Cotton and Alfalfa? Seriously?

There is a water crisis in the American southwest, and it's getting worse.

As a result many farmers are drawing more heavily on groundwater, and exceeding the carrying capacity of this resource.

The good folks at FT start their report on this with an interview with a farmer who is letting fields lie fallow as a result of the falling water table.

So, what does this farmer grow?  He grows cotton and alfalfa. (alternate link)

These are among the 2 most water intensive crops out there, and this farmer is attempting to grow this in Arizona, just south of Phoenix.

………

“We don’t have enough groundwater or enough pumps,” said Miller, a fifth-generation farmer who grows alfalfa and cotton. Some wells have gone dry, said the 35-year-old, who has had to leave some of his land fallow. 

5 generations of growing water intensive crops in a f%$#ing desert?

Sounds like 5 generations of idiocy.

Given that more than ⅔ of water consumption in the west is agricultural, perhaps the real story is that US agricultural policy is incentivizing farmers make insane choices.