SALINAS, Calif. — In this farming valley, often known as "America's salad bowl," the climate is cool and consistent, the soil is fertile, and an abundance of water has allowed a diverse set of crops to flourish.
Farmers here produce almost two-thirds of the nation's lettuce and half of its broccoli and celery. One town calls itself the artichoke capital of the world.
It is also a place that has seemed to be immune to the state's pervasive drought.
For Rick Antle, the shortage in his fields this summer is of workers, not water. Harvest machines roar to life as 2,000 people cut, wrap and pack thousands of boxes of lettuce each day for Tanimura & Antle, a major family-run farm.