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Caitlin Peterson

Caitlin Peterson

Caitlin Peterson is an agroecologist and Associate Director and Research Fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center.

Sep 12, 2026

5:52
Why do these crops appear especially promising in the Central Valley?
5:57
Well, as you know, most common crops in the Central Valley are summer crops, and most of these crops could not survive in the summer without a lot of irrigation.
6:08
So one of the reasons we focus on wheat, barley, rye, these types of things is that they're winter crops, so they can take advantage of the natural winter rainfall that we get.
6:16
They're also very familiar.
6:18
Folks in the valley already know how to grow them.
6:20
There's a well-established market for them.
6:22
It's much more difficult to talk about growing a novel crop if there's no guarantee anybody will buy it.
7:24
I'm just curious if you could talk maybe a little bit more about that and the water efficiency given the timing when they're planted.

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