Tag Archive for: Agriculture

Pulling Out Trees, Trucking Water For Cows: California Farmers Take Drastic Measures in Drought

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Tara Duggan

Normally, the biggest vegetable grower in Sonoma County, Humberto Castañeda Produce, grows heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, watermelons and other crops on 180 acres outside of Santa Rosa. But this year, Humberto Castañeda and his son, Gabriel, are farming only 17 acres after receiving a fraction of their normal allotment of water from the city of Santa Rosa.

“I could plant the whole farm and have water that might last me for a month,” said Gabriel, 27, who is managing the farm Humberto founded in the 1980s for the first time this season. “After that the plants are going to die.”

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Abatti Responds to IID’s Supreme Court Filing

/in , , /by /Holtville Tribuneby Elizabeth Varin

Imperial Valley grower, landowner and former elected official Michael Abatti has responded to the Imperial Irrigation District’s official filing in his U.S. Supreme Court petition. The official response was filed sometime Monday, June 7. In March, Abatti filed for a “writ of certiorari” with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District’s decision in Abatti v. Imperial Irrigation District, to which the district was ordered by the High Court to provide a formal response last month.

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“This is Definitely Going To Be A Painful Drought, But I Don’t Think It’s A Complete Calamity For Most Parts of the State”

/in , , /by /Yahoo Finance

Co-Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC-Davis, Jay Lund, joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down the gravity of the drought the Western U.S. is facing and why the water shortage could send food prices higher.

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California’s Epic Drought Is Parching Reservoirs and Worrying Farmers

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Greenby Leslie Kaufman and Eugene Reznik

There is dry, and then there is desiccated.

As any movie fan knows from the classic film Chinatown, California is an infamously thirsty place. But this year, even by its own standards, the state is shockingly, scarily parched. So far in 2021, the state has received half of its expected precipitation; that makes it the third driest year on record according to California’s Department of Water Resources.

This past week, as temperatures from Sacramento up to the Oregon border topped 100º Fahrenheit, the intense heat evaporated the remaining water at an astonishing pace, creating scenes more reminiscent of Hollywood-manufactured dystopias like Mad Max than the lush paradise Americans are used to envisioning on their West Coast.

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Farmers Facing California Drought Impacts Feel Strain of Low Water Supply

/in , /by /KCRA3by Emily Maher

California farmers and ranchers are preparing for a difficult growing season as the state faces drought conditions. The California Board of Food and Agriculture met on Tuesday to discuss ways to help farmers and ranchers, as well as to discuss the proposed $5.1 billion included in the governor’s budget to address drought challenges and water infrastructure. After back-to-back dry years, the state’s water supply is strained, forcing farmers like Joe Martinez in Solano County to figure out ways to get the most out of their water.

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‘Big Risk’: California Farmers Hit by Drought Change Planting Plans

/in , , /by /Reutersby Christopher Walljasper

Joe Del Bosque is leaving a third of his 2,000-acre farm near Firebaugh, California, unseeded this year due to extreme drought. Yet, he hopes to access enough water to produce a marketable melon crop.

Farmers across California say they expect to receive little water from state and federal agencies that regulate the state’s reservoirs and canals, leading many to leave fields barren, plant more drought-tolerant crops or seek new income sources all-together.

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Federal Government Slashes Water Deliveries to Farms, Cities as California Drought Worsens

/in , , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

California’s water supply got cut again Wednesday, with the federal government reducing allocations to cities and farms as the drought intensified.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that municipal water agencies that rely on the Central Valley Project will have this year’s allocations slashed from 55% down to 25% — a level not seen since the drought of 2015.

That could put additional pressure on the municipalities around greater Sacramento that depend on supplies from Folsom Lake, whose water levels have sunk dramatically this spring. The reservoir is at 46% of its usual capacity for late May.

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San Diego County Crops Supported by Water Rate Discount

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Alongside other cornerstone industries such as tourism and biotechnology, agriculture sustains the San Diego County’s economy with a farmgate value of nearly $2 billion a year, according to the most recent county assessment. Avocados – one of the county’s signature farm goods — account for $140 million of the farming total growth of 16% in 2019, county figures show.

And all the crops countywide are supported by reliable water supplied by the San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies, which have invested strategically over the past three decades to ensure water availability even during dry years. The Water Authority has also created a special ag water program that offers lower-cost water in return for lower reliability so that farmers can choose the level of service that works best for them.

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SAWR-Water Rates-Crops-Agriculture

San Diego County Crops Supported by Water Rate Discount

/in , /by

Alongside other cornerstone industries such as tourism and biotechnology, agriculture sustains the San Diego County’s economy with a farmgate value of nearly $2 billion a year, according to the most recent county assessment. Avocados – one of the county’s signature farm goods — account for $140 million of the farming total growth of 16% in 2019, county figures show.

And all the crops countywide are supported by reliable water supplied by the San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies, which have invested strategically over the past three decades to ensure water availability even during dry years. The Water Authority has also created a special ag water program that offers lower-cost water in return for lower reliability so that farmers can choose the level of service that works best for them.

“San Diego’s dynamic agricultural industry strengthens our region by employing thousands of people, contributing to the local economy, supporting the local food system and enhancing sustainability efforts,” said San Diego County Agricultural Commissioner Ha Dang. “All efforts to support our diverse agricultural economy are important, including water reliability and accessibility.”

San Diego County ag production is the combined result of more than 5,000 family farms – the most of any county in the United States. In fact, 69% of all San Diego County farms are smaller than nine acres. Innovative practices – including water-use efficiency measures – allow local farms to be productive by focusing on high-value crops such as ornamental trees and shrubs, bedding plants, cacti and succulents and indoor plants.

Agriculture directly employs 56,000 people in San Diego County, including the second-largest number of farms operated by women and the largest number of part-time farmers in the U.S. Along with avocados, San Diego County farmers rank first in the nation in production of nursery crops, and among the top five producers nationwide of lemons, limes, guavas, pomegranates, and macadamias.

Water Authority offers ag discount

In partnership with its member agencies, the Water Authority offers a Permanent Special Agricultural Water Rate Program to continue supporting commercial farms that are the economic engine of rural San Diego County.

In exchange for lower price water, participants in the ag water program agree to have lesser water service when the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California cuts supplies to San Diego County. It is similar to power companies offering lower rates to customers who agree to have their power service interrupted during peak demand periods. In turn, the Water Authority can reallocate those supplies as needed to commercial and residential customers who pay higher rates for full reliability benefits.

An important deadline for the ag water program is coming at the end of June, and farmers who want to take advantage of lower rates should contact their retail water agency for details.

Facing a Drought, California’s Farmers Make Hard Choices

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Lisa M. Krieger

In wetter times, these feathery beds of asparagus would produce generations of tender green spears, reaching for the vast San Joaquin Valley sky.

On Monday they were disked into the dry dirt, their long lives cut short by unreliable and expensive water.

“It’s a really sad day,” said Fresno County’s Joe Del Bosque, who has destroyed 100 acres of organic asparagus so he can divert precious water to more valuable melons. “The water is so uncertain this year. We didn’t think we’d have enough to carry it through.”

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