Spanish farmers go nuts for almonds as global demand booms

SANTA CRUZ, Spain - Surging worldwide demand for almonds is pushing Spanish farmers to replace traditional wheat and sunflower fields with almond orchards, transforming the landscape in the south of the country.

Almonds, thanks to their well-advertised health benefits, are enjoying global demand as snacks or in derivative forms like almond milk and almond flour, used as dairy or wheat alternatives.

In the Guadalquivir valley in the parched southern region of Andalusia "the landscape has changed so much in recent years that wild boar now come down from the hills to eat almonds", said agronomist Curro Lopez, 50, an expert on almond farming with Spanish agriculture machinery firm Agrosan.