agriculture
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Colorado Agriculture Day: A feast for the ears, eyes and stomachs
Gov. Jared Polis, legislators and friends of agriculture gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday to celebrate Colorado Agriculture Day. The annual recognition of the contributions of Colorado farmers, ranchers and agribusiness drew hundreds to the Capitol’s west foyer, where a luncheon of lamb, brisket and pulled pork, along with baked beans and potato salad,…
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Colorado Senate committee advances bill increasing overtime threshold for farmworkers
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…
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Colorado plans to slash interim committee work amid budget woes
In a tight-budget year, the work of interim committees — those off-session groups that look at transportation, agriculture, water, healthcare, wildfires, pensions, and anything else lawmakers want to look at — is on the chopping block. And this year, no committee is considered sacrosanct. A bill introduced Thursday by the legislative leadership from both parties…
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Department of Agriculture warns of packages holding potentially invasive seeds
Spring planting is around the corner, and the Colorado Department of Agriculture wants residents to know where their seeds are coming from. Officials with the department warned Tuesday that they received reports of unsolicited packages containing plant seeds mailed internationally to Coloradans, according to a news release. While small, the contents of the package are…
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More than 20 Colorado counties receive grants to improve land record-keeping systems
More than 20 Colorado counties received a total of $2.5 million to improve their land record-keeping systems, according to a Monday news release. The State’s Electronic Recording Technology Board awarded 22 counties with grants ranging from $5,000 to $350,000, according to the release. Counties such as Arapahoe, El Paso and Pueblo each received sizable amounts.…
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Rural legislators, Colorado farmers defeat pollinator bill backed by Gov. Polis
A proposal to limit the use of neonicotinoid-coated crop seeds collapsed in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee last week, as rural lawmakers, including two Democrats, joined Republicans to reject what they called an expensive, impractical mandate on farmers. Senate Bill 65 would have required farmers to obtain permission from third-party evaluators before using…
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Competing overtime bills for agriculture workers split Colorado Democrats
Competing bills setting the overtime threshold for farmworkers have split legislators at the Colorado state Capitol, with one group saying a law passed in 2021 has harmed, rather than helped, farming operations and workers alike, while the other side insists that farmworkers should be treated like any other employee. The first group, which is bipartisan,…
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Colorado is turning its back on agriculture | PODIUM
Colorado’s farmers and ranchers already face significant challenges, including volatile commodity prices, rising input costs, labor shortages and unpredictable weather. They should not also have to contend with a state legislature that increasingly seeks to regulate how they protect crops and livestock. Yet that is precisely what Senate Bills 26-062 and 26-065 represent: a top-down…
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A fight over seeds and bees: Colorado Democrats target neonicotinoid pesticides
Colorado lawmakers are weighing new restrictions on a class of pesticides after Gov. Jared Polis signaled support for a Democratic-backed bill aimed at protecting pollinators — a proposal that has raised sharp worries from farmers who rely on treated seeds to protect crops from soil-dwelling pests. The proposal contained in Senate Bill 65 would restrict…
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Insecticide bill latest example of Colorado pols legislating your plate | Rachel Gabel
“Neonicotinoids” seems to be the word rolling off the tongues of lawmakers this year as the legislative session kicks off. Senate Bill 26-065, concerning limitations on the use of certain insecticides in the state, sponsored by Sen. Katie Wallace, a Democrat who represents Boulder, Broomfield and Weld counties; Sen. Cathy Kipp, a Democrat who represents…