Since the presidential election, several opinion pieces have appeared that offer a farmer view of the result. Not one has confined it to views that might be held only by farmers in California. Into that vast abyss tumbles today’s Ag at Large, sustained by several direct expressions from farmer friends before the election, comments from them since, and a kind of compilation of attitudes formed from years of associating with and listening to them.

California’s trees are dying at an alarming rate. Late last week, the U.S. Forest Service said an aerial survey revealed that 36 million additional trees had died while in the grip of persistent drought, bringing the total since 2010 to more than 102 million. Those numbers have startled California officials and scientists while adding urgency to a long-simmering debate over what should be done about it. The tree deaths have been concentrated in the southern and central Sierra Nevada, but experts warn of increasing deaths in forests all the way up to the Oregon border.

One by one, wet weather systems will march into the Bay Area through the week, giving the region a much-needed soaking, but complicating things for the multitudes who are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was boots-and-umbrella weather as rain showers washed through the Bay Area over the weekend, giving drought watchers a reason to be optimistic as yearly rainfall totals near or surpass normal levels. After a brief drying period Monday, things will get wet again as Californians take to the skies and roadways during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

 

The total number of dead trees in California’s forests has climbed to 102 million.  Approximately 36 million of those deaths have come since the US Forestry Service last surveyed the forests in May. And the number of dead trees in the Golden State doubled over the past year. The tree deaths are changing the California landscape, particularly at lower elevations. They’re also raising questions about the best ways to protect people from falling trees or wildfires while preserving forests.

More than a year ago, Fresno County farmer Wayne Western Jr. penned a letter to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, pleading for help. Western said the federal government was mismanaging California’s water supply with unjustified environmental restrictions, and that San Joaquin Valley farms such as his might dry up and go out of business without assistance from Washington. Trump replied with a handwritten note of his own, a pledge: “Got it – crazy. If I win, it will be corrected quickly.”