Drought devastates agriculture

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Dale Sipes, 58, has farmed in northern Colorado his entire life and he's "never seen anything like this year" in terms of drought and poor-looking crops.

The Wellington-area farmer raises corn, sugar beets, pinto beans and alfalfa on irrigated land, but even with the ditches running full he can't get enough water to his crops. With some crops, the little rain that fell this spring caused the seeds to sprout. Then, since Sipes couldn't get irrigation water to the entire farm quickly enough, the seeds died in the ground.

"We've had no help from Mother Nature," Sipes said. He's also frustrated that the ditch company, North Poudre Irrigation Co., turned off the ditches the week of June 12, a critical time for crops, when temperatures hit 100 degrees. Although he understands that the ditch companies are in a tight spot, he would like to get as much water on his crops now as possible. "We need to get the crops up and growing," Sipes said, "or we sure as heck won't need the irrigation water later in the season."

The mood among farmers and ranchers has been nothing short of cranky this year. The hot, dry weather may be uncomfortable for city folks, but for farmers it's downright devastating. The Colorado Climate Center, based at Colorado State University, is calling the current conditions along the Front Range a "severe drought."

One-two punch

Farmers and ranchers were dealt a hard one-two punch this spring and summer. First, despite a good snowpack early in the winter, the runoff was a big disappointment. George Varra, river commissioner for the Cache la Poudre, said the river peaked early on May 23 at just 1,800 cubic feet per second, compared to an average of 3,000 cfs. As a result, senior water rights were satisfied but there was little left for the junior rights.

The second punch came with hot, windy weather, along with precipitation that's just half of normal to date. The combination has dried up pastures, raised the price of hay and put early demands on irrigation water. It has also caused major evaporation from reservoirs and shrink--ground absorption --in the irrigation ditches.

The upshot: Cattle producers are feeding hay when the cattle should be eating pasture grass, and some may have to sell part of their herds. Farmers like Sipes had trouble getting their crops up and now can't keep them growing.

The pasture situation is "very, very bad," according to Howard Diehl who farms and raises cattle northeast of Wellington. Even if it rains soon, it will be too late for some of the grasses, he said. Diehl is trying to raise hay on irrigated ground, but it's drying out fast in the wind and extreme heat.

If the situation continues, he said, "we'll have to make a decision, whether to feed the cattle or sell them. When everyone has to sell, they're not worth much."

Wayne Kruse, general manager of Centennial Livestock Auction, said hay is selling anywhere from $100 to $275 per ton, which is $80 to $100 higher than in late April. Cattlemen are at the point where they're starting to sell some animals because they're out of feed, he said.

Mike Gillespie, snow survey supervisor for Colorado, said the snowpack dwindled dramatically from April 1 to May 1. In the Poudre drainage, snowpack was 104 percent of average on April 1 and just 70 percent of average on May 1. The primary reason was the lack of precipitation in April, he said, although evaporation and absorption by the soil likely played a role.

"The lack of precipitation in April and May can be a pretty significant factor," he said, since the Front Range relies on those months to produce a significant amount of the spring runoff.

Steve Smith, manager of North Poudre Irrigation Co., said it will be a challenge to make the company's water stretch through the season. Part of the problem is the long-term drought and subsequent dry soils, he said.

"The biggest reservoir that's depleted is the subsoil," he pointed out. It took several years to dry out the subsoil, and Smith expects recovery to take several years as well - assuming some moisture arrives to make it happen. Shrink in the ditches is currently in excess of 50 percent.

"Nothing has worked very well this year," said Smith. "It's going to be a challenging summer."

With the combined bad news, "It's a serious situation right now," said Diehl.