FILE - A farmer stands next to a row of newly planted organic tomatoes on April 23, 2015, in Firebaugh, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) California's ongoing drought is expected to impact the prices of key crops, driving food inflation even higher for consumers.The U.S.
Drought Monitor — a collaboration between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — reported that about 94% of California fell under the severe, extreme or exceptional drought categories as of last week.
In early July, nearly 97.5% of the Golden State had such drought conditions.DROUGHT FORCES FARMERS TO SCALE BACK AND OTHERS TO FOLD AS ECONOMISTS WARN OF PRICE HIKESAccording to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, California grows more than one-third of the nation's vegetables and three-quarters of its fruits and nuts.
The state's total production of tomatoes, garlic and onions in 2021 was 224.01 million hundredweight (cwt), 4.192 million cwt and 19.026 million cwt, respectively, per statistics from the USDA.Drought conditions and high temperatures in California "have made it difficult for growers to meet market demand," the USDA said in a late August report about the state's tomato production.