As much of the Western US suffers from a historic drought, all eyes have shifted to Californian farmers as hundreds of thousands of acres become fallow in a state responsible for a tremendous amount of US food production.
Unprecedented cuts to water supplies are jeopardizing the future of growing for many farmers. Drought conditions are worsening, making it harder for farmers to irrigate crops.
As fields dry up and farm production drops, Josue Medellin-Azuara, an associate professor at the University of California Merced, told Bloomberg that 800,000 acres of farmland could be unworked this year, more than double the acreage last year.
Medellin-Azuara said the figure is preliminary as satellite imaging of California cropland continues to be examined. He anticipates official estimates by the end of this month or early August.
Just like that, multi-year, multi-decade investments in farm production have been wiped out over new water restrictions. Much of the fallow land is in California's Central Valley, which produces more than half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the US.
Farmers that remain in operation are seeing sharp reductions in surface water rights due to low snowmelt and dwindling storage from last year.
California's most productive agricultural region is turning into dust, which should concern every American.
As a reminder, California produces a quarter of the nation's food -- shrinking crop output is more alarming news that reveals food inflation is becoming structural and won't abate anytime soon.
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