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This article is far more fascinating than the headline suggests, and discusses a far broader range of topics than nuts. It covers a number of options we have fo

by gshdg 7y ago

This article is far more fascinating than the headline suggests, and discusses a far broader range of topics than nuts. It covers a number of options we have for continuing to grow food in California as the climate changes and aquifers are depleted.

jelliclesfarm 7y ago
It addresses a lot of issues and problems ..many urgent..with 45 billion dollar California Ag industry. This is why I fret when Agtech VCs pours $$$ into the existing industry that looks like a cash cow. But it’s a crippled cow. They will bring it all crashing down. They are talking to corporations and not to real farmers in the ground. I started knocking on doors five years ago and at this point, I don’t think it makes any difference anymore. So much VC $$$ have been pumped into California Ag that by investing in an industry that was showing signs of a fever..they have only to made the infection worse. I don’t know how this can be remedied anymore. The right time was five years ago. Hubris.
- gshdg 7y ago
  Agreed. The California desert is a foolish place to be relying for agriculture, period. That it’s been effective historically (by diverting or draining water at higher rates than we can replenish it) is a poor reason to continue to invest in it. Switching to desert-native crops is a good start. (I mean, seriously, it’s absurd for California to be our agricultural center for almonds, when each individual almond takes a gallon of water to produce!) For the rest, if we want to keep consuming them, perhaps we’d do better to turn our attention to areas that have more reliable water supplies and whose climates are or will be better suited to those crops in coming decades.
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    > The California desert is a foolish place to be relying for agriculture, period. Water is a lot easier to move than sunlight/temperature & soil.
  - jelliclesfarm 7y ago
    All the water we have is stolen by diverting and taking from the Rio Grande. This is the four state agreement that includes CA Ag and Yuma industrial farming in Az.
  - mateo411 7y ago
    Why do you think the Central Valley in CA is a desert? I agree that CA agriculture needs to be more careful with how it uses almonds, but the Valley is not a desert, it's a great place to grow crops.

by gshdg 7y ago

jelliclesfarm 7y ago

It addresses a lot of issues and problems ..many urgent..with 45 billion dollar California Ag industry. This is why I fret when Agtech VCs pours $$$ into the existing industry that looks like a cash cow. But it’s a crippled cow. They will bring it all crashing down. They are talking to corporations and not to real farmers in the ground. I started knocking on doors five years ago and at this point, I don’t think it makes any difference anymore. So much VC $$$ have been pumped into California Ag that by investing in an industry that was showing signs of a fever..they have only to made the infection worse. I don’t know how this can be remedied anymore. The right time was five years ago. Hubris.

gshdg 7y ago
Agreed. The California desert is a foolish place to be relying for agriculture, period. That it’s been effective historically (by diverting or draining water at higher rates than we can replenish it) is a poor reason to continue to invest in it. Switching to desert-native crops is a good start. (I mean, seriously, it’s absurd for California to be our agricultural center for almonds, when each individual almond takes a gallon of water to produce!) For the rest, if we want to keep consuming them, perhaps we’d do better to turn our attention to areas that have more reliable water supplies and whose climates are or will be better suited to those crops in coming decades.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > The California desert is a foolish place to be relying for agriculture, period. Water is a lot easier to move than sunlight/temperature & soil.
- jelliclesfarm 7y ago
  All the water we have is stolen by diverting and taking from the Rio Grande. This is the four state agreement that includes CA Ag and Yuma industrial farming in Az.
- mateo411 7y ago
  Why do you think the Central Valley in CA is a desert? I agree that CA agriculture needs to be more careful with how it uses almonds, but the Valley is not a desert, it's a great place to grow crops.