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Podcasts Take Two
Saudi dairy company looks to parched California to grow crops
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Mar 31, 2016
Listen • 8:03
Saudi dairy company looks to parched California to grow crops
The country has been cracking down on crops that consume a lot of water, like alfalfa, in an effort to conserve.
File: A vehicle raises a large dust cloud as it drives on a parched farm field in Los Banos, California.
File: A vehicle raises a large dust cloud as it drives on a parched farm field in Los Banos, California.
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Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
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The country has been cracking down on crops that consume a lot of water, like alfalfa, in an effort to conserve.

In the last few years, Saudi Arabia has been experiencing a severe drought, like California. 

The country has been cracking down on crops that consume a lot of water, like alfalfa, in an effort to conserve. But one Saudi dairy company, Almarai, still needs the crop to feed its thousands of cows. So the company is setting its eyes on California's Palo Verde Valley to grow it. 

Under a Gold Rush-era doctrine the Palo Verde Valley has senior rights, beating Los Angeles and San Diego. Almarai is also purchasing land in Arizona.

We turned to Elliot Spagat reporter for the Associated Press to talk more about this.