🍊 Are AZ’s Five C’s still driving the state…

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Fri Apr 18 2025

Shaun McKinnon | Environment Editor and Storytelling Coach

@shaunmckinnon

Hey readers,

I’m Shaun Mckinnon , The Republic’s environmental editor and storytelling coach.

About a year ago, we set out to explore one of the most uniquely Arizona things, a part of the state’s history that school kids still study: the Five C’s.

If you went to school here, you probably memorized the Five C’s. Climate, Copper, Citrus, Cattle and Cotton. You probably learned that they were once seen as the foundational elements of the state’s economy, the pistons and spark plugs of Arizona’s engine.

But are they still? That’s the question our environment and climate team wanted to answer. Are the Five C’s still central to what keeps our state chugging along? And how have they changed over the last century, as the state has grown into what it is today?

The short answer is: The Five C’s are still alive and well, though maybe not at the same scope they once were. At least two other C’s have emerged as important parts of our economy in recent years: Construction and, most recently, Chips, as in computer components.

But we found cattle ranchers who are still helping keep agriculture at the forefront of what makes Arizona run, and in the first our 5 C’s stories, which start in today’s Arizona Republic, reporter Brandon Loomis introduces you to some of those families.

“I don’t know anything else,”  Kitty Lyman, a 26-year-old rancher, told Brandon. “We learn how to work hard. You’ve got a community with lots of people that think alike. I enjoy being around animals and working outside.”

Copper remains a critical part of our economy. Arizona produces much of the nation’s copper and, as demand grows, the output will, too.

Other stories will show you some of these industries have evolved over time, particularly cotton — farmers have found niches in organic cotton and seeds — and citrus, whose groves were slowly pushed out of metro Phoenix by development.

The C that was most difficult to define today was climate. Our story on how the state’s leaders once tried to lure people to Arizona for its clean air and pleasant, warm weather is fascinating, even as that weather warms faster.

We hope you’ll come away from these stories with a better understanding of the Five C’s and maybe learn a few things they never taught you in school.

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And if you like what you read, we’d like to invite you to subscribe to our weekly climate and environment newsletter. It’ll arrive in your inbox every Tuesday morning with insight into stories we’ve written and stories we’re working on, along with extras from our team. You can find the sign-up link here.

‘C’ is for Climate: How the force that built Arizona’s ‘sunshiny’ frontier turned deadly

‘C’ is for Citrus: Arizona staple isn’t what it was, but some see promise in niche operations

‘C’ is for Cotton: ‘Still pretty mighty’ AZ growers turn focus to seeds, organic crops

‘C’ is for Copper: If it isn’t still king, it remains a royal growth industry in Arizona

‘C’ is for Cattle: Arizona ranchers endure drought, volatile prices, urban encroachmentAZ Climate: Sign up for our newsletter