Turns out not only is it unclear where sufficient honeybees will come from to pollinate future 
almond orchards but the shortage of water could be another reality that forces this industry to 
reign in their big plans of exapnsion.



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/11/MN7210D50A.DTL


(07-11) 04:00 PDT Newman, Stanislaus County -- Standing on a ridge between a sluggish water 
canal and a swath of spindly, gray almond trees, farmer Jim Jasper has a good view of California's 
water crisis.
Drought forced one of Jasper's friends to abandon these trees. The adjacent canal's flow has been 
reduced by more than one-third to protect an endangered fish. To offset the loss, Jasper has 
leased the land beneath the dying trees to use its water on his own 2,500 acres of almond trees, 
some of them "babies."
Being a farmer in drought-prone California always has been a struggle. But 2008 is turning into 
one for the history books. This year, natural and man-made water shortages will cost the 
agriculture industry more than $160 million, not to mention the reduced plantings for next year 
and the ripple effect through banks, farming equipment businesses and consumers who could pay 
even higher prices for food.
"We got through (droughts) in the 1970s and 1980s, but now we have the two-pronged attack of 
the drought and the Endangered Species Act," Jasper said. "With a row crop, you can park the 
tractor or say, 'This year I'm going to plant only 50 percent.' When you have a young orchard, you 
can't walk away from it."

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