California Drought - Why farmers are exporting water to China cc
In this video, you'll stand a chance to watch an important video related to the California drought. During California's worst drought on record, some farmers are using precious water to grow hay that is then shipped to China. California is the biggest agricultural state in the US - half the nation's fruit and vegetables are grown here. The farmers are making hay while the year-round sun shines, and they are exporting cattle-feed to China.
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Closed Captions by Louis E
These dry times. This drought is not a far-reaching impact.
It may go beyond, well beyond California.
I mean.
We've never seen anything like this before.
We just don't know.
Normally, we'd have green grass enough to sustain all these cattle and more.
You'd have green grass here on the hillsides.
You know, anywhere from four to eight inches tall.
And we wouldn't be feeding hay.
If it doesn't rain, it's not we know this. It's not gonna be good.
We sold over a hundred head of cows.
So, we sold roughly 20% of cow herd.
We keep waiting and hoping that we're gonna get a rain.
And we won't have to sell anymore.
But. Uh.
We have some earmark to go to town. If, if that has to happen.
OFFSCREEN: And it's more than just a lack of rainfall to make John angry.
Not anywhere in California is this dry.
This is the Imperial Valley.
Where the all American canal turns desert into Eden.
[ Irrigation ]
Long term solution has left the capitalistic system.
Figure out the balance of water.
And the water that they used to say, water used to only run downhill.
Well, that's not the case.
Water runs uphill real easy with enough money pushing it.
About a quarter of the valley is grown in Alfalfa.
And about 30% of the Alfalfa grown in Imperial Valley is used for export markets.
[ Tractor forklift's noise ]
The fastest growing market is China.
The Alfalfa hay is compressed into small bales.
Wrap in plastic.
And loaded into containers.
America's trade imbalance with China means many of these go back empty.
Filling them with hay makes it cheaper to move Alfalfa to Beijing than to John.
A few hundred miles away in the Central Valley.
That's what we're doing. We're just virtually exporting our water.
Do you love to have the hair that she provides up here?
Absolutely.
Absolutely, I mean, we compete with the dairies in California.
They set the price.
We're always a little resentful as a dairy farmer.
Uh, but, uh.
That's nothing compared to the resentment, we feel when hay is exported overseas.
When it could stay right here at home and be utilized.
In my opinion, it's, it's, something that's part of the global economy.
If we want cheap cars and cheap TVs from China.
We have to do something to balance the trade imbalance.
And it's our, it's our thought that Alfalfa is just a small part that we can do it in Priya Valley agriculture.
In the state of California agriculture to try to manage that trade imbalance.
If I didn't produce the Alfalfa, If I didn't use the water the water would be going to another use.
The cities use 70% of their water for irrigate their lawns to your dates of their golf courses.
So, If you talk about inefficiencies.
Is it more efficient to use water for a golf course for the host movie stars?
or is it more efficient 120 farmers to use it to grow a crop and export it and to create this mass economic engine that drives the country.
I think, we need to think about what we're doing with our resources.
I realize that the planet is almost all capitalistic.
Uh, but, that.
We need to start thinking about, that.
You know, other things besides making a dollar.
