By Samantha-Rae Tuthill, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
March 6,2014; 2:58PM,EST
Despite a few recent rounds of rain, extreme to exceptional drought maintains its tight grasp on the state of California.
The year 2013 went down in the record books as the driest ever for the state. Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Jan. 17, 2014, as a result. The minimal rainfall has had significant negative ramifications on the landscape. Due to this, agriculture and livestock in the state have taken a large hit, which could have economic impacts in the years to come.
Almost half of the fruits and nuts grown in the United States come from California. The state leads the country in the production of many different crops, including almonds, artichokes, grapes, kiwi, olives, peaches, pomegranates, rice and walnuts.
In a University of California Davis study, led by Leslie Roche, postdoctoral researcher for the Department of Plant Sciences, the California Cattlemen's Association was surveyed to see how the drought conditions were impacting their businesses and ways of life.
"We basically asked ranchers, there were about 511 respondents, what are their strategies for drought management, what are their goals that they have on their ranches and what practices work for them," Roche said.
After the initial surveys, Roche's team began to conduct personal interviews with ranchers and farmers in the state. After this interview stage, the team will begin onsite ranchland health assessments to evaluate how these methods are helping to combat the drought.
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So far, their results have shown that the widespread nature of this current drought is forcing difficult decisions on ranchers.
"This drought is particularly deep," said Dr. Ken Tate, professor and cooperative extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis. "It's affecting ranchers across the entire state, nobody's really immune from it."
Tate explained that costs are rising for ranchers, forcing the purchase of more expensive hays, for instance. For those who cannot afford the rising costs, they are reluctantly selling off cattle that they would much rather keep.
A
secret service agent looks over a farm field as President Barack Obama
speaks to the media on California's drought situation Friday, Feb. 14,
2014, in Los Banos, Calif. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Wally Skalij,
Pool)"One of the questions that Leslie asked them was 'out of the last 10 years, how many of them have been drought?' In some parts of the state people are saying eight, nine years," Tate said.
Looking ahead, the dry winter will continue to have negative impacts on farmers and ranchers. Tate explained that many farmers who grow their own crops rely on irrigation systems, and that with a lack of snowpack this season reservoirs may not have an adequate supply of water this summer.
The state of California made $44.7 billion in 2012 off its agricultural products, more than any other state in the country. As water reserves dwindle and the cost of maintaining farms and livestock go up, production abilities will suffer.
California's leading cash commodity is its dairy industry, which went down 10 percent from 2011 to 2012. From 2011 to 2012, there were 1,000 farms lost.
| Los Angeles (Downtown) | 14.93 | 3.60 | 24 |
| San Diego | 10.34 | 5.57 | 54 |
| San Jose | 15.82 | 3.55 | 22 |
| San Francisco | 20.65 | 3.38 | 16 |
| Fresno | 11.50 | 3.01 | 36 |
| Sacramento | 18.52 | 5.01 | 31 |
With that already occurring, Roche said, then the larger growing regions of the state entering exceptional drought this year, many are concerned about the further reduction of their crops and livestocks.
Across the country, the increased costs of production for California farmers could mean increased prices for the crops that the state provides the majority of.
Tate said that the ranchers in the study are being asked whether their current methods of sustaining will be adequate if the drought persists.
"The fast majority, 95 percent if not more, say no, that their current strategies or their past strategies are not going to be adequate going into the future. It's a bit of an uncharted territory for a lot of folks. Strategies, even past, multigenerational strategies, most people think are not going to continue being adequate going in to the future if this persists."
- Templeton ElliottCalifornia farmers should consider switching to crops that need less water. Hay is a water intensive crop that should not be grown in California until the rains return (maybe decades from now). Lots of California hay is exported to Japan. Rice is another water intensive crop that should not be grown in California. Cattle can be grown in other parts of the country, where there is plenty of water, then shipped (or their products like milk) into California. Charge market price for water and let the farmers decide what to grow.
Eric Vogel · Willmar, MinnesotaThanks Walter! Food prices will almost certainly rise. Even though there is still snow on the ground, I've got my garden started under lights in my basement. It will still be a while but we'll have fresh produce by late May.
Walter Schwenk · Top Commenter · NAITThose of us who DO have rain need to be thankful, and those not already doing so should consider planting a home garden. Enjoy the benefits of fresh, local, organic produce, and help alleviate the damage from the California drought.
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