LIVESTOCK, DAIRY INDUSTRY DRIVING FORCES OF
WELD AGRICULTURE BY: ERIC BROWN Keith Maxey can’t help but give off a slight laugh while admitting his opinion may be a little biased. However, the 56-year-old - who grew up on a dairy farm east of Greeley and has held various positions across the country with groups like the National Holstein, Midland United Dairy Industry and American Dairy Goat associations - has been around enough to have a good idea of how Weld County’s livestock and dairy operations compare to those in other parts of the U.S., and why they’re so successful on his home turf.
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We really have it all here... We’re very blessed. Keith Maxey
“Weld County is definitely a special place,” said Maxey, who - after years of working elsewhere - returned home and worked at the Weld County office of Colorado State University Extension as a 4-H agent and dairy specialist for 15 years before taking over as the office’s director earlier this year. “As far as livestock and dairy operations go, this is about as good as it gets.”
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Impact............................... 4 HAY..................................... 6 WELD RANKS...................... 6 BEETS.................................. 7
WHEAT................................ 8 RECORDS............................ 9
BEANS............................... 10 CORN................................. 11 Dairy................................ 12 SMALL GRAINS................. 14
VEGETABLES..................... 14 Agritourism.................. 15 Cover photo by: JIM RYDBOM/jrydbom@greeleytribune.com
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RAISED IN WELD
According to Maxey, numerous factors play into Weld County’s success. The high plains of northern Colorado provide an ideal climate for livestock - plenty of sunshine, not overly hot in the summer, cool at night and moderate winters, as he described. Weld County also has plenty of open space for the animals, smart and savvy agriculture producers, outstanding 4-H and other youth development programs, a variety of good leaders and policy makers - at the local, state and national levels - who come from the area, and “there’s a recognition of the importance of agriculture from the community.” “We really have it all here,” Maxey added. “We’re very blessed.” If Maxey’s comments aren’t convincing enough, the numbers that place Weld County among the nation’s elite in livestock production certainly are. According to the most recent Census of Agriculture, which was released in 2007, Weld County was ranked No. 8 in the nation in overall market value of agriculture production. According to that census, Weld County’s market value of production was $1.54 billion, with $1.26 billion of that - more than 80 percent - in livestock operations. Weld was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the value of sheep, goats and their products, No. 1 in the number of sheep and lambs, No. 2 in the value of cattle and calves and No. 3 in the value of all livestock, poultry and their products. In the state, the county was ranked No. 1 in 16 of the 27 categories surveyed by the census. Additionally, Colorado’s total value of receipts for dairy products in the state exceeded $457 million in 2010 - one of the top in the state for leading agricultural commodities - and half of the dairy cows in the state are located in Weld County. According to the Colorado office for the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were about 66,000 dairy cattle in Weld County at the beginning of the year, with about 123,000 statewide. And Weld County can expect those numbers to grow significantly during the next few years, as anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 additional dairy cows will be needed to meet the demand of the new Leprino Foods’ cheese plant in Greeley, expected to begin operations this year. Just 50 years ago, large-scale livestock feeding was in its infancy in Weld County. And it was at about the same time that the county moved into its lofty national ranking, moving up to fifth in the nation as determined by the Census of Agriculture in terms of annual receipts of agricultural production. According to the Census of Agriculture, which dates back to the 1820 decennial census, Weld has been as high second in the nation since the 1964 census and has never dropped out of the top 10 since then. In most census years, it has been the only county in the top 10 outside of California. The county remains home to two of the largest cattle feeding operations in the nation, operated by JBS USA Five Rivers Cattle Feeding. That cattle-feeding operation, which has four if its 11 feedlots in Colorado, has a one-time feeding capacity of close to 1 million head. In Weld County, it operates feedlots near Gilcrest and Kersey, as well as one in Yuma and another near Lamar in southern Colorado. Those four lots have a one-time capacity of about 365,000 head. According to the Colorado office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, at the start of this year there were 545,000 cattle and calves in Weld County, 48,000 beef cows on ranches - all increases from the previous year. While the present and future look bright for livestock and dairy operations in Weld County, Bill Hammerich, chief executive officer with the Colorado Livestock Association in Greeley, said much of that success is owed to Weld’s pioneers of the past. “We’re very fortunate here in Weld County to be surrounded in history that features such true visionaries,” said Hammerich, who has worked for the Colorado Livestock Association since 2002 and whose professional career has centered around livestock feeding operations in northern Colorado. According to Hammerich, as well as the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the current concept of feedlots in the west began with two Weld County icons; W.D. Farr and Warren Monfort, who first fed sheep in pens because the sheep coming in off pasture in the fall reduced the price. By feeding them, they could avoid fall price drops and have product to sell yearround. Monfort started what is now JBS Five Rivers by feeding 18 head of cattle in the early 1930s on his farm north of Greeley. Monfort’s other innovations include bringing the packinghouse to the feedlot and the Greeley beef-packing plant now operated by JBS USA. That plant began operation in May 1960, under the direction of Kenny Monfort, who pioneered the concept of boxed beef - slicing various cuts of beef that would fit in a box that could then be shipped to wholesale and retail outlets. Previously, cattle carcasses had been shipped by truck to those operations, which then processed them into specific cuts of beef. Weld County is home to large lamb-feeding operations, family hog and equine operations and cattle ranching operations. Lamb-feeding operations in Weld stretch from Windsor to Eaton to the Fort Lupton area. Lambs are fed 60-90 days, coming into those feedlots at 70 pounds or more. Many of those lambs are processed by the JBS plant, which is near its beef packing plant, as well as another processor in Denver. Weld is a leader in the state for numbers of equine animals - horses, donkey and mules. According to the 2007 agriculture census, there were more than 10,000 horses in Weld County and combined with ponies, mules, donkeys and burros, while there was a value of more than $5 million in “other animals and animal products,” which ranked the county No. 1 in the state.
