Tag: Agriculture
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More than 20 Colorado counties receive grants to improve land record-keeping systems
More than 20 Colorado counties received a total of $2.5 million to improve their land record-keeping systems, according to a Monday news release. The State’s Electronic Recording Technology Board awarded 22 counties with grants ranging from $5,000 to $350,000, according to the release. Counties such as Arapahoe, El Paso and Pueblo each received sizable amounts.…
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Rural legislators, Colorado farmers defeat pollinator bill backed by Gov. Polis
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…
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Legislation on poison, poultry and prostitution dominate | Rachel Gabel
Many weeks, my search history is odd but the past two weeks might worry our county sheriff if he didn’t know me as well as he does. This week has been the week of poison, poultry, and prostitution. Not to be confused, of course, by brodifacoum, beavers, and butorphanol. In other words, the Colorado Legislature…
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Competing overtime bills for agriculture workers split Colorado Democrats
Competing bills setting the overtime threshold for farmworkers have split legislators at the Colorado state Capitol, with one group saying a law passed in 2021 has harmed, rather than helped, farming operations and workers alike, while the other side insists that farmworkers should be treated like any other employee. The first group, which is bipartisan,…
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A fight over seeds and bees: Colorado Democrats target neonicotinoid pesticides
Colorado lawmakers are weighing new restrictions on a class of pesticides after Gov. Jared Polis signaled support for a Democratic-backed bill aimed at protecting pollinators — a proposal that has raised sharp worries from farmers who rely on treated seeds to protect crops from soil-dwelling pests. The proposal contained in Senate Bill 65 would restrict…
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Record prices, expenses plague agriculture industry
This time of year, the salebarns are full of bidders, buyers, and cream pie connoisseurs. The adrenalin and anxiety in the building and around the ring is as thick as the gravy served in the café. In the back of the barn, the crews are bringing loads of cattle, many of which are 600-ish to…
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Colorado farmers warn U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper tariffs and research cuts endanger agriculture
Northern Colorado farmers told U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper this week that tariffs and President Donald Trump’s decision to import $40 billion worth of beef from Argentina have hurt Colorado’s agricultural industry. But the administration’s cuts to scientific research are almost as bad, they said in a forum in Fort Morgan Tuesday night. The forum, hosted…
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Ag industry needs real-world solutions
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 sets federal standards for employees including minimum wage, child labor, and overtime. Agricultural workers have been largely exempt from the overtime requirements because during key portions of the growing season, there is a small window of time that requires more hours and more labor than the majority of…
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Colorado could loosen regulations on intoxicating hemp products, countering new federal ban
As the federal government is poised to impose a near-ban on intoxicating hemp products next year, Colorado lawmakers are planning to loosen the restrictions imposed by a 2023 law. Last week, Congress included a provision in its funding bill intended to end the federal government shutdown — a ban on all intoxicating hemp products with…
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Trump accuses foreign-owned meat packers of inflating US beef prices and calls for investigation
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday accused foreign-owned meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the U.S. and asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation. The Republican president announced the move on social media days after his party suffered losses in key elections in which the winning Democratic candidates focused relentlessly on the…