Posted on 03/20/2015 10:56:48 AM PDT by grundle
Almonds alone use about 10 percent of California’s total water supply each year. That’s nuts. But almonds are also the state’s most lucrative exported agricultural product, with California producing 80 percent of the world’s supply.
Alfalfa hay requires even more water, about 15 percent of the state’s supply. About 70 percent of alfalfa grown in California is used in dairies, and a good portion of the rest is exported to land-poor Asian countries like Japan. Yep, that’s right: In the middle of a drought, farmers are shipping fresh hay across the Pacific Ocean. The water that’s locked up in exported hay amounts to about 100 billion gallons per year—enough to supply 1 million families with drinking water for a year.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
It used to be a productive industry in California — and can be again. If government will please just get out of the way.
If the farmers had to pay market rate for water, they sure as heck wouldn’t be “making hay”.
You know cows eat hay?...
I read somewhere that marijuana consumes more water than just about any other plant.
Iran used to be a big almond producer
“Nuclear Powered Desalination”
Next problem?
But how many other crops sell for 6K per plant?
Shipping it from the Great Lakes? Sounds good to the government.
Let the econuts eat sand and dirt.. And uhhh .. Crap. ;-)
If I remember correctly, Agriculture uses the vast majority of CA water, followed by golf courses. Residential use is something like 1% or 2%. Of course they have laws restricting trivial aspects of residential use.
Yup. The farmers get a giant water subsidy.
They get another subsidy with zoning: it keeps their property taxes low.
And yet another subsidy: they hire illegal aliens who are a grotesque burden on the taxpayer with their welfare and schooling entitlements.
In Santa Cruz county the farms use approximately 85% of the water to grow boutique crops like strawberries. They have to since that’s the only thing that makes economic sense here, even with the subsidies.
But it means that you could build hotels and houses on that land and they would use far less water.
And yet it doesn’t happen, because of the Watermelon Front - the “Enviros” - who think that subsidized farms are better then housing.
Now the bill is coming due. We’ll see how long the charade lasts.
We could build a lot of those with the 100 billion or so they are spending on the Bullet Train to Visalia.
I read somewhere that marijuana consumes more water than just about any other plant....Oh, Wow, Man. And if I have to piss, will I have to use the toilet more? Bummer.
Well thats Good News! /s
As a Farmer here in Central Kentucky, (which does get a lot of rain), I buy Hay from another farmer that has put most of her money into machinery from producing that hay. In 2009 I paid three dollars per square bale. Last year, (2014), I paid $8.50 per bale.
Yes it was expensive but it was a lot less expensive for me than buying all of the necessary production machinery.
Where did most of the price increase go? Fuel, Fertilizer and Government regulation compliance.
Alfalfa tends to be a semi-arid land crop (even though it requires a lot of water) when orchards, row crops and the like can no longer be supported by the amount of water remaining.
What isn't said is that southern California would be the perfect place either for desalination plants, or diversion of surplus water from northern California (which has nearly 75% of the state supply) if the eco-fascists weren't blocking development of both alternatives.
As with most places run by far left whack-jobs, the problem isn't the lack of resources, it is poor uses of those resources by central know-it-all planners.
And, yes, the Japanese do import alfalfa hay from the west coast just as the dairy industry brings in still lower cost hay from the states to the east. The greenie weeinie cry of sustainable local agriculture makes a nice slogan. But if you can sell your alfalfa to Japan for $15 per bale and bring in what you need from Nevada for $10 per bale, what would you do?
What % is the Delta Smelt?
So I guess that makes the food on your table “subsidized”.
And pistachios..............
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