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ERIC BELLAMY/ebellamy@greeleytribune.com
IMPACT OF AGRICULTURE IS FELT THROUGHOUT WELD Weld County ranges from fertile irrigated farmlands around Greeley to extensive rangeland to the north and east with dryland areas coming in above the valley floors. The county, according to the latest Census of Agriculture released in 2007, ranks eighth in the nation in value of agricultural products sold, which includes almost $273 million in crops and $1.26 billion in livestock. In Weld, the market value of agricultural products sold increased 36 percent from 2002 to 2007 to more than $1.5 billion, up from $1.1 billion in 2002 - the year the previous census came out Weld is home to two JBS USA Five Rivers Cattle Feeding feedlots, which are among the nation’s largest. JBS averages about 180,000 cattle on feed at its Gilcrest and Kuner locations. Overall, the cattle and calves inventory in Weld County for 2010 was 545,000 head, according to the Colorado office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, which ranks first in the state. Yuma County, at 255,000 head, and Morgan County, at 220,000 head, are second and third in the state. In addition, Weld is also a large lamb feeding county, with feedlots containing in excess of 300,000 head on a one-time basis. JBS USA operates lamb, as well as beef, packing plants in Greeley. The majority of the state’s dairy cows are also located in Weld, with 66,000 head this year, according to the statistics office. Of the state’s 123,000 dairy cows, 104,600 of them are in Weld, Morgan and Larimer counties. Weld encompasses more than 2.57 million acres of land. It is the third largest county in Colorado and is the third most populous area outside the Denver metropolitan area with a population of 260,185, according to 2010 census figures, which represents a 44 percent increase since 2000.
About 85 percent of Weld County is privately owned with the other 15 percent held almost equally by the federal and state governments. About 75 percent of the county’s total acres - a little more than 2 million - are in agriculture and, looking only at the privately held land, nearly 90 percent of those acres are in agriculture. During the 1980s and 1990s, Weld County saw an explosion in population and several thousand acres of land were taken out of production to be replaced by new homes. But in 2007, the latest Census of Agriculture indicated that trend had changed dramatically, as the number of farms increased by 26 percent and the land in farms went up 15 percent from 3,121 farms to 3,921 farms in Weld County, with 2.08 million acres up from 1.8 million acres. The average size of the farms in the county, however, decreased from 581 acres in the 2002 census to 533 acres in the 2007 census. The history of most of Weld County is inseparably bound to the development of irrigation. In 1870, one of the first agriculture colonies in Colorado was established where the Poudre River meets the South Platte River. Originally it was known as the Union Colony, but was later renamed Greeley. The colonists pooled their resources and moved quickly to build irrigation ditches. Ten miles of ditch were completed the first summer, with 27 more miles the following year irrigating 25,000 acres. Today, there are nearly 1,000 miles of irrigation canals irrigating close to 400,000 acres, which contributes to Weld County being ranked first in the state for agricultural products sold and eighth in the nation in recent years.
