Farmers and ranchers in Montezuma, Archuleta, San Miguel, La Plata, and Dolores counties may be eligible for low-interest emergency loans to help cover losses they sustained as a result of the effects of drought conditions according to Rick Cervenka, senior farm loan officer, with the Farm Service Agency. People must apply no later than Sept. 9, 2013.

Joel Craig sat quietly among the audience of ranchers as dozens of cows shuffled in and out of the room, propelled by the fast-paced babble of the auctioneer. Craig was at the Hi-Country Cattle Auction to sell six of his pure-bred Limousin cattle because he doubts he will have the irrigation water to grow enough hay for all of his animals. “The outlook isn’t good,” he said.

Forty-nine years ago, Ashley Yost’s grandfather sank a well deep into a half-mile square of rich Kansas farmland. He struck an artery of water so prodigious that he could pump 1,600 gallons to the surface every minute. Last year, Mr. Yost was coaxing just 300 gallons from the earth, and pumping up sand in order to do it.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has approved a massive five-year farm bill that would cut spending while also creating new subsidies for farmers. The legislation approved 15-5 by the panel on Tuesday includes concessions to Southern rice and peanut farmers, thanks to a new top Republican on the committee, Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran.

Cortez officials are encouraging residents to conserve water during this summer’s predicted drought. As motivation, they plan to step up enforcement of water restrictions and levy fines to repeat offenders. From May 15 until September 15 lawn watering in Cortez will be prohibited from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days per week.

In the catalog of what can go wrong in farming, drought occupies a spot near the top. Farmers can borrow money, shoulder more expensive production costs and weather low prices. They can diversify their crops to prevent disease or hail from wiping them out. They can find cattle to rebuild herds after a disastrous sudden blizzard.

The bright green alfalfa fields appear like a surreal oasis tucked into the rolling hills of desert shrubbery that extend south as far as the eye can see. Here, 12 miles southwest of Towaoc, the Ute Mountain Ute Farm & Ranch Enterprise cultivates 7,600 acres of farmland thanks to a ribbon of water that flows south from McPhee Reservoir 50 miles to the north.