3 ms·
> rather than produce food with it California can probably produce enough food for itself without overseas exports of alfalfa and almonds.
by musicale 4y ago
> rather than produce food with it
California can probably produce enough food for itself without overseas exports of alfalfa and almonds.
- kolanos 4y agoWhere are you and these other commenters getting this falsehood that a significant portion of alfalfa is exported? Is it one of those articles about that Saudi owned land exporting their alfalfa? > Based on USDA data for 2021, only 3.9% of all U.S. hay produced and 6.4% of all alfalfa hay entered the export market. [1] In case that's unclear, 96.1% of hay and 93.6% of alfalfa is consumed domestically. [0]: https://hayandforage.com/article-3825-year-end-hay-exports-set-new-records.html https://hayandforage.com/article-3825-year-end-hay-exports-s...
- musicale 4y agoProbably they are considering the data for California (relevant to this discussion) rather than the US as a whole. Although the link you posted doesn't break out the percentage for California, it does say that 20% of western state alfalfa is exported. However, the percentage is less important than the overall amount. "If California only produced enough almonds for the United States, than it would have about 8 percent more available water. If California only produced enough alfalfa for the U.S., it would have at least 3 percent more available water." https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/story/2021-08-13/california-drought-water-agriculture-almonds-alfalfa-water-intensive https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/stor...