The production of agricultural products on farms and ranches is how many people think of agriculture. The economic contribution of farms and ranches is often referred to as “farm production” or “production at the farm gate.” However, the impact of agriculture on the economy is much broader than just the production from farms and ranches. Agribusiness encompasses the traditional farm production of commodities such as wheat, corn, livestock, green and horse industries with linkages to the agricultural inputs necessary for their growth. Agribusiness also includes the processing and marketing necessary to bring the final goods to the consumer. The agricultural inputs sector includes chemicals, seeds, fertilizers, feed, fuel, machinery and veterinary services. The processing and marketing sectors include businesses such as grain elevators, meat packinghouses, warehousing and transportation of food products.
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2011 unique for hay farmers; Weld leads state in production for 2010 This year has been an interesting one for hay growers everywhere, including Weld County. Weather conditions for the crop locally have been good, but that wasn’t at all the case in many other parts of the state and country, especially where historic drought made growing forage for livestock a difficult task. As a result of the dry conditions in southeast Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and other areas of the South and Midwest, hay prices shot through the roof for farmers where the crop was growing; places like Weld County. This summer, hay prices across the board in northeast Colorado have been about $50 to $75 more per ton than they were a year ago. Because of its large livestock operations, hay is an important aspect of agriculture in Weld, and, in most years, it is the No. 1 crop harvested in the county in terms of acreage - although there are years when it is surpassed by corn and wheat. With this year’s hay harvest still under way, numbers were not available for the 2011 crop. However, according to the Colorado office of National Agriculture
Statistics Service, Weld County harvested 106,000 acres of alfalfa and 38,000 acres of other hay in 2010, ranking the county No. 1 in the state for hay production last year. Those 144,000 total acres were down slightly from 2009, when Weld County farmers harvested 151,000 acres. In comparison to Weld County’s other major crops, 129,500 acres of wheat were harvested in 2010, while 93,700 acres of corn for grain were harvested. Corn for silage numbers in 2010 weren’t available in the NASS 2010 report to determine the total amount of corn acres harvested last year. The value of hay produced in the state in 2010 was placed at $492 million, down from $625 million in 2009. The alfalfa crop alone was valued at $451 million in 2009 and that went down to $362 million in 2010, according to the statistics office. Alfalfa hay farmers will get three or four cuttings of alfalfa hay per year, depending on weather conditions. They will average about 1-2 tons to the on each cutting. In 2010, Weld produced 590,000 tons of alfalfa hay and
69,300 tons of other hay, which includes grass and other forage hay crops. Alfalfa hay can be ground as a feed source or baled and stored to be added to a feed ration. The harvest of that crop can begin as early as the first week of June and can continue through the end of September to early October, but that depends on weather conditions and the condition of the crop. The cutting of other hay crops begins in early July and is usually completed by the end of September. The yield of those crops are typically only a percentage of irrigated alfalfa, but again, wet years can produce a bumper crop. In most cases, that crop is baled and used as winterfeed for ranch cattle when pasture grass in dormant. Hay is swathed and put in windrows in a field, allowed to dry, and then is baled and moved to storage. Some green alfalfa is chopped and used in the feed ration for both dairy and beef animals. Typically, the first cutting of alfalfa hay goes to dairy operations because of its high quality.
HOW WELD COUNTY RANKS IN COLORADO Total value of products sold Value of crops, including nursery and greenhouses Value of livestock, poultry and their products Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas Vegetables, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes Nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sold Cut Christmas trees, short rotation woody crops Other crops and hay Poultry and eggs Cattle and calves Milk and other products from cows Hogs and pigs Sheep, goats and their products Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys Aguaculture Other animals and animal products
TOP CROP ITEMS
Forage crops (hay, grass, silage, greenchop) Wheat for grain, all Corn for grain Corn for silage Vegetables harvested for sale
1 1 1 3 3 2 5 1 1 1 1 10 1 2 8 1
1 11 4 1 4
TOP LIVESTOCK INVENTORY
Layers Turkeys Cattle and calves Pullet for laying flock replacement Sheep and lambs
1 1 1 1 1
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A Century later, beets remain significant to weld agriculture Sugar beets have been a part of the agricultural scene in northern Colorado for more than 100 years - said to have bought and paid for more farms in the region than any other crop. Despite seeing a statewide decrease in significance over the years, Weld County continues to be a solid producer of sugar beets, leading Colorado in total production by a long shot. In 2010, 10,100 acres of sugar beets were harvested in Weld County, producing 322,000 tons. Yuma County was second last year with 5,400 acres producing about 155,000 tons, followed by Logan County with 3,400 acres harvested and 93,000 tons produced, and then Larimer County with 2,700 acres and 79,500 tons, according to the Colorado office of National Agriculture Statistics Service. Statewide, total production numbers were down a little bit in 2010 compared to the previous year. Last year, there were 27,900 acres harvested that produced 823,000 tons, while in 2009, there were 35,000 acres harvested that produced 963,000 tons. The 2009 sugar beet total production numbers represented the best in the state in more than a decade. While total production was down last
