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Water, water everywhere??

© Robin Blackburn Jerkins

Yep, summertime's coming up again, and a rancher's mind turns to water supplies. Here in Central Texas, summer means water restrictions and shortages. It means the same thing in lots of other agricultural areas, as well.

Fox News Channel's "Vanishing Freedoms II: Who Owns America?" aired this past weekend (May 26-27) and included several segments on land use restrictions imposed by the government and/or environmental groups. At least one segment featured farmers who were not allowed to use water from a nearby lake for irrigation because the lake is home to a particular species of fish.

I surfed the Internet this past month and found several articles which might be of interest to anyone curious about agriculture and the environment.

The articles are from a site I found thanks to Nol Ward, the "Ol' Rancher" at Ranchwest.com: "www.planetark.org" . While the site contains articles and information about environmentalism in general, there are a few which might be of particular interest to farmers and ranchers.

The first is an article regarding stewardship grants for farmers. Click "here" to check it out.

The second article is about environmental benefits which the U.S. Farm Program seems to have. Click "here" to view it.

The third article I found at planetark.org is a controversial one about ranchers wanting to graze on conservation land. Click "here" to view it.

If you're interested in resource conservation, please check out the list of links I have under "Ecological Ranching." You might find some useful information.

Until then, may the rain fall where you need it.

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