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Tag: Agriculture Policy

Is HB26-1111 a smart ag solution or another TABOR workaround?
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Is HB26-1111 a smart ag solution or another TABOR workaround?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project HB26-1111: a beneficial enterprise? At my last check, HB26-1111 (linked below) is awaiting either 30-day passage or the Governor’s signature. This is another enterprise-creation bill. It creates an enterprise which charges a fee on pesticide producers and applicators. The fee will, among other things, be used to create a program where pesticide applicators can dispose of leftover pesticide. Per a conversation I had with my State Senator Byron Pelton, as things stand now, prior to this bill, pesticide applicators must pay a disposal company to take leftover chemical, and that price is growing more and more each year. The enterprise created in that bill steps in with a government-run business to take ...
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Rural Lawmakers Reject Polis Backed Pesticide Restrictions
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Rural Lawmakers Reject Polis Backed Pesticide Restrictions

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics 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 crop seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides, also known as neonics. But the committee’s rural lawmakers, including two Democrats, weren’t persuaded that the program sponsored by Democratic Sens. Katie Wallace of Longmont and Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins was the right step, killing the bill in a 2-5 vote last week. Wallace claimed farmers are p...
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Why I’m Running for United States Senate
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Why I’m Running for United States Senate

By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is being managed into decline. Not in one dramatic collapse. Not in one headline. In slow motion. Costs go up. Public safety goes down. Energy gets strangled. Rural communities get ignored. And government keeps getting bigger. I am running for United States Senate because I am tired of watching it happen. I am not running to join the club. I am running to reverse the direction this state is headed. I am a fifth generation Coloradan. A Navy veteran. A county commissioner. A business owner who has signed the front of paychecks and felt the weight of bad policy in real time. I have lived under the consequences of decisions made in Denver and...
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State approval to farm? Lawmakers debate new limits on seed and pest control
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

State approval to farm? Lawmakers debate new limits on seed and pest control

By Sen. Byron Pelton | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice 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 attack on agriculture that increases costs, undermines private property rights, and signals deep disrespect for the men and women who feed our nation and the world. A Direct Hit on Practical Pest Control SB26-062 would significantly restrict the sale and use of common rodenticides and glue traps. While intended to pr...
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Why J. Paul Brown Supports Naomi Riess for House District 59
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Why J. Paul Brown Supports Naomi Riess for House District 59

By J. Paul Brown | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As a lifelong farmer and rancher in Southwest Colorado and someone who has proudly served as the representative for House District 59, I know the importance of strong, principled leadership for our communities. We are in dire need of someone who has always stood by agriculture and our rural way of life.  I have known Naomi Riess for many years, and I can say with confidence that she is exactly the kind of leader we need. I personally witnessed her dedication when she helped the La Plata County Farm Bureau resolve challenges that some of our members were facing with the State Land Board regarding state land leases. Her knowledge, persistence and genuine care for the people she serves made a real difference. ...
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Northern Colorado Rancher Says Wolf Attack Killed Family Dog
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Northern Colorado Rancher Says Wolf Attack Killed Family Dog

By Anna Coon | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — A fifth-generation rancher in northern Colorado says his nine-year-old dog was killed earlier this month in what he believes was a wolf attack, marking the latest reported conflict between livestock producers and gray wolves reintroduced to the state in 2023. Coy Meyring said he found his dog, Scout, dead along a back fence line on Feb. 7. Meyring believes one or more wolves were responsible, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the incident on its wolf depredation site. “We’re really defenseless here,” Meyring said. Meyring told Steamboat Radio that it was not the first time wolves had attacked animals on his property. He said two cattle have been killed and two others injured in previous incidents, which he attribu...
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Feds own the dams, but who owns the water?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National

Feds own the dams, but who owns the water?

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A couple years ago, I criticized the Bureau of Reclamation for draining Blue Mesa Reservoir without bothering to tell the people in Gunnison whose livelihood is affected. I got a little push-back for saying that while the Bureau owned the dam, it did not own the water. A close friend and water lawyer told me to be careful, that the Bureau does in fact own some water rights in the Gunnison River. I admit the legal nuance but still insist it is a debatable point. That’s because Congress never funded such water projects for the purpose of the federal government owning and controlling the West’s water. The Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956 led to construction of Glen Canyon, Flaming Gorge, and Navajo Dams, as well as ...
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Colorado’s “wildlife threat” plan could threaten agriculture instead
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s “wildlife threat” plan could threaten agriculture instead

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I smell a Rosmarino I had a couple readers bring a recent US Forest Service (USFS) draft assessment about the Comanche National Grasslands (SE Colorado) to my attention. I didn’t have time to get to it, but I was happy to see that Rachel Gabel of the FencePost did. The reality is that she did a better job than I could have hoped to. Her lengthy rundown on the issue is linked below and is well worth reading. This is particularly the case if you are worried about efforts at conservation and species restoration spilling over into (or being used intentionally for) a way to stop other uses of public lands. I’ll leave it to you to get the details, but from what I read, this assessment smacks of the kinds of rewilding/co...
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Western Cattlemen Push Back on Federal Land Restrictions
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The Fence Post, Approved, National

Western Cattlemen Push Back on Federal Land Restrictions

By Carrie Stadheim | The Fence Post Several groups of cattle producers could be seen walking the halls of Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in recent weeks. No, they weren’t lost. They were detailing some of the ways government prevents cattle producers from being profitable and identifying solutions that could help. Jack Payne, owner of Nevada Livestock Marketing, was one of five ranchers from western states to meet with U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to describe the drastically diminished cattle numbers on federal lands. Grazing is needed on rangelands to maintain plant and soil health, reduce fire danger and provide economic stability to communities, Payne said. Secretary Rollins posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sept. 6, 2025, “Earl...
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Gabel: Denver’s anti-meat campaign is built on misinformation and contempt for agriculture
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Commentary, State

Gabel: Denver’s anti-meat campaign is built on misinformation and contempt for agriculture

By Rachel Gabel | Commentary, Colorado Politics Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s $3 million campaign to urge Denver residents and visitors to eat less meat to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) is tone deaf at best. There is no need for widening the divide between people and where their food comes from, especially here and now. Attempting to influence people’s food choices to fit an agenda funded by cause celebs is elitist, especially in a time when families are struggling to put nutritious food on the table. This is certainly further compounded by the shaky foundation of misinformation the campaign appears to be based upon when the priorities of the funding office shouldn’t have arbitrarily added livestock to the conversation. Colorado protein producers have embraced efficiencies and new ...
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