Alex Wilson is a sixth-generation California farmer, growing fruits and grain in a state that has been severely affected by an ongoing water shortage. At 27, he is the youngest member to continue the family tradition of farming in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region.
Through the years, Wilson’s family has survived periods of drought and flooding while growing pears, cherries, tomatoes, wheat, alfalfa, and other crops on their 4,000 acres in Yolo, Sacramento, and San Joaquin counties.
This year, the family found another way to help conserve water through the state-funded Delta Drought Response Pilot Project.
“I saw an email that had come out where the state was basically willing to pay a farmer not to irrigate,” Wilson said. “It kind of caught my attention.”…