The government pays farmers not to grow crops all the time. In the past we've done it to raise the cost of corn in order to shut Mexican farmers out of the mar

The government pays farmers not to grow crops all the time. In the past we've done it to raise the cost of corn in order to shut Mexican farmers out of the market. We can totally do this if we choose to. I grew up in the Central Valley. The places that currently have almond orchards used to be mostly cotton fields. Almonds are far more water-intensive than any other crop in the Valley. Fruit orchards, vegetable farms, and cotton use far less water.