Old-fashioned dry farming method taking root again in Central California

By Sacramento Bee, adapted by Newsela staff

May 31, 2013

Rain clouds collect over Yolo County as workers place plastic sleeves around

newly-planted pistachio trees south of Davis, California, as certain crops are

sensitive to the late season moisture. Photo: Randy Pench/Sacramento Bee/MCT

Farmers in California's Central Valley are rediscovering acenturies-oldtechnique called dry farming.

Oncethestandard method of farming in the region,the technique is as simple as it is risky.

Dry farming relies solely on rainwater to keep crops growing throughout a dry season.

Used for centuries in the Mediterranean region to grow crops like olives and

grapes, the technique is not for the faint of heart. A year with a dry winter can devastate crop harvests and put ahugedent in a farmers wallet. Dry farming would be a hard life because youre at the whim of the rains, said Jay Lund, a scientist at the University of California-Davis. It would have to be a fairly small-scale farm, and in some cases, it would be a good road to poverty.

Yet dry farming has its believers. Many are small farmers and winemakers who either lack a good water supply or believe that dry farming produces better-tasting fruits and vegetables.

I think people are interested in the idea, said David Runsten,of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Runsten recently promoted dry farming to a group of California farmers. Were promoting it because we think it makes for better wine, he said.

Crops irrigated by sprinklers

Saving Water

But sustaining the viability of farms is also an issue. Runsten pointed to astudy that found that one vineyard in Californias Napa Valleysavedroughly 64,000 gallons of water per acre through dry farming each year.

Were pumping a bunch of groundwater to produce cheap wine in California right now, Runsten said. I dont know if thats sustainable.

A recently released study from the University of Texas warned that the Central Valley aquifer, the large storage of underground water farmers use for irrigation, is being used up at an unsustainable rate. This was happening even when wet years follow dry ones.

Healthier Trees, More Intense Flavor

Currently, nearly half a million acres of land are devoted to wine grapes in California.That ismore than 780 square miles --morespacethan Los Angeles and New York combined.Of those, about 2,000 acres are dry-farmed; the rest are drip-irrigated, said Runsten.

Because dry-farmed fruits and vegetables need more space between each tree, it can prove a costly endeavor. But such spacing means roots spread out farther, which results in healthier trees and vines as well as more intense flavor, said Jeff Maine, a California apricot farmer. He said he saw the superiority of dry-farmed fruit when he dry-farmed a 100-year-old heirloom apricot orchard between 2003 and 2010.

The dry-farmed stuff has a whole different flavor, said Maine. People really respond to the traditional aspects of it.

The popularity of Maines apricots was not lost on SacramentoFood Co-op general manager Paul Cultrera, whose California store sold the apricots. Jeffs apricots are worth any price, said Cultrera. Theyre that good, and that much better than whatever others we sell.

The Food Co-op expects to sell potatoes and tomatoes that come from farms using the dry-farm method, said Kerri Williams, produce manager at the store. The Co-op sold the tomatoes last year and will offer them again in late summer.

The tomatoes were very popular. Once people tasted them, they didnt care what they cost, Williams said.

Typically, dry-farmed fruit grows much smaller than fruit from irrigated farms, and the yield (the amount of fruit produced per acre) is also smaller. There is no way to get around the fact that youre trading size and plumpness for flavor, Maine said. He sees dry farming as a small niche industry given the smaller size of the product. You still find that people buy with their eyes, Maine said, unless you can get the message to them with marketing, before they get to the point of purchase.

Rotating Crops to Preserve Water

One farmer who still dry-farms today is Fritz Durst, who owns Tule Farm in Yolo County, Calif., where he grows garbanzo beans, wheat, safflower and other crops.

There is no irrigation here, only rainwater in this area, said Durst, a fifth-generation farmer. Dursts farm gets between 8 to 30 inches of rainfall each year. What weve done is weve adapted to the rainfall, said Durst. Ive learned certain crop rotations where it is best to follow one crop with another crop because of moisture limitations.

To keep the rainwater from evaporating or running off, Durst uses the residue from past crops to trap moisture. That moisture, however small, keeps his crops alive throughout the dry season.

Durst also farms irrigated crops. He said he understands why farmers eschew dry farming, but believes irrigation comes with its own burdens. Believe me, no one irrigates for fun, because when you irrigate it costs you money.

Durst irrigates with water from an irrigation district, as well as from wells on his property.Expenses for a well can add up the deeper it has to be drilled to access water.

Jeff Maine, the apricot farmer, said he wouldlove to give dry farming another chance. Id have to find the right place for something like a rare fruit, or a sustainable fruit, he said. Raising something with all those nice concepts rolled into one orchard? That would be fun.

Aquifer:

Permeable

Water table

Reservoirs

Groundwater

Springs

Artesian well

Illustration by Tim Gunther http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/aquifer/?ar_a=1

The study of aquifers and the water flows in them is called hydrogeology.

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing rock. Water-bearing rocks are permeable, meaning that they have openings that liquids and gases can pass through. Sedimentary rock such as sandstone, as well as sand and gravel, are examples of water-bearing rock. The top of the water level in an aquifer is called the water table.

