Ag chief sees Colorado farmers on cutting edge

Equally at home in his low-rise suburban Lakewood office building or on the family farm in rural southeastern Colorado, John Stulp, Colorado’s commissioner of agriculture, says life is good in Colorado — in no small part due to the contribution that agriculture continues to make to the state.

A Yuma native, Stulp graduated from CSU in 1972 with a degree in veterinary sciences and his future wife on his arm.  After a stint as a working vet, Stulp, while raising a family of five kids, began managing his wife’s family farming operation just outside of Lamar. That entailed farming livestock, wheat – and eventually the wind, in the form of turbines, eventually drawing the attention of Colorado’s governor.
Asked how he likes his current day-job Stulp draws a comparison to agricultural life.

“It’s kind of like farming — no two days are alike,” said Stulp.

Public service is a responsibility that Stulp knows well. He was a county commissioner for 14 years while also serving on the state’s land board for seven years. There were numerous other board posts along the way, as well.

Gov. Bill Ritter hand-picked Stulp for the state’s top ag position in 2006.  The two men met while Ritter, a big advocate of alternative energy, was still a candidate for governor and looking for a wind turbine installation to tour.  Stulp’s family farm was chosen for the tour and Ritter was, apparently, sufficiently impressed with Stulp after riding around with him in the cab of the family’s pickup truck.

What he got was an ag commissioner who says he approaches his duties by seeing the common threads between urban and rural communities.
“We, in agriculture, reach out and touch someone in the state of Colorado every day, and it’s important that we have people that know what they’re doing (running the agriculture department) and that we as a department are functioning correctly,” said Stulp.

Recalling the bumper sticker, “If you eat, you’re involved in agriculture,” Stulp said, “It’s important to people along the Front Range to know that a local farmer is working to produce food and fiber.”

While some folks look at agriculture as being a separate industry unto itself, in actuality, Stulp says, the food producing sector is much more integrated into urban economies than people think. Consumers in the United States, asserted Stulp, have for many years enjoyed the lowest cost of food as a portion of their disposable income compared with any other nation. 

Urban dwellers may not always see the role that Colorado agriculture plays in their lives, but Stulp says it is an important role — and a role that extends beyond Colorado.

“We’re a very diverse state with about half the state owned by farmers and ranchers,” said Stulp, adding that while beef and wheat are the main agricultural exports out of the state, there are numerous other agricultural products that produce enough surplus to supply other parts of the nation and the world with desirable commodities. Rocky Ford cantaloupe seeds, for example, are exported to Israel.

Stulp also embraces the Ritter administration’s push for a “New Energy Economy.” Stulp’s family farming operation is home to the Lamar Light and Power Wind Farm.  Being green, however, is old news according to Stulp. “People in agriculture are the original recyclers and the original environmentalists,” he said.

The ag community needed little prodding, in Stulp’s estimation, to jump on board.

“Absolutely, ag is part of the New Energy Economy although we’re in the very early stages,“  said Stulp. Citing ethanol and biodiesel fuels as well as sunflower and soybean crops, Stulp said he believes that the Colorado ag community is poised to be on the leading edge of energy production. “There’s going to be a new opportunity for cash flow from some of the outcomes of how we address climate change,” said Stulp. “I’ve always been an advocate that every farm needs a wind turbine or two.”

Despite some philosophical differences with the Republicans who dominate much of rural Colorado, Stulp maintains good relations across the political aisle. Republican state Sen. and farmer Greg Brophy, of Wray, said that he has always found Stulp to be approachable.

“He’s easy to work with and thoughtful,” said Brophy. “We’ve had disagreements over a handful of programs that they’re implementing, but we can have that disagreement and still share information back and forth.  Generally, we’ve (the GOP caucus) worked really, really well with him. I never felt like he puts party in front of the industry.”