year, yield per acre was at an all-time high in 2010 for Colorado farmers, as they got 29.5 tons per acre, topping the previous mark of 27.5 tons in 2009. Sugar beets were introduced to northern Colorado in the early 1900s, and sugar beet processing plants dotted the landscape from Longmont to Fort Collins, from Brighton to Eaton and east to Fort Morgan, Sterling and Ovid. Now, however, only the Fort Morgan processing plant remains and it processes the majority of the region’s beets. The Greeley plant was razed to make room for Leprino Foods’ new cheese processing plant, which will begin operations in November. Greeley and Eaton opened the first two sugar factories in Weld in 1902, and others followed in Windsor (1904), Fort Lupton (1920) and Johnstown (1926). At one time, there were 13 factories operating in northern Colorado. According to the NASS, the record-high acreage for sugar beets was 242,000 in 1930 and the record low was 2,500 in 1985. It has been tracking sugar beet production in the state since 1905. The low came during a time when the former Great Western Sugar Co. was in bankruptcy. It
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was purchased out of bankruptcy by Tate & Lyle - a British company that renamed it the Western Sugar Co. In the late 1990s, Tate & Lyle began looking for a buyer because of the volatile sugar market in the U.S. and in April 2002, the sale to the Western Sugar Cooperative, a group of more than 1,000 sugar beet growers in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana, was finalized. The cooperative, which is based in Denver, contracts beets to growers in the four states. Sugar beets are usually the first crop planted and the last harvested. They are planted as early as late March to early April, depending on soil temperatures. Harvest usually starts in late September with enough beets going to processing facilities to get them up and going. That harvest can continue into November, but it will be February or March of the following year before all of them are processed into sugar. The Western Sugar Cooperative, according to its website, produces
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retail lines of sugar products under the label, as well as several private labels. Products include fine granulated sugar in sizes from 1/10-ounce packets to 25-pound bags, as well as powdered sugar and light and dark brown sugar. The cooperative also ships sugar to industrial customers. For that market, Western packages sugar into bags ranging in size from 1 pound to 100 pounds, and packages super sacks with weight up to 2,300 pounds. The sugar is transported by truck and rail, and sugar produced by Western can be found in all 50 states.
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JIM RYDBOM/jrydbom@greeleytribune.com
COLORADO WHEAt CROp BREAkINg RECORDS, SuRpRISINg fARMERS After a couple record-breaking years, Colorado’s wheat farmers were relieved just to get 2011’s crop harvested — let alone record above-average yields. Colorado ranked No. 2 in the nation for total winter wheat production in 2009 — the state’s highest ranking ever in that category — and followed that up with recording the best total production in state history in 2010. But this year’s crop got off to a much rockier start. A lack of moisture last fall that lasted
into the spring had farmers in the region anticipating a poor harvest — that is until May rains revived the crop, and then some. According to the Colorado office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the winter wheat harvested in Colorado this summer recorded yields of 40 bushels per acre — well above the 10-year average for 31.6 — with total production of about 80 million bushels — topping the 10-year average of 67 million bushels in that category.
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It was a catastrophe avoided, area farmers said. In 2009, the state produced about 98 million bushels of winter wheat, ranking behind only Kansas. Although Colorado produced 105 million bushels in 2010, the state dropped to No. 5 in the national rankings (Crop failures in Texas and Oklahoma had helped move Colorado up in the national standings two years ago). On an average during the past 10 years, Colorado is eighth in U.S. winter wheat production. Colorado’s 2010 winter wheat production was the state’s largest since 1985, before farmers started entering a federal program encouraging them to take some land out of production. In addition to historic total production, Colorado’s wheat farmers also recorded the best yields in the state history at 45.5 bushels per acre, topping the 1999 standard of 43.8. Weld County ranked 10th in the state last year in total production of winter wheat, with the 129,500 acres harvested producing 5.8 million bushels. Kit Carson County led the way for Colorado, harvesting 252,500 acres of winter wheat and producing 13.8 million bushels. Yields in Kit Carson County were 54.6 bushels per acre. The estimated value of Colorado’s winter wheat crop in 2010 was $592 million, with spring wheat adding another $14 million for a grand total of $606 million in overall wheat value. Winter wheat is grown on dryland regions of the country, ranging from one end of the nation to the other. It’s planted in early fall and emerges, hopefully, then goes into dormancy over the winter months. In the spring, once the soil temperatures warm, the crop begins growing, depending on rain for moisture, and traditionally, in Weld County, harvest starts around July 4 and can continue into early August.
