Colorado Legislators Attend Luncheon with Wheat Producers

February 28, 2003

Thirty wheat producers from throughout the state participated in luncheon with 15 members of the Colorado General Assembly February 17, to educate them on the importance of the Colorado wheat industry to the state’s diversified economy and to develop support for important legislative issues.

The Colorado Association of Wheat Growers (CAWG) and the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee (CWAC) jointly hosted the annual "Wheat Day at the Capitol" event. CAWG urged the state legislators to support SB 124 (Sen. Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs and Rep. Lola Spradley, R-Beulah), which would legislatively reverse a 2001 Colorado Supreme Court decision that affirmed the taxable status of "possessory interests". This bill would designate "possessory interests" as non- taxable properties.

CAWG expressed support for HB 1140 (Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez and Sen. Lewis Entz, R-Hooper), which would revise the "Colorado Noxious Weed Law," regulate the classification of state noxious weeds and implement management programs for such classified weeds. CAWG also urged support of HB 1201 (Rep. Greg Brophy, R-Yuma), which would allow a person to operate a vehicle or combination of vehicles to exceed gross weight limits by a maximum of 5 percent (or up to 90,400 pounds gross weight) for a distance of up to 180 miles when carrying grain or other seasonally harvested products during the harvest season for such products.

CAWG also told the state legislators that the organization was monitoring water and health insurance legislation very closely.

During the luncheon, legislators were informed of the major economic impact that Colorado wheat production and exports have on the state and national economy. Highlights of the past decade (1992-2001) include:

• Colorado is a major wheat producing state with production of all wheat averaging 87.3 million bushels (or 4.0% of total U~S. production), for a total annual value of $279.3 million (Colorado produced 38.7 million bushels in 2002-smallest crop since 1968);

• Colorado wheat production creates an estimated 18,600 total jobs annually, with approximately 8,709 of these total jobs directly attributed to Colorado wheat exports; and

• Wheat is one of Colorado’s top ranked exports by dollar volume since 80 percent or more of the state’s wheat production is typically exported to 60 different countries, for a total annual value of $223.4 million (Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Korea and Taiwan are usually the top export buyers).

The state legislators were also presented with a loaf of bread and informed that the wheat farmers share of a one pound loaf of bread in 2002 was just five cents of the average retail price of $1.02.