comment: >
  
  Some of it’s probably used domestically but I know the almonds are sold overseas a lot as well
context: We really shouldn't be growing such water-intensive crops in a frequently-drought-stricken area.  Anyone know why we grow so many almonds in California?  It's some ridiculous percentage of the US' total production. >
  
  Money. There are dairy farmers who converted parts (or all) of their pastures to being almond farms because it was cheaper than continuing to be a dairy farm. I think something like 30% or more of the almonds are being exported outside the US.
  In terms of the dairy farm costs. The USDA has certain requirements on how long dairy cows, or cattle have to be allowed to graze in open pastures in order to qualify the product being sold as 'organic' which nets a much higher premium and due to the ongoing draughts it was becoming too expensive to maintain those pastures. >
  
  90% of the US' almonds, %80 of the worlds almonds.
  The almonds account for only 8-9% of California's total annual water usage. The feed/roughage accounts for 13-15%.
  Greedy land developers want to grab up cheap farmland when farms go out of business.
  Also, farms pay less for water usage than say golf courses or sub-developments. Less water going to farms equates to lower rates elsewhere.
  Everybody should question where the money is coming from. >
  
  Oh for sure. It's not just about 'converted' pastures. Plenty of it is 'new industrialized farms' on ground that may not have even been used for farming five to ten years ago and now is loaded up and sucking up water that wasn't being used there five to ten years ago. >
  
  As long as old farmland is rotated back into the CRP program it's totally sustainable. Too often old farmland becomes a gated community though.
  Developers in California have been longing to create sprawling developments with the giant manmade waterways and artificial lakes that are so common in Arizona for a long time.
  Let's hope thay are paying attention to what is happening to those communities now that Arizona is facing water scarcity.
  To be clear, I think everyone needs to reduce. But the wealthy could stand to reduce the most. >
  
  thank you for your service >
  
  How about limit the dairies while they are at it. They use more water and land than any other crop in California. >
  
  The report talks about that, as does the article, but not the headline. >
  
  While we are talking about water, I watched a video on how a Wall St investment firm is buying land on the Colorado River. They mean to sell those water rights later at a high profit. >
  
  I agree, almonds use SO much water, something we don't have a lot of here. >
  
  Alfalfa is the absolute worst. Only usable for animal feed and it requires a massive amount of water at least we can eat almonds. >
  
  Humans can also eat alfalfa sprouts. >
  
  If the almonds and alfalfa or whatever are profitable enough to fund desalinization plants to create the water they need for their production, then maybe there should be a special fund that uses extra tax revenues on those industries dedicated to that purpose.  They shouldn't externalize the costs of their irresponsible extraction to everyone else. 
  If they aren't that profitable (or their owners are too greedy, which is likely to be the case), then their operations should be severely limited, particularly under drought conditions and ongoing climate change. 
  That, or we can salt the earth on these farms before they destroy the water security of the whole state.  
  This is also a reminder that we need to update our legal systems for the 21st century, because British colonialism didn't contemplate the impact of its extraction on its colonial subjects long term.
  That's us, we're the subjects.  
  We either evolve or die.  (Win-win, as the young folk say, though I'd prefer to live). >
  
  We should cow down a bit & we wouldn’t need to grow so much alfalfa. People don’t always think about beef and dairy in terms of water use, but it’s significant. >
  
  
  We should cow down a bit & we wouldn’t need to grow so much alfalfa. People don’t always think about beef and dairy in terms of water use, but it’s significant.
  
  A good chunk of it is being exported to China where Alfalfa hay is used to feed dairy cows and other animals. California, Arizona, etc... are seeing a lot of these farms using up dwindling water resources and the actual product they're growing isn't even for the US. >
  
  And alfalfa grown in Arizona is shipped to Saudi Arabia. >
  
  but not meat? >
  
  FTA: 
  
  The report also looked at the dairy industry, whose products represented the state’s highest amount of agricultural cash receipts in 2021 at $7.57 billion, according to the Department of Food and Agriculture.
  Harter said there’s no doubt that animal-based foods, on the whole, have a larger water footprint than plant-based ones.
  “I’m not advertising against animal products, but I think the more important part is to find, in the long run, a better balance between [the two] that allows us to be sustainable, not just in California but across the world,” he said.
  
  Frankly, any serious environmental group should be advertising against animal products. >
  
  One gallon potable water used per almond. Think about that when drinking your almond milk. >
  
  We need a technology to collect cow fart. >
  
  I think Donald Trump has perfected that technique >
  
  Unfortunately I feel the ongoing water shortage will dictate policy, as this environmental crisis was consigned to the too hard bin many years ago. >
  
  Is this alfalfa grown so it can be shipped overseas to feed cows?