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Opinion: The Drought is Decimating My Farm and Many Others. What California Should Do to Help Us

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Joe L. Del Bosque

As I drive across my family’s farm in the San Joaquin Valley, it feels as if I’m traveling on a chessboard. I cross one square with crops and then another without crops — our fields that must lay fallow. Our farm’s crops have been decimated by the drought.

Last year, reduced water deliveries in the state led to 395,000 acres of cropland being idled, according to UC Merced researchers, and about 8,750 agricultural workers lost their jobs.

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Drought Forces California Farmers to Destroy Crops

/in , , /by /Yourcentralvalley.comby Kirsten Mitchell

With the uncertainty of water, some Central Valley farmers are destroying their crops ahead of the summer season in order to survive. It’s impacting jobs and soon possibly the grocery shelves. Every crop at Del Bosque Farms is planted meticulously, and every drop of water is a precious commodity. Joe Del Bosque started the family farm in 1985. He grows melons, asparagus, cherries, almonds, and corn, but the drought brings a flood of concern “Hundreds and thousands of acres that are not going to be planted,” said Del Bosque. Unlike past droughts, Del Bosque says this year is different.

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