Click the link to read the article on The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel website (Dan West). Here’s an excerpt:
October 27, 2024
On Tuesday, The Water for Colorado Coalition hosted several tours along the Colorado River corridor looking at different water conservation projects. The last stop was at the CSU Western Colorado Research Center where Dr. Perry Cabot, a research scientist with CSU, is conducting trials on alternative forage or hay crops.
“If (growers are) trying to ride out a really rough cropping season or they know it’s going to be rough for the foreseeable future, which we do,” Cabot said, “how can they actually get something growing on that land that doesn’t require the consumptive use demand of alfalfa?”
Hunter Doyle with The Land Institute is working with Cabot and several Colorado growers to help answer that question. They told the group they are looking at crops that produce good yield while potentially using less water or have the ability to bounce back better after experiencing drought. One crop in particular, Kernza, is of interest because it can produce both hay and grain, Doyle said…
“Most of what we use the Colorado River Basin water for is agriculture, and most of that is to grow hay,” [Hannah] Holm said. “So, the grand theory is if we can find alternatives, you can take some pressure off the system and off rivers. That’s why American Rivers cares about this.”