Drought Continued from Page 12
riculture sector $1.1 billion and nearly 8,750 full- and part-time jobs, according toMedellín-Azuara, who presented find- ings of a UC Merced economic analysis released in February. Total economic impacts were estimat- ed at $1.7 billion and 14,634 full- and part-time jobs lost, he added. The report estimated that at least 395,000 acres of land were idled. A lack of atmospheric rivers and a below-average snowpack depletedmost reservoirs and aquifers in
2021, the report states. Many speakers expressed concerns about this year’s economic impacts. Casey Creamer, president and CEO of California Citrus Mutual, said grow- ers are confronted with multiple issues. “Growers were losingmoney prior to the pandemic, significantly losing money, and we got a pickup in production,” Creamer said. “Unfortunately, since that initial spike, it’s been nothing but more
issues, whether it’s the supply chain, safety protocols and rising costs in just about everything.” Creamer explained that the cost to grow an acre of navel oranges increased by $600 in August 2021 to $3,900 an acre. Add in packing and shipping, the cost in- creases by $1,000 an acre, he said. “Now, a few months later, the cost of fuel, fertilizer and transportation has skyrocketed even more. We think we’re probably going to be in the $4,500 range for an acre of citrus, so we’re looking at a year in the red,” Creamer said. “To com- pound that, we have drought.” The citrus sector was able to “stay afloat” last year, Creamer said, by trans- ferringwater fromthe SacramentoValley. Growers paid in some cases 400%more for costs of water. “We don’t know if we’re going to have that ability (to buy transfer water) this year, and so that’s a very sig- nificant concern,” Creamer said. Lilian Thaoxachay, a community ed- ucator with UC Cooperative Extension Small Farms Program in Fresno, dis- cussed impacts to Southeast Asian farm- ers, whom she said produce $25 million per year in Asian specialty crops. “A widowed farmer told me her great- est concern isn’t if water will run out, but when. When it does, what can you do to solve this problem?” said Thaoxachay, whose family has farmed in Fresno for more than 30 years. “On top of the water, the price of boxes and baskets, and even staples for straw- berries, have nearly doubled, and so our farmers are contending with rising costs of materials as well as decreased water,” she said. “Electric costs are also going up. (Farmers) are strugglingwith this be- cause they want to keep food costs low to be able to serve the community.” Jarrett Martin, general manager of Central California Irrigation District, a Central Valley exchange contractor, said, “It’s a dire situation. There is a huge level of uncertainty in just seeing what’s going to happen.” Martin explained the dis- trict is seeking to stretch its water supply through conservation, curbing demand and improving automation. Eric Swenson, a district engineer at Merquin County Water District in Stevinson, discussed the distr ict ’s groundwater recharge ef for ts. “In above-average hydrologic years,” he said, “we’re working to try to maximize the amount of recharge we can do.” Christine Birdsong, undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said, “It is all hands on deck, not just state government but within CDFA trying to predict and figure out ways that we can help agriculture through the coming months.” Birdsong said the agency is looking at adding funding for state programs onwa- ter efficiency and technical assistance to assist during the drought. (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
Board of Food and Agriculture, drew a comparisonbetween the current drought and the last one from 2013-2016. “It was a very difficult time then, and it is even a more difficult time now,” he said. “It seems like we continually have problems with water, rainfall and snow- pack here inCalifornia, and I guarantee it is not going away anytime soon.” The 2021 drought cost California’s ag-
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14 Ag Alert April 13, 2022
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