Colorado Livestock Association celebrates National Ag Week advocating for livestock producers at the capitol
National Ag Week was celebrated this past week nationwide, with Colorado Ag Day on March 22, 2023.
Agriculture reaches every corner of Colorado with over 32 million agricultural acres. The diversity of Colorado agriculture is incredible – from livestock to crops and fruit to sunflowers. Agriculture contributes $47 billion annually to Colorado’s economy and employs more than 195,000 people.
Throughout the week, CLA shared impressive agricultural statistics and facts throughout the week on its social media in an effort to highlight the important contributions of agriculture to Colorado’s economy.
Wednesday, CLA President Kenny Rogers, CLA President-Elect Kory Kessinger, Legislative Affairs Committee Chair Julie McCaleb, and CLA staff spent the day at the Colorado’s state capitol taking part in the Ag Day events.
The kickoff to Colorado Ag Day was an event held by Colorado Water Congress and Water Education Colorado focused on agriculture water needs and solutions for adapting to a drier future. Guest speakers covered various efforts underway across the state to strategically retire agricultural lands, research reduced consumptive use, modernize systems, preserve water quality, and achieve profitability using less water. The intent of the session was to help inform legislators of the group’s common aim to create greater economic and environmental resiliency for the state’s agricultural economy and local food ecosystem in the face of drought, reduced water availability, and competition from population growth.
CLA members were recognized on the floor of the House chambers along with the other agriculture producers and spent the rest of the morning meeting with legislators on key issues and proposed legislation this session. Throughout the day, CLA displayed information about the livestock industry and Colorado Livestock Association’s mission at its booth in the north foyer.
A press conference was held in honor of Colorado Ag Day where Colorado Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera recognized agriculture as an important and vital industry to Colorado’s success. Her speech concluded with the reading of the Colorado Ag Day proclamation on behalf of Governor Jared Polis. Other state leaders that spoke about the importance of agriculture were, Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg, Representative Karen McCormick, Representative Mark Catlin, and Colorado State FFA President Anton Sellers.
