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    <title>Agriculture</title>
    <category>Agriculture</category>
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        <link>https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/agriculture/ute-mountain-ute-tribe-awarded-9-6-million-grant-for-land-management-improvements/</link>
        <title>Ute Mountain Ute Tribe awarded $9.6 million grant for land management improvements</title>
        <description>The grant will help alleviate the effects of drought while improving water usage</description>
        <pubDate>Wed, 06 Nov 2024 22:01:23 -0700</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[The grant will help the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s farm adapt to limited water supplies. (Mike Preston/Courtesy photo)The grant will help alleviate the effects of drought while improving water usageThe Ute Mountain Ute Tribe was awarded a $9.6 million grant from the Natural Resource Conservation Service to fund projects that aid in efforts to deal with “prolonged drought conditions and severely limited water supply” at the end of October.The grant will help modernize the tribe’s irrigation systems, improve water usage and efficiency while aiding in the process of creating strategies to promote drought resiliency.“When completed, the system improvements funded by the grant will enhance irrigation efficiency by a projected 32%, increase access to water and support UMUT farming and ranching operations,” a press release stated. “This project will advance UMUT’s agricultural operations by adapting to a future with less water.”The strategies and practices implemented with the help of this grant will also improve the lives of tribal members, the grant continued, and ensure a water supply that is reliable and able to “sustain the economic viability of the Farm and Ranch Enterprise’s Tribal ranches.”“The 109 center pivot sprinklers that irrigate the farm were installed 20 to 30 years ago,” said Manuel Heart, chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. “The RCPP award will replace the last 48 worn-out pivots, install moisture probes and upgrade telemetry to support an irrigation scheduling program that will provide the right amount of water to each pivot for each crop. Irrigation improvements will be coupled with the ongoing introduction of water saving crops.”Mike Preston, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s water resources consultant, explained to The Journal how the moisture probes and upgraded telemetry will work.“They’ll be able to monitor all 109 pivots from a location in the office or a cellphone. You can actually monitor what’s going on with each of the center pivot sprinklers,” Preston said. “Why we’re doing all of this is to have a very refined irrigation scheduling program. If you’re looking at one of the 109 fields, and you have your moisture probe, then you know what kind of moisture is in the soil, and you know that your crop needs. Then you operate your pivots to put on the exact amount of water that your crop needs. It’s going to create very fine-tuned water management. What we’re trying to do is adapt the farm to fluctuating water supplies.”Preston said they are also starting to look at what kinds of crops to grow on the farm, though that specific question is not part of this particular project.“That ties right back into what we were talking about: irrigation efficiency,” Preston continued. “Having an irrigation system that, once those crops are planted, can precisely give the amount of water on the crop that the crop needs to be productive and healthy.”Sen. John Hickenlooper also commented on the grant and the way it will impact the Ute Mountain Ute tribe.“The Ute Mountain Ute have shown exactly what this program can be: a lifeline during drought and a path to make every drop of water stretch as far as it can,” Hickenlooper said.The project will be managed in conjunction with the Farmers Conservation Alliance and other Natural Resource Conservation Service “certified technical service providers.”NRCS’s state conservationist Clint Evans said this project will only work to strengthen the partnership already established with the tribe and the Farmers Conservation Alliance.“This agreement will be a continuation of those efforts, and we’re excited for it. This RCPP agreement will fund NRCS practices that target the conservation benefit that can substantially improve irrigation efficiency and water resources needed as a result of insufficient water and drought,” Evans said.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/agriculture/four-states-ag-expo-is-back-at-the-montezuma-county-fairgrounds/</link>
        <title>Four States Ag Expo is back at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds</title>
        <description>The event will offer multiple vendors, demonstrations and clinics</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 06 Apr 2023 12:27:34 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[The annual Four States Agriculture Exposition attracts vendors from multiple states. (Courtesy Photo/Ag Expo website)The event will offer multiple vendors, demonstrations and clinicsThe Four States Agriculture Exposition will again take place at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds on Friday and Saturday April 14-15 beginning at 9 a.m.Veterans may enter the event for free with ID on Saturday.The “most comprehensive ag show in the West” has been an annual event for four decades, attracting thousands of visitors and vendors from all four states in the Four Corners region along with many other states.The Four States Agriculture