<p>This year's walnut harvest in California began early. With picking ahead of schedule, supplies could drop off sharply when the harvest ends.“We were a few days to a week early this year,” said Bill Carriere of Carriere Family Farms. “Early varieties were a little light, but there's a heavy crop of Howards this year. I think there will be about 10 or 15 percent more Howards than last year, and the quality is excellent.” Volumes of Hartleys were a little light, but overall volume this year looks to be on target to hit the 575,000 ton estimate for the state.“We'll knock out the majority of the volume a little bit early,” said Carriere. “We'll be done by the first week of November, which is normal, but things will come to a screeching halt.” Prices were a little erratic earlier in the season, partly due to the presence of walnuts from last year's crop, but the market has stabilized in recent days.“We're not moving mass quantities because the Chinese market is not buying as big as in the past,” said Carriere. “But prices at the end of last year were high, so now they're more average. We have enough of the crop to know it's not going to be a crazy-big crop, so we hope the market will remain stable.”<br></p>