My WebLink
|
Help
|
About
|
Sign Out
Home
Browse
Search
WSP04510
CWCB
>
Water Supply Protection
>
Backfile
>
4001-5000
>
WSP04510
Metadata
Thumbnails
Annotations
Entry Properties
Last modified
1/26/2010 12:55:47 PM
Creation date
10/12/2006 12:24:25 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Water Supply Protection
File Number
8220.128.J
Description
Silt Project
State
CO
Basin
Colorado Mainstem
Water Division
5
Date
1/1/1951
Author
USDOI - BOR
Title
Silt Project-Colorado - A Supplement to the Colorado River Storage Project Report - Part 2 of 2
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Report/Study
There are no annotations on this page.
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015
Laserfiche.
All rights reserved.
/
36
PDF
Print
Pages to print
Enter page numbers and/or page ranges separated by commas. For example, 1,3,5-12.
After downloading, print the document using a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader).
Show annotations
View images
View plain text
<br />C1) <br />C\l <br />C'!j <br /> <br />CHAPTER V <br /> <br />AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY <br /> <br />Livestock <br /> <br />The forest reserves and public land near the project provide excellent <br />summer range for beef cattle and sheep. The cattle and some sheep are 'Win- <br />tered on the home ranch, but most of the sheep are grazed in winter on the <br />desert lands of western Colorado and eastern Utah. Forest Service grazing <br />permits are held by 16 project ranchers who each graze an average of 85 <br />head of cattle. Bureau of Land Management pennits are held by five project <br />ranchers for the equivalent of 603 cow months of grazing. Sheep and lamb <br />production is of relatively minor importance to the average farmer of the <br />area. Most of the sheep grazing permits are held by a few large operators. <br /> <br />Production of dairy cattle is a significant part of the livestock <br />enterprises. In 1946, 80 percent of the farmers on Harvey Mesa reported <br />dairy cows on their farms. Herds are small, each averaging three to four <br />cows. Butterfat produced is sold in the form of sour cream in Denver and <br />Grand Junction. <br /> <br />Hog production is a sideline to the dairy indust ry. Chickens are kept <br />only for family needs. <br /> <br />Farms and Farmers <br /> <br />Ninety-eight farm units are operating in the project area, inclu:Ung <br />eighty-three that are owner operated and fifteen that are tenant operated. <br />The average farm unit he. s been decreasing in size and is now too small for <br />economic operation. The average size of Harvey Mesa farms is 45 acres. <br />Dry Elk Valley farms average 134 acres but incl u:ie much nonirrigated land. <br />Six ownerships contain more than 160 acres. Only one of these ownerships <br />has more than 160 acres of land presently irrigated. <br /> <br />Finances <br /> <br />Tax levies for farms in the project area averaged 31.02 mills from <br />1939 to 1944. These inclu:ied State, county, and school district levies. <br /> <br />Land values have remained fairly static in the project area. This <br />has been due to the uncertain water supply and the farmers' reluctance to <br />sell at present prices while anticipating improvemEnt of irrigation facili- <br />ties. Irrigated land under Harvey Gap Reservoir is valued at $100 to $125 <br />an acre at average 1939-1944 prices. Dry Elk Valley land is valued at $50 <br />to $60 an irrigated acre. <br /> <br />The Farmers Irrigation Company, which Ow:lS and operates the Grass <br />Valley Canal, has no indebtedness. The average annual irrigation opera- <br />tion and maintenance cost was $1.55 per acre from 1935 to 1944. <br /> <br />37 <br />
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.