Arkansas Valley Farm and Ranch Symposium and Trade Show

By Bill Hancock

December 3, 2004

A committee of local lending institutions, CSU Cooperative Extension, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), farmers and ranchers, as well as the City of Rocky Ford will host the First Arkansas Valley Farm and Ranch Symposium and Trade Show January 6, 2005, in Rocky Ford, at the Gobin Building. This committee has worked hard to bring speakers to address topics of interest to valley farmers and ranchers.

The two featured speakers will address issues currently facing producers. The first speaker to address the symposium will be Mr. Ed Smith who is the General Manager of the Palo Verde Irrigation District in Blythe, California. The Palo Verde Irrigation District has just completed an irrigation water leasing program with the City of Los Angles. Smith will speak about the negotiations involved in the lease and how the District arrived at a value for their irrigation water.

Also addressing the entire group will be Mr. Byelich, NRCS district conservationist in Tauwas City, Michigan. Boyd Byelich is nationally known for his efforts in ag diversification or agro-tourism. Byelich will talk about agriculture diversification or how farmers and ranchers can capitalize financially on the resources available on their farms and ranches. Byelich will cover ideas such as fee hunting, farm or ranch vacations or ideas as simple as bird watching.

Other speakers will include Dr. Freddie Lamm, professor and research engineer, Kansas State University, who will speak about his research findings. The topic of Dr. Lamm’s talk is "Economic Analysis of Alternative Irrigation Systems." Also addressing a topic of interest to area farmers will be Dr. Luis Garcia, director of the Integrated Decision Support Group, Colorado State University (CSU) Department of Engineering. Dr. Garcia will give an overview of his project of Modeling & Monitoring Salinity & Waterlogging in the Arkansas River Basin.

For the livestock producers we will have Dr. Steve Paisley who is the Extension Beef Cattle Specialist of the University of Wyoming. Dr. Paisley’s talk is titled "Common Sense Mineral Programs for the Beef Producers." The other speaker addressing issues of interest for livestock producers will be Dr. James Kennedy, DVM, MS from the CSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Rocky Ford. Dr. Kennedy is spear heading the Colorado Voluntary BVD Control & Eradication Program and will speak about the BVD program.

Attendees of the Farm and Ranch Symposium will be able to visit many booths with displays featuring products and services available to local producers.

A registration fee will be charged and will cover speaker fees, lunch, handouts as well as breaks. For additional information contact Bill Hancock, CSU Cooperative Extension at 719-254-7608.