Colorado Corn

To Boulder County Commissioners Ben Pearlman, Cindy Domenico, Will Toor,

In support of the Boulder County Cropland Policy Advisory Group (CPAG) recommendation:

My name is Mark Sponsler.  I reside at 15771 County Road 84, Ault Colorado, but have earned a living the last 30 years working with hundreds of Colorado farmers including many on Boulder County lands.  I am a Certified Crop Advisor and am the Executive Director for the Colorado Corn Growers Association, based in Greeley, Colorado, and representing approximately 4000 professional farmers in this state.

What you see in this room tonight (this was written for the December 8 meeting) are generations of farmers.  What you don’t see are the future generations of farmers who will follow in their footsteps. Every farmer thinks about the future with each management choice he makes. 

Passing down a farm to the next generation is one of the foundations of agriculture… and is an important reason for the principles of stewardship that guide their plans and management decisions.  They are not just thinking about themselves, but are invested in protecting the land for their children… and their children’s children.

It is no wonder farmers embrace technology that improves environmental sustainability through reduced tillage, improved soil characteristics, and greater water holding capacity.

The farmers who were asked by the commissioners to work with community members to develop the CPAG recommendations worked diligently, as evidenced by the report that included extensive compromises to provide for coexistence of different farming approaches on County owned lands.

Co-existence and cooperation is fundamental and common in modern agriculture.  Farmers work with – and help neighbors.  They share equipment, they share water, they share labor… and they help a neighbor when he’s ill or injured.   That’s what we do in agriculture.

The members of the CPAG group did an excellent job of hearing all of these concerns and developed fair guidelines for everyone. The Colorado Corn Growers represent 4,000 growers from all over the state. Our growers, including the ones here in Boulder County, have been working together for the betterment of future generations, for generations.  We encourage you to approve the CPAG guidelines developed over months of consideration - as recommended.

Mark Sponsler

 Additional facts of reference that I have not heard brought up in other public comment:

• Worldwide - In 2007 alone – the impact on greenhouse gas emissions from reduced fieldwork due to decreased tillage and pesticide application resulted in the equivalent of removing a half million cars from the roads.
• Additional soil carbon sequestration gains in 2007 alone were equivalent to the removal of nearly 5.8 million cars from the roads.