Guiding the future of Baca County

Predicting the future is always difficult, especially when it involves community and economic development. So when Baca County officials needed hard facts to help them answer tough questions about their county's future and its quality of life, they turned to their local Colorado State University Extension staff who connected them to public policy researchers at the university.

The need for facts was prompted by the desire of residents and officials in Baca County to broaden the county's economic base. One possible alternative: encourage a large hog-farming operation to come in.

Eudora West, director of economic development for Baca County, pointed out that the county is composed of communities that want to keep agriculture as the centerpiece of their local economies. "But communities in the county such as Springfield, Walsh, Vilas and Campo also want to diversify their agricultural base and develop more jobs," she said. "One way to diversify is to bring in new agricultural businesses, such as hog or dairy operations, that have a natural association with wheat, corn and sorghum -- the county's major Crops."

West said Baca County farmers and ranchers want their children and grandchildren to remain in the area. But young people need job opportunities if they are to stay. "Some of the young people who have left tell us they would return to Baca County if more jobs were available," she said. "We were trying to decide whether to encourage a large swine-feeding operation to locate in Baca County," West said. "That's obviously a very emotional decision, so we needed to have solid facts and figures."

West and other Baca County officials turned to Tim Macklin, county unit leader with the local Colorado State Extension office in Springfield. Macklin contacted David Cockrell, a Extension community development s3pecialist in Pueblo, who brought in researchers from Colorado State's department of agricultural and resource economics.

As a result of the collaboration, researchers Jennifer Grannis, a graduate research assistant, and Andrew Seidl, assistant professor and Extension economist who specializes in public policy, coauthored a series of policy reports in 1998. Report topics ranged from an examination of the swine industry and community economic development to community and natural resource economic issues associated with the industry.

Grannis and Seidl also discussed their findings at a public meeting in Baca County. In their reports and presentations, the two researchers stressed that introducing a large new business such as a swine operation has social, cultural, economic and natural resource impacts that will change the character of communities.

"Our objective was to help Baca County residents and their representatives evaluate the opportunities and challenges that would result if a large new business moved into the area," Seidl said. "I believe that such an evaluation helps rural communities think about their employment, services and lifestyle goals and weigh those against opportunities for economic development."

As it turned out, Baca County officials and residents didn't have to choose whether to bring in a swine-feeding operation. Two companies looked at the area but decided against building a facility because of low hog prices and the passage of Amendment 14 that modified state regulation of large swine-feeding operations.

"However, the process worked well," Macklin said. "Extension and other university staff worked together to help people in Baca County get solid facts. Now they have the information they need if a similar situation comes up in the future." Macklin added that the studies by Seidl and Grannis also can be used as a model for other rural communities on Colorado's Eastern Plains.

Partners for Baca County confined animal feeding study: Baca County Enterprise Development Commission; Jennifer Grannis, graduate research assistant, Colorado State department of agricultural and resource economics.

For more information, contact your local Colorado State University Extension office.

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Uploaded Tuesday, September 25, 2007

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