article_snippet.sent: the drought California hurts the rest of the union, too.
article_snippet.sent: Here's why we should heed the ongoing drought in the most populous state, a slowly expanding natural disaster now in California fourth year that this week prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to announce a mandatory 25% cutback in water consumption in all cities.
article_snippet.sent: In 2014, one expert predicted consumers would pay more for some groceries because of the droughtCalifornia .
article_snippet.sent: Whether the California drought will affect food prices again last year is unknown, thanks to a strong dollar.
article_snippet.sent: What economists don't know yet is whether farmers will plant fewer crops because of the California drought.
article_snippet.sent: the California drought does have the potential to impact the price we pay for fresh fruit and fresh vegetables and dairy and fresh eggs
article_snippet.sent: The reality is there's a major drought throughout the West and Southwest.
article_snippet.sent: While not as bad as California, Texas and Oklahoma are also seeing extreme and exceptional drought -- the two worst categories -- in several parts of not as bad as California, Texas and Oklahoma states, the U.S. Drought Monitor said this week.
article_snippet.sent: Overall, the California drought affects more than 52 million people, the U.S. Drought Monitor says.
article_snippet.sent: Straining under a drought that began in 2012, ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma last year saw smaller grazing pastures, paid more for feed, and experienced difficulties accessing water to cool ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma cattle.
article_snippet.sent: But beef prices offer an object lesson about the California drought.
article_snippet.sent: So the next time you take a holiday in California, you'll find a few changes around here, thanks to the California drought.
article_snippet.sent: If the California drought continues through next winter and we do not conserve more, the consequences could be even more catastrophic than the drought continues through next winter and we do not conserve more already are," State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus said in March.
article_snippet.sent: That may be the only thing to toast about the California drought.
highlights_snippet.sent: Americans paid more for some fruits and vegetables last year because of the drought .
  