3 ms·
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/ https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/ Dairy Products, Milk — $7.34 billion Almonds — $6.09 billion Grapes — $5.41 billi
by sbierwagen 6y ago
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/ https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/
Dairy Products, Milk — $7.34 billion
Almonds — $6.09 billion
Grapes — $5.41 billion
Cattle and Calves — $3.06 billion
Strawberries — $2.22 billion
Pistachios — $1.94 billion
Lettuce — $1.82 billion
Walnuts — $1.29 billion
Floriculture — $1.22 billion
Tomatoes — $1.17 billion
Not seeing wheat or rice on this list. Sue me for saying this, but I don't think strawberries are critical to survival.
- specialist 6y agoThanks. Your comment got me to wondering about the almond harvest's impact. Quick inference from the top hits: almonds use 10% of the water to generate 12% of the revenue compared to rice, almonds use 40% more water and generate x3 the dollar per acre-foot. https://fruitgrowers.com/what-california-crops-use-the-most-water/ https://fruitgrowers.com/what-california-crops-use-the-most-... https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CA-Ag-Water-Use.pdf https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CA-Ag-Water-U... So while growing almonds in California is insane ecologically, it's pretty damn good economically.
- nradov 6y agoYes the largest use of water in California is alfalfa and other feed for dairy cattle. If you want to reduce your personal water consumption then instead of taking shorter showers or letting your lawn die the most effective measure would be consuming less local dairy products. Or seek out dairy products from regenerative agriculture farms if you can find them.