by Calculated Risk on 1/19/2014 08:18:00 PM

This is worth a mention - the drought in California is a "growing" concern ...

From the San Francisco Chronicle: California drought: Farmers, ranchers face uncertain future

On Friday, amid California's driest year on record, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency in the state. As days pass without snow or rain, dairymen, farmers and other livestock producers are finding themselves in the same predicament as Imhof. Without water to irrigate, produce growers fear they will have to leave some fields fallow.

Ranchers and farmers say that as long as the drought continues, the nation's largest agricultural state will remain in turmoil, with repercussions stretching to consumer pocketbooks in the form of higher prices for such basic staples as meat, milk, fruit and vegetables.

This is the second year in a row with little rain or snow in the mountains (the Central Sierra snowpack is about 16% of normal). California is the largest agricultural state, and an ongoing drought could have an impact on food prices - and on the economy.