capital-intensive business.
“We haven’t had to face a dry year yet with CAP,” Jimmy said. “But when we do, we’ll have a head start. And that’s everything.”
From pipes to pistachios to pest protection, Nichols Farms showed what’s possible when you choose strategy over reaction, and a glimpse of what forward-thinking farming can look like in a state where every drop counts.
Jackie Miller is the Manager of Data & Product Services at Weather Tools, where she
combines a curiosity about weather data with a passion for storytelling. She leads the development of monthly forecast reports, using numbers and narrative to bring clarity to customers navigating complex water year decisions. You can reach her at Jackie@weathertools.org
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