justin greer says this time of year there's usually a few inches of grass. instead, he's paying high prices for hay and shipping cattle at lighter weights, meaning less beef on each animal and officially higher prices. beef has already been expensive due to droughts in texas. >> beef isn't and has never wanted to be the low-cost protein alternative. we want to be the best protein alternative. but with everything there's a breaking point. >> reporter: what's causing all this dryness? i mean, high fire danger in january is unheard of. there is a very large, very stubborn high pressure system off the west coast causing this. it's four miles high and 2,000 miles long. farmer mark borba has so little water available he's letting a third of his land go to dust this year. this is where most of the nation's fresh vegetables are grown, things like lettuce. expect let lettuce and higher prices for it in the short term. >> our populations have gone from 16 million people to 38 million people, and we've not built a new reservoir to capture the abundance of our snow pack

. >> reporter: rancher justin greer tells nbc no rain means no grass for cattle to graze on, and that means spending more on feed. >> a lot of guys are going to have to reduce their cow herd by significant amounts, 20%, 30%, 50%, just to continue moving forward. >> reporter: for california's vibrant vineyards, less rain means fewer grapes. >> the availability could become less. it might mean that i produce a little less wine until we get some decent rainfall again. >> reporter: in a part of the country known for growing food, the impact of an extreme drought runs deeper than the flimsy snow pack now lining the sierra nevada mountains. >> it does affect you, if you want low food prices and high-quality food. >> reporter: california's governor is asking people to voluntarily conserve water, but he is considering a mandatory conservation order. some cities are already placing strict restrictions on water use. erica? >> joe fryer in los angeles. joe, thanks. >>> want to talk now about sweeping changes that could be coming to the way this country spies on its citizens and allies. reactions

. >> reporter: rancher justin greer tells cnbc no rain means no grass for cattle to graze on, and thateans spend morgue on feed. >> a lot of guys have to reduce their cow herd by significant amounts, 20, 30, 50%, just to continue moving forward. >> reporter: for california's vibrant vineyards, less rain means fewer grapes. >> the availability could become less, might mean i produce a little less wine, until we get some decent rainfall again. >> reporter: in a part of the country known for growing food, the impact of an extreme drought runs deeper than the flimsy snow pack now lining the sierra nevada mountains. >> it does affect you, if you want low food prices and high quality food. >> california's governor is asking people to voluntarily conserve water, but if things don't get better, it could become mandatory. some cities and municipalities are already putting restrictions on water use. alex? >> okay. joe fryer, thank you very much for that update. >>> let's go now to the bizarre case of a "wall street journal" energy reporter, who went for a stroll near his home in northern new jer

carlos greer writes for "people" magazine. >> justin was groomed by the best.formance, you see usher in justin bieber. ♪ >> bieber would break records just months after the release of his first album. in 2010, his song "baby" became the most watched youtube video ever. >> when justin released his first single, he became a superstar. he had fans running after him. he had to increase his security. so he immediately just had this wild life. >> bieber was stealing the spotlight from taylor swift at madison square garden. appearing on dick clark's new year's eve show. and performing for the president. >> i've done a lot of cool things. i got to present at the grammys. present at the vmas. but probably performing for the president is one of the coolest things. >> but to america, bieber was cool. his haircut was copied by kids across the country and his presence would send girls screaming. >> bieber mania went crazy. bieber mania exploded. the girls went crazy. everywhere he went, he was mobbed. malls, mobbed. >> he was like the michael jackson of his time. fans liter

greer has covered bieber's career. he says when it comes to the bieber persona, cute is out, edgy is in. >> justin apparently was living fast life in miami. living the rock star lifestyle, going to strip clubs, drinking, apparently doing drugs. >> the next night, thursday, bieber is back in party mode. this time, seen in these tmz photos. then he and his wingman sharif hit the streets. sharif posts photos of them cruising miami in luxury sports car. sharif's, a ferrari, bieber, a yellow lamborghini. police say two black suvs block off pine tree drive, empty, except for bieber and sharif. then, according to police, they race down the residential street until just after 4:00 a.m. >> oh, my god! justin got pulled over. >> flashing lights, seen in this tmz video, police spot the duelling cars. >> an officer on active patrol noticed two vehicles racing north bound on 26 and pine tree. thank goodness he was able to pull them over at 41st street. he smelled alcohol on his breath, as well as the cannibis. >> they had been going 55 to 60 miles per hour, twice the posted speed limit according to this arrest affidavit. >> he was