Seminole, Texas, Farmer Fights to Save Several Crops from Water Shortage Story-Date: 05:49 a.m. PST Friday , September 11, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------ Seminole, Texas, Farmer Fights to Save Several Crops from Water Shortage By Worth Wren Jr., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Sep. 8--SEMINOLE and DENVER CITY, Texas--Here among the bumper crop of oilfield pumpjacks, Anderson Upton has been in a tight water race. He's trying to grow profitable yields of cotton, peanuts and grain sorghum, but has been losing to rainless, windy days and temperatures of between 100 and 108 degrees. One recent day, Upton jockeyed his pickup from well to well -- 26 in all -- to keep the water pressure high enough to supply 14 irrigation systems serving about 1,600 leased and owned acres. Peanuts get top priority for water because they have the potential to produce the best revenue and profits. "We're running out of water," said Upton, 37, who must constantly watch his irrigation systems to ensure they're not pumping air, leaking or breaking down. Like others across his region, he has been working virtually nonstop, logging 14-hour workdays and longer since early May. The irrigation, though, has been around-the-clock. "I'm committed to get the best I can; otherwise, I lose more," Upton said. He abandoned watering two 120-acre fields of sorghum about 45 days ago to have more water for his peanuts and cotton. Now the sorghum looks like a loss. He also cut his watering time on some cotton to boost the water flow to peanuts. Upton estimates cotton and peanut yields are declining by 20 percent to 50 percent in some spots. Yet the farmwide averages are likely to be too high to draw on his crop insurance coverage. In July, his irrigation electricity and gas costs alone tripled to about $18,000 for the month, from $6,000 a month the previous year. Unfortunately, he doesn't share royalties from any of the oil and gas pumpers to offset his rising costs. While his banker was telling him to curb expenses, he delayed laying off one of his two hired workers for weeks. "They're not to blame for this weather, and they've got families to feed, too," Upton said. In the end, he's projecting his 7-year-old farming operation will lose about $60,000 this year, meaning he'll carry operating debt into next year. He'll probably have to tie up his 40 percent equity in a 320-acre tract to get refinancing to operate next year For now, he mostly keeps his worries to himself, said Anderson's wife, Tamara Upton, a Seminole schoolteacher. They have 2- and 8-year-old sons. "Maybe once or twice a month is the only time we sit down at the table together for a meal," she said, citing his long workdays. ----- Visit the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on the World Wide Web at http://www.star-telegram.com, http://www.arlington.net and http://www.netarrant.net (c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------