While people do not always realize it, we are usually a top-ten producer of beef, contributing more than $3 billion a year of total economic activity…
It is easy for most people to see Colorado as a skiing state, a brewery state, or even a marijuana state (as anyone who recently traveled out of state and happened to mention where you live can attest), but we do not all realize how import agriculture is to our identity as well. In fact, many of us—industry experts, economic developers, and elected officials alike—did not fully realize the scale and importance of agriculture until the Value Chain of Colorado Agriculture study was published by Colorado State University in February of 2013.
The study highlighted critical economic, community, and ecosystem impacts of food production directly, but more significantly it comprehensively explored, for the first time, the effects of the entire value chain (think supply chain that encompasses all the steps from seed and soil to your plate) of agriculture in Colorado. This expansive view of food and farming emphasized the connections between agriculture production and the rest of our economy. Including barley used in beer production, technological patents for new agricultural techniques, the extensive distribution and logistics systems that help move food throughout our state and economy, and even the incredible cuisine produced by our leading chefs, to name a few. This expansive view also helped shift the view of agriculture from a top-ten industry in Colorado to a top-three industry in Colorado. Agriculture and its links to the rest of our food system is one of the three largest and most economically significant industries in Colorado!
But agriculture is not just big in Colorado relative to other sectors. Agriculture in Colorado is big relative to agriculture in other states. While people do not always realize it, we are usually a top-ten producer of beef, contributing more than $3 billion a year of total economic activity. Equally as exciting is our beer industry, which as of 2011 also accounted for well over $3 billion of total economic activity.
While beef and beer sound great for many of us, what about the vegetarians and vegans in the audience? Well, Colorado is also in the top six largest producers of potatoes, carrots, spinach, and onions, and the top dozen major producers of peaches, cantaloupe, sweet corn, dry beans, and cabbage.
And that’s not all. A recent USDA report calculated that Colorado is the ninth-largest state in the amount of land in farms, and is the eighth largest organic producer in the United States as well, selling over $147 million—of which over $24 million is from organic fruits, vegetables, and nuts alone!
So why is Colorado so good for agriculture? For one, our abundant ranch land has always been home to herds of grazing animals. Good pasture management practices, targeted irrigation, no-till practices, and scientific animal breeding programs have increased the productivity and efficiency of these lands all while creating healthy soils and diversified pastures that are helping us foster sustainable agro-ecosystem.
The same soil and agronomic factors that create robust pastures in Colorado also favor the production of grains on both irrigated and some opportunely located non-irrigated lands. Furthermore, Colorado fruits and vegetables are also improved by our unique climate and geographies. One farmer I met with recently referred to our “high-altitude flavor,” a distinct set of tastes that come from 300 days of sunshine (though state climatologist Nolan Doeskin estimated the real number may be much lower), mineral rich soils, Rocky Mountain water, and the extreme temperature fluctuation between day and night. Our unique conditions have made us a reliable exporter of the highest quality lettuce, cabbage, and fruits since the beginning of Colorado agriculture.
Since the first state fair (hosted outside of Denver in 1866), we continue to grow nearly the full array of the usual groceries purchased by today’s shopper:
More to the point, the pivotal role of agriculture and food in our community and economy is not a new trend. On panels or after presentations I am often asked if local food is just a fad. This question has intrigued me for years: is local food in fact just a fad or is there evidence of some longer-term trend? The most convincing piece of evidence I have found thus far is an op-ed article published in the Rocky Mountain News in April 1859 called “Farming vs. Gold digging.” This article encouraged the development of a more robust local food system to support a growing mining industry, urging entrepreneurs and new arrivals to make a good living wherever the “plow followed the miners pick!”
While the direct success of that article in motiving farmers is unclear, by the year 1877, eighteen short years later the Colorado mining industry generated $7.4 million of sales (in 1877 dollars) and the food and agriculture economy of Colorado also amounted to $7.4 million of sales. The importance of Colorado agriculture is not new. In fact, it has always been key to the economic success of settlement here.
