On Risa in DS9's Let He Who Is Without Sin..., we learn about weather control satellites, and how they can take a normally rain drenched world like Risa and turn it into a sunny paradise. Well, that has me thinking (always a dangerous thing!)

In agriculture, farmers have calculated the amount of water crops need in order to produce various crops (corn needs a set amount while another crop, such as soy, needs another). This means that they can figure out beforehand how much water to allocate for farming and, based on weather, account for the amount of water received from storms and such into those figures.

But with a planet wide network of satellites in place to ensure that it's a lovely day in, say, San Francisco, how do they handle agricultural needs for water? Do they control air currents to allow storms to sweep the midwest at specific times? Or is the vast majority of water pumped from rivers, lakes, and even desalinated sea water?

I know I know someone's going to comment about the numerous agricultural worlds. I get that, but keep in mind that usually these agricultural worlds are being established in order to allow growth in the future, and so will eventually use that agricultural base to feed its population. I'm asking how Earth creates enough biomass to either feed itself naturally or use it as raw stock for replicators.

Another thought, since I have you here, is how natural food is seen compared to replicated food. I ask because we see mostly replicated food and it's consumed in mass, but for the majority of Starfleet, they replicate food and move on. Is natural food a delicacy? Or is it just considered something for special occasions?