FARM LEADERS LAUNCH MAJOR PROMOTION PROJECT
Farm and business leaders in southwest Oklahoma announced this week the creation of a coalition of producers, business owners and others interested in promoting agriculture. The coalition is called the FAIR Project.
The FAIR Project is an acronym for Farming And Irrigating Responsibly, said Tom Buchanan, Altus farmer.
"It’s time to aggressively promote an industry (agriculture) that pours millions of dollars into our economy," Buchanan said.
Specifically, the FAIR Project focuses on water conservation and related water issues for farmers in the Lugert-Altus irrigation district (LAID).
"The water we purchase from LAID is one of the more costly inputs required to produce a crop," said Mike Bonewitz, Altus. "It benefits everyone when we can maximize our water resources."
Water used for the irrigation district comes from Lake Lugert-Altus north of Altus. Consecutive years of drought has severely limited water levels in the lake, and now a group called the Quartz Mountain Conservation Coalition is threatening to reduce or stop altogether water withdrawals from the lake.
The FAIR Project is coordinated by the Oklahoma Agriculture Legal Foundation.
"The foundation’s goal is to educate the public regarding the legal rights of farmers and ranchers," said Harlan Hentges, foundation director. "The Quartz Mountain coalition appears to be attacking the farmers’ legal rights to irrigate."
