The latest California walnut acreage report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service Field office in Sacramento, Calif.:

California’s 2009 walnut acreage is estimated at 255,000 acres, up 5 percent from 2007.  Of the total acreage, 227,000 were bearing and 28,000 were non-bearing.

Of the walnut acreage reported, Chandler continues to be the leading variety with 68,836 bearing acres, followed by Hartley with 38,626 bearing acres. Chandler accounted for 64 percent of the non-bearing acreage.

San Joaquin County continues to show the largest acreage planted with 14 percent of the total, followed by Butte with 12 percent and Tulare with 11 percent.