Alfalfa farms consume 26% of the Colorado River’s water (2024 statistic).[0] Alfalfa and hay production uses up to 68% of Utah’s water, and amounts to 0.2% of

Alfalfa farms consume 26% of the Colorado River’s water (2024 statistic).[0] Alfalfa and hay production uses up to 68% of Utah’s water, and amounts to 0.2% of the state’s GDP (2022 statistic) [1]. These feed crops are extremely water inefficient, consuming 18-36 acre-inches (≈ 489,600-979,200 gallons) of water per acre of harvested alfalfa [2]. Utah averages 4 tons/acre in harvest [3], which by my math works out to about 510-1020 tons of water used per 1 ton of alfalfa harvest. If that seems high you, you may appreciate looking up numbers on water consumption per pound of beef accounting for feed. The USDA reports about 46 million acres of US land are foreign owned [4](although 2024 reporting suggests not all foreign ownership of farm land is being reported [5]). While there are not accurate public numbers on the percentage of that foreign held land which is used for alfalfa farming, water use by foreign entities has been widely reported on [6], and has prompted legislation in the example state of Utah among others [7]. [0] https://www.sustainablewaters.org/why-do-we-grow-so-much-alfalfa/ https://www.sustainablewaters.org/why-do-we-grow-so-much-alf... [1]https://waterdesk.org/2022/12/one-crop-uses-more-than-half-of-utahs-water-heres-why/ https://waterdesk.org/2022/12/one-crop-uses-more-than-half-o... [2] https://ecobuilderz.com/how-many-gallons-of-water-are-required-per-acre.html https://ecobuilderz.com/how-many-gallons-of-water-are-requir... [3] https://www.progressivepublish.com/downloads/2025/general/2024-pf-stats-highres.pdf https://www.progressivepublish.com/downloads/2025/general/20... [4] https://www.fsa.usda.gov/documents/foreign-holdings-us-agricultural-land-december-31-2023 https://www.fsa.usda.gov/documents/foreign-holdings-us-agric... [5] https://www.dailymail.com/galleries/article-12985003/Foreign-countries-40-million-acres-land.html https://www.dailymail.com/galleries/article-12985003/Foreign... [6] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-drought-stricken-arizona-fresh-scrutiny-of-saudi-arabia-owned-farms-water-use https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-drought-stricken-ar... [7] https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/hbillint/HB0186.pdf https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/hbillint/HB0186.pdf