Dale Artho s clay loam soil can harden like concrete, or crust to shed water that crops need to survive the baking summer sun.
Summer rains come in torrents when they come at all.
Virtually any cropping choice can be right, or wrong, depending on the wind or the rain or the markets. He uses high-residue cultivators, conservation tillage and crop spacing to whittle down his use of herbicides. Anything else that cuts risk, saves moisture or boosts yields on his mile-square sections of land is a welcome addition. Much like vegetable growers in sunny California, High Plains farmers can depend on a rain-free, early summer planting season 9 years out of 10. Artho plants sorghum with a 10-inch herbicide band over the row.