When I first moved to California from Iowa, I was pleased to discover the summers were warm and dry. The rolling hills turned brown in the summer and green in the winter months, just the opposite of Iowa! Each year, from late October until mid-March, the state received its glorious annual drenching. Storm after storm rolled through from the Pacific, filling the aquifers and depositing a vast snowpack in the Sierra Mountains that slowly quenched California’s thirst during the summer months. All this came to a parched halt as global weather patterns turned off the spigot. The past 12 months have been the driest on record since miners began tracking weather during the California the gold rush. California’s life-giving annual soaking has run dry.
In my area, we have received 2 inches of rain in the last 12 months. Normally we average 31 inches per year. The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that 94.25% of the state is suffering some level of drought conditions and that most of the prime agriculture areas, including the Central Valley, are in extreme drought. What does this mean for our farmers and producers and ultimately the supplies of fresh organic produce and specialty crops?
California agriculture is of profound importance to the nation’s food supply. California is the number one food and agricultural producer in the United States and has been for more than 50 consecutive years. California is the nation’s number one dairy state and is the nation’s leading producer of strawberries. In fact, more than half the nation’s fruit, nuts and vegetables come from the state, and almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, kiwifruit, olives, persimmons, pistachios, prunes, raisins, clovers and walnuts are supplied almost exclusively ( 99% or more) from California producers. The list of statistics is staggering when you dig in: 80% of the ripe olives, 43 % the green onions and 25% of onions.
For organic producers it will be especially challenging to endure the drought that has befallen the state. Organic producers use the rainy season to plant cover crops, also known as “green manure”, which include legumes such as vetch or clover. These plants have nitrogen fixing properties which help to build the fertility of the soil without using synthetic fertilizers. Planting these cover crops during the rainy season also discourages invasive weeds and plants, reducing costs of weed control later in the year. How will this green manure grow without the winter rains?
Organic dairy producers are also in a predicament because organic regulations require that dairy cows have access to pasture. If the rains don’t come the pastures will stay brown and the girls will have nothing green to eat!
Organic strawberry producers will also be affected because young strawberry plants are set in the ground during the wet months to produce some of our first fresh fruits in March and April. If producers have to buy expensive water and irrigate in order to get the early starts to grow, it will increase the cost of production. In the marketplace this could result in decreased demand for organic berries.
The cost of water will be of prime concern for all California producers. With normal rainfall and snow pack, water costs are reasonable and can be included in the cost of production and tolerated in the marketplace to support fair prices. When growers decide what to plant, they will likely shy away from water hungry plants such as melons and onions. As a result, we will see scarcity in the market and drastically higher prices. Because organic production in California is just 2%, with fewer than 3000 producers, certain organic items will experience severe shortages, producing drastically higher prices at the supermarket.
Tom Avinelis, President of AgriCare Inc., represents several organic growers in the Central Valley. He said, “The current drought status and the lack of long term resource planning by the legislature of California and the Federal Government will drive the outcome of California’s economy and ultimately the sustainable status of Organic Farming. We have a State and a world that must eat and have clean water to drink. If ever there were a time to come together and bring all sides together, it is now. Organic farming, conventional farming, agribusiness, environmental advocates and every family in America have a stake in the outcome of sustainable stewardship for our future.”
Even as I was penning this blog, dear reader, the Huffington Post published an article about the catastrophic repercussions of climate change. The article suggests that, as a result of climate change, there could be massive disruptions in our ability to grow food and feed the nine billion human inhabitants of our planet. The article goes on to cite: “…the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it was “extremely likely” that human activity was the dominant cause of global warming.”
Climate change is the single most pressing issue facing us and our children. Organic agriculture contributes to carbon sequestration, which helps to offset climate change. In order for organic agriculture to flourish in California, it needs water. Pray that rain comes soon to this critical growing region. Tell me what you are doing to reduce your carbon footprint.
© 2014, Melody Meyer. All rights reserved.
I think that California agriculture could have more than two major water problems to deal with in the very near future. First, I’m having trouble finding any new information about contaminated ground water in the San Joaquin Valley due to all the daily jet flights through the valley’s air space. It kind of looks like the Fukushima news blackout going on since last Sept. 12 when readings from storage tank leakage were 18 times higher than two weeks before. Regardless of the reasons, we are in knee-deep trouble where the future’s clean food is concerned.
