<p>Almond harvest has begun in the San Joaquin Valley and with it comes the hope of better prices, expanding markets and stronger consumer demand.This year, the industry will need all the help it can get.Demand has cooled in markets like China where the nuts were a hot commodity. Prices plummeted to half of the $5 a pound the nuts fetched last year. Now, with harvest under way, growers could be looking at a bumper crop.If the estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture holds true, California’s almond growers will surpass 2 billion pounds for the first time since 2013.That’s a lot of nuts. And one of the reasons why almonds have become one of the state’s most dominant crops. In Fresno County alone – one of the state’s top almond-growing regions – the nuts were valued at more than a $1 billion.<br></p>