Drought Conditions Improve for Colorado Farmers

New numbers from the U.S. Drought Monitor suggest more than half of Colorado is drought-free.

This is significant improvement over this time last year, when nearly the entire state was in some sort of drought condition.

Dan Hobbs owns Hobbs Family Farm, in Avondale. He says farming in southern Colorado hasn’t always been easy.

“The last 14 years, on balance, have been pretty challenging due to the dry conditions,” Hobbs said.

But it appears help may be on the way for Hobbs and his fellow farmers. Heavy rainfall is bringing places, such as Pueblo County, out of the “exceptional drought” category.

“We’ve had some fun problems, and that’s more water than we can actually use,” Hobbs said. “It’s a good problem to have.”

For portions of south east Colorado, drought fears are far from over.

“It takes a long time to get into a drought, and it takes a long time to get out of a drought,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Wolyn.

Hobbs says he understands how vital precipitation can be to agriculture.

“It’s a precious resource, and to the extent possible, we need to figure out solutions to keep that water on the land so we can keep feeding the people of Colorado,” said Hobbs.