RECORDS BARLEY
Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (bushels)
CORN
Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (bushels)
CORN fOR SILAgE Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (tons)
ALL DRY BEANS
Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (pounds)
ALL HAY
Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (tons)
ONIONS
Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (pounds)
ALL pOtAtOES
Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (pounds)
SugAR BEEtS Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (tons)
ALL WHEAt
Acres Harvested Yield per Acre production (bushels)
COLORADO CROp RECORD HIgH AND LOWS fOR ACREAgE, YIELD AND pRODuCtION
RECORD HIgH
YEAR
RECORD LOW
YEAR
YEAR RECORDS BEgAN
971,000 135 bushels 22.54 million
1945 2009 1945
4,000 15 bushels 104,000
1979/80 1925 1879
1.527 million 160 bushels 159 million
1933 1988 1999
23,000 6.6 bushels 400,000
1879 1934 1881
1879 1879 1879
299,000 24.5 tons 5.23 million
1972 2010 1972
30,000 2.5 tons 127,000
1928 1934 1925
1919 1919 1919
460,000 2,170 pounds 472.5 million
1943 2002 1990
5,000 174 pounds 29 million
1909 1932 1909
1909 1909 1909
1.68 million 3.26 tons 4.78 million
1923 1998 2001
1.17 million 1.16 tons 1.45 million
1910 1934 1934
1909 1909 1909
17,800 50,000 pounds 614.1 million
1995 2004 1995
700 12,000 pounds 9.7 million
1918 1934 1918
1918 1918 1918
136,000 4,000 pounds 3.25 billion
1922 2009 1996
6,000 3,330 pounds 21.6 million
1879/80 1889 1880
1879 1879 1879
242,000 29.5 tons 3.3 million
1930 2010 1930
2,500 9.3 tons 46,000
1985 1908/1934 1985
1905 1905 1905
3.52 million 45.5 bushels 139.3 million
1985 2010 1985
11,000 8.8 bushels 275,000
1869 1934 1869
1869 1869 1869
1879 1879 1879
COLORADO LIvEStOCk RECORD HIgHS AND LOWS RECORD HIgH
CAttLE
All Cattle Beef Cows Milk Cows Calf Crop Cattle on feed
HOgS
All Hogs Breeding Hogs Market Hogs pig Crop
YEAR
RECORD LOW
YEAR
YEAR RECORDS BEgAN
3.75 million head 1.12 million head 300,000 head 1.12 million head 1.2 million head
1973 1974 1934 1973 2001
47,000 head 406,000 head 2,000 head 482,000 head 87,000 head
1867 1927 1867 1927 1935
1867 1920 1867 1924 1928
910,000 head 210,000 head 705,000 head 2.9 million head
1999 1999 2005 2000
2,000 head 20,000 head 143,000 head 377,000 head
1866 1984 1965 1988
1866 1963 1963 1988
1930 1998 1942 1943
360,000 head 165,000 head 180,000 head 175,000 head
2004 2002 2004-05 2003
1920 1994 1920 1924
SHEEp AND LAMBS All Market Breeding Lamb Crop
3.75 million head 335,000 head 1.9 million head 1.375 million head
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Bean production on the rebound in Colorado The increase in dry bean production in Colorado during recent years continued its steady climb upward in 2010. According to the Colorado office of the National Agriculture Statistics Service, Colorado farmers harvested 66,000 acres of dry beans for a total production of 125.4 million pounds, up from the 53,000 acres harvested in 2009 and the 84.8 million pounds produced. The state ranked eighth in the nation in dry bean production in 2010. Also, last year, Colorado’s beans were valued at a total of $30.1 million, up from $25.7 million in 2009. A decline in dry beans began in 1998 and was attributed to a variety of factors, including the drought years of the early 2000s and higher prices for other crops. The acreage of dry beans - primarily pinto beans in Colorado, but including light red kidney, great northern, black or turtle beans, Anasazi, garbanzo, navy, pink, yellow and small red beans - was as low as 44,000 after there were 155,000 acres of dry beans harvested in the state back in 1998. Weld County’s dry bean production numbers weren’t included in the 2010 NASS report, but in 2009, there were 6,400 acres of beans harvested
in Weld, ranking it fourth in the state behind Yuma, Dolores and Montezuma counties. Before the late 1990s decline, upwards of 20,000 acres of the crop had been grown in Weld. The recent rebound in acreage is due in part to a return of irrigation water availability and improved prices, driven by export markets. The majority of beans produced in Weld are exported to Mexico. The pinto bean is a staple of Mexican cooking and is widely available dried and canned. Red kidney beans are commonly used in making chili while the other beans are used in salads and a variety of other dishes. Weld farmers usually plant their crop between May 20 and July 1, depending on weather conditions. Harvesting starts in late August and wraps up in September or early October. Beans grow on vines, which at harvest are cut at the ground. The vines are then put in windrows to dry before farmers move through the fields with a combine. The combine, with a head designed specifically for beans, gathers the vines and shakes the beans out of their pods into a hopper. The combine then ejects the remaining debris back on the field.
