-
As the West’s drought eases, this area remains in the worst on record — and it’s hitting farmers hard
Central Oregon’s drought conditions remain the worst on record. Learn more here.
By , CNN
Cate Casad started noticing the for-sale signs pop up over the last year on farms around Central Oregon, which has been mired in water shortages amid a yearslong megadrought.
Casad and her husband, Chris, are first-generation farmers and ranchers who started off with just a few acres of land east of Bend, then moved north in 2017 to scale up their farm. Now, the couple manages around 360 acres of farmland in Jefferson County, where they grow organic food and raise cattle, heritage breed hogs…