Agriculture and the Drought

Killroy1999

Killroy1999

Well-known member
California agriculture uses 80% of the managed water, but is only responsible for less than 2% of California GDP. The water restrictions, so far have focused on cities and residence and farmers only pay 1/100th of residential rates (typically) or farmers do not pay at all to drain aquifers.

People say that, fruit, veggies and nuts feed the nation and the world.

I learned from this blog that the water use for alfalfa is #1 in the state, rice is 4th and corn is 6th, but these crops gross the least amount of dollars per water use. Alfalfa and corn is mostly used to feed animals and could easily be grown out of state with the least amount of impact to the agriculture economy.


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From the blog:
It makes more sense for the state to remove policies that allow these crop producers to claim water at far below its proper economic cost.
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tgrrdr

tgrrdr

Не мои о&#1073
Killroy1999 said:
I learned from this blog that the water use for alfalfa is #1 in the state, rice is 4th and corn is 6th, but these crops gross the least amount of dollars per water use. Alfalfa and corn is mostly used to feed animals and could easily be grown out of state with the least amount of impact to the agriculture economy.
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how much of the alfalfa grown here is exported to other countries?

I've read that some irrigation districts (farmers?) with senior water rights are selling water to cities and making more than they would "using" the water themselves :dunno YMMV.
 
tgrrdr

tgrrdr

Не мои о&#1073
Killroy1999 said:
I learned from this blog that the water use for alfalfa is #1 in the state, rice is 4th and corn is 6th, but these crops gross the least amount of dollars per water use. Alfalfa and corn is mostly used to feed animals and could easily be grown out of state with the least amount of impact to the agriculture economy.
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here's what I was looking for (BBC, Feb 2014)

"A hundred billion gallons of water per year is being exported in the form of alfalfa from California," argues Professor Robert Glennon from Arizona College of Law.
"It's a huge amount. It's enough for a year's supply for a million families - it's a lot of water, particularly when you're looking at the dreadful drought throughout the south-west."


"The last few years there has been an increase in exports to China. We started five years back and the demand for alfalfa hay has increased," he says.
"It's cost effective. We have abundance of water here which allows us to grow hay for the foreign market."
Cheap water rights and America's trade imbalance with China make this not just viable, but profitable.
"We have more imports than exports so a lot of the steamship lines are looking to take something back," Glennon says. "And hay is one of the products which they take back."
It's now cheaper to send alfalfa from LA to Beijing than it is to send it from the Imperial Valley to the Central Valley.

source
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Charles R

Charles R

Well-known member
Having worked in the animal feed industry I'll say that, via. anecdotal evidence, California alfalfa has far better energy value than anyone else other than some Oregon areas.

Also know that the primary alfalfa customers are the dairy farmers. Beef cattle tend to only get high energy food for a short period before processing, but dairy cows need the energy throughout their productive lifespan.

So keep in mind that these "low economic productivity" crops are actually the base level foundations of the entire food chain above them. If they were priced higher, (which includes increased costs for shipping from a remote grow area) your milk cheese, beef, and many other products would be astronomically higher priced.
 
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B

Bronto

Well-known member
Thanks for inside info, Hay is base of a food chain and very important.

Agriculture has one thing the other industries don't, Agriculture is necessary.
 
Charles R

Charles R

Well-known member
I should amend my statement to say that I'm talking about feed produced in the western USA.

As a retail outlet, as well as a transportation agent, we would sometimes buy or ship hay from as far east as Utah, and as north as Washington. The problem was not water quantities, but various other environmental conditions and cycles that tend to leave the product heavier on fibrous material, and light on the nutritional properties.

although written for horse owners, this has some good info... http://menezesbrosinc.com/Facts Alfalfa Hay.htm

And this should be very interesting to read...
http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/IrrigatedAlfalfa/pdfs/UCAlfalfa8287ProdSystems_free.pdf
 
Reli

Reli

Well-known member
Nobody is arguing that alfalfa shouldn't be produced, but why produce it here where there's a drought?

As for pistachios and almonds, lol.......Neither of those are necessary commodities. They're just luxury items, frankly.
 
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shouldnthave

shouldnthave

Taze away, Yana...
Living in the North part of my time on this rock, I have never seen anyone water a field of just alfalfa. The only times I have ever seen it watered was when a new orchard was planted, and they fill the open area with alfalfa to subsidise while they wait for the trees to mature. They have to water the trees anyway I guess. Whom is out there watering a crop that grows in the wet season?

What really gets me going is the watering of trees all day in 100º+ for 8 fucking hours. I want to burn their orchard to the ground every time I see it. I have no idea why they don't A) regulate the times of day they can water, and B) mandate a sprinkler that is not spraying water from the tree and 30' over the road.

Don't even get me started on bullshit lawns in the North State that are mandated by the city.
 
Killroy1999

Killroy1999

Well-known member
Charles R said:
So keep in mind that these "low economic productivity" crops are actually the base level foundations of the entire food chain above them. If they were priced higher, (which includes increased costs for shipping from a remote grow area) your milk cheese, beef, and many other products would be astronomically higher priced.
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I would not say that. I would say that:

1. dairy and beef, ext. is currently economically undervalued thanks to undervalued water.
2. dairy and beef, ext. is over eaten in the American diet leading to, obesity, disease and our infamous healthcare costs.

I'm not sure if you have noticed, but the "Dairy" isle is almost 1/2 nut and bean "milks" which are more nutritious.
 
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afm199

afm199

Well-known member
Charles R said:
Having worked in the animal feed industry I'll say that, via. anecdotal evidence, California alfalfa has far better energy value than anyone else other than some Oregon areas.

Also know that the primary alfalfa customers are the dairy farmers. Beef cattle tend to only get high energy food for a short period before processing, but dairy cows need the energy throughout their productive lifespan.

So keep in mind that these "low economic productivity" crops are actually the base level foundations of the entire food chain above them. If they were priced higher, (which includes increased costs for shipping from a remote grow area) your milk cheese, beef, and many other products would be astronomically higher priced.
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As beef should be, given that it is subsidized in countless ways by taxpayers and consumers.
 
Killroy1999

Killroy1999

Well-known member
shouldnthave said:
What really gets me going is the watering of trees all day in 100º+ for 8 fucking hours. I want to burn their orchard to the ground every time I see it. I have no idea why they don't A) regulate the times of day they can water, and B) mandate a sprinkler that is not spraying water from the tree and 30' over the road.

Don't even get me started on bullshit lawns in the North State that are mandated by the city.
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The source of the problem goes back to underpricing water. A precious commodity should not be free. They should not be able to afford to waste water like that.
 
MikeL

MikeL

Well-known member
Guys! El Nino is upon us, says the media. We can stop worrying and begin wasting water again. :rolleyes
 
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