Growing Georgia published an article by Allison Floyd today discussing the opportunities for Southern vegetable farmers due to the continuing drought in California.  You can read the article here.  Because of the severe water restrictions in California, growers in Georgia are being asked to expand into other varieties of vegetables, including green leafy vegetables which typically have not done as well in Georgia due to the long hot summers.

The article mirrors information that was published this summer in The Southeastern Geographer (not available online) by myself with Chris Fuhrmann (now at Mississippi State) and Chip Konrad from the Southeast Climate Center, in which we interviewed state climatologists across the Southeast about the importance of climate to agriculture in the region.  One of the things discussed in the SEG article was the probability that more vegetable production may have to move back to the Southeast from California in the future if extended western droughts become more frequent.  It will be interesting to see how production shifts in the future under differing water availability, markets, and growing season changes.