It is easy for most people to see Colorado as a skiing state, a brewery state, or even a marijuana state (as anyone who recently traveled out of state and happened to mention where you live can attest), but we do not all realize how import agriculture is to our identity as well. In fact, many of us—industry experts, economic developers, and elected officials alike—did not fully realize the scale and importance of agriculture until the Value Chain of Colorado Agriculture study was published by Colorado State University in February of 2013.
The study highlighted critical economic, community, and ecosystem impacts of food production directly, but more significantly it comprehensively explored, for the first time, the effects of the entire value chain (think supply chain that encompasses all the steps from seed and soil to your plate) of agriculture in Colorado. This expansive view of food and farming emphasized the connections between agriculture production and the rest of our economy. Including barley used in beer production, technological patents for new agricultural techniques, the extensive distribution and logistics systems that help move food throughout our state and economy, and even the incredible cuisine produced by our leading chefs, to name a few. This expansive view also helped shift the view of agriculture from a top-ten industry in Colorado to a top-three industry in Colorado. Agriculture and its links to the rest of our food system is one of the three largest and most economically significant industries in Colorado!
But agriculture is not just big in Colorado relative to other sectors. Agriculture in Colorado is big relative to agriculture in other states. While people do not always realize it, we are usually a top-ten producer of beef, contributing more than $3 billion a year of total economic activity. Equally as exciting is our beer industry, which as of 2011 also accounted for well over $3 billion of total economic activity.
While beef and beer sound great for many of us, what about the vegetarians and vegans in the audience? Well, Colorado is also in the top six largest producers of potatoes, carrots, spinach, and onions, and the top dozen major producers of peaches, cantaloupe, sweet corn, dry beans, and cabbage.
And that’s not all. A recent USDA report calculated that Colorado is the ninth-largest state in the amount of land in farms, and is the eighth largest organic producer in the United States as well, selling over $147 million—of which over $24 million is from organic fruits, vegetables, and nuts alone!
So why is Colorado so good for agriculture? For one, our abundant ranch land has always been home to herds of grazing animals. Good pasture management practices, targeted irrigation, no-till practices, and scientific animal breeding programs have increased the productivity and efficiency of these lands all while creating healthy soils and diversified pastures that are helping us foster sustainable agro-ecosystem.
The same soil and agronomic factors that create robust pastures in Colorado also favor the production of grains on both irrigated and some opportunely located non-irrigated lands. Furthermore, Colorado fruits and vegetables are also improved by our unique climate and geographies. One farmer I met with recently referred to our “high-altitude flavor,” a distinct set of tastes that come from 300 days of sunshine (though state climatologist Nolan Doeskin estimated the real number may be much lower), mineral rich soils, Rocky Mountain water, and the extreme temperature fluctuation between day and night. Our unique conditions have made us a reliable exporter of the highest quality lettuce, cabbage, and fruits since the beginning of Colorado agriculture.
Since the first state fair (hosted outside of Denver in 1866), we continue to grow nearly the full array of the usual groceries purchased by today’s shopper:
- Animal products like beef, lamb, pork, poultry, eggs, and dairy products;
- Grains for food and feed including wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat;
- Vegetables and fruits including potatoes, onions, turnips, sugar beets, beans, summer and winter squash, lettuce, celery, asparagus, melons, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apples, cherries, plumbs and grapes.
More to the point, the pivotal role of agriculture and food in our community and economy is not a new trend. On panels or after presentations I am often asked if local food is just a fad. This question has intrigued me for years: is local food in fact just a fad or is there evidence of some longer-term trend? The most convincing piece of evidence I have found thus far is an op-ed article published in the Rocky Mountain News in April 1859 called “Farming vs. Gold digging.” This article encouraged the development of a more robust local food system to support a growing mining industry, urging entrepreneurs and new arrivals to make a good living wherever the “plow followed the miners pick!”
While the direct success of that article in motiving farmers is unclear, by the year 1877, eighteen short years later the Colorado mining industry generated $7.4 million of sales (in 1877 dollars) and the food and agriculture economy of Colorado also amounted to $7.4 million of sales. The importance of Colorado agriculture is not new. In fact, it has always been key to the economic success of settlement here.
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