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Water-stressed Arizona says state will end leases to Saudi-owned alfalfa farm

Saudi Arabia banned growing alfalfa and other green fodder crops within its own borders in 2018 in a bid to relieve pressure on the kingdom’s water resources.

(Rebecca Noble | The New York Times file photo) A Fondomente alfalfa field in Butler Valley, Ariz., on July 27, 2023. An Arizona farm owned by a Saudi Arabian company that grows alfalfa for export is set to lose its access to state land in a move Gov. Katie Hobbs said would “protect Arizona’s water future.”