Dear western Colorado Ag Producers—

Janie VanWinkleJune 27 marks the first facilitated AgriWest discussion to identify the current concerns and common needs of ag producers in western Colorado.

As a reminder, AgriWest was one of 65 initiatives awarded to the Business Incubator Center in February from the federal Economic Development Administration from the more than 500 that applied. The charge was to identify a unique economic project or area within a community, and then bring together local experts to identify a successful path forward that can be scalable or applied to other like communities across the nation facing a similar issue.

In my role as fellow for this initiative, I am personally extending an invitation to producers of all sizes, all commodities and all production methods to attend and partake in a robust dialogue. Our goals of enhanced agricultural connectivity, job creation and retention and the promotion of community engagement and wellbeing cannot be realized if we don’t have all voices represented.

Because agriculture has often been considered a recession-proof industry it often is overlooked in discussions like the one I will be facilitating on June 27. But we all know the industry must be “future-proofed” to protect vital economic resources from threats from such things as water scarcity, more frequent and severe droughts, workforce and transportation concerns, and quickly evolving technologies.

No matter if you’re a boutique lavender farmer, a mid-size grower or a commercial rancher, we want all voices at the table as we kick off this facilitated discussion to begin solving for the long-term needs of our industry.

Success will look like honest conversations with all voices in our industry to create a roadmap for a sustainable future for our region as we tackle water scarcity, increased food and production costs and the benefits and challenges present with workforce, transportation, production, tourism, technology and changes to the industry.

A brisket dinner will be provided by The Ribber. Please mark your calendars for June 27 from 5:30-8:30 pm. The meeting will be held at the Mesa County Fairground Community Building, 2785 US 50.

Your RSVP will help us ensure there is plenty of food and seating. RSVPs can be directed to https://tinyurl.com/AgriWestcouncil or by using the following QR Code.

AgriWest Council QR Code
I look forward to seeing you there!

Janie VanWinkle
ERC Fellow for AgriWest