A fire roared through the Cimarron National Grasslands and surrounding farmland on MotherÕs Day. That, combined with no rain and searing temperatures have created a desert-like atmosphere in MortonÕs County.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
A stubble field lies dormant in the blowing sand and drought. Since last September, Morton County in far southwest Kansas has received 2.99 inches of moisture. The normal average rainfall for that corner of Kansas is about 19 inches.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
Morton County farmer Scott Shrauner shows how his dryland crops have suffered through a drought.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
Blowing sand from a Morton County field has filled the ditches of a township road.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
Blowing sand from a Morton County field has filled the ditches of a township road.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
A fire roared through the Cimarron National Grasslands and surrounding farmland on Mother's Day. That, combined with no rain and searing temperatures, has created a desert-like atmosphere in Morton County.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
A fire roared through the Cimarron National Grasslands and surrounding farmland on Mother's Day. That, combined with no rain and searing temperatures, has created a desert-like atmosphere in Morton County.
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| Buy this photo
Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
The drought has caused parts of the Big Salt Marsh at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge to go dry.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
The drought has caused parts of the Big Salt Marsh at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge to go dry.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
The drought has caused parts of the Big Salt Marsh at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge to go dry.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
The drought has caused parts of the Big Salt Marsh at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge to go dry.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
A fire roared through the Cimarron National Grasslands and surrounding farmland on Mother's Day. That, combined with no rain and searing temperatures, has created a desert-like atmosphere in Morton County.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
Morton County farmer Scott Shrauner shows how his dryland crops have suffered through a drought.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
Morton County farmer Scott Shrauner shows how his dryland crops have suffered through a drought.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
A semi makes its way along a highway west of Satanta. A large grass fire fed by winds in early April wiped out more than a dozen square miles west of Satanta and forced a temporary evacuation of the town. The remaining land now has an arid desert appearance.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
Morton County farmer Scott Shrauner shows how his dryland crops have suffered through a drought.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
The Coen family has been farming in Morton County since 1912. Today's generations of Coens include, from left: Mary, Larry, Taylor, Cody, 4; Troy and Cassie.
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Beccy Tanner / The Wichita Eagle
Spring 1954, track Caterpillar tractors and six bottom plows were hired by the Coen family to dig more than 27 inches deep, churning over the sand and bringing up clay dirt. The deep plowing -- although it might be beneficial now -- would be prohibitive today, Larry Coen said, because of the high cost of fuel.
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Coen Family / Courtesy
Dugout in the spring of 1916 at the homestead of Edgar and Rena Coen, southwest of Rolla in Morton County. Pictured with their two sons: Marion, 1; and Verl, 3.
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Coen Family / Courtesy
Dugout in the spring of 1916 at the homestead of Edgar and Rena Coen, southwest of Rolla in Morton County. Pictured are two sons: Marion, 1; and Verl, 3.
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Coen Family / Courtesy photo
Larry Coen and his father, Marion Coen, on top their John Deere 55 combine in fall 1953.
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Coen family / Courtesy photo
June 1922 farmyard of Edgar and Rena Coen in Morton County.
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Coen Family / Courtesy
Edgar and Rena Coen as they began homesteading in Morton County, approximately 1912.
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Coen Family / Courtesy
Cimarron Grasslands in greener days
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USDA Forest Service / Courtesy photo
Cimarron Grasslands in greener days
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USDA Forest Service / Courtesy photo
Cimarron Grasslands in greener days
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USDA Forest Service / Courtesy photo
Cimarron Grasslands in greener days
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USDA Forest Service / Courtesy photo
Cimarron Grasslands in greener days
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USDA Forest Service / Courtesy photo
Cimarron Grasslands in greener days
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USDA Forest Service / Courtesy photo
Cimarron Grasslands in greener days
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USDA Forest Service / Courtesy photo
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