Colorado Corn Cultivating Opportunities

Colorado’s farmers  in the Republican River Basin will achieve a measure of their water conservation goals, thanks to an agreement announced earlier this week by Congresswoman Betsy Markey and Senator Michael Bennet. “While it’s unfortunate that Colorado’s farmers would be taking land out of production, the agreement will at least take the edge off the financial impact to farmers,” said Mark Sponsler, CEO of Colorado Corn.

The agreement allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) from 35,000 to 70,000 acres and add areas of Washington and Lincoln counties.

CREP allows water rights to be permanently retired: the once-irrigated farmland must be put into a grass habitat for 15 years, after which it may be used for grazing or dry land farming.

“This will take acres out of production, yet it shows producers will do their part to help rural Colorado as a whole, not just themselves,” said Greg Larson of Haxtun. Larson is a farmer, vice president of the Republican River Conservation District, and secretary-treasurer of Colorado Corn Growers Association. “We are helping to preserve the aquifer and the basin, overall.”

Larson said Markey and Bennet, along with U.S. Senator Mark Udall and Governor Bill Ritter, took time to talk to people in the area and work together to reach an agreement. “This shows legislators are stepping up and are in touch with what’s going on in the basin and agriculture as a whole, and that’s gratifying.”

“This program is no stimulus package for farmers,” explained Sponsler. “But it will help offset the financial hit farmers face in retiring productive land. Also,  to otherwise meet their water conservation goals, farmers could have borne much more of the financial burden if not for the option of enrolling the acres in CREP. We are appreciative to the state’s elected leaders who make a concerted effort to reach this agreement.”