Agriculture

Agriculture and food-processing operations are huge in Northern Colorado, thanks to Weld County.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Weld County is No. 8 in the country in terms of the value of its farm and ranch products.

According to the latest data, the annual market value of all of that agricultural activity is more than $1.5 billion.

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Of that, $1.26 billion comes from livestock and more than $272 million from crops.

The 2.5-million acre county – where the first ditch in the U.S. was built specifically to grow food – dedicates 75 percent of its space to farming and raising livestock.

Some of the largest companies in the industry operate in Greeley, and many of those operations are growing.

The Leprino cheese factory in Greeley, for example, is expected to process 4.5 million pounds of milk by the end of 2013. The plant someday will have capacity for additional production, which would require 50,000 additional cows in the region.

That’s on top of the approximately 545,000 cattle that already call Weld County home.

The increase will add to an already robust dairy farming industry. In total, there are about 100 dairy operations in Larimer and Weld counties.

Meat processors also play a big role in the region’s economy.

Brazilian meatpacker JBS S.A. bought Greeley-based Swift & Co. in 2007 to form JBS Swift, one of the largest in the nation with an estimated 1,300 jobs.

Another big player: Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding LLC, which is based in Loveland and operates 11 feedlots in five states. The company, owned by JBS, employs more than 750 workers.

In addition, JBS owns Greeley-based Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-largest chicken processor in the world. Pilgrim’s employs 38,500 people, operating chicken-processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in a dozen states, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

With all of that activity, Weld is the state’s leading producer of beef cattle, sugar beets, grain and dairy. More than 20 percent of the county’s farms have annual sales exceeding $100,000.

Weld had more than 3,900 farms and Larimer had more than 1,750. The Northern Colorado counties claim 15 percent of the state’s 37,000 farms.

The industry faces challenges and changes ahead, including drought.

In response to a dry year, Weld County commissioners in June unanimously approved a resolution declaring Weld County a disaster area. The move was designed to get Gov. John Hickenlooper to allow 30 days of pumping from groundwater wells in the area.