By PRISCILLA WAGGONER, Courier reporter
COLORADO – In a statement released this week, the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) announced it is expanding its conservation services to support agricultural land succession and transfers.
There's a very good reason for CCALT's expansion that can be found in the numbers.
More than 50 years ago, John Denver recorded the song “I Guess He’d Rather Be in Colorado.” The song wasn't one of Denver's better-known hits and may be forgotten by most people, but half a century later, the sentiment it expresses is as strong as ever.
Colorado is currently the sixth fastest growing state in the country.
Over the past two decades, Colorado's population has grown by 1.55 million people. While other states lost population from January 2021 to February 2022, more people moved to Colorado than left. Much of that migration was from people from California and Texas and was attributed to the pandemic as remote work became the new norm. But even after the pandemic was officially declared over, the trend continued. In 2023, Colorado's population reached 5.88 million, an increase of 0.63% from the previous year.
The growth is not described as a boom but is much more gradual. Last year, for example, 232,663 people came to Colorado while 211,370 left the state. That's a net increase of about 22,000 people, which might not sound like that much unless it happens year after year, as it has.
Last year, 232,663 people came to Colorado while 211,370 left the state. That's a net increase of about 22,000 people, which might not sound like that much unless it happens year after year, as it has.
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs projects that Colorado's population will exceed six million people by 2030, an increase of 700,000 people in just ten years.
While some rural counties are seeing their populations shrink and much of the population growth is occurring along the Front Range, the U.S. Census Bureau reports a general trend that began in 2017. Over the last eight years there has been a rise in people aged 25 to 44 – first home buyers and small families – choosing to live in smaller towns and rural areas with amenities.
Overall, the state's population is growing and more people ages 25 to 44 are moving to the state, encountering a housing shortage throughout the state.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has made expanding housing one of his top priorities, including initiatives like the More Housing Now and Land Use Initiative, which provides state funding to build infrastructure on undeveloped land, leading the way for housing estates and other development projects are paving the way for population increases.
Taken together, these factors take on particular importance in light of a stunning prediction referenced in CCALT's announcement.
It is predicted that at least a third of the country's agricultural land will change hands in the next few decades. That’s 300 million hectares of land that is some of the most fertile – and scenic – land in the country.
“Colorado is following the same path as the nation,” Karina Puikkonen, communications director for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT), told the Valley Courier. “Many of our own landowner partners are rapidly approaching retirement age…as development pressures increase. This is important for Colorado.”
CCALT is never an organization that stands aside and watches a situation unfold. CCALT is taking the bull by the horns, so to speak.
“The Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust has joined a nationwide initiative to advance succession planning among farm and ranch families and provide access to agricultural lands for a new generation of farmers and ranchers,” the announcement said.
As part of this effort, CCALT received a four-year grant through the Land Transfer Navigators Program, led in collaboration with the American Farmland Trust (AFT) and with support from the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
The purpose of the program is to develop educational and outreach resources on land transfer and land access. To achieve this purpose, CCALT will use the grants to develop land succession and land access workshops, as well as information and outreach materials to engage landowners in succession planning.
The first CCALT succession planning workshop for landowners will take place in January.
“Amidst the many challenges facing agriculture today, another is fast approaching and gaining importance,” the CCALT statement said. “It is predicted that over 300 million hectares of the country’s agricultural land will change hands in the next few decades, making it vulnerable to conversion and development.”
“With the impending wave of land transfers, there is a risk that far too many farms will be converted [and ranchland] in sparsely populated neighborhoods, subdivisions and shopping centers,” said John Piotti, president and CEO of AFT. “Public and private conservation organizations – groups like land trusts and Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement (PACE) programs – have done an outstanding job of conservation [agricultural] country across the country. They can continue to accelerate their impressive work protecting farms and rangelands and also provide greater support to support landowners in the eventual transfer of protected lands to a new generation of farmers and ranchers.”
“CCALT has always been an innovative and forward-thinking organization whose mission is to help farm and ranch families across Colorado continue to produce the food and fiber that fuels the country,” said Erik Glenn, executive director of CCALT . “The transfer of agricultural land in Colorado is important because of the state’s significant agricultural sector, its changing population structure, and the need to ensure we continue to have the land area necessary to sustain our agricultural economy and rural communities.”
Glenn and Piotti's words are reminiscent of another song. Joni Mitchell, also published 50 years ago, warned of a future in which “they pave paradise and build a parking lot.”
Just something to think about.
The CCALT Succession Planning Workshop is scheduled for January 20, 2025 from 1 to 3 p.m. during the Colorado Cattlemen's Association (CCA) Mid-Winter Conference in Denver. The workshop is free and all landowners are welcome to attend.
CCA members attending the conference can register for the workshop using the main conference registration link at www.coloradocattle.org/mid-winter-conference. Non-CCA members can register at https://ccalt.my.salesforce-sites.com/default/CnP_PaaS_EVT__ExternalRegistrationPage?event_id=a2jUM000004Dg5ZYAS.