Governor Colyer tours Drought-Stricken SW Kansas

Garden City, KS(westernkansasnews.com) Governor Jeff Colyer visited southwest Kansas on Thursday to tour areas under extreme drought conditions. He first visited Clawson Farms in Plains and then made his way to Gardiner Angus Ranch in Ashland. ‘Colyer called the drought in southwest Kansas and across the state a dire situation.

“Some of the wheat crop is in rough shape and we may lose a significant portion of it and some of the cattle and livestock herds there’s not enough grazing land for them,” said Colyer.

Tuesday Colyer issued drought declarations stating that all 105 Kansas counties are either in an emergency, warning or watch status. All of the southwest Kansas counties are either in drought emergency or warning. Dodge City hasn’t received more than .10 inches in 160 days according to the National Weather Service. Colyer says the reason for the declarations was to address the matter head on.

“We need to get after this early and start moving things forward so that farmers can get better access to CRP land and other opportunities,” said Colyer.

Colyer also admitted that it could be a very tough year, but appreciates how the state is coming together to combat the issue.

“We are learning lessons from our previous experiences,” said Colyer, ” we’re using better technology to manage the water tables better, I’m just very grateful for the ingenuity of Kansans as we face a very difficult situation.”