Exported hay is helping to dry up the Colorado River

I get that cows, people, and everything else living on the other side of Earth have to eat, too. But there are far better options, all around.

Farmers working in unforgiving desert climates have their own reasons for cultivating alfalfa. For one, with enough irrigation, it can handle the ferocious summers in the West better than many fruit and vegetable varieties. It’s also a serious cash crop: Between 2012 and 2021 in California, alfalfa fetched more dollars per ton than any other hay variety for nine years straight. It dominates agriculture in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, the four driest states in the country, all of which depend on the Colorado River.

In fact, much of the Colorado River is exported as hay. Rising demand for dairy products in the Middle East and skyrocketing beef consumption across the globe are driving up the demand; 40% of the alfalfa grown in California in 2020 was shrink-wrapped, containerized, and shipped to cows on the other side of Earth. - High Country News