Dry Lands, Deep Roots

Summer in the desert doesn’t ease in—it slams down like a branding iron. We may love this land, but there’s no denying it can be brutal. The heat scorches the ground, dries up what little water sources we have, and turns daily chores into survival tasks.

Out here, the line between thriving and just hanging on is often drawn by access to water—for our livestock, the native wildlife, and the land itself.

Water is everything. We pipe it miles and miles to reach remote pastures and tanks, but with that comes a constant battle. Above-ground pipelines are exposed to the blazing sun, which even for our own home is a battle in itself. We have to either time it with the pump running fresh creek water through or be up before the sunrise to clean our bodies without burning ourselves or our kids. The water can often be too hot for the cattle to even drink, which becomes a problem if they are left wanting for the hottest parts of the day.

Wildlife can chew through the pipe for a quick drink, and pressure shifts that cause bursts or slow leaks. A busted line can mean miles of pipeline that needs to be inspected on foot. Sometimes troughs go dry before we even know there’s a problem. And when the animals can’t find water, they’ll travel—straight through fences or into danger, just trying to survive.

Feed is another daily concern. In this kind of heat, grass struggles. Forage wilts before it seeds, and even native browse becomes brittle and sparse. Top it off with dry winds and the land can quickly become a tinderbox without proper management.

When the land can't sustain, neither can the animals. Often ranchers supplement with hay and range cubes, but that’s a short-term fix. Mineral supplements can be a huge help, when you offer them enough options. But that is pricey, at the bare minimum.

Our long-term solution has to be stewarding the land in a way that supports deep roots and resilient plants—ones that can weather the extremes and feed more than just cattle. Quail, deer, and javelina rely on that same ground cover, and if we lose it, the whole ecosystem feels it.

It’s not just nature we’re working with (or against); development creeps in from all sides. Highways, turn-offs, and new projects fragment the landscape. They cut off traditional wildlife corridors, change drainage patterns, and make it harder for us to rotate livestock or maintain pipelines. Every stretch of asphalt takes a little more resilience out of the desert, forcing us to work smarter and harder to keep the balance.

If you live in the desert or just love visiting it, there are ways to help.

Setting out shallow water pans (with escape rocks or sticks for small critters) can be life-saving for birds and pollinators—but make sure to place them in shaded, safe spots away from roads or pets. Dripping faucets or overflow from AC units can be captured in small troughs to create a consistent, low-impact water source. And remember—conserving water by using drought-tolerant landscaping, and respecting habitat space helps us all share this wild, tough land a little more kindly.