As I was driving down the country road today, I started thinking about “conservation” and what that means to our farm. Many in our state say that instead of developing new water supplies, all farmers have to do is conserve water and use it more efficiently. Most farmers are conservationists and we are very aware of the water that the plants need, plus we recognize that there are other farmers and managed wetlands that reuse the water from our farms. This process is repeated throughout the Valley. In a flow-through system like the Sacramento Valley, water management is designed very carefully for the water to flow throughout the region in this manner.
Our plants are like children–from the day they are born, to the day they mature and put forth their bounty. Like a child there is not one time in their development that you can cut back on their nutrients or their water and expect them to produce the food that the whole process is supposed to accomplish. The weather during all seasons has a profound effect on the water required for the crops to stay alive and produce a quality crop.
When a person talks about conserving water for crops, that can only mean one thing, and that is fallowing ground and not growing a crop at all. Yet, it does not take a very observant eye to see that worldwide, many countries do not have enough water to grow food, let alone clean water. Our nation grows its food with clean water, which produces the highest quality food in the world. We will continue to provide you with food as efficiently as possible and use as little water as possible. It is our goal to keep producing the high quality food we have grown to expect.