ERIC BELLAMY/ebellamy@greeleytribune.com
Corn comes in two varieties but serves the same purpose There are two types of corn grown for livestock feed rations in Weld County. Corn for grain, historically, has taken more than 100,000 acres of farmland in Weld on an annual basis, while corn for silage ranges from 40,000 to 45,000 acres each year. Taken together, corn is among one of the top three crops grown in the county in terms of acreage. Winter wheat and hay are the other major crops. In 2007, corn moved up to the leading crop produced in Colorado in terms of total value and production. Corn for silage is the first of the two corn crops to come out of the ground each year, and because of Weld’s large livestock operation, it leads the state in the production of silage each year, producing in excess of 1 million tons per year. The Colorado office for the National Agricultural Statistics Service didn’t have a county-by-county breakdown of the state’s corn for silage production in its 2010 report. However, according to that report, it was a record year for the state’s crop as a whole. The state’s farmers harvested 100,000 acres of corn for silage and produced 2.45 million tons for a record yield of 24.5 tons per acre - topping the mark of 24 tons per acre set in 1998 and 1999.
The easiest way to distinguish the two types of corn is by its stalk height and size of the ear. Corn for silage grows to be 10 feet or taller, but has a very thin ear; corn for grain has a shorter stalk and fuller ear. Corn for silage is cut at the ground by a harvester, who chops the stalk and ear before throwing the mixture into waiting trucks. There is a small window in late summer or early fall that the crop can be harvested with the right moisture content. It is then taken to pits where it can be stored and used as part of the feed ration for beef cattle, dairy and other livestock operations. Corn for grain is harvested with combines and the kernels collected by the machine are then flaked and used in livestock feed rations, and in recent years for the production of ethanol to be mixed with gasoline. The by-product from ethanol plants, however, goes back to livestock feeding and dairy operations to be used as part of the feed ration. Because of the large number of beef cattle and dairies in Weld, the county continues to be a corndeficient area. As such, it imports corn from other counties in Colorado, as well as other states. Both crops are planted from mid-April to early June, depending on weather conditions and the
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harvest of corn for grain usually starts in the later part of August and is complete by early October. In 2010, according to the Colorado office for the National Agricultural Statistics Service, 93,700 acres of corn for grain were harvested in Weld, producing 18.2 million bushels, ranking it third in the state behind Yuma and Kit Carson counties, which were first and second, respectively. Yuma County has led the nation in corn for grain production in recent years. The 2010 NASS report didn’t have numbers for corn for silage. In 2009, about 45,000 acres of corn for silage were planted.
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MILLET, BARLEY, OTHER SMALL-GRAIN CROPS A STAPLE OF WELD AGRICULTURE While winter wheat is the major smallgrain crop in Weld, others are dotted across the landscape, including millet - the only crop in which Colorado ranks first in the nation for production. According to the Rocky Mountain Agribusiness Association, Colorado’s millet farmers produce half of the country’s supply. Millet has traditionally been used in the U.S. mainly for birdseed and some baking and beer brewing, but globally, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, it sustains one-third of the world’s population. Compared to 2010, U.S. millet exports are up 63 percent and Colorado exports have risen 87 percent, states the RMAA. The gluten-free crop is also finding more uses domestically, as gluten-free products are a rising trend. Well-known companies such as Betty Crocker and General Mills are using millet to offer products to those wanting to eliminate gluten from their diets, and for people with celiac disease who otherwise can’t tolerate the proteins in wheat, rye and barley. According to the Colorado office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2010, the state’s farmers harvested 215,000 acres of millet, producing 7.1 million bushels. Those numbers were up from 2009, when Colorado farmers harvested 150,000 acres, producing 5.3 million bushels. The Colorado northeastern plains is the region where most of the state’s millet is grown. A breakdown of millet production by county wasn’t available in the 2010 NASS report. Sunflowers have seen an overall increase in popularity in the past few years. Like millet, it is a small-grain crop that needs little water and is a good rotation crop used by wheat farmers as the deep-root system aerates the soil while also bringing those dryland farmers another source of income. In recent years, Weld County has ranked second in the state in the production of sunflowers, trailing only Kiowa County in the southeast part of Colorado - although the majority of the crop is grown in the northern and eastern
