ANOTHER NEW NORMAL? California farmers and ranchers adapt to a drier future by Pamela Kan-Rice, assistant director of news and information outreach, University of California Cooperative Extension
policy changes that have improved the California water Despite recent rains, the 2020–21 drought has been unusually severe. Low precipitation, coupled with high system in the past and envisions how policy changes evaporation has affected irrigated crops and livestock might mitigate impacts of future droughts. Legislation pastures. Yet California farmers and ranchers are adept at such as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act adapting. Despite record-setting drought conditions and (SGMA) will facilitate adapting to new climate realities by hundreds of thousands of acres left unplanted, California incentivizing water trading and banking, which allow water farms and ranches, as a whole, may generate normal users to better allocate water across space and time. revenue in 2021, according to the authors of a new special Most groundwater agencies are still assessing the best issue of ARE Update focusing on the drought. way to bring their overdrafted groundwater basins into The 2020 water year (which ran from October compliance with SGMA, with almost 80 percent planning 2019 through September 2020), was dry and hot in to recharge groundwater through increasing supply (e.g., California, with the warmest April through September recharge or surface water trading) rather than reducing since 1895. It was followed by the third driest year since water demand (e.g., pumping restrictions). 1895 – receiving about half of the average 20th century “No one single solution exists for California's rainfall. Consecutive years with record-setting warm, dry water challenges, but there's a lot of potential to make conditions have led to higher evaporative demand. Some improvements to the current system,” said Ellen Bruno, regions, particularly the Sacramento Basin, have been hit special issue co-editor and UC Berkeley agricultural especially hard by this ongoing drought. economist. “Improving the allocation of water through California farmers have adapted to the resulting water various policy changes could help water users adapt to shortages by transferring scarce irrigation water to crops water scarcity.” that have a higher expected net revenue per drop of water, To learn more about the impact of the ongoing such as fresh produce and nuts, while leaving some fields drought on California agriculture, read the full Special unplanted. Due to decreased pasture forage, livestock Issue of ARE Update 25(1), UC Giannini Foundation of producers have had to cull mature cows and ship more Agricultural Economics, online at https://giannini.ucop. feeder cattle out of state. edu/publications/are-update. “The dairy industry has had strong production and good revenue, but has faced high feed costs in 2021 that reduced net returns,” said special issue coeditor Daniel Sumner, UC Davis agricultural economist. The drought's impact on farm revenues and prices in California has varied across crops and regions. Agricultural production on the coast (e.g., vegetables, berries and wine grapes), which accounts for 25 percent of farm output, is less likely to experience irrigation cutbacks during a drought. Consumers will notice few major price increases for California produce because farmers shifted water to these high-revenue crops in which California specializes. The special issue on drought Due to decreased pasture forage, livestock producers have had to cull mature cows and concludes with an explanation of ship more feeder cattle out of state. 24 California Cattleman December 2021
