The price of almonds is up … demand is strong … so growers have been planting more trees. It all means that the annual production of almonds in California should grow by 50% in the next few years, to one and a half billion pounds. Blue Diamond, based in Sacramento, is expanding its membership. It’s also investing in new equipment and installing a high-speed processing line. Almonds are the state’s largest agricultural export. Blue Diamond says its growers have received record payments of 508 million dollars for their 2005 crop.