Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg got another up-close look at production agriculture this week as she toured Washington, Logan, Phillips and Yuma counties.

Greenberg was on a two-day tour of northeast Colorado as part of her ongoing factfinding mission. In Sterling Wednesday, she toured the Sterling Livestock Commission Co. facility and learned how livestock – mostly cattle – are handled as they move through the sale process.

Jim Santomaso, owner of Sterling Livestock, emphasized that animal welfare is top-of-mind while the animals are in his facility and pointed out that the layout of the pens, sale barn and sale ring are designed to minimize stress on the animals. Pointing to some of the farmers and ranchers already seated around the sale ring in anticipation of Wednesday's sale, Santomaso said they were the best at animal stewardship.

Jim Santomaso explains how the layout of Sterling Livestock Commission Co. is designed to minimize stress on animals being auctioned. (Journal-Advocate / Jeff Rice)

"You won't find anybody better at animal stewardship than these folks," he said. "These animals are their livelihood, these people love what they do for a living, and these animals mean a whole lot to them. You can't abuse your livestock and make a living at this."

When Greenberg asked Santomaso what the biggest challenges are in his business, he quickly replied that concentration of the meat packing industry and a growing list of regulations are the biggest concerns. With the concentration of meatpacking in just a few companies, Santomaso said, there's no competition from smaller, independent packers, which has virtually destroyed the "free market" system in livestock.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, four firms - Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef - handle between 80 and 85 percent of all steer and heifer slaughter in the U.S. Just two decades ago, USDA figures show, the concentration was less than half that.

"So now, instead of meatpackers bidding against each other, which tends to increase the prices paid for fat cattle, they just set a price they'll pay and that's it," Santomaso said. "It's as if you go into a store and you tell them what you're going to pay for their products. This is the only industry where the buyer tells the seller what they're going to pay."

On the other end of the production line, he said, the packers also get to determine what price they'll charge for their packaged meat. That can often mean an increase of between $1,300 and $1,500 per animal.

Santomaso said consolidation also has all but eliminated the once-crucial "backgrounder" operations. Backgrounders are stockmen who buy weaned calves from the cow-calf rancher, feed them on grass and hay until they're nearly fully grown, then sell them to feedlots for finishing. With rising fuel costs, rising hay and feed costs, and deteriorating grazing lands due to drought, he said, there's little profit backgrounding.

Regulations also continue to add to the cost of food production, Santomaso said, and new regulations don't often account for the realities of production agriculture. Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, who was also on the tour, said there is a bill in the works in the state House Agriculture, Livestock, & Water committee that will dictate standards of animal husbandry. Rep. Rod Pelton, a Republican who is on that committee, said he has no idea what will be in the bill when it's introduced in January.

After the tour, the group ate lunch at the Hot Spot restaurant in Sterling before continuing its travels. During lunch Greenberg told reporters she's grateful to get first-hand knowledge of the challenges facing Colorado agriculture. She said remains convinced ag has a solid future in Colorado, and her office is working to find new opportunities for the state's growers.

Greenberg was accompanied by Sonnenberg and Pelton, State Rep. Richard Holtorf of Akron, Logan County Commissioner Byron Pelton, as well as representatives of U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and representatives from several rural and agricultural organizations.

Prior to the Sterling visit, Greenberg and her staff visited Pachner Agri Enterprise Farm and Livestock in Akron. From Sterling the tour went to Haxtun, Holyoke and Yuma. The group spent the night in Yuma and then toured the Weathers Farm and Yuma Dairy, and drove south to the site of Bonny Reservoir before returning to Denver Thursday.