We're now paying for the cheap energy, and if the cheap food goes away, we're really in trouble. The sugar beet is a dead horse. Ironically, last year's crop was his best in terms of per-acre yield. Whereas his yields are normally in the range of 1,000 to 1,100 pounds per acre, last year's averaged 1,380 pounds per acre. If things got tight enough, I think the state would take power from ag.
Silicon Valley is the cool industry.
Thirty percent of the 15,000 idled acres are in the Westlands Water District, and lower allocations of water could mean having to use electrically powered pumps. And lettuce was planted in November. At the end of February and first of March we find out how much total water we have. Cotton planting customarily starts in mid-March and runs through most of April. Since the last week of November to today, prices are down 15 to 18 cents a pound for upland and acala.