Almond Growers Scramble To Cope With California Drought

If Barry Baker hears one more urbanite say that almond growers are wasting water and aren’t making any sacrifices during the California drought while the rest of the state is weathering draconian water restrictions, he might just scream.

“I pulled one thousand acres (of almonds) last year, and I’ll pull another thousand acres after harvest,” he said recently, gesturing at his Firebaugh farm on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. “I hate to pull trees out with almond prices this high.”

Grower Barry Baker stands among the many almond trees he has pulled because of California's drought. (Photo Credit: David Eddy)

Grower Barry Baker stands among the many almond trees he has pulled because of California’s drought. (Photo Credit: David Eddy)

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But the 26-year-old trees were getting up there in age, and temporarily taking out one-fifth out of Baker Farming Co.’s total almond acreage seemed like the wisest course.
“The easiest way for me to cut 20% of water use — like the governor says — was to push out 20% of my trees,” he says.

Baker was interviewed just prior to Gov. Jerry Brown’s April announcement that he was going to increase the reduction to urban water consumption to 25%. That announcement, which came the same day the state’s snowpack was measured at just 5% of average, had many urbanites upset.

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They said the cuts made no sense when considering that agriculture uses 80% of the state’s water. But Brown answered by saying California growers are “not watering their lawn or taking longer showers. They’re providing most of the fruits and vegetables of America.”

Industry leaders added that the 80% figure was misleading. First of all, 50% of the state’s water is dedicated for environmental purposes. Second, farmers have already made a lot of sacrifices. A survey by the California Farm Water Coalition found that 41% of the state’s irrigated farmland will lose its entire surface water supply, an area 10 times the size of Los Angeles.

The survey also found that approximately 620,000 acres are estimated to be fallowed this year, and associated job losses could reach 23,000, with an economic hit to the state’s economy exceeding $5.7 billion.

“Contrary to so much of the media coverage lately, California agriculture is being devastated by the water restrictions caused by the drought,” said Almond Board of California President and CEO Richard Waycott. “Almond growers up and down the central valley are making very difficult decisions that will impact the state’s future, including the removal of orchards, or simply irrigating with just enough water to keep their trees alive.”

Tough Business
Baker freely admits that he doesn’t have it as bad as many of the state’s almond growers. While by this fall he will have removed all his old orchard blocks — 40% of his total almond acreage — he is going to replant all of it. Still, besides some significant short-term water savings, he will save some in the long term as well.

While the old orchards were irrigated with micro-sprinklers — there has never been any flood irrigation on his gently sloping property — he is planting the new blocks on buried drip. He used 4 feet of water annually on his old blocks, which is about average for high-production almond acreage in California.

The new trees, on buried drip, and will use less than 1/10 of the water this year than the trees Baker pulled out. (Photo Credit: David Eddy)

The new trees, on buried drip, will use less than 1/10 of the water this year than the trees Baker pulled out. (Photo Credit: David Eddy)

On the new blocks he plans on using no more than 3.5 feet annually, saving at least 6 inches a water per year. And he hopes the drought will be over before they get into production. In the near term, during the drought, he will use just 3 inches annually on their first leaf, 6 inches in their second.

He’s confident the driplines, which are buried 3 feet out on both sides of the tree rows and a full 20 inches deep to keep them away from sharp-teethed gophers, will be a success. He’s used a similar system before on pomegranates.
Incidentally, all the pomegranates are gone now. When prices on the fruit took a dive five years ago, Baker told the state’s largest pomegranate grower, Stewart Resnick of Paramount Farming, that he was going to pull half of his trees. “He said ‘Pull them all.’”

Baker still sells pistachios to Paramount, and he has also begun experimenting with walnuts, planting 20 acres. The other crop he grows is winegrapes. While they only use 3 feet of water per year, 75% of his almonds, he also pulled 700 acres of winegrapes last year.

His pistachios, which are not yet mature, are also planted on buried drip. When fully grown, they use less water than almonds, a little over 3 feet, and they have another advantage in the drought because they are more salt-tolerant. That’s especially important during the drought, because well water, which Baker has been forced to use, is higher in salt.

“These almonds can’t handle well water every year,” he says, “but pistachios can.”

Grower Barry Baker is reliant on pumping groundwater, which has been reliable - so far. (Photo Credit: David Eddy)

Grower Barry Baker is reliant on pumping groundwater, which has been reliable – so far. (Photo Credit: David Eddy)

Reliance On Wells
Baker, who has been farming on the property since 1989, didn’t have to resort to using well water until 2008. When that drought ended, he was able to shut them down, but started using them again two years ago during the second year of the current drought. He has a total of six wells, which are currently capable of pumping anywhere between 1,500 and 2,500 gallons per minute.

“That’s my biggest variable this year: Will the wells hold out? If a well goes down, you could lose it for a month,” he says, noting that well-drillers are extremely busy these days.

The trees, especially those in the mature blocks because the larger the tree the more water it requires, could not be cut off of water for an entire month. If that were to happen, he would have to buy water on the open market. That’s because he farms in the Westlands Water District, the largest in the U.S., and the district doesn’t have any water to supply him this year.

“Buying water on the open market might cost $2,000 an acre-foot, and that’s if you can find it,” he laments. “And at $2,000, the water would be more than you could get for the nuts.”

Baker says he’s tired of all those who are criticizing almond growers for using so much water. He thinks a more holistic approach is required. “Is it the farmer who is using the water? Or is it the people consuming the food?”

But what does he say to those critics who say that he’s not growing food for Americans, not when about two-thirds of the crop is exported, so how does he justify growing almonds during such a horrendous drought?

“I’m replanting during the drought to save water; that’s why we’re replanting,” he says. “And besides, that’s what I do. I’m a farmer.” ●

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