May 20, 2013

Presentaions look at Surface Creek water issues

The public is invited to come learn about water issues facing Colorado, the Gunnison River Basin and Grand Mesa's Surface Creek Valley at two upcoming meetings. The meetings, organized by the Grand Mesa Water Conservancy District with the support of the Water Center at Colorado Mesa University, are free to the public.

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Agriculture

Winter restrictions on antler collection in Gunnison Basin

For wildlife, winter is a stressful season when they can lose 30 percent or more of their body weight. Consequently, people should avoid disturbing Colorado's wild critters during cold weather months.

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Agriculture

Workshop for new commercial fruit growers

Western Colorado is fertile ground for growing a variety of fruits, and people from all over are drawn here to start new home-grown enterprises. Even so, there are unique challenges to growing fruit trees that can take some unprepared farmers by surprise and cost them more than they need to spend.

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Agriculture

Soil health conference in Delta on Jan. 24-25

The 3rd annual Western Slope Soil Health Conference will be held on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 24-25, at Bill Heddles Recreation Center, located at 530 Gunnison River Drive in Delta. This conference is designed to educate producers, government officials and the broad community about issues to increase organic matter in our soils through cover crops, green manure, compost, minimum tillage, and various soil amendments.

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Agriculture

Thanks for the snow! More please!

A snowy December was the perfect Christmas present for a parched Colorado, which ended November suffering from desiccated soils, depleted reservoirs and anxious ski resorts. A series of storms over the past few weeks made the state start to look like its proper winter self.

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Agriculture

River district says study is a call to action

The Colorado River District commends the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study as a thorough and detailed call to action for Colorado River stakeholders to address a gap between human and environmental demands on the river system and the amount of water it produces annually.

"The study confirms what we already understand: the Colorado River is already fully used," said Colorado River District General Manager Eric Kuhn.

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Agriculture

Make changes or face water shortages

Looking at the Colorado River as it flows through Grand Junction, it's hard to believe the scale of the demands placed upon this modest stream, where rubber rafts scrape gravel bars in summer. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Colorado River and its tributaries provide water to nearly 40 million people and irrigate nearly 5.5 million acres of land across seven U.S. states plus Mexico.

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Agriculture

Apply for specialty crop grant

The Specialty Crops Program at Colorado State University is accepting applications for grower research and education grants for the 2013 production season. The application deadline is Jan. 1, 2013.

The request for proposals is intended for research, demonstration, and/or education projects addressing specialty crops production, processing, and marketing issues faced by small farmers, beginning farmers or socially disadvantaged farmers in Colorado.

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Agriculture

Food and farm forum set for Jan. 10 in Montrose

If you're a small-acreage farmer or livestock producer, or if you're interested in becoming one, you won't want to miss the inaugural Western Colorado Food and Farm Forum (WCFFF). This new conference, which will be Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, at the Montrose County Fairgrounds in Friendship Hall, will focus on sustainably improving the production, marketing and consumption of locally grown food products.

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Agriculture