AGRICULTURE ADAPTED TO CHANGING TIMES IN 2023
Logan County continued its leadership role in Colorado’s agricultural economy, seeing another “favorite son” inducted into the Ag Hall of Fame, a fulltime safety and health expert assigned to Sterling, and the revival of a livestock contest once thought moribund.
Ag producers opened 2023 with the news that Coloradans overwhelmingly support the state’s massive agricultural industry, although there are some misperceptions about farmers and ranchers.
A public opinion survey conducted by the Colorado Department of Agriculture and Colorado State University was released in January showing that 98% of respondents agreed that Colorado’s food and ag industry is important to the state’s future economic development; that the presence of ranches, farms, and agriculture is important to the quality of life in Colorado; and that it is important to maintain land and water in Colorado for agricultural purposes.
Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg said the survey results show Coloradans
want to buy local products and that they care about where their food comes from.
On the other hand, misperceptions, especially about livestock and genetically modified organisms, persist among the largely urban Colorado population
In February, former state senator Jerry Sonnenberg became the 12th Logan County person to be named to the Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame, sponsored by Premier Farm Credit.
Sonnenberg earned the honor with 16 years of leadership in the state legislature as a constant advocate for ag producers, and for his work in rebuilding and maintaining the Colorado Agriculture Leadership Program. An alumnus of the program himself, Sonnenberg redesigned and found sustaining funding for the program in 2010, and now serves as president of its board of directors.
Colorado State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture demonstrated the importance of farm safety and rural mental health when the USDA’S Agrability program made a CSU staffer the first full-time Agrability representative in northeast Colorado.
Ellis Vidmar, a member of the CSU Regional Engagement Center team in Sterling, was assigned that job in February. Agrability has become increasingly important because the number of farmers and ranchers facing physical and behavioral health challenges has grown as the producer population ages. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 37% of American farmers and ranchers are over the age of 65, compared with 14% of other small business owners, and the average producer is just under 59 years of age. The Colorado Department of Agriculture’s statistics are almost identical to the national numbers.
Because of that, mental health in the rural communities has been getting more attention from the health community in recent years and Vidmar said that’s increasingly important to her program.
“We need to make ourselves known, we need to erase the stigma (attached to mental health issues) and let people know it’s OK to reach out,” she said. “You can’t be expected to do this without help, and that’s why we’re here. It’s OK to not be OK.”
Ag producers scored a legislative victory in April when Gov. Jared Polis signed the Consumer Right to Repair Agricultural Equipment bill.
Starting in January 2024, the new law requires a manufacturer to provide parts, embedded software, firmware, tools, or documentation, such as diagnostic, maintenance, or repair manuals, diagrams, or similar information to independent repair providers and owners of the manufacturer’s agricultural equipment to allow an independent repair provider or owner to conduct diagnostic, maintenance, or repair services on the owner’s agricultural equipment.
Surprisingly, Republicans in the Legislature, who represent nearly all of rural Colorado, mostly opposed the bill while Democrats, who are largely representative of the urban corridor, supported it. When the bill was passed on the floor of the House of Representatives in March, only two of the 19 Republicans in the chamber voted for it.
Most of those opposed to the bill claimed it wasn’t as necessary as proponents claimed, and they had reservations about violating copyright and patent rights of manufacturers.
Closer to home, Logan County Cattlewoman raised more than $12,000 for scholarships and other educational programs during their first heifer feeding contest.
Fifty-six young heifers were kept in Pen 22 at Mcendaffer Feedlot near Merino and fed identical rations for 220 days. Winner of the contest was determined by a combination of daily rate of gain and carcass value.
It was the first time a cattle feeding contest had been held in Logan County since the end of the Great Western Beef Expo in 2009.