There’s one day at the Colorado state Capitol every year when everyone puts down their pitchforks and picks up their, um, forks.

It’s Colorado Ag Day, a celebration of Colorado food, culinary talents and the contributions the agriculture industry makes to the Centennial State.

Wednesday was this year’s annual celebration, with the annual Farm to Fork Culinary Competition, showing off the best of Colorado produce and meats and the talents of chefs from all over the Front Range.

Terry Fankhauser, president of the Colorado Ag Council and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, called Ag Day “the most delicious day of the year.”

This event is legendary, Fankhauser told the hundreds assembled, waiting for the moment when they could sample the dishes.

Ag Day reminds people of the importance of Colorado’s agriculture industry, its legacy and bright future, Gov. Jared Polis said.

Agriculture is a $40 billion industry with $2 billion in exports, he added.

Polis noted that Ag Day (and the food) had been hyped to him before the election. It lived up to the hype, he tweeted later.

Polis also took the opportunity to promote his agenda on renewable energy, stating that solar and wind will provide economic stability to farmers and ranchers in a way that oil and gas cannot.

Income from solar and wind farms, Polis said, rounds out fluctuations from the oil and gas industry. He also spoke about the need for immigration reform and an end to President Donald Trumps’ “disastrous” trade war, which has hurt Colorado agriculture with its three leading trading partners: Canada, Mexico and China.

In order for Colorado to compete, it needs workers, both seasonal and permanent, for agriculture, and “we need a better way to do it legally,” he said. 

One last task before the main event: the presentation of a $27 million check to Food Bank of the Rockies CEO Erin Pulling from the Ag Council. The check represents the amount of food donated by Colorado agriculture to food banks around the state, which Pulling said provides 13 million meals every year to hungry Coloradans.

The Farm to Fork competition had a first for Ag Day: a product made with Colorado hemp. That was a beef slider made by Chef Jason Morse, who took second place, and which included a pesto aioli sauce with hemp.

The winners of the Farm to Fork competition, judged by Liz Kotalik of 9News, Daniel Asher of Boulder’s River & Woods Restaurant, and Colorado State Patrol officers Jay Hemphill and Allen Minturn:

• Third place, to Crystal Becker for her cheesecake, made with Colorado eggs
• Second place, to Jason Morse of 5280 Culinary, for his beef meatball slider
• First place, to Emma Nemechek, executive pastry chef of the Omni Hotel Interlocken for her chocolate cake
• Best in Show, to Andrew Murdock and the Colorado Pork Council
• Best in Class, also to the Colorado Pork Council

So was the food good? Just take a gander at the hundreds who lined up from one end of the first floor of the state Capitol to the other. Everyone – lawmakers, aides, visitors (and even reporters) – are invited to partake.