For more than a century, Lodi’s grape growers have supplied the old wineries that make this Californian city famous. But rocketing costs, falling demand and competition from imports mean some are now abandoning their vineyards.Randy Baranek, whose family has farmed these hillsides for generations, said thousands of acres (hectares) of vines — a quarter of Lodi’s production — have been removed in the last two years.”I’ve never seen anything like this,” he told AFP.Baranek said an acre of vines can produce between eight and ten tons of grapes, which can be sold for a maximum of $3,000.”Our costs are between $3,000 and $4,500 an acre to farm,” he said, as he picked his way through abandoned Chardonnay vines. “We’re twirling the toilet.”Even ripping out the vines is difficult, said Baranek, with California’s strict environmental rules making it expensive to convert a field, prompting some farmers to leave them to go wild.Such abandoned plots have become commonplace in Lodi, where around 130 varieties of grapes are grown, and which is known particularly for its Zinfandels.- Slowing demand -The decline in production has been consistent over the last few years, reaching its lowest point in two decades in 2024, when 2.9 million tons of grapes were harvested, said Stuart Spencer, executive director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission. This year, that figure is expected to fall by a further 400,000 tons.Spencer says a shift in the shape of the wine market in the United States is at the root of the changes.After three decades of growth, in which California, Oregon and Washington state forged a domestic consumer base previously enamored with the Old World wines of France, Italy and Spain, the last three years have been challenging.”The whole spectrum of those that contribute to the wine industry are struggling right now,” he said.On the consumer side, changing tastes and habits mean “people are just drinking less,” he said.The economy is also crimping demand, said Spencer.”The inflation we’ve seen over the last few years is really impacting the consumer’s wallet.”Vintners are reacting to this slowdown in demand by seeking out other suppliers.”One of the big changes we’ve seen here in California is our largest wineries, who are also the largest grape buyers, are choosing to import cheap, bulk wine instead of purchasing local grapes,” said Spencer.That price differential, he says, is the result of a skewed market.”European wine growers are heavily subsidized by the EU… So we are at a disadvantage. We are not playing on a fair, level playing field.”- Almonds -Some farmers are reluctantly giving up the grapes, at least on a portion of their land, opting instead for in-demand and lower-cost products like almonds.It is not a decision they take lightly, because replanting a vineyard can cost tens of thousands of dollars. It can also affect the wider community, with fewer workers needed for crops like almonds, whose harvest is largely automated.”There’s no other talk on the streets; we’re all very worried,” said one worker who has toiled in the area’s vineyards for ten years. “I don’t know what I would do without this.” Kevin Phillips is among those who have made the leap, converting one of his generations-old vineyards to an almond orchard.The area has good water supplies — key for thirsty almond trees — and the crop can cost just a quarter of what it does to farm grapes, he said.But one of the major attractions for a farmer is that demand is robust, and selling them is very straightforward.”With wine grapes, you’ve really got to go out there and you’ve got to talk to wineries, you’ve got to make connections, you’ve got to hope that things work, you’ve got to hope that all the stars line up,” he said.”Almonds, you don’t have to talk to anybody. There’s just a demand.”For Phillips, who said he made the difficult decision to rip out his vines after a few bottles of wine, the move is bittersweet.”It’s so much easier” to farm almonds, he said. “And I hate to say this, because I’m a wine guy.”

A major US freeway in California was shut Saturday due to the US Marine Corps firing live artillery over the roadway as part of ceremonies marking its 250th anniversary, an event attended by Vice President JD Vance.The closure of a 17-mile (27-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 5, which links Los Angeles and San Diego, snarled traffic for hours and set off another spat between California’s liberal governor and Republican Donald Trump’s White House.”The President is putting his ego over responsibility with this disregard for public safety,” said Governor Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump critic who is expected to make a White House run in 2028.”Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous.”Signs near the interstate warned on Saturday: “Live weapons over freeway.”The order to shut the freeway came after California Highway Patrol officials warned that live munitions flying overhead would distract drivers on the oceanfront stretch of Interstate 5 near Camp Pendleton.In a statement, the Marine Corps insisted there was no risk to the public.”Artillery pieces have historically been fired during routine training from land-based artillery firing points west of the I-5 into impact areas east of the interstate within existing safety protocols and without the need to close the route,” it said in a statement. “This is an established and safe practice.”The massive Marine exercise featured fighter jet flyovers, amphibious ships, explosions in a simulated village and Navy SEALS dropping into the Pacific Ocean from helicopters.In his address, Vance said the Trump administration was focused on supporting Marines and removing “woke” priorities that he argued have weakened the US armed forces.”When officials try to shift focus to mandating diversity quotas, or they try to inject partisan politics into the American armed forces, they impede the Marine Corps’s ability to do its best work. “And that’s why the secretary of war and the president of the United States have stood so firmly against that crap,” Vance, a Marine veteran, told the assembled troops.The Marine display came the same day that millions took to the streets from coast to coast in the United States to protest the hardline policies of the Trump administration, which have included the dismantling of diversity and equity programs. In June, Trump ordered National Guard troops to Los Angeles to support federal officials in carrying out sweeping immigration raids and to tamp down local protests. The deployment, which also included hundreds of Marines, was criticized by Newsom and local officials, who argued that the relatively small demonstrations could have been easily handled by city and state law enforcement.