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Podcasts Take Two
US farmers turning from water-demanding avocados to new crops
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Feb 4, 2013
Listen • 7:11
US farmers turning from water-demanding avocados to new crops
By the time the Ravens sealed their Super Bowl win over the 49ers, Americans consumed around 79 million pounds of avocados. Until recently, most of those avocados were coming from San Diego County, the nation's top producing region.
Avocados are sold at Tegucigalpa's main fruit and vegetable market El Mayoreo, on June 18, 2011.
Avocados are sold at Tegucigalpa's main fruit and vegetable market El Mayoreo, on June 18, 2011.
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ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images
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By the time the Ravens sealed their Super Bowl win over the 49ers, Americans consumed around 79 million pounds of avocados. Until recently, most of those avocados were coming from San Diego County, the nation's top producing region.

By the time the Ravens sealed their Super Bowl win over the 49ers, Americans consumed around 79 million pounds of avocados.  Until recently, most of those avocados were coming from San Diego County, the nation's top producing region. Now, U.S. demand is being filled by Mexico and Chile.

What has driven area farmers to ditch the avocado? The fruit is just way too thirsty. To talk about the difficulty in growing avocados here, we're joined by Rua Petty, a farmer from Fallbrook, Ca.