‘It’s a disaster.’ Drought dramatically shrinking California farmland, costing $1.7 billion, is driving many farmers out of business, threatening their livelihoods
The U.S Department of Agriculture just announced that California farmers will be forced to reduce their crop yield by a staggering 15 percent because of the drought. According to the USDA, that is more than a quarter of all grain acres in the Golden State. One hundred fifty-one farms have been affected. A single-family family farm with 100 acres will have to reduce 100 bushels of grain production by 16,500 bushels.
And that’s just for one region of the state. In the central valley, where farm yields are already below average, many farms are now facing losses of up to 50 percent.
One farmer who has lost his entire crop, not to mention losing his family’s livelihood, is Bill Wilson. Wilson has had three crops on his farm in the last two years and already has seen his entire crop yield reduced by 50 percent.
“It’s a disaster,” said Wilson at a press conference last week. “We don’t get enough rain and we still do okay.”
The federal government’s announcement last week of a 50 billion dollar bailout for California farmers was a clear indication that federal aid to farmers is becoming more severe. California is the largest economy in the nation, and one of the leading economies in the world. It is also a major agricultural state with a large number of farmers.
With the exception of some of the most productive farms in the state, the U.S. farm economy is in trouble. According to the latest figures, the U.S. farm economy has declined by a whopping 4.6 percent in 2009.
The reasons for the decline in the U.S. farm economy are several. Some of the top reasons include the economic recession that began in 2007 and continued through most of 2008, high energy costs, and an influx of food from developing countries in Asia, much of it subsidized by the U.S. government.
