COLORADO — In a statement issued this week, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT ) announced it is expanding its conservation services to aid agricultural land succession and transfer. 

There’s a very good reason for CCALT’s expansion, and it can be found in the numbers. 

More than 50 years ago, John Denver recorded the song “I Guess He’d Rather Be in Colorado.” The song was not one of Denver’s better-known hits and may be forgotten by most people, but, half a century later, the sentiment it expresses is as strong as ever. 

Colorado is currently ranked as the 6th fastest growing state in the country.  

Over the last two decades the population of Colorado has increased by 1.55 million people. While other states lost population, from January 2021 to February 2022, more people moved into Colorado than moved away. Much of that migration was made up of people from California and Texas and attributed to the pandemic when working remotely became the new norm. But even after the pandemic was officially declared over, the trend has continued. In 2023, Colorado’s population reached 5.88 million, marking a 0.63% increase from the previous year.  

The growth isn’t described as a boom but is much more incremental. For example, last year, 232,663 people came to Colorado while 211,370 left the state. That’s a net increase of about 22,000 people, which may not sound like that much, except when it happens year after year, as has been the case.   

Last year, 232,663 people came to Colorado while 211,370 left the state. That’s a net increase of about 22,000 people, which may not sound like that much, except when it happens year after year, as has been the case. 

The Colorado Department of Local Affairs projects that, by 2030, the population of Colorado will be more than six million people, an increase of 700,000 people in just ten years. 

While a handful of rural counties are shrinking in population and much of the population growth has been along the Front Range, the U.S. Census Bureau reports a general trend that started in 2017. Over the past eight years, there’s been an increase in people ages 25 to 44 – first time homebuyers and small families - choosing to live in smaller towns and rural areas with amenities. 

So, big picture – the population of the state is growing and a greater number of people from 25 to 44 years old are headed to the country where, across the state, they encounter a housing shortage. 

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has made increasing housing one of his top priorities, including initiatives such as “More Housing Now and Land Use Initiative,” which provides state funding for building infrastructure on undeveloped land, paving the way for housing developments and other development projects that come with increases in population. 

Combined, those factors take on special significance in light of a staggering prediction referenced in CCALT’s announcement. 

In the next few decades, it’s projected that at least one third of the nation’s agricultural land is going to change hands. That’s 300 million acres of some of the nation’s most fertile - and most scenic – property. 

“Colorado follows the same trajectory as the nation,” Karina Puikkonen, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) Communications Director told the Valley Courier. “Many of our own landowner partners are approaching retirement age quickly…while development pressures are increasing. This is important for Colorado.” 

Never an organization to stand on the sidelines and just watch a situation develop, CCALT is taking the bull(dozer) by the horns, so to speak. 

“The Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust has joined a nationwide effort to catalyze succession planning among farm and ranch families and enable agricultural land access for a new generation of farmers and ranchers,” the announcement read. 

As part of that effort, CCALT has been awarded a four-year grant through the Land Transfer Navigators Program, led in partnership by the American Farmland Trust (AFT) with support from the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). 

The purpose of the program is to develop land transfer and land access educational and outreach resources. In fulfillment of that purpose, CCALT will use the grant funding to develop land succession and land access workshops, as well as informational and outreach materials to engage landowners in succession planning. 

CCALT’s first Succession Planning workshop for landowners will be held in January. 

“Amidst the many challenges facing agriculture in our modern day, another is quickly approaching and growing in significance,” reads the CCALT statement. “In the next few decades, it is projected that over 300 million acres of the nation’s agricultural land will change hands, making them vulnerable to conversion and development.” 

“With the wave of land transfer that is coming, we risk converting far too much farm [and ranchland] into low-density housing, subdivisions, and strip malls,” said John Piotti, AFT’s president and CEO. “Public and private conservation entities—groups like land trusts and purchase of agricultural conservation easement (PACE) programs—have done a tremendous job of protecting [agricultural] land across the country. They can continue to accelerate their impressive farm and ranchland protection work, and with greater support, they can also guide landowners in the eventual transfer of protected land to a new generation of farmers and ranchers.” 

“CCALT has always been an innovative and forward-thinking organization whose mission is to support farm and ranch families across Colorado continue to produce the food and fiber that fuels the nation,” said Erik Glenn, CCALT’s executive director. “Agricultural land transfer in Colorado is important because of the state’s significant agricultural sector, its changing demographics, and the need to ensure that we continue to have the scale of land necessary to maintain our agricultural economy and rural communities.” 

Glenn’s and Piotti’s words bring to mind another song. Also released 50 years ago, Joni Mitchell warned of a future where “You pave paradise and put up a parking lot.” 

Just something to think about. 

CCALT’s succession planning workshop is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2025, from 1 to 3 p.m. during the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) Mid-Winter Conference in Denver. The workshop is free and all landowners are invited to attend. 

CCA members attending the conference can register for the workshop through the main conference registration link at www.coloradocattle.org/mid-winter-conference. Non-CCA members can register at https://ccalt.my.salesforce-sites.com/default/CnP_PaaS_EVT__ExternalRegistrationPage?event_id=a2jUM000004Dg5ZYAS.