Colorado Tax Break Intended For Struggling Farmers and Ranchers Causes Controversy

A couple highlights from a recent article from the Denver Post that covers the Colorado Ag Tax Break controversy.

"They can throw some cows on there and then give us a lease and then fence it, and they could take the cow off after one day," he said. "We can do nothing."
However, he pointed out that the current system has no middle ground between low ag rates and the alternative high vacant-land rate.
"We're in a scenario where it is one extreme or another," he said.

"The intent was to help the farmer and the rancher in the state of Colorado be competitive and be able to produce a crop and still make a profit," Clifton said. "But it's just gone crazy."
The legislature has revisited the issue over the years — to expand its scope, not tighten it. In 1990, the legislature created a forest ag program to help Christmas tree farmers.

Read more: Colorado tax break intended for struggling farmers enriches developers, investors. By Christopher N. Osher and Eric Gorski - The Denver Post