Art Schaap: Saving the aquifer not helping dairies

Dairyman Art Schaap wants eastern New Mexico to know there is a side-effect to area farmers and ranchers shutting off their wells to conserve water in the Ogallala Aquifer.

"I just want to make sure I am heard," Schaap said in an interview with The News.

Schaap alleges shutting off water wells and taking the associated land out of production has caused a significant rise in cattle feed prices.

"Fields northwest of Cannon Air Force Base produced a lot of feed grain for the area cattle industry," Schaap said. "This shutting off wells has created a feed shortage. Feed prices have gone up more than double."

Dairy feed is made up of different elements, according to Reese Windham of Curry County Fertilizer & Feed. Forage represents about 60% of the mixed ration.

"If they're saying they have to go further to get their forage there might be something to that," Windham said of increased prices. "Most dairies raise their own forage.

"Having to haul in silage from off-farm is prohibitive because it raises the cost of feed significantly."

Ladona Clayton is executive director of the Ogallala Land & Water Conservancy, the agency leading the conservation effort.

"To my knowledge, in visiting with our 10 participating farmers and ranchers, only three of them were growing feed for cattle, and that feed was for a total of three dairies."

Clayton added those three producers were considering transitioning to dryland farming.

The Conservancy has gone into agreements with 10 farmers and ranchers to not use 53 wells on their properties.

Schaap is the dairyman who had to euthanize over 3,000 dairy cattle due to contamination in the aquifer water he used at his dairy southeast of Cannon Air Force Base, the source of the contamination.

PFAS stands for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. They are manufactured chemicals used in products that resist heat, oil, stains and water. The compounds are harmful to humans and animals above certain levels. The compound was used at Cannon in firefighting equipment.

Efforts to conserve water in the Ogallala Aquifer have long been touted as essential to preserving life throughout eastern New Mexico. Schaap said it's also a way to "protect the mission" of Cannon Air Force Base.

At the April 11 meeting of the Curry County Commission, Clayton noted since the wells have been taken out of production there has been "a slight uptick" in the aquifer level.

"A REPI project is what it's called," Schaap said of the conservancy's work. "Farmers and ranchers are paid to not use their wells."

REPI stands for the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program. Its intent is to avoid land use conflict near military installations, according to a Department of Defense website dedicated to the program.

Clayton said the conservancy has paid participating landowners $1.7 million to cease irrigation pumping of the wells.

"This project is not solely funded or supported by REPI," Clayton said. "Other partners ... are the U.S. Department of Agriculture through a regional conservation partnership program, the National Resource Conservation Service, the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts, the Central Curry Soil and Water Conservation District, the Office of the State Engineer, Curry County and the City of Clovis."

Clayton confirmed the REPI project's purpose is "to ensure Cannon Air Force Base has the water needed to continue its mission along with providing water to the community where Cannon resides."

"This program involving Cannon takes feed from the cattle industry in the area," Schaap said. "There can be a wider effect. Southwest Cheese relies on local dairies for their milk."

Schaap believes shutting down the water wells near Cannon is not good for the cattle industry or for Clovis.

Schaap said local dairy farms are selling their cattle and closing down dairies because of high feed costs.

"Some are relocating some are not," Schaap said.

Vance Dewbre of Clovis' Plainsmen Commodities Brokers agrees with Schaap on the fate of some area dairies.

"It's causing some of my friends and customers to go out of business or sell their businesses," Dewbre said. "They're producing milk for below cost."

But Dewbre said the problem is widespread drought that is leading to higher fuel prices.

"From Four Corners to east Texas, north to western Kansas, I've never seen such a severe drought," Dewbre said. "Our average rainfall is 17 inches a year, we're nowhere near that. We've had just 9/10ths of an inch since January. It's a desperate situation we're seeing."

Dewbre described the closing of the wells around Cannon as a contributing factor to the area feed shortage.

"The holding of that water is going to ensure Cannon has water but I don't know that it's going to do anything for the area," Dewbre said.

"A lot of the local dairies do source feed from north and west of Clovis," Dewbre said. "With the lack of rain they can't grow a dryland crop."

Dewbre said feed prices are up due to high fuel prices and the drought on top of that has built the perfect storm.

"We get shipments from wherever. I'm bringing in alfalfa from Mexico," Dewbre said. "I know of hay that's traveling out of Wyoming and Montana. Product movement usually goes north; you don't bring in products from that region."