To farm sustainably, a switch to an irrigation system that requires much less energy using solar/wind to power it is being considered/designed. Winters are cold with little snow. The area receives a scant 6" rain/year on average.

The site is situated at 7700 feet in elevation in the San Luis Valley, Colorado.

3 -6" total precipitation per year - lately leaning towards 3"

Very sunny, very low relative humidity/high evapo-transpiration

Short growing season +/- 90 days

Rio Grande canal runs through property but water availability window tends to be short (late spring)

Existing well on the property is about 100 feet deep and supplies about 800 gallons per minute with a 60 year old diesel engine

Aquifer is a closed basin fed by surrounding mountains but is being overdrawn - 40,000 acres will likely go out of production in the next 2 years (through volunteer incentive programs)

Agriculture in this area tends to be conventional/chemical but some innovative organic folks are moving in

Mineral rich (volcanic) soils poor in OM (organic matter) - working actively to dramatically increase that level

Crops grown in this region tend to be very nutrient dense likely due to altitude (high omega 3, extremely high carotene, etc.) historically the site was flood irrigated (fairly flat)