IGNACIO – As state negotiators haggle over who will reduce their use of the over-allocated Colorado River, the farmers who ultimately have to implement the inevitable cuts to water consumption are strategizing how to meet that challenge.
Why aren’t farmers just planting crops that use less water?
That’s what Greg Peterson, executive director of the Colorado Agriculture Water Alliance called “the big question” during a panel on innovative solutions for agriculture Wednesday at the Southwestern Water Conservation District’s 40th annual water seminar.
Becky Mitchell, the state’s top water negotiator and Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg were among those gathered at the Sky Ute Casino and Resort in Igancio for the seminar, titled “Fluid Horizons: Navigating the Waters of Innovation.”
“There’s no shortage of produce (or) grains out there that use very little water,” Peterson said.
But large-scale crop-switching “ain’t pretty.”
New crops demand new labor skills, expensive new equipment and different processing facilities. And the market for new, water-efficient crops might be small or nonexistent.
“(It’s a) misconception that farmers are market-makers,” said Perry Cabot, a research and extension leader with Colorado State University. “Farmers are market-takers.”
Over four years, the state has directed $30 million toward Colorado Soil Health Program, which facilitates the integration of voluntary, incentive-based solutions for soil health, Greenberg said.
Greg Vlaming runs a soil health consulting business in Lewis, north of Cortez, and works with farmers to take advantage of some of the state’s incentives. Farmers who install soil moisture sensors see the water-saving benefits of improved soil health, he said. The programs help purchase new equipment that minimize the number of passes a farmer must make over a field, or introduce diverse crops with different rooting characteristics.
Although the financial incentives are not huge, just $5,000 in matching funds per farmer, the practices shift the paradigm and get farmers thinking more about soil health, Vlaming said.
But other funding and partners are available to help, Peterson emphasized. And the support is necessary – simply asking farmers to experiment with less water-intensive crops, such as the perennial wheat grass Kernza, does not work.
“You’re wasting everybody’s time if you’re saying, ‘Hey all of you, let’s go grow some Kernza,’” he said.
Instead, the entities pushing for the adoption of more drought-resistant crops need to teach farmers how to farm them. Peterson points to Colorado Mills in Lamar as an example. The company struggled for five years to teach producers to grow sunflowers for sunflower oil before the operation really succeeded.
In Southwest Colorado, Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch Enterprise in Towaoc has been a champion partner. The managers of the 7,700-acre farm planted 23 acres of Kernza and 23 acres of sainfoin, a forage legume, last year.
The plot was ugly, said the farm’s hay manager, Eric Whyte. The farmers are still not quite sure how to plant the seeds correctly or manage the weeds. But, Whyte said he is intent on trying again this year.
Farmers such as Whyte are pioneers, Peterson said (the irony of the statement was not lost on him).
“This is where we’re at with alternative crops,” Peterson said. “If you’re willing to try, we can find the resources to really support you.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
