Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

Designed to connect agricultural producers, business leaders and community members, a new initiative called AgriConnect is set to launch next year.

A program from the Business Incubator Center, AgriConnect seeks to educate participants about the complex challenges facing ag producers and empower them to become informed champions for agricultural sustainability.

Joe Burtard, board director of the Business Incubator Center and owner/operator of JR Carriage, board member of the Colorado State Fair Foundation Tara Carleo, and cattle rancher and Economic Recovery Corps Federal Fellow Janie VanWinkle are partnering to establish the program.

Carleo emphasized the importance of reconnecting people with the origins of their food.

“It’s extremely important to help facilitate ways for people to see where their food comes from,” she said. “Especially when many people never see and experience what happens outside of the grocery store.”

“There’s only 2 percent of us producing,” VanWinkle said, highlighting the need for broader understanding and support for agriculture.

She said AgriConnect aims to address this disconnect by providing firsthand experiences of ranching and farming life.

Decline of Cattle Ranching in Mesa County

For VanWinkle, the program also offers a chance to help people understand the broader challenges ranchers and other agricultural producers face.

“We’ve lost 19,000 head. That’s 40 percent of the cattle out of Mesa County in five years,” VanWinkle said. “When you talk about cattle, more than half of the herd of the U.S. cattle industry are in herds of less than 40 head.”

She attributes this sharp decline to prolonged drought, economic pressures and an aging rancher population.

VanWinkle also pointed out that seemingly minor issues can accumulate for ranchers. She said agricultural producers are stewards of shared land with multiple uses, and while many community members are supportive, collaboration can sometimes create challenges.

She cited examples from conversations with ranchers who sold their herds, such as drivers being rude or angry about getting stuck behind a cattle drive, the reintroduction of wolves, or recreational hikers and mountain bikers leaving gates open. VanWinkle said these factors, combined with larger issues, make ranching increasingly difficult, prompting many ranchers to sell their herds and exit the industry.

VanWinkle became emotional recounting a recent moment when she saw a large convoy of cattle trucks leaving a ranch that had shut down.

“Watching those cattle – and I bawl every time I tell this story – on the highway, leaving, knowing they’re leaving Mesa County, knowing that ranch will never be a ranch again, is just brutal,” she said. “It’s also brutal to Main Street in Mesa County. It’s brutal to Main Street in Delta County. Every one of those cows brings in $600–800 to the county, and we’re losing that. They’re gone, and they’re not coming back.”

Hands-On Experience with Leadership Training

Burtard recognizes the need for this program and is excited to connect business leaders to the agricultural sector.

“People are very interested in how ag works from an outside perspective,” he said.

Drawing from his experience introducing people to the industry, Burtard shared his vision for the program.

“I own a business where we load folks up on wagons and take them around to vineyards and orchards. They get to walk through lavender farms, taste wine, pick peaches, and things like that,” he said. “It’s this really hands-on experience, so that’s the educational component I’m really fascinated about and devoted to. For example, if we’re learning about the wine industry, participants in the course are going to be bottling wine and touring the facility to learn from the winemakers themselves.”

The program will also offer a certification through the Business Incubator Center, including leadership training for community members, business owners and their employees.

“We wanted folks to walk away with some type of leadership skill from it. Each day they are out, they are growing as individuals and professionals,” Burtard said. “It’s going to be a wealth of information each time, and we’ll bring in several speakers from within that industry to talk to them.”

Burtard also sees the program as a way for participants to explore opportunities within the agricultural sector.

“There’s always business opportunities,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that they have to be a fruit grower, but they could start a business related to that industry.”

Applications coming out this fall

With both opportunities and challenges in mind, the founders of AgriConnect aim to cultivate informed community leaders as well as support organizations like the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce in their advocacy for sustainable solutions for the agricultural community.

“These are nuanced issues, and we need to understand the root causes and concerns behind them,” VanWinkle said. “The AgriConnect Program will explore these complexities with the ultimate goal of agricultural sustainability.”

Applications for the AgriConnect program will open this fall at the Business Incubator Center.