It Doesn't Matter How Much You Water Your Lawn

The cotton picker is ready. New heads. Fully serviced. Module builders are ready. New hoses. The cotton is opening up. We have been tending these cotton fields since before we planted in April. Now we will see if we have a crop.

It Doesn’t Matter How Much You Water Your Lawn

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2015

OK, now that I have your attention let’s talk about what is really going on.

The enviros have us at each other’s throats over a few hundred gallons of water a day to water our yards.  Let your lawn turn “gold.” No, it’s brown and it’s dead.

What gets lost in the shuffle is the water we consume in our food. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)says we each consume 800 gallons per day in our food. So, a family of four letting their yard die to save 200 gallons of water is consuming 3200 gallons of water per day in their food. We are fighting over the wrong stuff.

            Another way to look at this is the World Wildlife Federation calculates it takes one liter of water to produce one calorie of food.  Do the math your self. Calculate how many calories you ate today and you know how much water it took to produce your food. (Granted I am not the only one who needs to go on a diet. But, there is still a basic need to feed people.)

            In fact, there are numerous reports indicating we will need to increase food production by 70% by 2050. Do you really think we are going to do that with rain fed agriculture? Do you really think people really care about the fine points of environmental policy when they are hungry? We forget as recently as 2008 there were global food riots when wheat prices spiked.

Please don’t get me wrong. I agree with the Pope that we have a divine mandate going back to Genesis to be caretakers of this world.

Our environmental friends preach conservation. That’s good. Waste is never good. As a farmer I am careful with each drop of water we use. Even in non-drought years we have never had ‘extra’ water. BUT, there are not enough low flow toilets to solve this problem. We have to increase supply.  Unless a lot of people are willing to check out we have to increase our water supply.

Last Spring I flew back from a sustainability conference in Portland. As we landed in LA we flew over the LA River. I had never seen that from the air. It is over fifty miles long and paved from end to end. Not a drop of groundwater recharge. What happened to the ‘reuse and recycle’ portions of ‘Reduce, Recycle and Reuse? Why aren’t we recycling the water we use?

            If you poll the fine people if California they all say they care for the environment. But, every time the issue of recycling water comes up the voters turn it down. Why? Are we scared of drinking pee? Don’t you realize we are all drinking recycled dinosaur pee? [Maybe we don’t’ trust the government to safely recycle water. Ahh, now you may be on to something.]

My left leaning friends ask- how can you say our drought is not about the lack of rainfall. That is a fair question. Take a look at water storage at Shasta, the water level is higher than previous droughts like 1977-78 and 1986-93. The facts are that we have a population of 38 million people and a water system built for 19 million. There is no question that we are using more of our developed water for environmental uses than ever before.

Recently the San Diego Union reported only 20% of the water from an El Nino winter will be caught and stored. Are you kidding me? They have just spent two years turning off all the water in California. We have a wet winter on the way and they are going to let 80% run out into the ocean?

If they truly believe in climate change then they should be leading the charge to build more water storage. Their own logic says there will be less snow and more rain. In the past precipitation was ‘stored’ in the form of snow pack. Doesn’t their logic dictate we should build more storage to catch the rainfall?

There is a difference between solving problems and ‘just doing something.’ After each natural disaster or tragic mass shooting people run around saying we ‘must do something.’ No, we must solve the problem. There is a world of difference between ‘just doing something’ and solving a problem. It may take longer because we have to dig out the real roots of the problem. It may not be as popular because you can’t fit the slogan on a t shirt or bumper sticker. Bet, it is a lot more effective in the long run.

Summary- If the government wants to control things then it must also provide. Sacramento and DC have ignored a fundamental problem- we have 38 million people and a water system built for 19 million people. Right now they have us arguing over trivia. The 200 gallons we save on the lawn is dwarfed by the 3200 gallons each family consumes in our food each day.

Melon Harvest and Speaking the Truth to Power

Well, after months of waiting harvest is almost here. Tomorrow the melons get picked. Cotton harvest starts next week. Can you see why I never go to Vegas? That's not gambling. When you lay money out in the dirt for the bugs and the weather and wait a few months, now we're gambling. If you don't lose a few nights sleep, that's not gambling.

