2016 Series: Farming in the Arid West

From droughts to contamination, our water supply is precarious

By Casey Holland | Where does our water come from? Too few of us in the United States ask this question as we turn on our faucets and partake in a seemingly limitless supply of clean drinking water.

I can see my watershed, I can ski my watershed

By Tyler Hoyt | Living close to the mountains has advantages, like being able to physically see the source of our water and look after it.

Playing caveman hydro-engineer

By Harrison Topp | It’s still a surprise to a lot of people that we straight-up don’t get enough precipitation to grow most crops. We are reliant on the water that comes out of the mountains from melting snow.

Meet Casey: "I’ve finally found the farm I hope to spend the rest of my life on"

By Casey Holland | After I grew up and went to college, I rapidly realized the importance of agriculture as a means to directly address some of the most pernicious challenges facing my community.

Meet Nery: "I never thought I was going to be a farmer"

By Nery Martínez | Just because you’ve never worked with a shovel doesn’t mean you can’t become a farmer.

Meet Tyler: "We want to spend our lives devoted to a piece of land"

By Tyler Hoyt | We had been dreaming about owning a farm. We wanted long-term returns on our investments into the land, and ownership was the only way to partially guarantee this far-sighted approach.