Drought Help For Ranchers

By: Stacey Kaisers.kaiser@krdo.com

FALCON – Drought from 2002 to 2005. Devastating blizzards in 2006. Now, it’s drought again. Farmers and ranchers in eastern Colorado need help, and it looks like they could get it. The August rains helped out quite a bit, giving cattle at least some grass to graze on. But ranchers are still nervous as summer comes to an end and winter approaches.

“They’re all struggling. The land, the lack of water; it just makes everything a lot harder,” said Big R Employee and Rancher Kerry Baucher. Baucher and her family have a farm and ranch in eastern Colorado. They have spent about $1500 more a month this summer on hay to feed their cattle and horses. “We’ve had to cut back on our cow heard a lot. We’ve sold I don’t know how many, but more than we’d like too because we don’t have the land to sustain them,” said Baucher.

Many farmers and ranchers are in the same boat. This is why Governor Ritter has declared 22 Colorado counties as primary natural disaster areas. The drought extends from I-25 to Kansas, and from the New Mexico border north to Lincoln County. The goal of this declaration is to help farmers and ranchers get through the winter by providing them with low interest loans.

Under the program, farmers and ranchers will have to prove their loss to get emergency loans. You can find out if you are eligible by checking with your Farm Service Agency Office.

For a complete list of counties included in the natural disaster areas, click here.