Drought leaves dark cloud over California ranchers, growers

Beneath unyielding blue skies on a recent afternoon, Ryan Indart knelt down to examine what was left of one of his sheep pastures. Land that should have been lush with native grasses this time of year has been reduced to powdery dirt, splotched with a few withered strands of filaree and foxtail. And where there's no vegetation, there are no sheep. A fourth-generation rancher, Indart has already sent 10% of his 4,000 ewes — which he normally would want to keep — to the slaughterhouse because he can't afford the hay to feed them. If the drought keeps up, his hungry ewes won't reproduce as they should to make his investment pay off. Yearlings will struggle to gain weight because their mothers won't produce enough milk. Indart may have to cull more of them if the clouds don't open up. "These animals need to be on green pasture," he said. "Without Mother Nature giving us rain, we can't do that. We can't survive just feeding them hay. It's critical." As California's punishing drought drags on, ranchers are among the first to feel the pain. Cattlemen and sheep farmers need winter rain to grow range grass. Without it, they have to depend on expensive feed, which delivers only a fraction of the nourishment provided by natural pastures. Their struggle is a bellwether for California's $45-billion agriculture sector, a force responsible for filling the grocery aisles and pantries of the world. The Golden State produces nearly half of all U.S.-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables and is the nation's leading dairy and wine producer. But dwindling water supplies are rousing anxieties in rural communities across the state. Ranchers have begun liquidating herds. Growers are considering tearing out thirsty tree crops such as nut orchards and citrus groves. And tens of thousands of additional acres of prime California soil could go unplanted if farmers don't get enough water to irrigate them...more