13 ms·

lolinder was simply pointing out that the problem isn't helped by the shipment of alfalfa overseas. They weren't suggesting that exporting alfalfa is the entire

lolinder was simply pointing out that the problem isn't helped by the shipment of alfalfa overseas. They weren't suggesting that exporting alfalfa is the entire problem. My extended family are cattle ranchers in southern Utah, and a lot of alfalfa is grown to feed cattle in the winter. A lot of the weight of a bundle of alfalfa is water - probably most of it when freshly harvested. When processed, it's left to dry for a while, but the alfalfa that gets sold is probably still 10-20% water. Our ranch doesn't sell the alfalfa we grow, but there are plenty of massive , industrial scale, operations near our ranch that exclusively sell alfalfa on foreign markets. At their scale, not shipping alfalfa overseas would make a meaningful dent in the problem. It wouldn't solve it entirely, but it would likely have a greater impact than people not washing their cars.

vkou 3y ago
> A lot of the weight of a bundle of alfalfa is water - probably most of it when freshly harvested. When processed, it's left to dry for a while, but the alfalfa that gets sold is probably still 10-20% water. And for every liter of water that's left in dry alfalfa, it took ~4,000 liters of water to grow it. You, like the parent poster, are making a huge mistake, in thinking that that one liter that's getting exported is at all a meaningful part of the water sustainability problem with going alfalfa in a desert. It's not. The unsustainable part of it is the other 3999 liters. 'Don't export alfalfa grown in a desert' optimizes the part that isn't important. 'Don't grow alfalfa in a desert' is what people actually need to be doing.
- buffington 3y ago
  I am not making that mistake. Since I'm also involved in growing said alfalfa, I know very well how much water is used in merely growing it. That I didn't mention that in my reply isn't evidence that I'm making a huge mistake in thinking. In my opinion, exporting any amount of water is too much. Saying that doesn't mean I'm unaware of the other ways in which water could be better managed.
lokar 3y ago
The issue is that the cheap water to grow feed is a social subsidy to the grower. If we are going to do it, the benefit should be local.

vkou 3y ago

> A lot of the weight of a bundle of alfalfa is water - probably most of it when freshly harvested. When processed, it's left to dry for a while, but the alfalfa that gets sold is probably still 10-20% water. And for every liter of water that's left in dry alfalfa, it took ~4,000 liters of water to grow it. You, like the parent poster, are making a huge mistake, in thinking that that one liter that's getting exported is at all a meaningful part of the water sustainability problem with going alfalfa in a desert. It's not. The unsustainable part of it is the other 3999 liters. 'Don't export alfalfa grown in a desert' optimizes the part that isn't important. 'Don't grow alfalfa in a desert' is what people actually need to be doing.

buffington 3y ago
I am not making that mistake. Since I'm also involved in growing said alfalfa, I know very well how much water is used in merely growing it. That I didn't mention that in my reply isn't evidence that I'm making a huge mistake in thinking. In my opinion, exporting any amount of water is too much. Saying that doesn't mean I'm unaware of the other ways in which water could be better managed.

lokar 3y ago

The issue is that the cheap water to grow feed is a social subsidy to the grower. If we are going to do it, the benefit should be local.