Ritter seeks drought relief

Posted by egable on June 24th, 2008 filed in Agriculture

Gov. Bill Ritter (D) today asked the federal government for drought relief for farmers and ranchers in four southeast Colorado counties. Despite the above-average snowfall in the Colorado mountains this past winter, some parts of southeast Colorado have seen only 19 percent of normal precipitation.

Specifically, Ritter is seeking permission for immediate haying and grazing on federal Conservation Reserve Program acres for farmers and ranchers in Baca, Bent, Kiowa and Prowers counties.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture and Division of Wildlife “will work together to ensure that immediate haying and grazing be conducted in a manner consistent with sound wildlife management practices,” he wrote in a letter to the federal Farm Service Agency.