Farm1 wrote:
....
We've been regularly watching a TV show called 'American Pickers' and part
of the charm of this show for us is the countryside they travel through. So
far we've seen the 2 chaps travel in Tenn., Idaho, Iowa, Ken., Ill., and
Wisc., (sorry if the abbreviations aren't right) and we are just astonished
at how rich and lush the background countryside is. If they were doing
simialar driving here and were that far from the sea, they'd have coveres
some lush country but a hell of a lot of it would be sub-marginal country.

When your country hits the wall with droughts in large slabs of that lush
country, then manybe your conservatives will also begin to see the light.
Here it was our farmers who started the push because they lived with land
degradation and you know how conservative they are politically and socially.

the entire desert southwest is living on the
edge of water deprivation. this past winter
did not give them much snow pack so this year
irrigation water will be limited to southern
California (where much produce is grown).

the states you mention are mostly eastern
(other than Idaho) or borderline prairie. those
are rich habitats that get enough rain to be
ok without irrigation most seasons. they do
get periods of drought, but not often.

we are fortunate here for water in the mid-
west. this small chunk of property has a two
ditches through it that run almost constantly.
the water table is high. i also try to capture
most of the heavy rainfall runoff that i can to
let it soak in. i figure it is better to
recharge the groundwater and well here via as
many means as possible otherwise we might end up
with salt water like many of the surrounding
neighbors (old seabed here with layers of salt
and coal below).

i have yet to see much change in the way of
farmers here respecting water quality. i wish
i could say different.


songbird