Colorado Legislators Looking For Ways to Help Young and New Farmers - Part 1

Colorado Legislators Looking For Ways to Help Young and New Farmers - Part 1

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett
Lack of land access, tough-to-get credit and poor financial training are barriers for Colorado's young and beginning farmers.

Senator Kerry Donovan - District 5 Democrat counts herself among the beginning ranchers. She is spearheading a committee to study how to support young and beginning farmers during the interim between the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions.

"We're going to look at the hurdles and barriers that are present in the state of Colorado that are preventing young people from getting involved in farming and ranching. Or beginners who don't come from a farming and ranching tradition but want to explore that route. The objective of these two meetings is to take the time to look at these two issues in depth and then also propose some legislation to present to the full assembly next year as solutions to getting more people involved in farming and ranching in Colorado."

Donovan says there is an added urgency because Colorado's farming population is aging and it's never been more important to find new and young ranchers and farmers to carry on their work.

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