![]() ![]() Sites must generally receive more than 50 centimeters of annual precipitation - in 2022, that was true in 26 of California’s 58 counties, for example - and the soil must be composed of fine grains that help retain that water over time.īeyond that, farmers employ a range of techniques to help crops get all the moisture they need. “You need to be in a place where there’s sufficient rainfall to create moisture in the soil,” says David Runsten, water policy director at the Community Alliance with Family Farmers in Davis, Calif. Dry farming is distinct from rain-fed agriculture, when crops grow during a wet season without the aid of irrigation.įor dry farming to work, a couple elements are essential. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables - including tomatoes, potatoes, squash, corn and even watermelons - can be dry-farmed. What’s needed is a wet rainy season, when rainwater infiltrates the soil, followed by a dry growing season, when plant roots pull in that moisture as needed. Instead, dry-farmed plants take up moisture stored in the ground rather than sprinkled from above.ĭry farming is possible in states throughout the West. “Nothing grows without water,” says Amy Garrett, president of the nonprofit Dry Farming Institute in Corvallis, Ore. It’s a common misconception that dry farming means growing plants without water. And even though the practice isn’t without limitations - dry-farmed produce tends to be physically smaller, and harvests are less bountiful overall - its benefits extend beyond water savings: Dry farming can also yield longer-lasting and better-tasting produce. Dry farming won’t solve all of agriculture’s woes, but it offers a way forward, particularly for smaller-scale producers, while drawing less on a scarce natural resource. Today, however, farmers in the West are once again experimenting with dry farming as they grapple with water shortages, which are being exacerbated by rising temperatures and more frequent and intense droughts linked to climate change.įinding a more sustainable way to grow food in a thirsty state like California, for example, where agriculture accounts for roughly 80 percent of water usage and where a third of U.S. But in the western United States, the practice largely fell out of widespread use in the 20th century. Dry farming has roots stretching back millennia. I learned later that this tomato had been dry-farmed, a form of agriculture that doesn’t require irrigation. The practice saves on water and produces more flavorful fruits and vegetables, advocates say. These tomatoes for sale at a farmers market in Portland, Ore., were dry-farmed. ![]()
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