When the world economic systems start to fall like dominoes, watch how fast the corporate elite will arrive like the calvary in western movies, to save the day. If they weren’t a machine fueled by profit, we the people wouldn’t have to suffer ill health from eating poison and living in a toxic, chemically condemned environment. We already have all the low-tech answers to our financial and health problems necessary to make every citizen of planet Earth hralthy; mentally, physically, and abundant enough to care for our loved ones.
Our company is poised to set up underground organic food production systems that can feed a major city’s entire population organic food at every meal and we will use 60-70% less water than outdoor farms. Today, we don’t have the credentials to interest community leaders in our process, as I am an old, crazy, hippee, combat vet with no formal education. But, next year my oldest daughter will earn her doctorate degree in closed environment agriculture management and then world leaders will be able to accept this new technology, because it’s not coming from someone who was sentenced to five years in federal prison for growing marijuana.
Between now and next year I will do my best to bring this already documented (by hi-tech PHDs) information into the public view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILzWmw53Wwo#t=32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct3dK2_ksvk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9rXA8pMb4U
To date, we have worked out most of the logistical problems we will face when we set up a system to feed everyone in London three meals a day of organic food (that’s 30 million meals a day), and grow all the viny fruits and veggies inside the city limits.
I hope we can learn to save our grey water.
Agreed! We need to develop new strategies to deal with climate change.
Thank you for reading my blog and commenting!
Melody L Meyer
VP Policy and Industry Relations UNFI
phone 401.528.8634 ext 62225
Fax 831/462-5718
SKYPE melody.meyer
Visit my Blog at http://www.organicmattersblog.com
I talked with a grower in Coalinga and they aren’t growing conventional dry onions this year in the Central Valley, only organic, as water fees are making it too expensive to make any money. I also talked with a grower in Hollister and they were allotted enough water for only 10 acres this summer. She said that they are drilling a well this winter on their property for the first time as 10 acres isn’t enough for them to live on. It was either the well or retire for them. Another dry onion grower/shipper in the Central Valley says they have a few growers in the Central Valley for onions this coming summer but not as many as they have had in the past. They have increased their acreage in the desert this spring to help offset the lost acreage in the Valley.
Very trying times for sure
Thanks Byron for the information. Please send the blog to other growers so they can tell their story.
It’s going to be an interesting year in agriculture.
Melody L Meyer
VP Policy and Industry Relations UNFI
phone 401.528.8634 ext 62225
Fax 831/462-5718
SKYPE melody.meyer
Visit my Blog at http://www.organicmattersblog.com
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your post seem to be running off the screen in Safari.
I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something
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Atmospheric Water Solutions has the solution to california’s drought with products producing pure drinking water from the air! See press release for more information please. http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/drought-stricken-californians-turning-to-atmospheric-water-generators-458429.htm#.UvpGoiQTsxY.facebook
Wow, I never heard of this technology before. Thank you for sharing!
Melody L Meyer
VP Policy and Industry Relations UNFI
phone 401.528.8634 ext 62225
Fax 831/462-5718
SKYPE melody.meyer
Visit my Blog at http://www.organicmattersblog.com
[Description: Description: UNFI]
No problem! It’s an amazing technology. Trying to get the word out!
Can it be applied on a large scale in agriculture?
Melody L Meyer
VP Policy and Industry Relations UNFI
phone 401.528.8634 ext 62225
Fax 831/462-5718
SKYPE melody.meyer
Visit my Blog at http://www.organicmattersblog.com
[Description: Description: UNFI]
Yes! We have several models producing different amounts of water. We have just placed a large machine at an agricultural grower of micro greens in Miami, Florida. May we follow up with you by email or phone?
Yes, send me you email – thanks
Melody L Meyer
VP Policy and Industry Relations UNFI
phone 401.528.8634 ext 62225
Fax 831/462-5718
SKYPE melody.meyer
Visit my Blog at http://www.organicmattersblog.com
[Description: Description: UNFI]
Here is my dad’s email. He is the owner of Atmospheric Water Solutions. I’m just his little helper! Thank you!
howard@atmosphericwatersolutions.com
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