Ezra David Romero

Americans ate 2 billion pounds of avocados last year; many came from Mexico. That's because avocados grow year-round in Mexico's climate, but not California's. Researchers are working to change that.

Speeding cars have become the biggest threat for bears in Yosemite. But rangers hope tracking tools, like the website where the public can track bears, will help keep both humans and bears safe.

The pioneers of organic farming are starting to retire. While some are passing on their farms to family to preserve their legacy, others are getting help finding like-minded strangers.

Tree crops like pistachios, peaches and almonds need a certain amount of cold weather every year. But scientists say that California's climate may become too warm for them to grow there.

The extended drought in California has farmers looking for ways to use less water. Among them, growing feed indoors using hydroponics. The new diet is making some Central Valley sheep very happy.

Tomato plants grown in large scale outdoors are often selected for hardiness more than taste. What if you could boost disease resistance, flavor and yield? Researchers think they can — by grafting.

A relatively new variety of almond tree called Independence has some beekeepers nervous. These trees are self-fertile — meaning they technically don't need bees to pollinate their flowers.

Last year was a terrible season for the American pistachio industry. Warm temperatures and the lack of water resulted in a loss of almost half the crop, and profits were down by around $1.4 billion from 2014. This year, the industry is hoping to recover, but growers across the country ...

A lot of El Nino-related precipitation is falling on an area devastated by a giant 150,000 acre fire that burned last summer. Dirt and debris are flowing into lakes, and farmers are worried.

Drive anywhere in Central California and you'll find fields of almonds. So many new trees have been planted in recent years that people have begun to wonder whether the growth of the almond industry is unsustainable. It seems like the price of the nut may have met a slippery slope.

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Grapes, including raisins, are the third largest crop in California grossing almost $6 billion in 2014. Harvesting the labor-intensive crop takes thousands of workers. But a new raisin grape variety bred in Central California could severely decrease that need for workers.

It takes a lot of hand labor to harvest ...

For many Americans, their only association with figs comes in the form of a Fig Newton. And indeed, once upon a time, most of the figs grown in California ended up in fig pastes and cookies like those familiar chewy squares.

But tastes change, and the fig industry has gone ...

A lack of crops for bees to pollinate has California's beekeeping industry on edge. Some are feeding their colonies pricey processed bee food or moving their hives out of state to forage.

After a scientist on a hike in Sequoia National Park saw trees with thin and browning needles, it got scientists thinking: Did the drought cause this? So they're climbing up them to study the damage.

In the state's agricultural Central Valley, planning is under way to transform peach and plum fields into Kings River Village, a solar-powered community that will send wastewater back into an aquifer.

As California's drought drags on, its almond industry has come under scrutiny. As you've probably heard by now, almonds use a lot of water — about one gallon per nut. Most growers are relying on groundwater even more this year, because their surface water has been cut off. But that ...

Local food enthusiasts have been trying to make the case that buying food from farmers nearby supports local economies, boosts food security and is better for the environment.

But so far, "local" food still makes up a pretty small fraction of what Americans eat. And given that most agriculture in ...

In the Sierra Nevada mountains, North Fork Mono American Indians are working to thin the forest. Their ancient techniques are being considered as a possible long-term solution to the drought.

When television chef Nathan Lyon read about California's worsening drought earlier this year, he started thinking about the amount of water it takes to grow the food in recipes he creates.

That's when he and his girlfriend and culinary manager, Sarah Forman, decided to develop what they call ...

Around the tiny rural community of Fairmead, Calif., about an hour north of Fresno on Highway 99, hundreds of one-story houses on small ranches stretch out for miles.

The ground is mostly brown, parched by California's recent drought. But beneath the surface, this mostly African-American community in the San Joaquin ...