The Colorado Department of Agriculture presented its fiscal and legislative priorities and proposals to the Ag Commission, saying the governor’s proposed budget includes about $252 million in statewide cuts and that CDA is proposing several targeted adjustments.

Jordan, the department’s legislative and budget lead, outlined CDA’s proposals: a $236,000 reduction to the commissioner’s office general fund personal services, $120,000 in general fund savings from the Plants Division, and a request to allow agrivoltaics grant dollars to be spent over multiple fiscal years to accommodate construction‑timed projects. Jordan also described a long‑bill reorganization to clarify funding for each division.

Major legislative proposals explained to the commission included:

- Agricultural land loan program modification: allow certified land trusts or water conservancy districts to borrow short‑term (roughly 12–24 months) under the Colorado Agricultural Future loan program to buy at‑risk agricultural land, place conservation easements and resell to new producers; program design would avoid diverting existing capital and would rely on external funders to provide capital for these transactions.

- Changes to the Community Food Access Tax Credit: expand eligibility (allow producers who donate or sell to schools/charitable programs), set a per‑producer cap of $300,000 and a retailer cap of $1,000,000, and lower the program cap from $10 million to $5 million to better align with projected use.

- Pesticide disposal enterprise: create periodic pesticide and container collection events for licensed applicators, funded by an estimated $30 per product registration fee and a nominal per‑drop fee for participants (department estimated about $10 per disposal event). The program would contract certified disposal firms rather than directing state staff to handle disposal.

- Livestock Indemnity Fund flexibility: allow the fund to pay for preparedness and response activities (not only indemnity) to enable faster, proactive responses to animal disease detections. Department noted the fund balance was about $750,000 last year, $250,000 was swept, leaving roughly $500,000 now.

Jordan told commissioners these proposals were developed with input from stakeholders and will require rulemaking and agreements if authorized. No formal commission votes were required at the meeting on these proposals; staff will carry them forward to legislative channels and budget hearings in December and follow up with the commission in January.