Agriculture in California faces an uncertain future as drought , wildfires and other climate extremes become more commonplace in the West . But a neophyte industry focused on grow and distill agave plants , which are used to bring forth tequila and mezcal in Mexico , could be California ’s answer to fallowed fields and a lack of water .
in the beginning this year a chemical group of agriculturist , distiller and retailer formed the California Agave Council to foster collaborationism and offer a prospect to share knowledge among members who antecedently had no formal electronic connection .
Now , the University of California , Davis , has plant the Stuart & Lisa Woolf Fund for Agave Research to focus on outreach and search into the plant and their viability as a low - water crop in the United States Department of State .
“ The rainfall patterns and grow conditions in California are different from those where tequila is made , ” said Ron Runnebaum , an adjunct professor of viticulture and enology . “ It is exciting to start to harness the capacity at UC Davis to set which agave varieties can be grown commercially in California and what flavors can be captured by distillment to make singular California agave spirits . ”
The investment firm was created with a $ 100,000 seed gift from Stuart and Lisa Woolf , who are Central Valley farmers and have a test plot of land of about 900 agave plants on 1.5 acres . They go for this natural endowment will further others to also conduce .
The gift is sharpen principally on optimizing production in California relative to Mexico , where labor costs are lower , and the farmers rely on rainwater rather than irrigation for water . Stuart Woolf believes California producers could grow larger plants with gamy cabbage content .
“ I really believe we could be very militant with Mexico , ” he said .
The research also offers a chance to well understand the impact of location on the development of the plant , which can be a source of fiber and alternative sweetener as well as the make pure feeling it can produce .
“ As a drought - tolerant plant , agave holds great potential in water - accent California , ” Woolf said . “ It ’s a crop that could get by with little to no water system during period of extreme drought . ”
A crop with low piddle needsMezcal can be made from any agave variety in Mexico while tequila , Runnebaum say , total solely from the puritanic agave flora grown within the geographically defined realm of “ Tequila . ” In California , blue agave plants can weigh 110 pounds or more , and it takes about 11 pounds of agave to produce one bottle of tequila , allot to a UC Davis article published last year . The plant in Mexico librate 50 to 60 pound on ordinary , Woolf said .
Agave plant require minimal watering , can serve as firebreaks from wildfire and offer a probability for husbandman to plant crops on acres that would otherwise have to be fallowed , or abandoned because of a lack of water . It takes more or less six to eight years for the industrial plant to mature .
Lisa and Stuart Woolf stomach in front of agave plant . The Central Valley farmers have a test plot of agave works . ( Stuart Woolf)“If we enroll a severe drought , this is a harvest I remember we can avoid tearing totally , ” Woolf said . “ For me , this plant is kind of coming around at the right time . ”
Craig Reynolds , the California Agave Council initiation film director who has about 500 plants growing , says the industry is in “ an conceptus stage ” and organizing can aid the harvest expand . He runs California Agave Ventures , which develop blue agave and sells starter plant to other grower .
“ It ’s really take off , ” he say .
Coming togetherAbout 40 growers and distillers gathered for a symposium in May to talk about the crop , from economic science and logistics to place planning and unconscious process . It ended with a taste and sensory analysis of California product .
UC Davis host the effect to work masses together and introduce them to what the university could bid in terms of inquiry , training and outreach , Runnebaum allege .
“ I conceive there ’s a wad of hope in this potentially being a drought - liberal crop in California , ” he added . “ UC Davis can help form and inquiry . ”
The Woolfs would like their gift to be used to serve early inquiry head about uprise website , plant property and possible financing agency , as well as pucker harvest information and producing a database with that information , accord to the giving agreement .
Some fundamental motion to answer : Is frost risk in California too high in sexual relation to Mexico , where the plants fly high ? Can California raise a fast - grow , high - sugar , disease - resistant craw ?
In addition to make best agricultural practices for the crop and doing economical analysis , UC Davis could serve as a education ground , much as it does for brewing and winemaking .
“ UC Davis also has the potential to train future leaders for this industry , ” Stuart Woolf say .
Source : www.ucdavis.edu
