Flyttr Launches Industry‑Backed Program to Target the United States’ Most Damaging Pest of Almonds and Pistachios
By Flyttr
August 3, 2026 (Radford, VA, and Fresno, CA) – Flyttr™ today announced the launch of an industry‑backed, multi-year program to develop a Friendly™ navel orangeworm, a powerful, targeted biological solution designed to address one of the most persistent and costly pest challenges facing California’s almond and pistachio industry. The program is supported by the Almond Board of California and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, reflecting strong industry leadership in the development of new, durable tools to manage navel orangeworm pressure, sustainably.
Navel orangeworm threatens California’s tree nut industries, costing farmers more than $800 million annually. This pest affects over 1.5 million acres of almonds and pistachios across the state, reducing yields and nut quality, while driving up production costs for farmers. Current control methods are under significant strain as navel orangeworm continues to impact orchards, processors, and export markets, making it a costly challenge for the entire industry.
The program focuses on developing an implementation‑ready Friendly navel orangeworm product that can integrate into and dramatically improve established pest management systems. Building on Flyttr’s global technology platform and decades of precedent set by the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) to combat agricultural pests, Flyttr’s Friendly technology uses advances in biological engineering to enhance the effectiveness, scalability and cost profile of releasing sterile males that mate with wild-type females to dramatically suppress the population of the target pest. By targeting the pest species directly, the solution will provide growers with a control option that complements – and over time reduces dependence on – insecticides and other intensive practices, while protecting critical biodiversity in and around California’s orchards.
“This pest poses a threat to a critical pillar of the U.S. agricultural economy. We’re proud to be partnering with industry leadership to build a new, scalable solution using our platform,” said Grey Frandsen, CEO of Flyttr. “For American farmers to keep their leadership role in global food supply, they’ll need the most advanced technologies science can deliver provided by organizations that know how to go from breakthrough technology to industry-wide scale-up. Flyttr was built precisely for this purpose.”
About Flyttr
Flyttr is the biosecurity platform for managing the world’s most critical biological pest threats.
About the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.
Connect: @FoundationFAR
About California Almonds
California Almonds make life better by what we grow and how we grow. The Almond Board of California promotes natural, wholesome and quality almonds through leadership in strategic market development, innovative research, and accelerated adoption of industry best practices on behalf of the more than 7,600 almond farmers and processors in California, most of whom are multi-generational family operations. Established in 1950 and based in Modesto, California, the Almond Board of California administers a grower-enacted Federal Marketing Order under the supervision of the United States Department of Agriculture. For more information visit almonds.org: Zero Waste – Using Everything an Orchard Grows