Agriculture

Colorado has 38,900 farms and ranches encompassing 32 million acres in Colorado.  Agriculture generates $47 billion annually for our state’s economy and supports more than 195,000 jobs. Colorado has the second-highest milk production per dairy cow in America. Colorado is home to more than 275 breweries, over 4.5 million head of cattle, and more than 450,000 goats and sheep. Colorado is 5th in the U.S. in beef exports. I am working hard to build on this progress and will continue to support Colorado’s agriculture industry however I can. 

Farmers and ranchers know that property rights are the foundation of their livelihoods and the American dream. Leftists are retreading their tired strategy of using the Endangered Species Act and the sage-grouse to trample on private property rights and lock up our lands. I stood up for farmers and ranchers, and my legislative provision defunding efforts to list the sage-grouse as an endangered species was signed into law.

Unfortunately, our property and water rights are also under attack by the Biden administration’s 30 x 30 program, which aims end grazing on federal lands and lock up hundreds of millions of acres and 30% of all lands and waters in the U.S., including private lands, over the next eight years through a massive federal land-grab. I introduced the 30 x 30 Termination Act to protect ranching, grazing, and multiple-use and block this radical initiative. I will always stand up for private property rights and will oppose encroachments by the federal government.

One of the biggest issues always facing agriculture is water. In Colorado, water rights are paramount to our economy, our environment, and our way of life. I have a strong knowledge of water issues and am a member of the Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee on Natural Resources. I am the only Republican Member of the House to speak at the Colorado Water Congress in recent years and I consistently work with them and other important water stakeholders in Colorado on my bills, to find witnesses, and to deliver important water solutions.

My Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act passed the House Committee on Natural Resources and permanently authorized a provision that allows agriculture and municipal water users to prepay infrastructure costs they owe the federal government, generate hundreds of millions for new water infrastructure and water storage, and decrease federal paperwork requirements and operating costs for water users. 

I secured $279.26 million into federal law for Bureau of Reclamation projects and rural water projects, including the Arkansas Valley Conduit that will provide an abundant supply of clean water for 50,000 people in Southeastern Colorado. 

I secured $5,000,000 to help fund construction of the Wolf Creek Reservoir. This important project will create 400,000 acre-feet of new water storage, generate $535 million in local spending, and create 360 new jobs. The project will provide a critical water supply, as well as protect and stimulate rural development, including agriculture, for present and future water users. It will also foster new employment, income, business generation, and tax revenues to Northwest Colorado. 

I passed a statutory provision into law directing the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to establish a pilot program to combat salt cedar and Russian olive infestations in the West. Invasive salt cedars can consume 200 gallons of water per day per plant. 

Two of my amendments that redirect $5 million towards funding the Colorado River Storage Project to help address the severe water shortage in the West and also to increase water storage through improvements through the Colorado River Dam Fund passed the House.

For more information on my work on water, see a comprehensive list of my water policies here.

Additionally, I am fighting to protect farmers and ranchers from even more burdensome federal regulations, so I was pleased when my legislative provision delaying new regulations on livestock haulers was signed into law. 

My Trust the Science Act, which delists the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List and allows state management of this species to protect farmers and ranchers’ livestock, passed the House as part of the Interior Appropriations Bill and also passed the House of Representatives as a standalone bill with bipartisan support.

In multiple legislative provisions signed into law, I secured $3 million into federal law to compensate ranchers who had their livestock killed by wolves. 

I support a full repeal of the estate tax or "death tax." Americans are taxed enough already on their earnings and holdings, and there is no reason they should be taxed again when they pass the family farm on to the next generation. 

I passed eight amendments through the House for ranchers and farmers including one to help reduce specialty crop pests.

When Colorado’s Governor attacked the meat industry, I stood with our farmers and ranchers by supporting Meat In Day.

Liberal Washington, D.C. and Denver policies don’t work for rural Colorado farmers. I will continue to work tirelessly to protect the interests of our farmers and ranchers and ensure they are able to thrive off Colorado’s soil.