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The I-70 Scout & Eastern Colorado News

Tag: ranchers

  • CDA Celebrates Colorado’s Farmers & Ranchers

    CDA Celebrates Colorado’s Farmers & Ranchers

    To all who work in agriculture: the Colorado Department of Agriculture thanks you!

    At the Colorado Department of Agriculture, we celebrate Colorado’s farmers and ranchers every day. But this week is particularly special.

    Today is Colorado Ag Day. Normally we would be celebrating together under the Gold Dome, but instead we celebrate with a virtual “Hats Off!” to our farmers, ranchers, farmworkers, truck drivers, processors, suppliers, and all the rest who help get food from the field to our plate. In honor of Colorado agriculture, Governor Polis has officially recognized today as Colorado Ag Day.

    Our many thanks to our Ag Council partners for putting on such a great event every year and for continuing to highlight all the incredible food we grow and raise here, even while we’re all social distancing for a while.

    Though we can’t be together in person today, I encourage you to join us in celebrating. Try a new dish from some of our own Colorado Proud recipes, or listen to our podcast, Cultivation Station, for business tips on starting or growing your own farm or ranch business. Browse through our Crop Calendar to see when Pueblo Chiles, Palisade Peaches, and San Luis Valley Potatoes will be ready. You can also check out our Farm Fresh Directory and sign up to support your local farmers through Community Supported Agriculture. (Also: remember to practice excellent personal hygiene and check in with your local public health office for the latest guidance).

    Rest assured, agriculture is not just critical to the state of Colorado; it’s part of who we are. As we move into spring, know that you can count on the Colorado Department of Agriculture to be here for you, through good times and bad.

    Colorado agriculture is strong and healthy. Our farmers and ranchers are resilient. We’ve been through tough times before, and as we face tough times now, we remember a few key basics: We stand up to serve others in times of need. We lean on one another. And we will emerge stronger from this moment in time by our hard work, our commitment, and our shared meals with all who need to eat.

    We are so grateful for the efforts of all who keep our food system growing and moving, now more than ever.

    With deep gratitude and sincere appreciation, hats off to Colorado agriculture!

    Sincerely,

    Commissioner Kate Greenberg & the entire CDA team

    Photo credit : MGN Online 

     

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  • Colorado Produce Industry Responds to COVID-19

    CFVGA to Offer Growers Free Webinar on Communicating with Customers March 25

    The Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) and its grower members are very concerned about the impact COVID-19 is having on Coloradans’ physical, economic and social health.

    “We join authorities in urging Coloradans to comply with safety guidelines laid out by our state and to be considerate of others by doing what we can to keep ourselves and others safe from the virus,” said CFVGA President Robert Sakata, Sakata Farms, Brighton.

    Sakata added that CFVGA is urging growers to continue to implement their high level of worker health measures when retailing their produce to reduce human transmission of COVID-19. He also notes that currently there is no evidence that food or food packaging is associated with transmission of COVID-19. “Fortunately, produce growers already implemented very high standards of safety as laid out in the Food Modernization Act, implemented several years ago. CFVGA and its partners over the past several years have focused on extensive grower training of these produce safety rules.”

    “Consuming produce is one of the best things consumers can do to keep their immune systems strong,” said Cathy Schmelter, An Ounce of Nutrition, a registered dietitian nutritionist. “During this pandemic, it is crucial that we do everything we can to feel better and to boost our immunity. Consuming produce is an excellent way to accomplish both goals.”

    CFVGA and the Colorado Produce Safety Collaborative will be hosting a free webinar for all farmers and ranchers to learn how to better communicate with their customers about produce and their operations during the pandemic. The presenter will be Diane Mulligan, M&C Communications, whose firm consulted with growers on communication during the 2011 Holly, Colo., listeria outbreak in cantaloupe. The hour-long, interactive webinar is Wed., March 25, beginning at 12:10pm. To register go to the front page of CFVGA’s website: https://coloradoproduce.org

    According to Mulligan, the human tendency when faced with a crisis is to avoid communication when the opposite-communicating openly and fully-is much better for consumers and growers.

    The CFVGA is comprised of roughly 250 members, including produce operations of all sizes and types of production throughout the state, as well as representatives of allied industries. The Colorado fruit and vegetable growing sector contributes nearly $485 million to Colorado at the farm gate and is multiplied as it goes through the distribution chain. Over 90,000 Colorado acres are in fruit and vegetable production.

     

     

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