- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
California has emerged as the world's almond orchard because of near-perfect conditions for the crop, but in terms of production, it may have hit its peak, reported Jennifer Rankin in The Guardian.
"The future for farming almonds in California will always be there," said David Doll, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Merced County. "It is more about coming into balance with our water resources."
The story quoted from a UC report that California farmers have spent an extra $500 million this year pumping extra water to cope with the drought.
Co-author of the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Because of the drought, California almond farmers have been forced to drill new wells, rely on salty groundwater for irrigation and bulldoze some trees, reported Robert Rodriguez in the Fresno Bee.
The story presented results from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, which worked with state ag officials to send surveys to 688 California almond farmers; 458 of them responded.
The survey found that nearly 70 percent of almond farmers have only groundwater to irrigate their trees. About 23 percent said they had to drill new wells and 32 percent were reconditioning existing wells.
Normally growers mix...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Many California farmers fear for the health of their almond trees and expect their nut harvest will suffer because of salt damage, reported J.N. Sbranti in the Modesto Bee.
The story was based on a survey released Sept. 4 by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. CDFA sent questionnaires to 688 almond growers; in all 458 responded.
Among the growers who farm 600 or more acres of almonds, 87 percent said they used groundwater for crop irrigation. Groundwater has higher salinity than surface water.
"Almonds are...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Due to the California drought and what scientists believe will be a drier future, the state's farmers will likely move away from commodity crops to focus on high-value products like almonds, pistachios and wine grapes, according to Richard Howitt, agricultural economist at UC Davis. Howitt was used as a source in a lengthy story on Bloomberg.com about repercussions worldwide of the three-year dry spell in the Golden State.
Another source was Dan Sumner, director of the UC Agricultural Issues...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
One way or another, most California almond farmers are managing to keep their orchards irrigated this year, reported Megan Durisin on Bloomberg.com.
In the article, Merced County farmer Bob Weimer said he added a 12th well to draw water from the aquifer for his thirsty trees. Many farmers have opted to leave fallow fields where annual crops like tomatoes, onions and garlic are usually grown in order to save water for almonds.
"The first thing we have to take care of is our permanent crops," said Dan Errotabere, who helps farm 960 acres of almonds in Fresno and Kings counties.
Durisin quoted