Blog Post

Happy new year! See what's in store for January 2024 in our CDA At A Glance newsletter! Download your pdf here.  

Article #3, the last in our Summer Wrap Up Series

Sitting in the newly built Confluence Theater in CSU Spur’s Hydro building, one might reasonably think that water is the subject most discussed in the location. And while it certainly was a key part of the conversation, Colorado’s water took a back seat to the main topic at hand during two sunny days in September 2023: soil health.

On September 25th staff from CDA, USDA and the Colorado Attorney General's Office toured an aquaculture facility to learn more about Colorado’s aquaculture industry. The team was able to learn how fish are grown and stocked, the differences in water sources, regulatory considerations, and fish health and veterinary medicine considerations. Learning more about aquaculture will help CDA and USDA to better support the needs of the industry. 

In the past, animal mistreatment and neglect or abuse of people were usually perceived as two separate issues. More recently, an increasing amount of research has shown a direct link between human and animal mistreatment. Professionals in animal law enforcement and human social work have found that difficult life circumstances and mental health life challenges are at the root of many of these linked cases. 

Article #2 in our Summer Wrap Up Series focuses on the resilience our people bring to the land

Once a decade, give or take a few years, Colorado has the opportunity to host the annual Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture (WASDA) conference.

Held in Denver this year, WASDA 2023 offered the opportunity to try something a little different as the Colorado Department of Agriculture works towards our long term departmental goal of supporting the next generation of agriculture. 

From all corners of the state, high schoolers converged in Divide, Colorado to learn about natural resource conservation in a week-long immersive Camp Rocky experience. Throughout the week, 31 campers delved into the world of resource stewardship, learning about the importance of protecting and preserving our environment.

Article #1 in our Summer Wrap Up Series explores CDA’s first group tour of Summer 2023.

By Bethany Howell

It’s a cool morning on the river, but the sun coming over the canyon walls promises to be here any minute, and with it, some welcome warmth to keep us company on the water. 

In the summer of 2022, when the first Japanese beetles were spotted in a Grand Junction backyard, the invasive species had not been seen in the area for more than a decade. After successful eradication efforts between 2002-2007, the pest was removed from the Western Slope, where it posed a threat to agriculture and the economy. But it reappeared again in 2022, likely due to transport by an unlicensed landscape contractor who violated the Japanese beetle quarantine from Front Range counties. 

Jerome and Ann Wheeler love their work. But even more than that, they love the animals who put the “family” in family operations.