Larimer County Farm Bureau Working to Promote Agriculture

The Larimer County Farm Bureau is working to preserve and protect rural lifestyles in Larimer County. These are the same qualities drawing people here to escape urban living settings.

“As the population in northern Colorado continues to rise, the importance of preserving rural values, including agriculture, becomes increasingly important,” says Robert Bee, Larimer County Farm Bureau president and member of the Bee Centennial Farm family. “Our family has lived here for more than 100 years. The changes we have seen emphasize the importance of belonging to an organization such as the Larimer County Farm Bureau to help ensure rural lifestyles are protected for future generations.”

Larimer County Farm Bureau members are working to educate and encourage collaboration with individuals and groups having similar goals. One priority is reaching children at an early age through the Colorado Ag in the Classroom program helping kids understand and appreciate where their food comes from. Larimer County Farm Bureau sponsors a monthly newspaper provided to teachers in fourth-grade classrooms at the Poudre school district and is willing to do so for the Thompson Valley school district and Estes Park district. Farm Bureau also provides resources to the FFA and 4-H as well as other ag education programs.

Supporting area farmers and ranchers, regardless of the size of their operation, is a priority through promoting best practices in ag production to assure safe, sustainable, abundant food products. This includes monitoring local, state, and national decision-making impacting agriculture and private property rights in particular. As specialty ag production and small household farms continue to grow, the face of agriculture continues to evolve.

Urban growth is consuming record levels of what previously was open ground, much of it in agriculture. It is a balancing act to not undermine or disregard the county’s inherent rural foundation in order to preserve Larimer County’s attractive rural lifestyles. Larimer County Farm Bureau members feel it is essential this be a shared consideration for farmers, ranchers, landowners, and all residents alike.

Diverse inherent concerns range from the pressures on the area’s finite water resources; supporting right-to-farm doctrines; collaboration in the development of clean, cost-effective energy sources; and providing wildlife habitat. Agriculture is no longer – just cows and corn. It is a culture of living with and for the land.

Larimer County Farm Bureau works to promote understanding, education, collaboration, protection, and preservation of the much-valued and sought-after rural lifestyle in Larimer County. The organization welcomes questions and inquiries. Memberships are available both on the producer level and as a patron. The Larimer County Farm Bureau can be reached on Facebook or via email at [email protected].