Laserfiche WebLink
Water Supply Reserve Account—Application Form <br /> Revised December 2011 <br /> Addendum: The Story of Ordway Cattle Feeders <br /> The Ordway Cattle Feeders feedlot was founded in 1972. Bill Foxley bought the land and water in the mid 60's; likely <br /> knowing that one day the water would be sold. It was sold, and Pueblo,Pueblo West,Colorado Springs, and Aurora were <br /> all beneficiaries of that water sale. But Foxley built a feedlot and kept the River Ranch so that there would be an <br /> agricultural enterprise in Crowley County with a demand for the crops that the local farmers who still had their water <br /> rights and farms could market to. He left something behind so that it was not just buy-and-dry with nothing left. The <br /> feedlot struggled with water supply issues from the beginning,however. <br /> The Feedyard pays nearly$60,000 in annual County taxes and has an operating expense of$4.5 million,plus livestock and <br /> feedstuffs. It is estimated that they have a regional economic impact of over$50 million per year,and an additional$135 <br /> million per year direct impact in the rest of the state of Colorado. <br /> Statewide Economic Impact: <br /> The feedlot sends an average of 1,000 head of cattle to JBS packing plant in Greeley,CO each week. This amounts to <br /> $100 million worth of cattle shipped to JBS Greeley each year. <br /> Foodstuffs purchased statewide: <br /> 2,136,753 Bushels of Corn/year Northern Colorado* $15,000,000 <br /> 32,850 Tons Wet Distillers Grain Ft. Collins $ 5,000,000 <br /> Liquid supplement Firestone,CO $ 4,500,000 <br /> Alfalfa Hay Sterling,Ft. Collins,Greeley $ 1,500,000 <br /> Health Products Greeley, $ 6,000,000 <br /> *from farmers and elevators in Akron,Greeley,Ault,Anton, Siebert,Flagler, Stratton,Cheyenne Wells,Burlington,and <br /> Limon,Colorado <br /> Associated economic impacts of travel,trucking, and other impacts have not been quantified here,but may total over <br /> $500,000,000 per year. An average of 20 trucks per day deliver foodstuffs and other supplies to the feedlot. <br /> Both Crowley County and Ordway Cattle Feeders representatives stated the following: <br /> In a worst case scenario,in which the Feedlot ceases to exist: <br /> • This water line makes it possible for another industry to come in here and have water available, such as an ethanol <br /> plant or oil drilling company. <br /> • The County has looked for alternate sources of water supply. The Feed Yard's water rights and wells could help <br /> meet that need. <br /> • The County has studied and planned for additional water supply mains to provide a looped and redundant system <br /> for their distribution system. Over eight miles of the pipeline could serve that purpose. <br /> 17 <br />