Sasha Khokha takes an in-depth look at the conflicting interests of cattle and almond businesses in California's Central Valley.
The concern of cattle ranchers is the explosive growth of almond farming in the region. For instance, according to Sasha Khokha, "[m]ore than 110,000 acres of almonds have been planted in Stanislaus County [pdf]. And it doesn’t look like drought will put much of a dent in the boom. U.S. Department of Agriculture stats [pdf] that came out this week predict just a 1 percent drop in the California almond harvest over last year."
The article provides insider interviews and anecdotes from either side of the story, focusing on Stanislaus County, which is just one of many rural counties located in the California Central Valley. The article is also supplemented by a five-minute audio recording of KQED's The California Report show.
FULL STORY: Cattle Ranchers Lock Horns With Almond Investors
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