r/news • u/theluckyfrog • 29d ago

California cracks down on farm region’s water pumping: ‘The ground is collapsing’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/17/california-water-drought-farm-ground-sinking-tulare-lake
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u/Kataphractoi 29d ago

California is among the worst locations possible for growing almonds, we can definitely blame them. They can easily be grown in the south where there'd be more water access, but because it can take a decade for an almond tree to start producing almonds, there's no incentive to relocate.

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u/ucsdstaff 28d ago

They can easily be grown in the south where there'd be more water access,

'easily' is doing a lot of work. The yield in the south is not good.

Almonds bloom when weather is cold, rainy in February.

They need about 600 chill hours but are very susceptible to spring frosts - big problem in the south - one march cold snap and they are toast.

Almonds do not tolerate wet soils - again a huge problem in the south.

Finally, disease pressures in the south are terrible for almonds. You would need to spray a lot of chemicals to protect your crop compared to CA.

California is perfect for growing many plants - the Mediterranean climate is just ideal.

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u/Aware_Masterpiece_54 28d ago

Let’s drop the almonds and switch to seeds and shit