Colorado Corn Cultivating Opportunities

Colorado Ag Classic & Colorado Corn Banquet

The annual Colorado Ag Classic will be held December 9-10 at the Thomas M. McKee Building at The Ranch in Loveland. Break-out sessions on December 10 include presentations on cap and trade, grain marketing, the future of irrigated agriculture, energy crops, ag family succession planning, ag greenhouse gas mitigation, and iFarm calculators.  A trade show will also take place during the Colorado Ag Classic. Representatives from agricultural businesses from around the state will be present to answer questions on their products.

Colorado Ag Classic is the joint convention of the Colorado Association of Wheat Growers (CAWG), the Colorado Corn Growers Association (CCGA), Colorado Sunflower Administrative Committee (CSAC), Colorado Sorghum Producers (CSP), Colorado Seed Growers Association (CSGA), and Colorado Seed Industry Association (CSIA).

For Colorado Corn, the event will begin on the evening of December 9 with a legislative social, dinner, and an auction to benefit CAWG and CCGA’s state and national legislative efforts.

Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture John Stulp will kick off the General Session on the morning of December 10, followed by Colorado State University President Tony Frank, and a videotaped message from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Keynote speaker Jennifer Ozimkiewicz of Monsanto will wrap up the morning session with her talk on “Monsanto’s Vision for Biotech Crops.” 

More information on registration and hotel costs, along with program details may be found at www.coloradocorn.com. To view the Colorado Ag Classic registration form, click here.

It’s not too early to mark your calendars for the annual Colorado Corn banquet, which will be held Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center in Greeley. The event will open with a social including music and a silent auction at 5 p.m. The annual banquet will begin at 6:45 p.m. Look forward to laughter as comedian Damian Mason takes a look at the lighter side of life and agriculture. Mason, who earned a degree in agricultural economics from Purdue, has honed his comedic writing and improvisation skills at Second City in Chicago. This legendary comedy revue literally set the stage for comedians such as John Belushi and Glida Radner. Mason himself will deliver an uplifting and relevant stories and witticisms with his “Humor for the Heart of Agriculture” performance.

Colorado Corn will celebrate “Proud to Provide: 30 Years of Serving Producers.” Activities will look back at Colorado Corn’s beginnings, which took root in 1979, along with a look at what Colorado Corn is accomplishing today and what future opportunities are on the horizon. For banquet information, click here.

Also worth noting is that the Colorado Farm Show will be held Jan. 26-28 in Greeley. The show will feature such sessions as “Looking at the Future of Agricultural Lending,” and “Siting Solar and Wind Facilities on Rural Properties.”