According to recent the U.S. Drought Monitor data, almost 48% of the the contiguous U.S. is experiencing moderate to extreme drought. But conditions in the Four Corners Region are extremely dire. For example, over 91% of Colorado is officially in drought, while almost six and a half precent of the state is abnormally dry, and only 2.5% of the state is free of drought. These problems stem from the state experiencing its warmest winter on record, which caused the lowest snowpack levels ever recorded. Statewide reservoir levels are sitting at an average of 57% full, which is 17% lower than the historical average for this time of year. But the other Four Corners states are also having problems. For example, 100% of Utah is experiencing some form of drought according to the Utah Division of Water Resources, but Utah's reservoir system is currently sitting at 57% of capacity, 17% below normal for this time of year. Although we often think of Arizon as being hot and dry, as of the beginning of August, 89% of Arizona is experiencing short-term drought conditions or abnormal dryness due in part to beneficial summer monsoon rainfall throughout July. New Mexico is also dry, but monsoonal rains helped to provide some temporary relief, but now,approximately 94% of the state is in drought. Climate scientists note that this extended time frame is part of the driest two decade period in the American Southwest in at least 1,200 years.
With the current downturn in the farm economy, one might think that land prices would decrease, but according to the USDA annual Land Values Summary Report, both cropland and pasture and farm buildings, averaged $4,500 per acre this year. That’s up $150 an acre from last year. “Since 2022, the average value of cropland has risen from $4,940 per acre nationally to $6,020, an increase of 21.8%.
Although thre has been a lot of discussion about the downside of relocating thousands of Department of Agriculture employees from the U.S. capital to the hinderland, the Trump Administration is bound and determined to do just that. The USDA plans to move more than half of its 4,600 Washington-area employees to regional offices as part of a broader reorganization that it says will better tailor its services to farmers and ranchers. The rest of the agency’s 77,000 personnel already work outside of the region. There is concern that this move will encourage seasoned staff to leave the agency, rather than to uproot their lives and families.
Artificial intelligence is the darling of the technology sector, with hundreds of new data centers on the drawing boards or in the process of being built. But folks in the hinderland are asking, “where will all of the water for these centers need come from? Water in rural America is already in demad for agricultural crop and livestock production. There is concern that new data centers, funded by million and billionairs has become the defining technology story of the decade. So if super-financed data centers come calling, where will livestock and crop producers stand when these water hog centers plop themselves down in rural communities? As a society, we probably should be careful of what we wish for.
An old proverb comes to mind, "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it."
