Mitchell Baalman's farm outside Hoxie, Kansas is about as rural as you can get."We're kind of out here on our own. Not a lot of populace," he said.And not a lot of rain, due to a prolonged drought."We're the eternal optimists, us farmers out here in western Kansas," Baalman said."We always think it's going to get better.Baalman farms land that has been in his family for four generations.His father was born during the infamous Dust Bowl in the 1930s, when the farmland dried out, dusted up, and drove people away."We're probably almost to those circumstances right now," he said.But what makes the current drought different from the Dust Bowl at the Baalman family farm is the Ogallala Aquifer.Out in the heart of his wheat fields, an industrial pump draws water out of a well tapped into the massive underground aquifer.The water reaches an above-ground "pivot" system that slowly moves in a circular pattern over the planted crops.Baalman says it is a major improvement over the old pipe systems that used to flood the farmland."Ten years ago, we might have averaged 700 to 800 gallons per minute wells," he said."Today, in 2014, we're probably averaging 400.Baalman is proud of those figures.He is keenly aware that the depletion of the Ogallala aquifer could ultimately drive his family off the land.
