Crop Yields
Seventy-four percent of respondents rated a reduction in harvest yields due to drought as prevalent or higher in their area, about the same as last year (72%). Forty-two percent of respondents rated the intention to switch planned crops for the growing season due to drought as prevalent or higher (up from 37% last year). Notably, those who reported tilling under crops because of drought conditions jumped from only 24% of respondents last year to 37% of respondents this year. Similarly, 33% of respondents reported destroying and removing orchard trees and other multiyear crops as prevalent or higher, up from only 17% last year. Producers who experienced significant water usage curtailments last year may have been able to hold on, but ongoing extreme conditions have compelled some of them to make the tough decision to till under or destroy multiyear crops this time around. In one case, a California producer mentioned dropping all fruit on five acres of young Cabernet grapes to help them survive with zero applied water over the last two years, removing all revenue-generating potential for the current year. As expected, prevalence of orchard and multiyear crop removal remains most common in states with high fruit and tree nut crop production such as California and Arizona, where 50% and 40% of respondents, respectively, reported that factor as prevalent or higher.
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