Part Three: Moral questions on a standard San Luis Valley farm
Hard calculations and changed practices in the era of drought and global warming
MONTE VISTA, Colo. — Kyler Brown drives a calf on June 21, 2022 as part of a drive that went through downtown Del Norte, Colorado. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
“I see life and death a lot. I got to see baby calves get born in the spring. And then I had to put a cow down” he said. “I see whole cottonwood galleries dying. I just feel my morality is being challenged every day, where other people go through their life and don’t question it.”
Kyler Brown and his son Elijah Brown go over the schedule for the day on June 21, 2022, before Kyler heads to the cattle drive. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
Kyler Brown helps wife Emily Brown put on boots before the cattle drive the morning of June 21, 2022. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
Cows can be seen amid alfalfa fields during the cattle drive on June 21, 2022. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
Emily Brown riding through downtown Monte Vista during the cattle drive. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
The Browns and Rider Off, 10, after the cattle drive. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
Kyler Brown stands atop an irrigation sprinkler on the Monte Vista, Colorado property. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
Kyler Brown, a farmer in the San Luis Valley, looks on the cottonwood stands on his father-in-law’s property along the Rio Grande in Monte Vista. “It makes me sad to go through drought, but every other year is drought.” (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
The Brown’s ride to their neighbors, the Off’s, property to help drive some cattle. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
Kyler Brown releasing two of his bulls on a property he rents in Del Norte. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)
A shed near the cattle drive pasture in Del Norte. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)