Ag Issues at the State Level

Ag Issues at the State Level

Ag Issues at the State Level. I'm Greg Martin with Colorado Ag Today.

Ag producers across the state have their list of important issues. A lot of those issues are out of their hands and in the hands of politicians and their decisions may have far reaching ramifications. Nicholas Colglazier , Colorado Farm Bureau's State Affairs Director says one of the big topics this year that could affect ag producers is the Sunset Applicator Review.

COLGLAZIER: What that basically is is every so often we take a government program and put it up to review to make sure it's doing what it's supposed to be doing and still needs to be there and this one has to do with pesticide applicators license. This is something our producers need. It's very vital to their operations and it's now being run by the Department of Agriculture here in Colorado versus the EPA which basically had oversight over it until 2006 when we changed it.

That's a good thing for producers.

COLGLAZIER: We have a lot of environmentalists who disagree with the use of pesticides altogether and so even thought the Department of Regulatory Affairs came out and put their recommendation in and a bill had been introduced there's going to be a lot of opposition to this because they want to change and restrict the use of pesticides in Colorado. Not just restrict, some of them would ultimately like them just banned outright.

Like many other states, Colorado is having a fight over neonicitinoids.

COLGLAZIER: We're going to have to be very diligent to make sure this passes so that our farmers and ranchers have this ability to get this license that they need to use the pesticides that are used every day on farms to control the pests that cause economic harm

And that's Colorado Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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