![]() In a world of worsening heatwaves, flooding, drought, glacial melting, megafires and other calamities of a changing climate, Gary Gragg is an optimist.Īs California warms, Gragg - a nurseryman, micro-scale farmer and tropical fruit enthusiast - looks forward to the day that he can grow and sell mangoes in Northern California. “We’re adjusting for survival,” one grower said. Even near normal rain and snow will create worse supply issues than last year due to the low level of reservoirs in the Sierra.The future of farming in California is changing as the planet warms, altering the rain and heat patterns that guide which crops are grown where. After that, there is no rain expected until next month.įorecasters believe California is now in its fourth year of drought. The forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of rain today. “We still need more rain, and we’re thankful for the rain that we got,” Roorda said. These days, farmers are finding the ground wet at just 18 inches deep. With normal rain at this time of the year, the fields and orchards would find the ground wet three to four feet deep. ![]() Last month’s downpour was a most welcome weather development, but did not come close to ending the drought that has gripped the state for years nonetheless, every little raindrop counts, Roorda said. “But the biggest thing right now is that we need snow in the mountains to fill the reservoirs,” he said. Hopefully, by giving thanks to God, he will “bless us” with more rain, an optimistic Roorda said. “We pray for rain because we want rain, but we also have to be thankful for the rain that God gave us,” said local farmer David Roorda who is part of a small group of area farmers behind the placard-planting campaign.
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