Pohl & Holmes, Inc.

About Us

     Pohl & Holmes, Incorporated was founded by David Pohl and Bryan Holmes in 1989, growing up together in the same type of environment they both shared common values in the Almond Hulling business.  Pohl & Holmes, Inc. has been providing both almond hulling and shelling service since 1990.  We have always taken pride in putting our customers first.   Our quality and service remain true to the reputation that we have worked hard over the years to earn.  

        A reputation and trust is something that must be nurtured with each new cutomer.  We understand that the key to our growth and success is the customer (grower) satisfaction.  Good intentions are one thing, but implementing a plan  to get the job done is another.  Our entire staff is composed of caring people wh0 are dedicated professionals committed to instilling the value of the customer (grower) satisfaction.

Harvesting  

             The following information was gathered from documentation provided by The Food and Agriculture Industry on "Harvesting".   Almond harvesting is a seasonal industry, typically beginning in August and running from two to four months.  However, the beginning and duration of the season vary with the weather and with the size of the crop.   The almonds remain on the ground for 7-10 days to dry.   The fallen almonds are then swept into rows.   Mechanical machines gather the rows for transport to Pohl & Holmes hulling/shelling facility.  

      Once delivered to the facility the almonds are then dumped into a receiving pit.   The almonds are transported by screw conveyors and bucket elevators to a series of vibrating screens.  The screens selectively remove orchard debris, including leaves, soil, and pebbles.   A destoner removes stones, dirt clods, and other larger debris.   A detwigger removes twigs and small sticks.  The recovered soil and fine debris, such as leaves and grass, are disposed of by spreading on surrounding farmland.  The precleaned almonds are transferred from the precleaner area by another series of conveyors and elevators to storage bins to await further handling.  

      The almonds are conveyed on belt and bucket conveyors to a series of shear rolls, which crack the almond hulls.   The cracked almonds are  discharged to a series of vibrating screens or a gravity table, which seperates hulls and unhulled almonds from the in-shell almonds, almond meats, and fine dust.   The remaining unhulled almonds pass through addtional shear rolls and screen  seperators.  The hulls are conveyed to storage and sold as an ingredient in the manufacture of cattle feed. The fine dust is ducted to a  filter for collection. 

      As the in-shell almonds make additional passes through sets of shear rolls and crackers, the in-shell is cracked or sheared away from the meat.   The  almond meats are  conveyed to a series of gravity tables or seperators which sort the meats by lights, middlings, goods, and heavies.   Lights, middlings, and heavies, which still contain hulls and shells, are returned to various points in the process.   Goods are conveyed to the finished meats box for storage.   Any remaining shell pieces are aspirated and sent to shell storage.    The growers hulled/shelled meats are then delivered by bulk or meat bins to the processsor that have purchased the crop.   The almonds are now ready either for sales as raw product or for futher processing at another facility.

 RECIEVING

AIR FILTRATION 

SHELLS

STOCKPILING

MACHINERY