Heat, Salt and Bugs overpowering California's Crops

http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/heat-and-harvest/

The farm fields of California are being effected by the climate changes of the world just as much as the mid west and their corn fields.  This 30 billion dollar industry may be taking some heavy hits from not only the heat, but the salty ground water, and pest’s attacking plants.  The constant heat is very pleasant for the people of California, but most plants need a break from this heat in order to grow healthily.  The central valley used to be an ocean, so all of that salt that used to be deep in the surface of the earth, is now being brought up to the surface.  All of this salty water is being used to water the plants, and is wreaking havoc on the plants.  The last issue, is the pest issue, and that pests name is psyllids, which are staying in California year round and are destroying our potato crop.

All of these changes to our land and temperature of California will have a great impact on the prices and availability of our crops.  If the constant heat of central California continues all year, then all of our hot/cold dependant crops will perish and it will be difficult to get good cheap cherries.  When you drain all of the good water off of the top of a container, all that’s left is the dirty water at the bottom.  That is sort of what happened in the central valley, and all we are left with is the salty water that is poisoning our plants.  With all of the heat of the central valley, why would insects ever need to go back to Mexico in the winter.  The answer is they dont, and their stay is causing the potato crop to be eaten earlier in the year, and making it more difficult to do organic farming.

All of these factors will contribute to one thing, and that is price.  The harder it is to farm all of these fruits and veggies, the more they will cost, and the less we will be able to purchase them.  If you think that organic food is overpriced now, with the increase in psyllids, it will become nearly impossible to grow organic food, causing the price to skyrocket.  What California needs is rain, cold winter months, and cooler weather to allow our harvest to be the best that it possibly can, and promote the overall well being of the golden state