Feed the City
September 17, 2021
Farming with the Ancients
September 30, 2021The Dead Trees of Interstate 5
Michael OlsonListen Now…
GUEST: Steve Schuering, Senior Counsel for the California Farm Bureau
I had the opportunity to drive down I-5 along the westside of California’s San Joaquin Valley recently. It was, of course, very dry– maybe even “bone dry!”
I saw a huge number of trees that had been plucked out of the ground to die. There must have been thousands of them. But some orchards survived and appeared to be bearing fruit. I wondered why some farmers had the water to grow trees, while other farmers had to pluck their trees out of the ground?
Then another question came to mind. ‘Why is there not enough water for everybody?’ California has been blessed with the perfect environment for agriculture, with the magnificent Sierra Mountains stretching the length of the state to capture and hold water, and the great Central Valley in which to use that stored water to grow crops.
In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 1, the “Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act.” Prop 1 authorized nearly $10 Billion to fund the development of California’s water infrastructure. However, none of that money has been spent on infrastructure, only on consultants. What was the Golden State is now beginning to look like the “Burnt Toast” state! And that led us to ask Steve Schuering, Senior Counsel for the California Farm Bureau two questions:
1. Why do some farmers get enough water, while other farmers do not get any?
2. Why has California not used its water bond money to collect and save more water?
Michael Olson
Host, KSCO Monday Ag Update
Host, Food Chain Radio
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Michael Olson’s Three Laws of the Food Chain
#1 Agriculture is the foundation upon which we build all our sand castles.
#2 The farther we go from the source of our food, the less control we have over what’s in that food.
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