Mitchell Baalman inspects the pump for a center pivot irrigation system on his 12,000-acre farm outside of Hoxie, Kan., on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. As historically dry conditions continue, farmers from South Dakota to the Texas panhandle rely on the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest underground aquifer in the United States, to irrigate crops. After decades of use, the falling water level ? accelerated by historic drought conditions over the last two years ? is putting pressure on farmers to ease usage or risk becoming the last generation to grow crops on the land. Farmers like Mitchell Baalman and Brett Oelke (not pictured) are part of a farming community in in Sheridan County, Kansas, an agricultural hub in western Kansas, who have agreed to cut back on water use for crop irrigation so that their children and future generations can continue to farm and sustain themselves on the High Plains.
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