Dryland alfalfa farmers suffering heavy crop damage from this summer’s drought have already met the criteria to possibly receive compensation from federal farm-disaster programs, agriculture officials report.

"We met the thresholds meaning all together, alfalfa crops in the county suffered over a 35-percent loss," said Paul White, director for the Montezuma County Farm Service Agency. "We applied under the category of significant economic losses to the county because of drought conditions."

Alfalfa production in Montezuma County this year will take a hit of between 36 and 38 percent this year because of unusually dry conditions. That is an economic loss of approximately $3 million in revenue.

The non-insured assistance program requires counties to figure in non-irrigated and irrigated alfalfa production, including mixed forage and grass hay, when applying for aid. Factoring out irrigated fields reveals that dryland hay farmers will suffer an 80 percent loss in their crops this year, White said.

Once the area is approved for loss, the disaster-assistance subsidy, which is based on 60 percent of market value for half the total crop, will take up to 90 days to filter to individual farmers. Officials say that this year, many Colorado counties are applying for the federal disaster aid.

Under the Farm Act of 1996, individual producers are eligible for federal drought-relief funds if they lose half their crop due to weather-related disaster. This season 113 farmers met, or predict that they will meet, the criteria. Their applications were sent off this week to the Montezuma County Farm Service Agency, the committee responsible for reviewing the claims and obtaining the funds.

Farmers with uninsured crops of garbanzo beans and Anasazi beans may also become eligible for assistance if no significant rain falls soon, White said.

Since May, precipitation has been 60 percent of normal, leaving dryland farmers in trouble. The pinto-bean crop is hanging tough, said buyer Denise Pribble, general manager of Adobe Beans, but without a soaking rain soon, the yields will be low.

"Some fields are looking like goners; most farmers are holding their breath because right now it is critical for rain," Pribble said. "Usually they produce 5-6 sacks per acre, but this year it looks like two or less."

Most bean farmers take out crop insurance, she said, and last year’s bumper crop of pinto beans will work to improve insurance compensation, which is based on prices averaged over the last three years.

This year’s wheat crop, also typically insured, is hurting this year, too, according to the Southwest Colorado Ag Research Center in Yellow Jacket.

A dry fall kept winter wheat from germinating before the winter snows, and when it finally did germinate in March, a dry spring and summer stunted its overall growth, leading to poor yields for the recent harvest.

The drought not only hurts farmers and helps to fuel massive wildfires, it also taxes water supplies at McPhee Reservoir. Irrigation demand is up this year compared to last, reports John Porter, Dolores Water Conservancy District manager.

Since May 1, pumps at the Dove Creek canal have drawn a total of 40,000 acre-feet of water from McPhee, compared to 27,000 acre-feet at the same time last year.

"It is up, but the water is there," Porter said. "What worries us is the effect (the drought) will have on filling the reservoir next year."

The common weather cycle for the Southwest that contributes to monsoon rains in July and August has been altered this year, according to the National Weather Service. Usually a huge, clockwise-moving high-pressure zone in the Gulf of Mexico funnels tropical rainshowers up into the Southwest, but this year that high pressure shifted its position and is now parked on top of the Four Corners, blocking the moist air from entering.

"It happens about once every five years," said Chris Cuoco, a forecaster for the National Weather Service. "It is shunting all the moisture from this area."

The long-term, 30- to 90-day forecast shows that pattern holding, Cuoco said, meaning little reprieve from hot, dry conditions.