Credit Luke Runyon / KUNC and Harvest Public Media
Fourth generation farmer Kent Peppler will have a hard time securing irrigation water this year. The ongoing drought has forced cities to hold on to their supplies, leaving farmers like Peppler to fallow some of his fields in Mead, Colorado.
Farmers throughout the Great Plains are preparing for what could be a tough growing season. They’re in a tight spot with irrigation water, due to the region’s persistent drought.
When the Bartlett Grain Co. elevator exploded in Atchison, Kansas in October 2011, the town’s 11,000 residents knew it immediately. People who live miles away from the elevator still talk about pictures jumping off walls.
