No.
Arizona farmland is no longer being leased for alfalfa farming by the Saudi Arabian company Fondomonte.
Fondomente came under scrutiny for pumping unlimited groundwater in Arizona to grow alfalfa, which was then exported to Saudi Arabia for animal feed. One of the company’s four contracts was terminated in October 2023 for violating its lease terms. The rest expired in February and were not renewed.
Irrigated agriculture accounts for nearly two thirds of groundwater use in the state. Some industrial-scale farms have also taken advantage of weaknesses in existing regulations, either consolidating land with grandfathered water rights tied to it, or by drilling deeper wells with higher capacity pumps when specific regulations don’t limit the amount of groundwater pumping.
This brief responds to conversations such as this one.
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
Sources
- Office of Gov. Katie Hobbs, Governor Katie Hobbs Terminates Fondomonte Lease, Announces Nonrenewal of Three Others
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, Foreign Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land Through December 31, 2022
- Arizona Department of Water Resources, Agriculture
- Stanford Water in the West, Arizona
- Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, Groundwater regulation weaknesses exploited by industrial-scale agriculture
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is partnering with Gigafact to produce timely fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
