Blog: Data Dump – Exporting hay (and water)
Pretty much every time I write about the amount of Colorado River water that is consumed to irrigate alfalfa and hay, readers respond with a comment or question about how much of the alfalfa — and therefore Colorado River water — is shipped overseas. … It is true that Western farms export alfalfa to foreign countries. … But there’s a big caveat here: Many farms in Arizona — and most if not all of the Saudi Arabia owned ones — irrigate with groundwater, not with water diverted from the Colorado River.