I wanted to post what follows last week before the water rally in Mendota. [I have been having problems accessing my Google accounts. They are so secure even I couldn't get in.]

Speaking the Truth to Power-2010

by Paul H. Betancourt

copyright January 2010

            For a generation liberals and progressives have protested just about everything with the battle cry that they were, “Speaking the truth to power.” You may have noticed recently that liberals and progressives are the ones in power in Sacramento and DC and things are not going real well. It is time to use their tactic against them. As a citizen, a taxpayer and a conservative I would like to speak some truth to those in power today.

            Let’s start with a reminder-the country is pretty well split down the middle. Neither party in this country has a majority. A significant number of voters are independent. Neither party has a mandate for anything- except the people’s business. Stop acting like the voters have you given you a mandate to carry out your agenda.

            Speaking of agendas- would you please stop blowing all our tax dollars on your pet projects. We pay our taxes at the barrel of a gun and we expect our tax dollars to be spent on things like good roads. Y’all squander our tax dollars trying to buy votes or appease the special interests. Then you come back to us saying you have to raise taxes to pay for schools and public safety. Knock it off! Don’t start releasing jail inmates while you ring your hands and tell us the only alternative is raising taxes.
            You already take over 40% of our income. The sales taxes alone are approaching ten percent. This is ridiculous. And that Oliver Wendell Holmes quote about, “Taxes are the price we pay for civilization,” does not mean you have a blank check. Our tax dollars are a trust and a responsibility you have on the part of the citizens of the United States. Please treat our tax dollars with respect and restraint. We work hard to earn those dollars.

            You were elected by us to represent us, not the special interests. Look, I have been involved in politics long enough that I know the pressure you are under. You have to raise money to get elected and re-elected. You have people coming at you constantly with this or that issue. Please keep your eye on the ball. This is still a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.” The people are looking for statesman- leaders who look at the big picture. Why are statesmen and women so hard to find? Because, too many elected leaders have forgotten they are elected to serve all the people,  not just the special interests.

            Don’t politicize everything- just because you are in politics 24/7 doesn’t mean the rest of us are. President Obama promised his daughters a dog. That was not a an invitation to start a national dialogue on animal shelters or spaying and neutering. It was a promise from a father to his little girls. Heck, even the Mafia leaves the family out of their fights.
            One problem of politicizing everything is it shows how out of touch you are with most people. The average American spends their day going to work and taking care of their family. If they are real community minded they might coach a little league team or volunteer at the kid’s school. Politics is something they think about every two to four years when elections come up. As political animals you are in almost constant campaign mode. You see everything in the light of the next election. Knock it off. What is good for your next election is making the right decisions for you constituents today. The elections will take care of themselves.

            While I am at it I need to rewind and take a shot at our Republican friends. You had the House, the Senate and White House. You had the keys of power, and you gave us the Abramoff Scandal? That’s it? One of the reasons Obama, Pelosi and Reid are where they are is that we did have not have conservative Republican values in operation when you were in control. Now you have to work up hill to gain a measure of control again before you can implement your ideas.

            I can go on, but I am running out of space. You get the idea. To those of you who are in power right now- things are not going well. Ten percent unemployment is not a good thing. We don’t see you offering solutions. We see you bickering among yourselves. Knock it off.

FFA Kids

That is not what the sun should look like at 8AM.

The Rough Fire in the Sierras has dominated the local weather and news for the last week. The last time I saw it this bad was when there was a fire in the mountains of San Diego when I was a kid. The smoke was so thick you could look at the noon day sun and all you saw was a red dot. We will all be glad to see this over with. As the hippies said of war in the 60's, this is not good for children or other living things.

I thought I had posted this already. It is a radio script I did a few years ago.

The People of Agriculture- FFA Kids

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright August, 2011

            We have all heard a lot about what is wrong with teen agers these days. Let me introduce you to some of the best kids out there- The Future Farmers of America. These young men and women are some of the brightest, poised, and well spoken young people in our society. I am always encouraged when I am around them. They are so energetic.

