California drought: West Marin cattle ranchers facing dire water shortages
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MARIN COUNTY, California (KPIX) — When it comes to the drought, the situation for agriculture has gone from worrisome to downright scary. And anyone who plans on eating beef this year will likely feel the affects as well.
In West Marin County’s cattle country, the outlook is especially bleak.
When it comes to the drought, the situation for agriculture has gone from worrisome to downright scary. And anyone who plans on eating beef this year will likely feel the affects as well.
In West Marin County’s cattle country, the outlook is especially bleak.
He got help from the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, or MALT, which is offering farmers grants of up to $15,000 to try to survive the drought.
“We started the next day. As soon as they gave us the thumbs up, at 7 o’clock the next morning, we started laying pipe because we were that close,” said Giamonna.
“I mean, it speaks to the urgency of the needs right now,” said MALT’s Stewardship Program Manager Eric Rubenstahl. “The urgency is high and people need water yesterday. So the faster we can move with our resources and our money and technical assistance, the better it is for the landowners out here.”
Giamonna says he and other ranchers will sell off some of their herd for slaughter, which will temporarily flood the market and drive prices down. But then the price of beef will likely skyrocket anywhere from 20% to 50%.
One question that emerges is what will happen if this kind of drought becomes the new normal.
“I don’t know, honestly. I don’t know,” said Giamonna. “You probably won’t see a lot of agriculture surviving this, is my guess. We don’t want to think about that too much, but it’s a reality that we have to.”
MALT’s doing what it can, but as a nonprofit, its donated funds are limited. They say government funding could help keep some farmers and ranchers going for now, but if next year is also dry, it may not even matter.
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