dave baker's been farming h san joaquin county walnut orchard since 1978. ... and bit differently than his fa in law did back in 1944. dave baker - walnut grower/n when you look at this field have to understand this fies laser leveled. it's what wel 'table top so perfectly flat... he irrigates it much more efficiently.. using inches water... not feet. dave baker - walnut grower/n we put on the same amount of water they do in a drip sysm or a micro sprinkler systeme difference in this one is y get more ground water rechae out of flood irrigation. as efficient as it is, n part to the his father in law did in 194, when you look at the field, this field is tabletop. >> so perfectly flat he irrigates more early using inches of water not feet. >> we use the water that they use in a drip system. you get more ground water recharge out of flood irrigation. as efficient as it is, next month baker is converting to a water stingy sprinkler system. but the trees need 32 inches of water to survive. this year he's only getting 24 inches of his normal allotment, he will have t

. >> reporter: dave baker has been farming his san joaquin walnut orchard since 1978 and differently than his father-in- law in 1944. >> when you look at this field, you have to understand that this field is laser level. it's what we call tabletop. >> reporter: so perfectly flat, he irrigates it much more efficiently using inches of water not feet. >> we put on the same amount of water they do in a drip system or a microdrip system. the difference is you get more ground water recharge out of flood irrigation. >> reporter: as efficient as it is, next month thanks in part to the drought, baker's converting to an even more water-stingy sprinkler system. but every year, drought or no drought, the trees still need 32 inches of water to survive. this year, baker's only getting 24" of his normal allotment. so he will have to buy the rest from other farmers willing to give up their share. >> you know, most people don't realize how much water it takes to grow their food. for example, to grow one single almond, it takes one gallon of water. to grow a single head of lettuce, it takes 3.5 gallon

we're growing nuts. >> reporter: because of the drought this year, dave baker says growers in california will be forced to let 500- to 600,000 acres sit idle sending food prices skyrocketing. they agree the solution is more storage of the rain we get. >> the long term solution we have to work on. there's no overnight solution to a drought except more rain. >> reporter: but for now, about the best we can do is hope next year's el nino prediction bears fruit. and as paul deanno will tell us, that el nino is a prediction, not a forecast. >> it doesn't surprise me people don't know how much water it takes to grow food. why is it that people think farmers can cut back so easily? >> we often here that agriculture uses 80% of the water in california? it's more like 80% of the developed water. if we talk about all the water in the state about 50% goes to environmental, ecological uses. the rivers and the streamings. the rest, about 40% of that goes to farming and 10% to our urban use. >> there you go. at least only so much. >> reporter: if you want to eat, got to have water. >> thanks for that.

dave, thank you. >> prospecting for bitcoins. joining us on the set, ed core in chief gerry baker. the state of education, jobs in america. america. [ male announcer ] when fixed income experts... ♪ ...work with equity experts... who work with regional experts... that's when expertise happens. mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration. does. >>> prospecting for bitcoins. how so-called mining for virtual currency could get easier. the prospects for gold. the precious metal rallies after the jobs report. should investors expect more volatility? >>> and platinum picks. stocks that could add wealth to your portfolio. it's monday, april 7th, 2014. and "squawk box" begins right now. >>> good morning and welcome back to "squawk box". take a look at futures on this monday morning. see how things are setting themselves up for the day. can't say it's a good situation. could turn itself around. dow 22 points off. nasdaq down 18 points. s&p down as well. 4.5 points. 10-year, take a look at the 10-year. we flip the screen around. $2.719% is the number. reorganizing management f