         You may have seen them at the Fair with their blue jackets. In addition to regular classes during their high school years they prepare and compete in fields such as livestock, Ag mechanics, agronomy and ornamental horticulture.

         I don’t know how many of them will actually farm in the future. [Actual farmers are becoming an endangered species.] But, they have learned the lessons of farming: hard work is important, but it takes smart work too.

         An old friend told me years ago, “You can’t out smart a smart farmer.” The young men and women of the FFA will be hard to outsmart wherever they end up because of what they have learned during their years as Future Farmers of America.

 

Rural Mail Boxes

I didn't realize how busy we were this past week until I was talking with a friend this afternoon. I started to run down the list after she asked and boy have we been busy. The cantaloupes got watered. We rebuilt a road. (The bus driver for Raul's kids said it had been getting rough. Under drought rules the neighbor had not been watering the road all summer and it had gotten pretty bad. We put up new racks and shelving in the shop and built a new work bench. The trees got fertilized and watered. Go, go, go.
   This next week we'll start cutting bolls and scheduling cotton defoliation. It won't be long. 

Do you notice anything unusual about this picture? I mean besides the fact it is not a farm picture.

What's inside? Doesn't that look like a bike rack where you can lock your bike?
Then why is there a lockable cage around the locking bike rack?
This just showed up at a new medical building in town. I don't think it is a good sign. Have we come to the point where we need to lock our bikes on a rack, inside a lockable cage? The old timers around here tell stories of when they left their houses unlocked. That reminded me of a radio piece I did a few years ago-

Mail Boxes

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright April, 2012

                  Rural mail boxes are a quiet sign of the deterioration of our society. The next time you drive though the country side, please notice the mail boxes.

                  My old mail box was a simple galvanized mail box with a red metal flag set in an old milk can like you might have seen in Mayberry.  Some idiot bashed it in on night. So, I fixed it, and…it go bashed in, again. Arrrgh. So I armored it up with some old well casing. It doesn’t look as nice, but is it bullet proof.

                  After that I noticed that neighbors all over the Valley had done the same thing. Some are very pretty; they are done in brick or stone. Some are merely functional, like mine.

                  What  people forget is a generation ago people in the country didn’t even lock their doors at night.  And now I have to armor up my mail box?

                  I must be getting to be one of those crabby old guys. I see things changing, slowly, and not for the better. Today’s rural mail boxes are silent testimony to a sad change in our society.

Patience on the Farm

Another busy week on the farm. We cut off water on the cotton. Now we wait for it to mature. 

Almonds are picked up and we started giving them some water. They are very thirsty. The last regular irrigation was July 15th. How would you feel if you hadn't had a decent drink in the summer heat since mid-July? Last year the almonds toasted. We are learning how to use the drip system. This year we gave them a couple of sips during harvest.

In the photos below you can see how much the almonds we planted in January have grown. All we had were sticks and eight months later here you go. The fact that I have two wait two more years before we harvest our first crop reminded me of a radio piece I did years ago.

Patience on the Farm

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright September, 2011

I’ll tell you a family secret, I am notoriously impatient. When it comes to making salsa, mine is always chunky. I don’t have the patience to carefully mince everything. But, there are other kinds of patience.

                  Most people think in terms of the work week. That is an industrial model, we think of the work before us this week. That makes sense when you work in industry or in an office. On the farm we think in terms of seasons. Sure, I lay out each week’s work for myself and the men who work for me; but, our real time frame is the year long season.

                  Last year was a bad year on the farm. Crops were a bust and prices were not that good. Last February my daughter asked me when I would know how this year was going to turn out. I told her, “November.” We won’t really know until the last bale of cotton is picked. Sure, the wheat was fabulous and prices are high. The almonds look good and corn prices are near historic highs. The cotton look good, but I have seen that before. Experience tells me I need to be patient. We won’t really know until the last bale of cotton is picked, ginned and shipped.