On Agriculture Day at the Capitol, everyone falls in line.

Lawmakers, aides, lobbyists and hungry Cap Hill lunchers had March 16 marked on their calendars since the beginning of the session — because Colorado Ag Day is the day that the main floor of the building is stocked with some of the best food the state has to offer.

The Colorado Agricultural Council teamed up with Colorado chefs once again to transform home-grown produce into mouth-watering treats.

“Colorado eggs, beef, dairy, lamb, pork — you go down that list, and if saying those words doesn’t make your mouth water, well then you obviously haven’t had enough to eat and drink today,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper during comments before the crowd began assembling into snaking buffet lines.

Colorado Ag Day at the Capitol video by The Colorado Statesman.

Chad Vorthmann, chair of the Ag Council, said the annual celebration is an important way for the farm community in Colorado to underline that agriculture is an important part of the state economy.

“Colorado agriculture is the second-largest driver of our state’s economy,” Vorthmann said. “There’s a lot of resources that are involved in agriculture, from energy to feed inputs and things of that nature. But really at the end of the day, we all eat three times a day and it’s important to us.”

“It’s important to showcase that connection between our food, our water our land, our resources and our people,” he added.

The event raised almost $16,000 for the Food Bank of the Rockies — a fraction of the resources the industry delivers every year to food banks in the state. In 2015, the industry donated about $16 million worth of food to Colorado’s five Feeding America food banks.

— ramsey@coloradostatesman.com