Colorado Corn

Banner Year for Corn Farms - But rush to capitalize on ethanol relies on disputed water supply

Matt McClain © The Rocky

YUMA COUNTY - The field came to life in the August wind, dense stalks swaying in tandem, silky tassels swirling like so many kite tails in the sun.

Duard Fix shouldered his way through the lush stand, stopping to break off and husk a prize he'd been waiting for since May: the perfect ear of corn - nearly 800 light yellow kernels in 16 neatly symmetrical rows.

"It looks like this will be one of our best years," the third-generation farmer from Wray declared, stripping a few milky kernels into his weathered hands.

Indeed, this is an unusually green and gold summer for much of Colorado corn country.

Green from the spring runoffs, torrents of summer rain and uninterrupted irrigation water that have transformed the high plains into verdant fields.

Gold with the promise of a record crop and prices that have more than doubled in the past two years with the surging demand for ethanol, an alternative motor fuel made from crushed corn.

Government subsidies and mandates to boost ethanol use have fueled the corn rush, prompting farmers to switch from other crops to benefit from the windfall.

Some Yuma County farm families, the Lenzes and the Sewards, to name two, invested hard-earned cash into a $60 million ethanol plant in Yuma, betting heavily on the future of the alternative fuel.