- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
When Mother Jones magazine reporter Tom Philpott toured Central California to gather information for a lengthy profile of the California almond industry, he sought out UC expertise to round out the story.
UC Cooperative Extension advisors Gurreet Brar in Fresno County and David Doll in Merced County were among the sources. The reporter also spoke to Richard Howitt, an agricultural economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis.
Much of the article...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The total statewide economic cost of the 2014 drought is $2.2 billion, reported UC Davis economists. “What would it have cost if we didn't have access to groundwater?” asked lead author Richard Howitt this week at the Agribusiness Management Conference in Fresno. Howitt is a faculty member affiliated with the Agricultural Experiment Station, which is part of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Howitt is professor and chair of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis.
He said groundwater is California farmers' insurance policy and...
- 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
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
The California drought will cost the state's agriculture industry about $1 billion in lost revenue, reported David Pierson in the Los Angeles Times. Total statewide economic cost of the drought was calculated to be $2.2 billion.
The story was based on a report released Tuesday by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. The 2014 drought, the report says, is responsible for the greatest water loss ever seen in California agriculture - about one third less than normal.
A key concern is the loss of agricultural jobs, said lead author