Max Armstrong revisits the California drought, as more of the U.S. is impacted by drought. The latest Drought Monitor map is sobering, despite some improvements in the East. Martin Hein, Kern County, Calif., said some growers are taking almonds out of production and putting in pistachios. That crop lowers the water needs as trees mature, and requires less water. Irrigation is still necessary and some systems are working at only 50 percent capacity. The California water crisis is important to watch, because that state grows more than a third of U.S. vegetables and two-thirds of the nuts.

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Max Armstrong, veteran farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness.