He was living near Cleveland when his arthritis bothered him so that he pulled up stakes in 1947 and landed at Pasadena. They called it “Iowa By The Sea” and held an annual picnic that drew 100,000 Tall Corn State expatriates.Ĭhris Meyers’s dad was like them. Back then, they were bound for Long Beach and its naval port for jobs. Our trip tracked that of Iowans who flocked West, a la Grapes of Wrath, during the Dust Bowl. Over the past two weeks we drove, videographer John Russell of Ohio and I, 2,800 miles from Storm Lake to Huntington Beach, Calif., (Surf City, USA) and back. But that’s not how it always shakes out, as the lines at the sale barns testify. That seems to be the prevailing attitude. It’s always been tough eking out a living against the wind. The Colorado River that slakes Phoenix and Las Vegas is running full from a seres of 14 atmospheric river bombs that laid destruction up and down the Pacific Coast. The Republican River in Kansas and Nebraska is a trickle. The Ogallala Aquifer is running out of water from irrigating corn out in the dust and rocks, and running those center pivots for alfalfa - not to mention the cattle and people who need a drink. The world’s top scientists aren’t certain what’s around the bend except for this: human activity is cooking the Great Plains and Southwest. Sure, Colby might have found a bit of spring relief but are you willing to bet the farm that it won’t dry out this summer? This drought has been going on for 20 to 30 years, and could run another 20 or 30. Iowa is maxed out on pork production, much of it bound for an Asian population demanding more protein.Ĭorn is becoming too expensive for ethanol. It means higher food prices going forward. Out West, water and land are the two main limiting factors for young operators to jump in. The average age of an American farmer is 60. Fewer cattle mean higher hamburger prices, even at the sale barn mess hall. Corn has doubled in price through this drought. ![]() When you can’t grow corn in Kansas you have to haul it in from Iowa to finish steers in the huge feedlots owned by the big meatpackers or corporate barons. Down the Great Western Cattle Trail from Dodge City to Amarillo, it’s in “exceptional drought,” the worst level, according to the March 30 National Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska. Colby has seen relief in recent rains but remains in drought. Do you plant corn this year? The LaNiña hot-dry weather pattern of the past three years appears to have relented. We Iowans get alarmed if corn doesn’t hit 200 bushels per acre dressed with petrochemicals in black, spongy soil. The corn last year was puny, 20 to 30 bushels per acre when 90 bushels are the norm on non-irrigated High Plains land. Without water, the pastures around Colby, Kan., turn brown and patchy. Supreme Court in a contest with Arizona over demands to make water accessible to the tribe. “Our leaders long ago fought for our right to our homeland, including the right to water, the right to life,” said Navajo Nation leader Chrystaline Curry, following March 22 arguments before the U.S. “And the government is fighting us tooth and nail.” “Water is life,” said Vidal Garcia, who runs cattle in the south of the valley. “Water is life,” Jackson said as he walked off toward Jackie. The trailers lined up for miles last fall at sale barns across the vast expanse of cattle country - from Texas up to North Dakota, and from Kansas to California - as everyone downsized, and many just shook the manure off their boots and got out. It’s not easy when the creek runs dry, as it has for decades on the Great Plains, the Rockies and the Southwest in an extended drought not witnessed in more than a millenium. His 17-year-old brother intends to run cattle, too. He believes his family has a good reputation at the bank. He’s smart, with an animal science degree from Trinidad State University. “A lot of people are getting out,” said Jackson, who works with his father and grandpa. The 19-year-old cattleman can’t justify feeding her in this drought, where water-intensive alfalfa is a precious commodity held back for 150 pairs of cows and calves running his family’s 1,500 acres in the San Luis Valley just off the Front Range of the Rockies. He had to put his best saddle on her for show at Valley Livestock Auction near Monte Verde, Colo. Gene Jackson hated to part with his 10-year-old mule Jackie.
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