Hello California... agave farmers?

if you lack water, you might want to pay attention

No news this week, but an exciting story about agave farming in CA and answering to a growing market.

I caught up with my friend Stuart Woolf — the farmer that started me on almonds for test batches of Barney Butter back when we were neighbors in Fresno. Stuart has recently become the largest commercial agave grower in California.

Like many farmers here, Woolf has taken out acres of almond trees because of scarce water, roughly ~35 - 40% of his family legacy land, fallowed. Looking for alternative crops that can handle drought conditions, Stuart is taking a chance on agave.

As soon as I heard this I thought, this branding’s gonna be a no brainer.

haha.

Agave spirits vs Tequila

I can’t tell you how many new tequila brand pitches have come across my desk this year. You can’t call it tequila if it’s not from Mexico, but we’re talking about the same thing. The global market for agave based spirits like tequila and mezcal have seen so much growth, surpassing whiskey, it’s now the second most valuable spirits subcategory in the U.S.

Looking ahead, Trump import tariffs will affect spirits with a protected designation of origin — like tequila — which might be really good for domestic sales of American spirits.

Agave plants can be seen from Interstate 5 in Fresno County on Woolf’s property

How to grow agave

These plants are on drip, unlike Mexico, where plants are dry-farmed. But unlike almonds and pistachios which require 40 - 55 inches of water per acre, agave take just 2.5 to 3 inches.

What does it cost to farm agave in California? Woolf has the numbers here for projected single year planing with a 7 year maturity cycle.

If you want to get in on this — Woolf is importing and accepting orders for Agave tequilana variety weber azul, and Agave angustifolia variety espadin, for spring planting in 2025.

Vertical integration

Growing is one thing, processing is another. There are only a handful of craft distilleries in California. With anticipated demand, larger processing capabilities will be in need. Woolf is in early talks with a smaller distiller to build that capacity here in the Central Valley, near the site of his family almond processing. This makes so much sense because the byproduct, bagasse, has use in ag as animal feed, bedding, and potentially biofuel. For those of you food brands sourcing agave syrup or inulin, down the road Woolf could be producing those at his partnered tomato processing facility.

Learn more. Join the California Agave Council

Follow @WoolfAgave

All my best,

Jennifer