An aquifer fills with water from rain or melted snow that drains into the ground. In some areas, the water passes through the soil on top of the aquifer; in others, it enters through joints and cracks in rocks. The water moves downward until it meets less permeable rock.

Aquifers act as reservoirs for groundwater. Water from aquifers sometimes flows out in springs. Wells drilled into aquifers provide water for drinking, agriculture, and industrial uses. Aquifers can dry up when people drain them faster than nature can refill them. Because aquifers fill with water that drains from the surface of the Earth, they can be contaminated by any chemical or toxic substance found on the surface.

There are two types of aquifers. An unconfined aquifer is covered by permeable rock and can receive water from the surface. The water table of an unconfined aquifer rises or falls depending on the amount of water entering and leaving the aquifer. It is only partly filled with water.

In contrast, a confined aquifer lies between two layers of less permeable rocks and is filled with water. Water trickles down through cracks in the upper layer of less permeable rock, a nearby water source, such as an underground river or lake, or a nearby unconfined aquifer.

An artesian well is a type of confined aquifer that flows upward to the Earth's surface without the need for pumping. The artesian well sits below the water table at the bottom of U-shaped aquifers. Pressure from water in the long sides of the aquifer pushes the water up the well shaft.

Fresh Water Facts

Of the less than 1 percent of freshwater available for human use, a whopping 70 percent goes toward growing food and raising animals.

Your diet is probably the biggest slice of your water footprint, especially if you eat meat from cows and other animals fed with water-intensive crops, such as corn. Cutting consumption of animal products in half would reduce the U.S.s dietary requirements of water by 37 percent. The average U.S. diet currently takes 1,320 gallons of water a day to produce.

Food is also a means by which water is moved, or imported and exported, around the world. You may find that the rice you bought today was grown in a dry region of Jordan with the help of highly engineered, but not always very efficient, irrigation systems. For example, northern China annually exports to south China about 1.8 trillion cubic feet of water indirectly through foodstuffs and other products.

In areas where food is not taken for grantedoften the same areas where droughts and flooding hit the hardestthere are 850 million people annually suffering from malnutrition. As water becomes less accessible, so does food.

Fast Facts

More efficient irrigation practices, such as drip and micro-sprinklers, can reduce the volume of water applied to agricultural fields by 30-70 percent and can increase crop yields by 20-90 percent.

Drip irrigation is used on less than 2 percent of irrigated land worldwide.

Reducing U.S. irrigation demands by even 10 percent could free up enough freshwater to meet the new urban and industrial water demands anticipated for 2025.

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/food/

Old-fashioned dry farming method taking root again in Central California Name: ___________________

1. Select the paragraph that provides an accurate synopsis (summary) of the whole article. Highlight the paragraph and write the first five words of that paragraph here.

___________________________________________________________________

2. Which sentence reveals a negative aspect of dry farming in "Healthier Trees, More Intense Flavor"?

A. Currently, nearly half a million acres of land are devoted to wine grapes in California.

B. Of those, about 2,000 acres are dry-farmed; the rest are drip-irrigated, said Runsten.

C. Because dry-farmed fruits and vegetables need more space between each tree, it can prove a costly endeavor.

D. But such spacing means roots spread out farther, which results in healthier trees and vines as well as more intense flavor, said Jeff Maine, a California farmer.

3. What would be another good title for "Healthier Trees, More Intense Flavor"?

A. Sacramento Food Offers Dry-Farmed Crops

B. Delicious Crops Worth The Expense

C. Annie's Apricots Worth Any Price

D. Heirloom Apricot Orchard

4. What is the central idea of this article?

A. Dry farming makes crops taste better.

B. California winemakers are saving water.

C. Irrigation water supply is drying up

D. Growers are interested in dry farming

5. Which detail from the article supports the main idea?

A. "We're pumping a bunch of groundwater to produce cheap wine in California right now," Runsten said. "I don't know if that's sustainable."

B. Nearly half a million acres of land are devoted to wine grapes in California.

C. To preserve the rainwater, Durst uses the residue from past crops to trap moisture.

D. Many are small farmers and winemakers who either lack a good water supply or believe that dry farming produces better-tasting fruits and vegetables.

6. Select the paragraph from the article that explains what dry farmers do during the dry seasons. Highlight the paragraph and copy the first 5 words of the paragraph here.

______________________________________________________

7. What is the main idea of "Rotating Crops to Preserve Water"?

A. Dry farmers must use other techniques during the dry seasons to keep their crops alive.

B. Farmers must plant their crops in a good location for dry farming to be successful.

C. The average rainfall is between 8 and 30 inches per year.

D. Irrigation is a lot of hard work and it is very expensive.

8. Select the paragraph that BEST explains the reason many farmers do not use dry farming? Highlight the paragraph and copy the first five words of it here.

_________________________________________________________________________

9. Which detail from the article should be included in a summary?

A. Nearly half a million acres of land are devoted to wine grapes used for wine making in California.

B. Many farmers use dry farming because they do not have another way to irrigate their crops.

C. Sacramento Food expects to sell dry-farm potatoes and tomatoes.

D. Fritz Durtz is one California farmer who still dry farms today.

10. The best pair of synonyms for the word eschew is:

a. favorc. adopt

b. avoid d. choose