areas of the state. In 2010, Weld County produced more than 10.6 million pounds of sunflowers from 6,400 acres. Production numbers were not available for Kiowa County in the 2010 report to see how Weld compared. Sunflowers are grown for their oil and for birdseed or other similar uses. In Weld, most of the crop is the oil variety; the county produced more than 5 million pounds for that purpose in 2008. Much of the county’s barley crop is grown under contact and is used for the brewing of beer at the Miller-Coors plant in Golden. In 2010, Weld farmers harvested 7,600 acres of barley - down from the 12,400 acres harvested in 2009 - and produced 740,000 bushels - also a drop from last year, when the county produced almost 1.2 million bushels. Weld’s 2010 barley numbers again ranked the county fourth in the state behind Rio Grande, Saguache and Alamosa counties, all in southern Colorado. Barley grown under contract must meet strict requirements by the brewing company. If it doesn’t, it is used as animal feed at a considerably lower price than that of brewing barley. Sorghum for grain is one of the lesser crops in Weld. The crops can be planted on wheat ground that is heavily hailed early in the season, allowing farmers to get a crop off those fields. Oats is another of those crops that is limited in acreage, and in all cases, those crops are used as livestock feed. In 2010, the agricultural statistics office reported that the state’s millet crop had a value at $30.5 (double what it was the previous year), barley was at $30.6 million (down from the $54.8 million value in 2009), sunflowers were at $35.8 million (up from $21.8 million in 2009) and sorghum for grain was valued at $37.1 million (up from $20 million in 2009). A value for sorghum for silage in 2010 was not available. However, in 2009, it was valued at $2.4 million.
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RAISED IN WELD
14 VEGETABLES
2007 CENSUS of agriculture market value of production
ERIC BELLAMY/ebellamy@greeleytribune.com
DIVERSITY IS NAME OF GAME IN WELD VEGETABLE PRODUCTION As an old saying goes, if it’s not grown somewhere in Weld County, then it may not be needed. And when it comes to vegetables, Weld farmers grow just about everything, from asparagus to zucchini. In 2010, according to the Colorado office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the state’s vegetable growers produced more than 575.7 million pounds from four fresh market crops - onions, sweet corn, cabbage cantaloupe. They had a value of $82.5 million. In 2009, the state produced 565.7 million pounds for a total value of about $72 million. In Weld County, vegetable farmers dealt with severe weather conditions in 2009 and again in 2010, as early hail and wind storms took their toll. In many cases, however, some of those crops were replanted and as the harvest season got started, the quality of those crops was at least average. The state statistics office does not track vegetable acreage by county because of disclosure requirements of individual operators. While the acreage of vegetables took a downturn at the beginning of the century due to a lack of irrigation water, some of that was returned in the past three years when water was more readily available due to average to above average snowpack in the mountains and higher amounts of precipitation. As a result, the state was ranked in the top 10 in the nation for the production of the four fresh market crops in 2010, led by cantaloupe (ranked No. 4), storage onions - the majority of which are grown in the northern part of the state - at No. 6 and cabbage and sweet corn both at No. 7. In addition, the state ranks high in potatoes - fifth in the nation - but the majority of that crop is now produced in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, while there are only two large potato producers left in Weld County. Traditionally, about 60 percent of the storage onion crop is grown in northern Colorado, which includes Weld, Adams, Larimer and Morgan counties. In 2009, onion acreage in the state was about 8,000 and that decreased to about 7,500 last year. In the past, there were two types of onions grown in Weld - a crop that was
transplanted from starts in southern climate such as Texas or Arizona, which is sent to market right after harvest, and a second that is produced from seed and can be stored to be marketed over the fall and winter months. Transplant onions, however, represent only a small percentage of those grown in northern Colorado, probably 5 percent or less. The Western Slope once had upwards of 3,000 acre of onions, but that has declined to between, 500 and 1,000 as growers in that part of the state deal with early frosts, which onions can’t stand, and transportation problems. There are more than half dozen produce companies in Adams and Weld counties that grow and market onions. Weld is home to Community Supported Agriculture farms that offer a wide variety of produce to their members. Those farms provide a wide selection of organically grown vegetables, along with egg, meat products and honey. They also bring those products to area farmers markets and some take online and/or telephone orders. In addition, several roadside stands around the county offer seasonal products. Weld is also home to Hungenberg Produce, the only commercial carrot producer in the state, with close to 1,000 acres. The company also grows cabbage and onion sets, both of which are shipped to various markets in the state and nation. There were 2,900 acres of cabbage harvested in the state in 2010, according to the statistics office, which produced almost 133.4 million pounds that had a value of $15.3 million. The area’s largest commercial producer of sweet corn is Sakata Farms of Brighton, which grows the crop in Adams and Weld counties. Sweet corn, also produced on the Western Slope, saw 7,500 acres harvested in 2010, producing more than 112.5 million pounds with a value of $16.3 million. Martin Produce of Greeley and Strohauer Farms of La Salle market potatoes, with Strohauer offering a wide range of fingerling potatoes in addition to those sent to supermarkets. Both operations also grow and market onions, while Strohauer also has a line of broiler onions, pearl onions, shallots and cipollini onions.
