High diesel prices pressure Colorado agriculture | Rachel Gabel – Denver Gazette

High diesel prices pressure Colorado agriculture | Rachel Gabel  Denver Gazette

Silage harvest has begun in earnest in Colorado, and the choppers and trucks and pack tractors are all rolling and making East Slope mountains of cow chow. The silage will be used as part of cattle rations at dairies, ranches and feedyards across the area and the availability and growing conditions for silage and the state’s dairies and cattle feeding operations are no accident. When Warren Monfort began feeding cattle in what we now know as a feedyard-type operation, it was north of Greeley where the corn grew, the arid weather was rarely severe on either end of the spectrum and the interstate highways provided access to markets. Monfort wasn’t wrong.

This year has been a miserable moisture year, which has brought major implications for corn growers and producers of every other crop that is commonly grown in the state. As harvest begins, producers are spending considerably more to harvest a lower-yielding crop. That, of course, is the producers lucky enough to have a crop. Diesel fuel hovered just under $6 per gallon until late last week, when it jumped to $6.40 or better, breaking hearts and records. Jed Sidwell at Ag Bull Media said the average combine burning red diesel for an average harvest season will burn an additional $7,500 in fuel compared to last year. Most silage harvest