New science and research has San Joaquin Valley farmers taking a
harder look at the effect that climate change may have on their
industry. If researcher's predictions hold true, the Valley's
multi-billion dollar agriculture industry will be hit with
longer stretches of hot temperatures, fewer colder days and
shrinking water supplies. What that means for agriculture is
potentially lower yields, a loss of revenue and fewer acres
being farmed. Farmers and industry leaders say that while there
is still skepticism among their ranks, they are doing what they
can to stay ahead of the issue, including educating themselves,
testing new fruit varieties or investing in water-saving
technologies. "You know, this is sort of like Y2K," said Joel
Nelsen, president of the Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual,
a citrus trade group. "You better figure out if it is going to
affect you or not and what are the possible scenarios." One of
those scenarios is not good news for farmers. Researchers
predict that rising temperatures o