- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
California growers are plumbing the depths beneath their farms to retrieve groundwater for thirsty crops, an example of the tragedy of the commons, reported Peter Coy in Bloomberg Businessweek.
One reason: California water is not liquid, financially speaking, said a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources expert. California's mechanism for trading water is slow, clunky, and opaque.
“If you wanted to do a trade now, you'd have to meet a broker in a coffee shop somewhere. There's no Wall Street Journal, no Bloomberg, no Carfax,” said
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
About 4 percent of the California agricultural economy - $1.8 billion - will be lost in 2015 due to the California drought, and combined with ripple effects in affiliated industries, will produce a $2.7 billion economic hit, reported the San Jose Mercury-News.
The article was based on an economic analysis by a team of scientists that included Daniel Sumner, director of the Agricultural Issues Center, a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources special program.
The downturn will be felt most sharply in the San Joaquin Valley, where five of...
- 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...
