It’s the thirstiest crop in the US south-west. Will the drought put alfalfa farmers out of business?

On an early August morning in California’s Imperial Valley, tractors rumble across verdant fields of alfalfa, mowing down the tall plant and leaving it to dry in shaggy heaps under the hot sun.

Here, in one of the oldest farming communities in the Colorado River basin, the forage crop is king. One out of every three farmed acres in the valley is dedicated to growing alfalfa, which dries into a high-protein hay commonly used as food for livestock.

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