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<br />00121x3 <br /> <br />Dr aft - 91 8 1 <br /> <br />agrlcultural sector. <br /> <br />Whether the proper condltlons nlll exist ls <br /> <br />a matter of speculatIon. <br /> <br />Meanwhile, recent trends In the state, <br /> <br />wlth the except ion of the Northern Hlgh Plains, show an alarmlng <br /> <br />decrease In agrlcultural acreage. <br /> <br />These trends are summarlzed by <br /> <br />the Resource Analysis Sectlon of the Colorado Department of ~grl- <br /> <br />culture: <br /> <br />The Western Slope has lost farmland and cropland at the <br />same sllght rate as the ent lre state over the past 20 <br />years. [l.e., an average of about 125,000 acres per <br />year lost In both farmland and cropland.] The San Luis <br />Valley has lost farmland more rapldly than the state <br />rate, but has galned cropland--all of whlch ls lrrl- <br />gated. The Front Range has lost farmland and cropland <br />more rapidly than the state rate durIng thIs tlme. <br />Eastern Colorado's farmland and cropland totals have <br />remaIned vlrtually constant. <br /> <br />, <br />~ <br /> <br />Since 1959, lrrigated acreage has decllned by 15 per- <br />cent on the Western Slope and by 6 percent along the <br />Front Range. The 27 percent lncrease In Colorado's <br />irrigated acreage ls accounted for primarlly by dra- <br />matIc increases In eastern Colorado, where Irrigated <br />acreage has more than doubled. ThIs regIon now con- <br />tains nearly half of Colorado's irrigated acreage. <br /> <br />The Western Slope's share of Colorado's agricultural <br />sales dropped from 14- percent In 1959 to 8 percent In <br />1974-. When measured in constant dollars, agrlcultural <br />sales for the Western Slope shows a slIght decll~e over <br />the 15-year period, whlle the other three regIons [San <br />Luls Valley, Front Range and Eastern Colorado] have <br />regIstered lncreases. Eastern Colorado now exceeds the <br />Front Range in agricultural sales, reversIng the situa- <br />tlon of 20 years ago. <br /> <br />Two poInts require additional comment. First, the dom- <br />inant role of Weld County In Colorado's agriculture <br />masks the level of agricultural declIne In the rest of <br />the Front Range. By itself, Weld County contains 9 <br />percent of ColoradO'S irrigated cropland. Its total <br />agrlcultural saies of nearly 5600 mllllon in 1974-, <br />thIrd hIghest county total in the nat lon, represented <br />30 percent of the state's agricultural sales for that <br />year. .Without Weld County. .the remaInder of the <br />Front Range: <br /> <br />has lost 25 percent of its farmland and 26 percent <br />of its cropland over the last 20 years. <br /> <br />10 <br />