A Farmer in California

An Outsider on the Inside

Month: April 2015

Drought: A Small Farm Killer

April 20, 2015 / / 0 Comments

It is not news that California is in its 4th year of a very serious drought. Lack of snow pack within the Sierra Nevada Mountains (lowest on record) indicates that minimal water will be flowing into the reservoirs. In response, severe water cut backs have been occurring in the State, Federal, and locally managed irrigation districts.2015-01-06 13.52.38

So what does it mean when a farmer received a reduced water allocation? Although pretty straight forward – it means that the farmer receives less surface water than what is normally provided from these projects. It is usually a percent reduction or fixed allocation (e.g. Turlock Irrigation District is delivering 18 inches this year). This doesn’t mean, however, that they aren’t able to utilize water from exchanges, open market, or from groundwater. Water from these routes can be bought or pumped if possible. Not all ground, however, has the ability to access water through these channels. For example, if the farm is located upstream, it is not possible – without a feat of engineering – to pump water against the flow of gravity. In this case, water can only be delivered if the farm is downstream from the source.  Continue reading

Poor City Planning: Blame the Farmer?

April 18, 2015 / / 0 Comments
Rio Mesa High School located int he middle of strawberry fields

Rio Mesa High School located in the middle of strawberry fields

I recently came across this article by the Center of Investigative Reporting. It highlighted the high usage of soil fumigants in strawberry fields that were close in proximity to Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, CA. According to reports of Telone-II usage (1,3-dichloropropene), a soil fumigant used to control fungal diseases and plant parasitic nematodes, over 750,000 lbs of fumigant was used in a township in which the school resides.  This is an area of high fumigant usage, and if applications are timed improperly, the children at the school would be exposed – so the concerns have merit.

In seeing this, my first questions was: “Why did they build a school in the middle of a field in the first place?”   Continue reading

America’s Economic Stimulus: Cheap Food

April 10, 2015 / / 0 Comments

food close upBeing raised on a farm, my mother always told me that food is too cheap. As a child I would work hours picking strawberries, berries, and other fruit to sell at similar prices to the local supermarket. This would yield an hourly wage less than minimum wage once farm expenses were removed. This was depressing and thought we should charge more.

As I went through University and then moved out to start a career, I was thankful for low food prices. These low prices allowed me to eat a variety of foods and spend extra money on things that I wanted – a bicycle, gasoline, furniture for my apartment, etc. It also allowed me to save money for retirement and large purchases – which lead to the ability to save for my first house. Continue reading

Calories v/s Water Use

April 9, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Anything that is a plant and green utilizes water. This water use is driven by the process of gas exchange/transpiration which is required for photosynthesis. Environmental conditions (hot and dry will use more than cool and humid), the percent of the ground covered by the plant (higher percent, more water use, but more yield), and the stage of the plant (large leaves use more than little leaves) impact the amount of water required per acre/plant.

Recently, there has been a lot of press about various cropping systems within California. Many are suggesting that farming in California uses too much water to produce food in a “desert.” This simply isn’t true – California produces a lot of food with a higher water use efficiency than in other parts of the world. This efficiency is due to the use of efficient irrigation systems, good water, soil, and nutrient management, and the ability to deliver water in a timely manner (e.g. plants do not wilt prior to irrigation).  Continue reading

Water Rights in CA, Solutions – Not Easy

April 6, 2015 / / 0 Comments
Reservoir within an almond orchard that is filled by a well.

Reservoir within an almond orchard that is filled by a well.

There are always a lot of questions regarding California’s water Policy. These usually stem from the way water rights were established and the complication of Federal, State, Municipal, and Local water projects. Furthermore, there is no “one size fits all” policy.

There are a lot of good resources covering the subject of CA’s water rights. The Public Policy Institute of California has a lot of good resources that explain water policy. Most of these have contributions from University researchers. A good, more “reader-friendly” resource is “Cadillac Desert” a book written in 1986 by author Marc Reisner, and more recently and briefly,  a recent article published by the Fresno Bee.

An important question that stems from all of this discussion is: “Why do we have water rights?” The short answer is that it is all about consistency. When in irrigated agriculture, if the source of irrigation is always in flux, decisions on when and what to plant would be harder to make. By securing these rights, it ensures that the water that was delivered in the previous year will also be delivered in future years, allowing for crop plans to be created. Farm sustainability within California would not be possible without a system of “water rights.” Continue reading

Water and Agriculture

April 5, 2015 / / 0 Comments
Lake McClure, formed by damming the Merced RIver, September, 2014

Lake McClure, September, 2014

California is in a drought – a very serious one. Over the past seven years, only one year has had above normal rain and snowfall totals. The past two years have seen extremely low snow pack, with this past year being considered the smallest snow pack on record.

With the continuation of this natural disaster, curtailments have continued. Last year, federal and state water projects received a “zero” allocation, while this year the state project upped its allocation to 20%. The federal project is still zero. Meanwhile, East-side districts – which are considered “water-right rich” are facing cuts as well. Fresno irrigation district is running for 4-6 weeks, Merced Irrigation District is delivering zero inches, Turlock Irrigation district is delivering 18″, while Modesto Irrigation District is delivering 22.” This is the first time in the history of Merced Irrigation District that zero inches of water were delivered –  canals will not be filled for 2015. Continue reading

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