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  • December 2015 (Revised January 2016)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Woolf Farming and the California Water Crisis

By: Forest Reinhardt, David Bell, Natalie Kindred, Mary Shelman and Laura Winig
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:30
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Abstract

This case highlights the tough choices, competing interests, and decision-making mechanisms involved in California's management of its severe drought, entering its fifth year in 2015. Stuart Woolf, CEO of Woolf Farming, a grower and processor of almonds, tomatoes, and other crops in California's Central Valley, must decide how to respond to the changing operating environment. Scarce water resources—and institutional constraints on the use of water—have forced many producers, including Woolf, to fallow farmland. Meanwhile, competing demands for water from municipalities and environmental interests have raised the public's scrutiny of agricultural water use. This case describes farming in California's Central Valley and reviews the state's complicated system for managing water rights and resources. It invites students to analyze the relative merits of competing perspectives on how to allocate water, the institutional mechanisms for doing so, and the potential responses of agricultural producers to the changing marketplace. Is now the time to double down on farming in the Central Valley, shift to a higher-value-added crop portfolio (e.g., organics), or retreat from this challenging business?

Keywords

Plant-Based Agribusiness; Natural Disasters; Climate Change; Resource Allocation; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Economics; Weather; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; California

Citation

Reinhardt, Forest, David Bell, Natalie Kindred, Mary Shelman, and Laura Winig. "Woolf Farming and the California Water Crisis." Harvard Business School Case 716-038, December 2015. (Revised January 2016.)
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About The Authors

Forest L. Reinhardt

Business, Government and the International Economy
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David E. Bell

Marketing
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Related Work

    • December 2015 (Revised January 2016)
    • Faculty Research

    Woolf Farming and the California Water Crisis

    By: Forest Reinhardt, David Bell, Natalie Kindred, Mary Shelman and Laura Winig
Related Work
  • Woolf Farming and the California Water Crisis By: Forest Reinhardt, David Bell, Natalie Kindred, Mary Shelman and Laura Winig
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