This time, one such story highlights the fact that the western states have had an extensive four-year drought. And in the midst of that drought, a Saudi dairy bought a 9,600-acre farm in the Arizona desert to raise alfalfa for export to the home dairy. The same story reports the purchase included 15 wells.
When stories like this originally broke (When was it? About 18 months ago?), accusing alfalfa of guzzling water resources and producers shipping the hay to China, Dan Putnam, forage specialist with University of California, addressed many of the facts surrounding alfalfa and hay exports in an excellent article (PDF, 507KB). His response was, in part, to the National Geographic’s story “Exporting the Colorado River to Asia, Through Hay.”
But stories of gloom and doom, as we all know, make headlines.
Regarding the latest round of stories about the Saudi dairy in Arizona, Paul Dugger, president of the National Hay Association, says this:
First off, let’s acknowledge that we do export some water with alfalfa. Fifteen percent moisture equals 300 pounds of water per ton. That 300 pounds is 0.02 percent of the total water needed to produce a ton of alfalfa. The remaining 99.98 percent is recycled as the crop transpires it back into the air, where it is stored and then falls again as rain somewhere in the Midwest.
Here are the numbers to support the argument. They represent averages that can be easily confirmed on a web search and are based on alfalfa hay:
- A typical 8-ton yield requires 4 acre-feet of water for production, or 0.5 acre-foot per ton.
- An exported ton of alfalfa required 163,000 gallons of water for production (326,000 gallons per acre-foot X 0.5 acre-foot per ton).
- The exported ton of alfalfa required 1,358,000 pounds of water for production (163,000 gallons X 8.33 pounds per gallon).
- The exported ton of alfalfa’s 300 pounds of water is 0.02 percent of the water used for production (300 pounds/1,358,000 pounds).
Dugger says, “In conclusion, only a very tiny percentage of the water used in production is exported with the product. The remainder is very much a part of an overall system of food and fiber production in the U.S.” FG
