In 2001, the Bureau of Reclamation cut off water to the Klamath Project for the first time in 94 years. After 20 years of uncertain irrigation deliveries, water has been cut off again — damaging the basin’s agricultural industry, leaving domestic wells dry and forcing farmers to question if there is a future for them in the Basin.
These are the stories of three farm families who navigated the last two decades in different ways, and how they see the future of local farming.
Marilyn Hagerty, left, touches the arm of her husband Claude while her son, Jason Hagerty and recalls his and his father's experience in 2018 where they were denied a drought permit to pump extra water from their well to help irrigate their farm, with his wife, Carrie, next to him. Jason left the family farming business in 2018.
Staff photo by Arden Barnes / Report for America
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Rodney Cheyne, a fourth-generation farmer in the Klamath Basin, leans on a hammer in his shop. In 1909, Cheyne’s relatives began farming in the basin as part of the beginning of the Klamath Project.
Staff photo by Arden Barnes / Report for America
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A child's chair sits near Rodney Cheyne's shop. Cheyne has four children and hopes to see that they will have their own farms in the future–if they chose that path–but also doesn't want them to deal with the hardships he has.
Staff photo by Arden Barnes / Report for America
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Rodney Cheyne's wife, Nichelle, supports him in anyway she can, often trying to keep him optimistic while still facing the financial dangers of the farm.
Staff photo by Arden Barnes / Report for America
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Mike McKoen hugs his daughter, Elizabeth, 6, in his mint distillery outside Merrill. McKoen and his father used to run both Three M Mint and their larger farm, McKoen and Sons. McKoen's father, Lee, died four days short of his 64th birthday and three weeks after becoming a grandfather. "The hardest decision I had to make was whether I wanted to try and keep this thing going after my dad passed away," McKoen said.
Staff photo by Arden Barnes / Report for America
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Mike McKoen's mint field is now flowering because he has been unable to complete his first cut. Normally, McKoen is able to get in two or three cuts a year.
Staff photo by Arden Barnes / Report for America
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Mike McKoen thinks about his family's current and past challenges facing their farm.
Staff photo by Arden Barnes / Report for America