COUNTY
1 2 3 44 5 6 7 88 9 10
TOTAL
SALES CROPS
LIVESTOCK
Fresno, Calif.
$3.73 billion
$2.5 billion
$1.2 billion
Tulare, Calif.
$3.33 billion
$1.2 billion
$2.1 billion
Kern, Calif.
$3.2 billion
$2.5 billion
$652.7 million
Merced, Calif.
$2.3 billion
$879.3 million
$1.4 billion
Monterey, Calif. $2.17 billion
$2.13 billion
$39.1 million
Stanislaus, Calif. $1.82 billion
$736 million
$1.1 billion
San Joaquin, Calif. $1.56 billion
$991.6 million
$572.6 million
Weld, Colo.
$1.54 billion
$272.7 million
$1.26 billion
Kings, Calif.
$1.35 billion
$651 million
$706 million
Ventura, Calif.
$1.31 billion
$1.3 billion
$13.1 million
*The 2012 Census of Agriculture will be the next ag census released. It will be available in 2013.
AGRITOURISM strong in weld Since Weld is one of the top 10 agriculture counties in the nation, it’s no surprise that agritourism is establishing a foothold here. Agritourism, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, covers a wide variety of recreational, educational and other leisure activities and services related to agriculture that take place on or off the farm or ranch, and that connect consumers with the heritage, natural resources or culinary experience they value. There are three general classifications of the agritourism activities — on-farm/ranch, food-based and heritage activities. According to the latest Census of Agriculture, released in 2007, there were 679 Colorado farms that offered agritourism and recreational services, totaling almost $33 million in farm income. Those numbers have likely increased during the past four years. The next ag census will be released in 2013, based on 2012 numbers. In 2006, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture and Colorado State University economists, Colorado agritourism locations hosted 13 million visitors, which resulted in a $2.2 billion overall economic impact. Wendy White, a marketing specialist for the department of agriculture, said there are no updated figures available from that original survey conducted by CSU with grant funding.
15
RAISED IN WELD
Anderson Farms
Miller Farms
Mazzotti’s Pumpkin Patch
Colorado Cattle Company & Guest Ranch
Monroe Organic Farms, LLC
Tigges Farm
Pawnee Sportsmens Center
Wild West Maze
6728 Weld County Road 3.25, Erie (303) 828-5210 www.andersonfarms.com
9040 Highway 66, Platteville (970) 785-6133 www.millerfarms.net
70008 Weld County Road 132, New Raymer (970) 437-5345 www.coloradocattlecompany.com
Colorado Wingsport
41132 Weld County Road 13, Ft. Collins (970) 482-7574 www.pawneesports.com
Ewe Bet Ranch
25525 Weld County Road 48, Kersey (970) 284-7941 www.monroefarm.com
40419 Weld County Road 71, Briggsdale (970) 482-7574 www.pawneesports.com
24120 Weld County Road 8, Hudson (303) 536-4089 www.mazzottifarms.com
12404 Weld County Road 64.5, Greeley (970) 686-7225 notillkathy@comcast.net 6876 Weld County Road 47, Hudson (303) 536-9200 www.wildwestmaze.com
Rocky Plains Bison Ranch 4022 Weld County Road 11, Dacono (303) 833-3791 www.rockyplains.com
1850 E. Highway 60, Loveland (970) 635-2370 www.ewebetranch.com
Windsor Dairy
Fritzler Family Corn Maze
6427 Weld County Road 68.5, Windsor (970) 674-0571 www.windsordairy.com
15630 Highway 256, La Salle (970) 737-2129 www.FritzlerMaze.com
Source: www.coloradoagritourism.com
Fritzler Family Corn Maze
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