By OLIVIA MUNOZ, AP - California farmers may be the big beneficiaries of a new U.S. ban on Iranian pistachios.
President
Barack Obama signed the ban on July 1 in response to Iran's nuclear
policies. It went into effect Wednesday, even as California's farmers
are in the midst of their harvest.
The United States and Iran have
been vying for the title of No. 1 pistachio producer. Most U.S.
pistachios are grown in California.
Two-thirds are sold overseas.
But with the ban on Iranian pistachios in place, the $700 million
domestic market will go almost exclusively to U.S. growers.
The
executive director of the Fresno-based Western Pistachio Association,
Richard Matoian, says that's "a big bonus" for the group's members.