Unless something is done the impact will be a dramatic reduction in agricultural output affecting producers, and the local and regional economics. The question then becomes what transformation paths are available to the region and how to choose among them. Given exogenously set input supply prices and commodity demands, certain changes will be more attractive than others. Within the set of possible transformations this study will concentrate on those that are economically optimal from the farmers viewpoint, that is, those maximizing net revenue in the short or long run. Inventory the natural resources in the region involved in agriculture.
Agricultural production requires land, water and solar energy along with other variable inputs.
For High Plains agriculture, land, solar energy and that part of the water requirement derived from rainfall, are fixed geographically. Besides crop agriculture, these resources have other potential uses from wilderness or hunting areas to cattle range, all the way to urban uses. On the High Plains, due to its location and climate, most of the area does not have a higher value alternative than crops, so crop agriculture need only compete with range. The climate of the region is semi-arid, limiting natural vegetation and crop growth due to limited annual and seasonal water availability. There are no significant sources of surface water with which to supplement the limited rainfall but much of the area overlays the Ogallala aquifer.