Sacramento – “Buy your ticket and board,” said Hunter S. Thompson, a Gonzo journalist.

It was in his bestselling book, “Fear and Hate in Las Vegas,” more than half a century ago. But his words are true today for California farmers, especially the farmers of Central Valley who bought President Trump’s election pitch. And now they’re riding where they know.

The legendary Thompson’s only crop of Rolling Stone Magazine – the “National Issues Editor” really cared. But if he was still among us, it would be fun to read his views on the benefits of California farming and Trump’s strong support of how he treats them.

In November, Trump carried 15 Central Valley Farm Belt Counties (by nine landslides) over Democrat Kamala Harris. It was even more valley support than he received in 2020 when he won 10 counties.

Now he promises to send them more water to grow crops. But he is horrifying – potentially scaring and even deporting them – exactly what farm workers needed to harvest those crops.

At the same time, he launched a trade war that could reduce farmers’ profits, which significantly increased the consumer costs of food while exporting crops.
And while Trump has been able to increase the supply of irrigation water in the San Joaquin Valley through the Federal Central Valley Project, it will likely cause a decline in water in Southern California and its farmers’ states.

That’s because the president will need to destroy the federal endangered species to send more water south from Sacramento’s Joaquin River Delta. If the court allows it, and if they were not his first administration, it would reduce protection against the decline of salmon and other fish.

However, California has its own endangered species law. And the state will likely replace more of its own with lost federal water, reducing pumps from the deltas in Southern California and the Central Coast.
We have already seen how much Trump knows about California’s water system and the needs of farmers. He appears to be totally ignorant of this subject.

One recent example was when he foolishly dumped the Army Corps of Engineers and essentially wasted water from two small dams in the Tulare Basin. Some water will soak into the ground and help replenish the depleted aquifer. And that’s a good thing. But winter is when farmers like to bank the water from their reservoirs and pull them out during the growing season of dry summers. I don’t need water now. No one is irrigating.

In fact, farmers are trying to protect against floods. And as the storm approached, the unexpected release of the reservoir water rattled my nerves.

But Trump saw it as a great photo shoot moment. He took a photo of the swirling river on the X-page and captioned it. Today, 1.6 billion gallons… Everyone should be satisfied with this long battle victory! I wish they’d listened to me six years ago – no one would have been there [L.A.] fire! ”

Hallucination.

Farmers still can’t know how far Trump will go, whether he will raid their country illegally, or not, of their fields and orchards. At least half of California farmers have not been documented. Trump says he is targeting only undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes. Ok, that’s reasonable. But we know what it will be: law-abiding people will also stumble. Councillor Esmeralda Soria (D-Fresno) has a special perspective. Her parents moved from Mexico in the 1970s and worked in the field in California. They were not documented.

“Dad was caught and deported several times, and he’s back,” she told me.

That’s a familiar story. Even farm workers here were legally rounded up frequently – due to their skin colour – and held for hours before being released, she recalls. So, so many farm workers are now afraid to report to work, Solia says she hears. And it’s citrus harvest season. An orange picker is awful. “Without workers, our food supply will collapse,” she said during Congressional debate last week before the law was passed that would allocate $25 million to fund immigrant legal services. I insisted. “Agriculture in California will face depression, something you’ve definitely seen for decades.”

The California Farm Bureau Federation recently reported in a news release that it “has never heard of widespread workforce disruptions” as it fears an attack by federal agents. But it added: “We need it [immigration] Policies that provide real solutions…policies that reflect the reality of agriculture – not blanket enforcement measures that put the entire agricultural system at risk. ”

If Trump deports undocumented farm workers, UCLA economics professor Jerry Nickelsberg said farmers would have to pay more to pick their crops. And that leads to higher food prices. ”

“Taxes are bad, and for California agriculture, they’re really bad news,” UC said, regarding the offensive trade war that could spur Trump, which targets China, Mexico and Canada. says Daniel Sumner, Davis’ professor of agricultural economics.

For example, he states: “The US buys a lot of fruits and vegetables from Mexico. We’ll lose and pay more,” Mexico will probably retaliate by putting tariffs on California’s dried dairy products, Sumner adds. Ta. “Mexico is the biggest buyer of milk.” California dairy products have reduced profits.

Hunter S. Thompson wrote something else that seems to be relevant now.

After President Nixon shellaced Democrat George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election, Thompson said: Jesus! Where will it end? ”

It ended with the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation.
Farmers have bought Trump tickets and are packed wherever they are on the end. I hope it’s smoother than it looks – for them, and for California.

What else should I read?

Must see: Newsom meets with Trump to overcome the “noise” of the election
Rimes Special: “Shadow Government”? Billionaire Elon Musk’s grip on US government spending raises questions

Until next week,
George Skeleton

–
Has this newsletter been forwarded to you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox.