Latest news: Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Announced on October 2, 2023, said she canceled one of Saudi-owned agricultural company Fondomonte's state land leases due to non-compliance with the lease agreement. The state plans to not renew three other leases in February 2024, she said. Original story continues below.
Despite recent rainfall, nearly a quarter of the United States is still raining. experiencing drought conditions – Includes parts of the Southwest.
a viral TikTok A Saudi Arabia-based company claims to be using water from drought-prone states of California and Arizona to grow alfalfa and shipping it overseas. Alfalfa is Crops that consume large amounts of water it's common It was used to feed grazing animals such as cows..
VERIFY reader Lisa also asked if Saudi Arabia actually uses Arizona water to grow alfalfa.
question
Are Saudi companies using Arizona and California water to grow alfalfa?
source of information
answer
Yes, Saudi Arabian companies use water from Arizona and California to grow alfalfa.
what we found
Saudi companies grow alfalfa on farmland in Arizona and California and send it overseas to feed domestic cattle. These legal farming operations extract water from Arizona's groundwater and the Colorado River, which crosses the California border, experts told VERIFY.
In March 2014, Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian dairy company Almarai, Purchased 9,834 acres of farmland $47.5 million in Vicksburg, Arizona. The town is located in La Paz County, approximately 160 miles from Phoenix.
The company said in a press release that the land will be used to “improve and secure the supply of the highest quality alfalfa hay” from regions outside of Saudi Arabia.
Records show Fondomonte also leases thousands of acres of farmland from the Arizona Department of Lands in La Paz County and from another Fondomonte subsidiary in California. Own at least 1,790 acres of farmland Bryce City is located along the California-Arizona border.
Why Saudi Arabia is growing alfalfa in the US
So why does Saudi Arabia rely on foreign farms to grow alfalfa? According to Natalie Koch, a professor of geography at Syracuse University, in 2018 the country grew alfalfa and other crops that strained its water supply. The final decision was made to ban the cultivation of these crops.
There are likely several reasons why Almarai chose to farm alfalfa in these areas of Arizona and California. Koch said alfalfa grows quickly in desert climates like La Paz County and Blythe.
The crops are Also cultivated in other western statesalso includes Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Oregon.
“If you have enough water to pump to irrigate, you can make a lot of cuts. [of alfalfa] in a year in the desert,” Koch said.
Fondo Monte also benefits from the lack of groundwater pumping regulations in La Paz County, Arizona.
“If you can invest the capital to drill deep wells that can go deep into the groundwater supply, you can really pump as much as you want,” Koch said. “This was also attractive to Saudi Arabia to participate.” [to La Paz County]There, there is no measurement of the extracted water, so no charges are made. ”
It is not uncommon for foreign companies to own farmland in the United States. Report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency As of December 31, 2021, foreign investors were found to own approximately 5% of U.S. farmland.
Similarly, many American companies Invest in farms in other countries To grow agricultural products. For example, tomatoes, berries, and avocados are grown in Mexico for the United States.
