California farms are looking greener than ever

[ellisonz]

Source: LA Times



California farmers are finishing up harvesting 454,500 acres of cotton, almost 50% more acreage than last year. (Brian van der Brug, Los Angeles Times / October 19, 2011)

California farms are looking greener than ever
With prices for many crops near all-time highs, farm income is expected to post strong gains this year. That makes the agriculture sector a rare bright spot in the state's economy.

By Diana Marcum, Los Angeles Times

November 23, 2011, 7:02 p.m.
Reporting from Fresno—
As Californians savor their Thanksgiving feasts, the states' farmers are especially thankful. California's agriculture sector is on track for a record year, a rare bright spot in the state's economy.

Prices for cotton, grapes and other crops are near all-time highs. Foreign buyers are gobbling California almonds, grapes, citrus and dairy products. Agricultural exports through September are up 16% over the same period last year. Net farm income is projected to post strong gains in 2011 after nearly doubling over the previous decade.

------

That's good news for California, the nation's leading agricultural state and the fifth-largest producer worldwide. In contrast with the grain-and-livestock focused Midwest, California farmers cultivate more than 400 commodities, including more than half of the nation's fruits and vegetables.

Looking for artichokes? Dates? Kiwi? Pomegranates? California accounts for more than 99% of the U.S. production of each of those crops, according to the California Food and Agriculture Department.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-california-ag-boom-20111124,0,7022738.story

[XemaSab]

1. Fuck cotton

n/t

[ellisonz]

2. XemaSab is all wool and polyester.

:evilgrin:

[XemaSab]

12. This is how I roll:

[Odin2005]

6. Cotton is one of the few fabrics that don't feel like sandpaper on my skin.

Fuck wool, that shit's nasty. And polyester makes me itch.

[shanti]

22. HEMP!

would that it were.....

[formercia]

25. Cotton is not exactly a green crop

The herbicides they spray to drop the leaves are terrible. I used to have to drive by cotton fields to get to work. The smell was awful.

[freshwest]

3. I wish we would get more California fresh produce. IDK where it's going.

[tularetom]

4. Yup, and they're doing it all with taxpayer subsidized water

Cotton in an arid climate like CA is a very thirsty crop. Because of the long growing season, particularly in the desert regions of southern California, cotton requires about 1.25 meters of water (about 50 inches) to develop properly. In a region that receives less than 10 inches of rainfall annually. This means that gazillions of gallons of water must be applied to the thousands of acres of cotton and the overwhelming bulk of this water is delivered at greatly reduced rates through state and federally financed irrigation storage and distribution facilities.

There used to be something called the 160 acre limitation for receiving water from facilities constructed by the US Bureau of Reclamation. The corporate farmers beat that back decades ago and now they get all the cheap water they want. And the best part for them is - you and I get to pay for it.

Of course it's green. The 99% makes it that way.

[Lasher]

15. Don't forget the $20 billion in farm subsidies.

About $4 billion of that goes to cotton producers.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. That was my first reaction -- cotton is a thirsty crop.

And I read Marc Reisner's "Cadillac Desert", so I know about the water subsidies ... CA growers use cheap, 90% subsidized irrigation water to grow crops to compete with Eastern farmers who don't need irrigation.

[kestrel91316]

5. It feels like a 3rd world country here. Our crops go for export, not to feed us.

How else do you explain apples selling for $3-4/lb IN SEASON?

[shanti]

23. exactly

even the 99cent store's produce is largely from mexico.

[Bennyboy]

7. Some Cali green here...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Now this stuff would bring a lot of great tax revenue, IF it were legal.

[ellisonz]

10. Yes it would. But you know the drug warriors would never allow that...

...can't have it competing with alcohol.

People might actually come to their senses. :hippie:

[phasma ex machina]

14. Actually, the DuPont clan will never allow hemp rope to compete with nylon rope.

The decision of the United States Congress to pass the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was based on hearings and reports. In 1936 the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) noticed an increase of reports of people smoking marijuana, which further increased in 1937. The Bureau drafted a legislative plan for Congress, seeking a new law and the head of the FBN, Harry J. Anslinger, ran a campaign against marijuana. Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst's empire of newspapers began publishing what is known as "Yellow journalism", demonizing the cannabis plant and putting emphasis on connections between cannabis and violent crime. Several scholars argue that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry, largely as an effort of Hearst, Andrew Mellon and the Du Pont family. They argue that with the invention of the decorticator hemp became a very cheap substitute for the paper pulp that was used in the newspaper industry. They also believe that Hearst felt that this was a threat to his extensive timber holdings. Mellon was Secretary of the Treasury and the wealthiest man in America and had invested heavily in nylon, DuPont's new synthetic fiber, and considered its success to depend on its replacement of the traditional resource, hemp. (link)

[shanti]

20. and then there's the california wine industry

:)

[roman7]

26. that looks so goood

bennyboy you can be my (bud)dyboy anytime

[provis99]

9. and they're doing it by destroying the Colorado River.

cotton is about the most destructive crop you can grow, and sucks up water like a sponge. To grow it in a desert like California is mind-numbing stupidity.

[ellisonz]

11. Agreed.

[CanSocDem]

16. And saving the....

...recycled 'bath water' to irrigate the lettuce and tomatoes.

Face it, CA simply has no interest in producing something of value. Hemp is more useful than cotton and cannabis is more useful than lettuce.

And, dissent will not be tolerated.

.

[DBoon]

17. oh yeah?

Try having a BLT with fresh hemp leaves instead of lettuce. Bleh!

[DCBob]

21. also requires high chemical inputs eg. fertizer and pesticides.

Its a crop that is hard on the environment.

[msongs]

13. whatever happend with the hemp legislation. thought it went to Gov Brown to sign? nt

[shanti]

24. he vetoed it.

"with reservations", he said the time was not now.

[bhikkhu]

19. Oregon is doing well too

Harvests have been very good this year, prices are good as well. The one problem is that expenses are up for everything, but so far so good - for most farmers, the balance is toward a good year.

Agriculture is a foundation that every other thing builds upon, so in one way or another, we all depend on farmers, and should wish them well!