Joe Miller of Platteville is a third-generation farmer. His land has been used for agriculture since 1949, but his family’s Colorado farming history dates back to the early 20th century.
Over the years, Miller Farms has played a productive role in Colorado’s agricultural community, primarily growing corn, alfalfa, beans and sugar beets. However, today Joe considers farming festivals and community education tours the most profitable and economically viable of his farm’s activities. He notes that his farm is one of the few left in the area, and he is watching suburbia close in.
Like the Millers, many Colorado farmers and ranchers are realizing they have tempting options other than keeping their land in production. Offers from developers are attractive when weighed against challenges such as buying increasingly expensive fuel for equipment and trying to keep land irrigated despite droughts sapping an already unpredictable water supply. Furthermore, each development that springs up creates more pressure for neighboring farmers to sell by increasing their land values as well as eroding the structure of their rural communities. Those who continue to work the land are increasingly using innovative strategies to keep their farms, like the Miller’s agritourism business, or picking up work off the farm to supplement their incomes.
Today, Colorado is at a critical juncture. Our finest ranches and croplands are vanishing rapidly; as a state, we are losing the equivalent of five family farms a week. Since 1992, Colorado has lost 2.89 million acres of agricultural land. Increased rural large-lot development and weakening agricultural economies contribute to the staggering loss of agricultural land. In Weld County alone, the state’s highest grossing county in agricultural sales, almost 275,000 acres of agricultural land has been lost since 1987. If current trends continue, the state stands to lose an additional 3.1 million acres of agricultural land by 2022.
The biggest threat to agricultural land along the Front Range and in the mountain communities is large-lot residential development, commonly classified as one house per 2 to 40 acres. Between 1960 and 1990, the land area developed into exurban homes and rural ranchettes grew three times faster than the population growth rate. The pressure to sell farmland is growing. The average real estate value of agricultural land increased 16 percent between 1999 and 2003, and the yearly interest accrued from a multimillion-dollar sale of ranchland is often more than can be earned from ranching.
Agriculture in Colorado has become less profitable in recent years. Overall farm sales in real dollars have been in a steady decline since 1990. In 2002, 60 percent of Colorado’s farms and ranches had total annual sales of less than $10,000 as their debts have increased. These circumstances create tension for farmers and ranchers to reconcile: On one hand, many love their land and their work, but they must think about how to provide for their families and for their futures.
The loss of these working landscapes threatens the future of rural Colorado, our statewide economy and key natural resources.
Agribusiness is a $16 billion sector of Colorado’s economy, providing 13 percent of total jobs. In addition, one-third of Colorado counties are dependent on agricultural income and employment; losing family farms to residential development halts economic growth in many rural locations.
Tourism, the state’s largest primary industry, will also be adversely affected. Studies done in Gunnison and Routt counties reinforce the importance of scenic ranch landscapes to attract vacationers. Analysis indicates that the projected economic loss if Gunnison ranches were sold and developed, including multipliers, is close to $14.6 million.
On the environmental front, working agricultural lands are critical to maintaining the state’s biodiversity as well as preserving the natural cycles that clean and renew our air and water. When farm and ranch landscapes are fragmented by rural development, wildlife habitats are jeopardized and migration patterns are disrupted. Residential development distant from urban centers lengthens commute times, driving down air quality. With pavement replacing pastures across the state, more storm water runs directly into drains without the opportunity to filter naturally through the topsoil, leading to higher nutrient counts in surface and ground water.
Colorado is at a crucial stage. With much at stake, now is clearly the time to work together. Environmentalists and agriculturalists, developers and politicians, city planners and business interests must come together to help preserve agricultural land, promote economic vitality, and provide a brighter future for rural Colorado.
Leaders should open a discussion and agree on a set of policy options that are politically and socially feasible for combating land loss and agricultural decline. Some ideas for discussion could include:
Developing strategies that would make it easier for farmers and ranchers to keep their land in production. These could include creating markets for higher value local produce; promoting renewable energy and other forms of alternative income; introducing more comprehensive right-to-farm legislation to ease the pressure from residential neighbors; providing incentives for landowners to form associations; and encouraging win-win water solutions that contribute to agricultural prosperity.
Increasing conservation funding by creating private incentives for buying easements.
Developing consensus options for managing growth, such as planning public infrastructure projects with the intent of protecting private agricultural lands, and encouraging land to be sold for clustered developments.
Vibrant rural communities are vital to our environment, our economy and our quality of life. The first step toward a new rural prosperity is for all interests to begin a meaningful dialogue about the problem. It is in the interest of all citizens of Colorado to preserve and protect our agricultural heritage, and it is time for everyone to understand and embrace the role that farmers and ranchers play as stewards of our lands. Colorado needs more Joe Millers – not fewer.
A full copy of the report is available at .
