Agriculture is not optional for western Colorado

On Monday night, our Chamber joined community stakeholders, elected officials, and generations of agricultural producers for the unveiling of the newly released Economic Impact of Agriculture in Western Colorado. The room itself told a story before a single data point was shared. Producers whose families have worked the land for decades sat alongside policymakers, business leaders and educators, all gathered around a simple but essential question. What does agriculture truly mean to western Colorado, and what happens if we take it for granted?
The study, commissioned by the Business Incubator Center and led by Nathan Perry of Colorado Mesa University, provides a long overdue answer grounded in both data and lived experience. Across Mesa, Delta, Montrose, Garfield, and Rio Blanco counties, agriculture supports more than 9,100 jobs and represents roughly 5 percent of total employment in the region. It contributes over $280 million to regional gross domestic product and generates more than $50 million annually in federal, state and local tax revenue. These figures place agriculture alongside manufacturing, real estate and administrative services as one of western Colorado’s core economic pillars, not a niche sector or a legacy footnote.
Yet the most powerful moments of the evening came not from the charts or tables, but from the recognition that agriculture’s value cannot be fully captured by traditional economic measures alone. Agriculture shapes our landscape, our communities, and our quality of life in ways that influence where people choose to live, work and invest.
Orchards, pastureland, grazing operations and working farms are part of the western Colorado identity. They are inseparable from the sense of place that attracts workforce, supports tourism and strengthens the broader business climate.
At the same time, the data makes clear that this foundation is under strain. While the number of farms in the region has grown since 2002, total farmland has declined, and average farm size continues to shrink. More than 80 percent of farms generate less than $100,000 in annual sales, with many operating far below that threshold. The producer population is aging, with more than one-third over the age of 65 and fewer than 8 percent under 35. Succession planning is no longer a distant concern. It is a present and unresolved challenge with direct implications for land use, food production and economic continuity.
Layered onto these structural challenges are escalating pressures that producers know all too well. More than 70 percent of surveyed producers reported being directly impacted by drought in recent years, citing reduced forage, lower hay yields, shortened grazing seasons and sharply increased feed costs. Labor, equipment, fertilizer inputs, maintenance and regulatory compliance were identified as the most significant factors affecting profitability.
Many producers have diversified income streams not by choice, but by necessity, simply to keep operations afloat.
This is why the leadership shown by the Business Incubator Center through its AgriWest initiative matters so much. By pairing rigorous economic analysis with direct producer input, this work creates a shared foundation of facts for our region. It gives policymakers, business leaders and the public a clearer understanding of what is at stake and what thoughtful, informed decision making must consider. It also elevates the voices of producers who are too often asked to absorb rising costs, regulatory changes and environmental pressures without adequate recognition of their economic and community
contributions.
From the chamber’s perspective, this conversation is essential because agriculture operates as a core business sector in our regional economy. Farms and ranches are capital intensive enterprises that employ people, purchase goods and services, manage risk and support local supply chains. When state level policies add cost, increase uncertainty or fail to reflect regional realities, agricultural producers feel it first. Those impacts do not stop at the farm gate. They ripple outward through transportation, food service, manufacturing and local government revenues.
As a community, we cannot assume agriculture will endure simply because it always has.
The data tells us that continuity is not guaranteed. It depends on intentional policy choices, practical support for producers, and a shared commitment to understanding agriculture not only as heritage, but as an active and evolving business sector.
To the producers of western Colorado, large and small, this report sends a clear message. Your work matters. We recognize the passion, resilience and generations of investment that show up every day in your operations. Agriculture here is not accidental. It is the result of long hours, hard decisions, deep roots, and a commitment to stewarding land andlivelihoods for the next generation. At the same time, this study underscores an important truth. Long term sustainability must include strong business planning. That means treating agricultural operations as the businesses they are, with intentional strategies around profitability, diversification, workforce and succession planning. The future of agriculture in western Colorado depends not only on preserving tradition, but on equipping producers
to plan, adapt, and take full advantage of the resources, partnerships, and support systems available to help their businesses endure.
The findings in this report warrant close consideration by decision makers at every level.
They should inform how policies are evaluated, how regulatory impacts are weighed, and how resource decisions are made at the local and state level. If agriculture is expected to continue delivering economic value, stewarding land and water, and anchoring rural communities, then policies must reflect the real costs producers are absorbing and the real risks they are managing. Applying a thoughtful, regionally informed lens is essential to the long term stability of western Colorado’s economy.
The Business Incubator Center and Colorado Mesa University have given western Colorado a powerful tool. It is now up to all of us to use it wisely and to ensure that agriculture remains not just part of our past, but central to our future.
We encourage our community to review the full Economic Impact of Agriculture in Western Colorado report through the Business Incubator Center to better understand the data and insights shaping this important conversation at https://gjincubator.org.