Kansas farmers’ concerns grow as drought looms on

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The drought impacting much of Kansas is leaving some farmers with tough decisions to make on what to do with their crops if rain doesn’t come.

Clay Scott has been farming in Ulysses for many years. He said he can’t remember a time as dry as this.

“This kind of drought is unreal, I think we went 250 days last year with less than an inch of rain. This is our third year of drought, so we’re getting used to it in a sad way,” said Scott.

He said his crops are suffering and he predicts he’ll lose about 95 percent of wheat this year.

“Our corn circles here are limited water, and we’re going to plant milo for the first time in what seems like decades,” said Scott.

Scott said conditions have gotten so bad that it’s not just the lack of water from above he’s worried about but the water below.

“We share the water on this pivot with four others actually and really stretch our water trying to be as efficient as we can,” said Scott.

Their hope is to keep their crops alive just a bit longer.

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to do is just buy ourselves a few more weeks till the weather gets better,” said Scott.

But no matter the weather conditions, Scott said he won’t quit.

“We’re still trying to grow crops out here, we’re still trying to harvest,” Scott said.

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