Exposition features many farm and ranching vendors. (Journal file photo)du1-i-synThe expo’s mission is to “provide a forum for agricultural producers, suppliers and consumers in the Four Corners that will showcase new agricultural technology, offer innovative ideas and advance effective production and marketing of traditional, specialized and alternative agricultural products through education, demonstrations and promotion.”The Ag Expo offers food, vendors, agriculture education sessions, youth events, live demos, products and services, horse skills training, family entertainment, equipment and more.Businesses and individuals who wish to be part of the expo as vendors can sign up online on the Ag Expo’s website: https://www.fourstatesagexpo.com/.Indoor space, outdoor space and the livestock pavilion are available for vendors to set up booths. Some of the vendors that have confirmed for the expo include Empire Electric Association, Cortez Farmers Market, Cortez Fire Protection District, Four Corner Friends of the NRA, Podunk’s Ranch and Burn Dreams Ranch, Notah Dineh, Bell Beef, End of Trail Catering and Durango Trash Panda.Ann Chernoff Allan competes with her dog, Couloir, during the Ag Expo. (Journal file photo)du1-i-synAccording to the event’s official website, vendors who participate receive great exposure for their business, with 3,500-5,000 people attending the event and a host of media covering it as well.Along with vendor booths to visit, the expo also includes entertainment and multiple education opportunities such as live demonstrations and clinics.Visitors can observe stock dog training and Jack Russell terrier pest demonstrations with Emma and Colton Mikkelson from Idaho or horsemanship clinics with world-renowned horse trainer John Moore from Texas.Moore and his horse clinics have toured across the U.S. and Europe, working with notable organizations such as the Oslo Mounted Police in Norway and Equine Events Inc. in England.Ag Expo attendees participate in one of the event’s hands-on demonstration. (Courtesy photo)Events are provided for the children in attendance, as well. Youth can participate in a youth beef show, ice cream eating contest (ages 5-12), chicken chase, greased pig catch, mutton busting, goat roping and face painting.“Our heartfelt thanks go out to each and every participant, exhibitor, vendor and sponsor,” the Ag Expo said on its website. “Without you, we wouldn’t be here. Be sure to tell your friends, and bring the family!”]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/agriculture/incoming-state-sen-cleave-simpson-introduces-himself-in-cortez/</link>
        <title>Incoming state Sen. Cleave Simpson introduces himself in Cortez</title>
        <description>Republican is a farmer and rancher from Alamosa</description>
        <pubDate>Sun, 13 Feb 2022 04:00:04 -0700</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Republican Cleave Simpson will be the new District 6 state senator beginning in 2023. The district includes Montezuma and La Plata counties. Simpson will take over from Don Coram, who was cut out of the district because of redistricting. (Jim Mimiaga/The Journal)Jim MimiagaRepublican is a farmer and rancher from AlamosaMembers of the Southwestern Colorado Livestock Association on Saturday met new state Sen. Cleave Simpson, a Republican from Alamosa.Because of redistricting, Simpson will represent District 6 in 2023. The district is composed of 14 counties that stretch west from the San Luis Valley to the Utah border. It is considered among the state’s most politically balanced districts, with just a 0.5 percentage point advantage for Democrats, based on the number of active registered voters.Simpson replaces Republican Don Coram, who, because of redistricting, is no longer a resident of District 6.Coram called Simpson a “rock star” replacement who is well versed in agriculture, water and rural issues facing Southwest Colorado.Simpson is from Alamosa and is a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines. He had a career in the coal industry as an engineer and is a farmer and rancher in the San Luis Valley. He and his family farm 800 irrigated acres of alfalfa and manage a 400 cow-calf ranch operation. He is the general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District.He was elected to District 35 in 2020, and was motivated to get into politics to “be a voice for rural Colorado and agriculture, and keep us relevant and resilient going forward.”He discussed at length the potential threat of water speculation and investment that could divert water from agricultural lands to growing cities or elsewhere.“I am active in agriculture, my livelihood depends on me putting up hay. I own and depend on my water rights,” he said, adding that there are not many other senators that depend on agriculture to make a living.District 6 is similar to the rural and agricultural lifestyle of his District 35.“Water is at the top of the list for me and how the state deals with dwindling water supplies and ever increasing demand is really poised to fundamentally change what Colorado looks like,” he said. “I have grave concerns on the direction we are headed.”Simpson also touted his commitment to addressing behavioral health problems that plague rural areas and contribute to drug abuse, overdoses, suicides, crime, mental illness and homelessness.“Families impacted by opioids, are disproportionally higher in rural Colorado, and I am really interested in how to spend dollars to fundamentally change that paradigm and have an impact on behavioral health in Colorado,” Simpson said.]]></content:encoded>
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