This is What Happens When You Fallow Farm Land

The wind kicked up this week and all those fallow fields started to move. It is a little hard to see in the photos, but that line of gray on the horizon is not normal. In fact it reminded me of the air I saw in China. [Many people forget that China had air quality problems years ago. Winds would blow dust from the deserts in Western China into the populated areas in the East. It is not all vehicle exhaust, but that is another story.]

My point is, when you take hundreds of thousands of acres out of production to protect our water supply, you end up with a lot of dusty open ground. When the wind kicks up, that dirt is going to move. I don't make predictions very often, but I bet that by the end of summer there will be at least one front page article about an increase in particulate matter in our Valley air. 
   Can anyone say, "Unintended consequences"? I discovered a long time ago that liberal activists are fragmented. Food activists do not necessarily talk with environmental activists. This was a surprise because I thought they all walked in lock step. But, could someone send a note to the air quality activists and the water activists? They get a choice; they can take the water, but our air quality will suffer. Or, if they would like cleaner air, could they please arrange to send us some water?
   When farmers do what they do best we get food and cleaner air. That's a combination I like.

I hope you all have a great week.

P

Ground water and Drought

   Well the oat hay has been cut, baled and stacked. not bad. Almost sixty tons off of twenty five acres. Now we will find out if prices are as good as folks have been saying.

   Elsewhere on the farm- the cotton sure has been loving the warm weather. Soon it will be time for the first irrigation. Timing is everything. If we water too soon, the plants will all go to stalk. If we water too late, we stress the pants and lose yield. This is just another example of why I will not relax about the cotton until the last row is picked and the last bale ginned off.

   I am a little concerned about what I am hearing from Sacramento. There is legislation brewing about restricting groundwater. It seems they noticed that our ground water is getting over drafted. OF COURSE IT IS! THAT IS WHY WE NEED SURFACE WATER. This is an old problem. We put in the irrigation systems so we would not over draft the ground water any more.

   Groundwater is the back up supply for dry years.

   One thing, if the want to talk about ground water restrictions here in the Valley then San Francisco's water from Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite National Park should be on the table. It is fundamentally unfair to take water from our watershed and then tell us to manage our groundwater better.
   For those of you who do not know, San Francisco draws over a quarter of a million acre feet from a reservoir made from the Yosemite Valley's twin sister. The fight to save the Hetch Hetchy Valley broke John Muir's heart a hundred years ago. He died shortly after he and the Sierra Club lost the fight to protect the valley.

   Yes, there is a limited amount of groundwater and we are drawing it down faster than it is being replenished. But, I find it ironic that Sacramento and the environmental community realize this the same year they cut off our surface water supplies.

OK, enough gripping.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. Please take a moment to remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom as you spend time with friends and family. We live in a most amazing country and we wouldn't be here except for them.

No Trip to China is Complete Without...

...a Cotton Visit!

   Anyone can go to the Great Wall, and we did. But, how many people visit cotton mills?

   Below is an operation run as a co-op by local farmers. They spin and weave their cotton making light weight summer quilts which are very popular in China. These guys get an 'A' in entrepreneurship. They actually started by coming together to develop cotton seed varieties for China. Another 'A'.

  My thanks to Ernie Schroeder, Jr. owner of Jess Smith and Co. who was my host in China. Ernie is a Road Warrior for American cotton. His regular visits to Asia help create markets for our products. It was interesting watching him work with his colleagues from Shanghai as we visited mills and merchants.

   Yes, the Chinese are our competitors. They work hard and they have learned the benefits of capitalism and globalization. The good news is they know we grow world class cotton in California.

                                          Just so you know I was at the great Wall.

   I'll make another report when I am a little less jet-lagged. [ I flew back from China last night, and boy are my arms tired. ;-D Ba dump bump.]

I hope you all have a great week.

My New Book is Out!

For those of you have enjoyed This Week on the Farm here in the blog, or on the radio, you can now own the book! I have selected some of our favorite This Week stories, added some photographs and even a few recipes. You can find the book at Amazon.com as a hard copy and for your Kindle. I will also get hard copies over to the Clovis Book Barn in a few weeks.

The cover art work was done by Jeanna Burdine-Slaven. She is awesome! I wish I could draw like that.

 It has been another busy week on the farm. The cotton is growing quickly as the weather warms. We started fertilizing this week. We also have to spray weeds and furrow out by June 1st so we can be ready to irrigate.
   We have been irrigating the almonds with the drip system. It will take some getting used, but it is pretty amazing.

   Now, if you don't mind I am going back to packing. I leave tomorrow for a week in China. I will be visiting cotton merchants, mills and farms with one of the merchants who buys our Pima cotton. We will also have a few days touring the sites in Beijing. I will post some pictures.
   I have been looking forward to going to China for years. They are major cotton producers and consumers. I been reading their economic reports for thirty years. I love reading, but their is nothing like a few days there on the ground. As a student of history, religion and politics I think China will be very interesting. They have a long and proud tradition and they are vigorously engaged with the modern world.

I'll check back in with you when I get back.
Yes, I will be taking pictures.

P

How the Drought Affects Non-farmers

   One of my favorite sounds of Spring is listening to the Tri-Colored Blackbirds out in the wheat fields. While I miss the almond trees around the house, I realized that the blackbirds have moved in to the oats we have planted behind the house. Last night I sat on the back porch with a book and a cup of coffee and was serenaded by my black bird friends as the sun set. Another pure pleasure of living on the farm.

   Some folks in Firebaugh, California thought it as important for you to know that the lack of water doesn't just affect farmers. They put together the video in the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDMO6CQRS2Y

There are a lot of good people who are ready to work hard to grow your food. All we need is a little water.

I hope you all have a fabulous week.

P