Crop conditions are a matter of geographic luck for eastern Colorado farmers.
North of Interstate 70: looking good. South of I-70: not so great.
After years of drought in the early 2000s, the northeastern quadrant of the state has enjoyed generally good moisture and bountiful harvests.
The same good fortune hasn’t graced southeastern Colorado, where drought persists.
With wheat and corn prices at healthy levels, that means northern farmers are earning more and injecting more into the regional economy than their southern counterparts.
“The dividing line seems to be I-70, and the difference (in moisture) has been pretty dramatic,” said Darrell Hanavan, executive director of the Colorado Association of Wheat Growers.
A case in point: Logan County in the northeast had an average wheat yield of 44.7 bushels per acre in 2010. Baca County, in the southeastern corner, had a yield of 33 bushels per acre.
“I’ve always joked,” Hanavan said, “that the solution is to relocate I-70 further south.”
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
