A half dozen legislators from the House and Senate heard hours of testimony Thursday about the challenges that endanger the next generation of Colorado farmers.

The Young and Beginning Farmers Interim Study Committee heard about more problems than they could ever solve. The best that lawmakers could offer was  possible legislation to create a digital information center, invest in agriculture workforce development, grants to help pay for farm-business education and possibly kind of agriculture district that made even some members of the committee skeptical.

The average age of Colorado farmer is 59 years old, the committee heard. And while FFA programs are booming in Colorado, where those future farmers put down roots remains in question, if not doubt.

The day-long discussion even drifted about the effect of the lengthening work life of older farmers. Technology has allowed older farmers to remain in the driver’s seat while a generation of younger farmers wait or give up, said Nate Weathers, a fourth-generation farmer in his mid-30s from Yuma.

“Technology is a blessing and a curse,” he told the committee.

He said it’s a lot easier for older farmers stay in the tractor’s seat until they’re 70, a near impossibility in past generations. While that’s good in a sense, it keeps land and resources out of the hands of younger farmers who need those to qualify for federal help.

“Most programs out there to benefit the younger farmer, the older farmer has to die,” Weathers told the committee.

Weathers and his wife, Nikki, are members of the Colorado Farm Bureau and served on the American Farm Bureau’s Young Ranchers & Farmers Committee.

Most federal loan programs are inadequate to help a younger farmer get toehold in the field, he said.

“The Direct Farm Ownership program won’t even buy you a marginal piece of ground right now out in Yuma County,” he said.

Weathers said he bought a piece of property from his parents, at a discounted price, to use as collateral to get a loan.

“Most government programs also work at the speed of government,” he told the committee.

The government also focuses its attention on those at the lower end of farming potential, Weathers said.

“Most government programs benefit the stragglers,” he said. “If you’re on the forefront of your industry, you’ve already gone out and figured out how to do it, and you’re either making it work or you’ve gone broke trying.”

State Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, who chairs the special committee, sympathized. He was a generational family farmer long before he was a politician.

“I couldn’t have gotten started if I hadn’t leased my dad’s equipment for my operation,” he said.

Equipment is a whole other issue for young farmers. Besides the affordability, the taxes are a nightmare. Even though breaks exist, “you end up paying your accountant more than you’re saving in taxes” to get them, Weathers said.

There was discussion about using conservation easements to require land that gets tax breaks be forever preserved from production agriculture.

Conservation easements on Colorado’s agriculture-rich Eastern Plains, however, have a bad history with farmers. Many set aside their land from development in perpetuity for a tax break, only to see the state devalue those easements for many farmers after the deal was struck. The issue is pending in the courts.

The special young farmers committee has until Monday to draft bills, then it will meet again at the Capitol on Oct. 6 to discuss them. The next legislative session begins Jan. 10.

State Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail, sought the creation of the bipartisan joint committee in the last session. The other members are Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango, the committee’s vice chair; Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose; Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa; and Rep. Dominique Jackson, D-Denver.