EDWARDS — The cows are calving, and of course they come during a surprise blizzard. “That one there about froze to the ground last night,” says Mike Eaton, pointing to a calf huddling in the mud beneath his mother’s hooves as the morning sun melts spring snow. Eaton is dumping fresh hay on a trailer […]
farmers
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government
Even if you make more than minimum wage, this updated Colorado rule could affect you
Ever since the state’s Labor Department decided to modernize how most Colorado workers should be paid, the public debate was voluminous and lengthy. After countless hours of community meetings and public hearings plus more than 1,300 public comments collected since March, the rules are now final. The state Department of Labor and Employment adopted the […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Growth, News, Politics and Government
Colorado farmers hopeful as revised free-trade deal with Mexico and Canada approved
Colorado farmers finally see some certainty in their future after two major trade deals passed this week. The U.S. Senate approved the new North American trade deal — the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement — on Thursday and President Donald Trump signed an agreement with China a day earlier. “It gives us assurances where we can go […]
Posted inBusiness, Education, Environment, Growth, News, Politics and Government
How Colorado’s rural and urban food communities are coming together
Every day, Greeley-Evans District 6 school cafeterias serve fruits and vegetables that look like real fruits and vegetables, because they are. Most of the meals are made from scratch. And the district, which serves about 14,000 meals a day, is working with about a dozen local farmers to add more fresh produce to the school […]
Posted inBusiness, News
Colorado’s economy is predicted to keep growing in 2020, but slower. Here’s what this means.
The way Dale McCall sees it, farming has enough uncertainty. Unpredictable weather. Unreliable buyers. Even a year with overproduction can drag produce and meat prices down as a farmer’s costs rise. If only Congress would finalize foreign trade agreements, he’d feel a lot better about 2020. “Luckily in Colorado, we got our sugar beets out,” […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado FARMS project grant could help address climate change, make agriculture more sustainable
The High Plains of Eastern Colorado is an unforgiving place to farm. Most farmers in the region practice dryland farming, relying only on rainfall and using no irrigation whatsoever. Here climate disruption is felt keenly — there is no backup water to tap into when the rains don’t come. Many farmers worry about the disrupted […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Health, News, Technology
America trashes 40% of its food. A Colorado startup is connecting the discards to dinner tables.
Occasionally, at Regis University’s school cafeteria, there are dishes that sous chef Grant Ruesch calls “monotony breakers.” A recent one? New York Strip steaks. “I bought the steaks for a really awesome deal. I can’t remember, but like $3 a pound,” said Ruesch. “$3.49,” someone interjected. “We ran a steak night special at the college […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Growth, News
Feed the world in 2050? National Western-based consortium tackles food, workforce challenges
When it comes to a grassroots effort to figure out how to feed the world’s future population, the massive food company Archer Daniels Midland Co. may not be the first –– or last –– advocate to come to mind. The Chicago conglomerate seems to prefer it that way. It’s been quietly creating a consortium focused […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government
More Colorado workers will get breaks, must make $42,500 salary to be exempt from overtime under draft policy
More low-wage workers will be covered by the Colorado laws governing overtime pay and breaks under a draft policy change released Monday afternoon, which also would dramatically raise the salary threshold at which employers no longer have to pay their employees overtime. The draft represents a major win for Colorado labor groups, who have long […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, News
Greeley still shuns marijuana, but it’s starting to embrace hemp as a new cash crop
Five years ago, Clifford Clift would have been disgusted by the fragrant plants growing in his backyard. That’s the devil’s weed, he would have said through gritted teeth, probably with some dad joke about how the world was going to pot now that his state was legalizing marijuana. Now Clift, at 79, plants 7 acres […]