Last year, in response to Gov. Jared Polis’s signing of the “MeatOut” Day Proclamation – a generic proclamation circulated by an anti-agriculture group – ag producers around the state hosted the first “Meat In” Day.

This year the day coincided with National Agriculture Week, so ag producers and groups were able to host a number of alternative events over more days. Meat In events around the state raised more than $300,000 for local charities, organizations and food pantries. The leaders of the major cattle-industry stakeholder groups, such as the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association – an organization that predates the state – the Colorado Livestock Association, and the Colorado Beef Council teamed up to provide a week’s worth of beef sticks for kids who are experiencing food insecurity through the Beefsticks for Backpacks program.

Cattlewomen’s groups set up on main streets to pass out beef recipes and nutritional information. Crowley County cattle producers posted metal signs around their county, welcoming people on their behalf.

When all was said and done in Ordway, candidates for office and outstanding young people were recognized, as was the most senior attendee who – at 87 years old – drove herself 45 miles, down dirt roads, to attend.

At the end of the day, I’m told there was enough barbecue remaining for a single sandwich.

In Sterling, the Santomaso family of Sterling Livestock Commission raised about $150,000 for a local small-business owner who needed a hand up. People donated items for auctions, manned grills and donated meals. They demonstrated to anyone watching that the day is about celebrating protein producers and the role they play in their communities – and as part of the bigger picture, which is to continue generating food, feed, fiber, fuel and tax revenue.

On Tuesday, about 65 Yuma County producers sat on hard bleachers in Eckley to hear from the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Kate Greenberg, and new Bureau of Animal Protection head, Rebecca Niemiec.

The photo posted by the Colorado Department of Agriculture shows the crowd on the bleachers facing a table with Greenberg, Niemiec and the County Commissioners, who organized the event. If you zoom in, you can see the worry on peoples’ faces – and you can see one rancher watching, holding his head in his hands. He does so in the same way he might if he were awaiting the other shoe to drop.

Greenberg, who spoke about the history of the BAP program, said the CDA oversees the program by order of statute. She further pointed out that, in the past 10 years, 94% of BAP cases were pet animals and non-livestock horses. She said the program is not about regulating the agriculture industry, but is about enforcing the statutes as they relate to animal abuse and neglect.

It’s notable that, previously, the BAP head has reported to the State Veterinarian within the CDA. That’s not the case for Niemiec, who will report to the Deputy Commissioner of Operations.

Questions were posed to the pair about how they intend to rebuild trust with ag producers. They were asked about Niemiec’s ties to anti-agriculture groups. And, to boot, they were asked why agriculture producers continue to be listed “on the menu,” rather than allowed a “seat at the table,” per se, when decisions are made. The two heard passionate comments about wolves and the state’s flimsy ballot-initiative process.

Greenberg pledged to keep showing up. And Niemiec said she’s no longer working with anti-ag groups. She acknowledged that people are wary of her.

When the hour was up, people commended the two for showing up and facing them. And I give them credit for that, too.

“Uncomfortable,” probably doesn’t begin to describe that experience. That said, Greenberg is the first ag commissioner who has visited rural counties to repeatedly defend an administration’s poor decisions. It ought not be so. No matter the state, an ag commissioner ought to field his or her strongest defense where legislation is penned, not where the consequences of those decisions – intentional or otherwise – become reality.

Rachel Gabel writes about agriculture and rural issues. She is assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine, the region’s preeminent agriculture publication. Gabel is a daughter of the state’s oil and gas industry and a member of one of the state’s 12,000 cattle-raising families, and she has authored children’s books used in hundreds of classrooms to teach students about agriculture.