The struggle to balance farmworker protections with the survival of Colorado’s family farms took center stage Thursday as senators debated two competing overtime bills.

The Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee held a rare double-bill hearing that led to a 3-2 vote rejecting a measure that was supported by unions and sponsored by the committee chair, Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge.

Her bill, Senate Bill 81, would have lowered the overtime threshold to 40 hours, down from 48.

The second bill, Senate Bill 121, which the committee approved, would raise the threshold to 60 hours. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Robert Rodriguez.

Speaking on the competing bills was Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson, who farms 800 acres in Alamosa County.

SB 121 concerns the viability of Colorado agriculture and small farms, he told the committee. Of the 36,000 farms in Colorado, about 1,800 have sales of more than $500,000.

“Colorado agriculture is slipping away,” Simpson said, pointing to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that identified Colorado as the top state for the loss of farms, based on factors such as climate and input costs.

That includes labor. Increased labor costs are leading farmers to transition away from labor-intensive crops, Simpson said, and toward more mechanization of farm tasks, which impacts the workforce.

SB 121 balances the need for a valued, respected workforce and healthy, profitable producers, he explained.

Rodriguez said that for decades, farmworkers were excluded from basic labor protections that most other workers take for granted. “That was wrong,” and in 2021, the legislature passed Danielson’s previous bill on the issue, Senate Bill 87, a bill he supported and voted for.

The enhanced overtime provisions of the 2021 law are a good example “of well-intentioned policy with unintended and harmful consequences,” Rodriguez said. Shrinking paychecks mean farmworkers take second jobs or leave Colorado for states without overtime thresholds, he said.

In other states with similar overtime laws, such as California and Oregon, workers lose on average $2,000 per person per year because farms cut back hours rather than pay overtime. He also noted that the average family farm in Colorado nets about $50,000 annually and that ag producers are subject to commodity prices, meaning the market determines the price, not the farmer.

“This is not what any of us intended when we fought for extended labor protections,” Rodriguez said. “If we care about protecting workers and supporting rural communities and keeping family farms in Colorado, we need policies that actually work. “

Supporting the 60-hour threshold was former U.S. Rep. John Salazar of Manassa, who was also a Colorado commissioner of agriculture.

Salazar still farms the land his great-grandfather established in 1860.

“Everyone on the farm is foundational to harvesting crops or tending animals, and there is no waiting for the ideal time to do this,” he said.

And costs are going up. The Trump administration tariffs raised costs by 26% in 2025, and fuel costs will make it even more challenging in 2026, Salazar explained. He supports paying workers fairly, but said the 2021 law doesn’t work for farms and ranches.

Salazar also explained the realities of some ag operations, such as sheepherding, where the workers must stay with the herd 24/7.

Speaking in favor of the 40-hour threshold and against the 60-hour bill, Stacy Suniga of the Latino Coalition of Weld County claimed ag work has been disregarded under fair labor rules, and that ag work solves its problems on the backs of its workers.

Suniga spoke about a 19-year-old female and the harsh working conditions she experiences, but never once mentioned the overtime issue, which affects that worker and other farmworkers.

“Would we consider making a 60-hour workweek for people that are working office jobs?,” she asked.

Fatuma Emmad of Frontline Farms said resetting the overtime threshold to 60 hours will not impact seasonal farms. Instead, it will impact year-round operations, such as ranches and dairies, which she said operate under demanding and dangerous conditions.

Overtime isn’t only about the money. It’s also providing protection to workers, since injuries skyrocket with the additional hours, she added.

Former state Sen. Polly Baca grew up on a farm. There’s no reason why farmworkers ought to be treated any differently than other workers, or denied the right to overtime, she said.

Hunter Knapp of Project Protect Food Systems Workers said the studies being used as reference from California looked only at crops, not dairies or livestock, and is not comparable to Colorado’s rules.

He added that while the system is not perfect, the current overtime protections are working as intended by providing premium pay to some individuals working extremely long hours, while removing the incentive to structure farming practices in ways that have proven to harm worker health.

Danielson, in her closing remarks, criticized the farmers who, she said, have figured out how to avoid paying overtime.

“I was really impressed with the innovative ways that employers described figuring out how to get out of paying overtime,” calling it, sarcastically, clever, she said.

Danielson added, “Of course, these businesses would like to continue to be exempt from overtime requirements.”

The swing vote on both bills was Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, D-Pueblo, the committee’s vice-chair, who was a firm “no” on Danielson’s bill and voted to move the 60-hour overtime bill forward to the full Senate.

“This is tough. I hate this. I hate all of it,” he said during closing comments.

“I’m convinced our farms are hurting,” he said, noting that Pueblo County has lost 54% of its farms while he’s lived there. Two-thirds of those remaining operated at a net loss last year, he added.

While SB 121 isn’t fair to the workers, he indicated, SB 81 isn’t fair to the producers. “Both deserve our support, and the system at the federal level fails both of them,” he said.

SB 121 was amended to ensure it would not require a separate rulemaking process by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, which was responsible for setting the 48-hour standard, with 56 hours for seasonal production. That rulemaking could have resulted in a $39,000 fiscal cost, a death knell for bills in a budget year when budget writers are struggling to find cuts of $1.5 billion in general funds.

SB 121 would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, if it passes the Senate and House and is signed by the governor.