The Sacramento Bee (May 23, 2013)

A centuries-old farming technique called dry farming - once the order of the day in California's Central Valley - is once again drawing the interest of some of the region's farmers.

The technique is as simple as it is risky. Dry farming relies solely on rainwater to keep crops growing throughout a dry season.

"Dry farming would be a hard life because you're at the whim of the rains," said Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California-Davis. "It would have to be a fairly small-scale farm, and in some cases, it would be a good road to poverty."